Schools in England currently find themselves in a serious mess when it comes to religious, physical, sex, and fine arts education—all because of Political Islam.
A new booklet of guidance for schools and teachers, called Sharing the Journey, has been issued by a number of Labour-run city councils for teachers and schools. In it is a warning that children’s drawings may be considered blasphemous under Sharia law and that classes in music and/or dancing may also go against Islam’s teachings.
While several other groups are mentioned, the booklet pays particular attention to Muslims and Islam. It advises permitting changes to the school uniform for Muslim girls so that they will be able to conform with hijab (Islamic dress code); allowing older boys time off on Fridays to attend compulsory prayers either at a mosque or in a designated space in the school; and providing halal lunch options in the cafeteria.
During the month of Ramadan fasting and the accompanying three-day feast of Eid-al-Fitr, teachers and schools are encouraged to show flexibility and make allowances such as extra prayer times (if prayer is allowed in school), less strenuous activities during gym class, and days off during Ramadan and Eid. Schools are also advised to avoid scheduling parent-teacher conferences and important exams during this time.
In the section subtitled “Opportunities for Prayer and Reflection,” Sharing the Journey highly recommends providing a space for prayer and reflection for all students. It goes into some detail regarding Islamic prayer requirements and encourages allowing Muslim students the opportunity to pray at school.
The purpose of all of this appeasement is to promote integration and social cohesion, but the Michaela school in Wembley, Greater London discovered that allowing Islamic prayer rituals during the school day had the opposite effect, prompting prayer to be banned on school property. This action was met with threats to the school and its staff as well as a lawsuit from one student and her family. British law, which does not require secular schools to allow prayer, was upheld and the ban was made permanent.
Uniform requirements, cafeteria food, daily and Friday prayers, and Ramadan and Eid are just the beginning of how schools are expected to cater to Islamic demands. Physical education is problematic because of the gym uniform; because some schools have coed classes; because of the actual class content (such as swimming); and because of the change rooms, which carry a full list of grievances on their own.
And then there are the arts. Sharing the Journey claims that:
“Islamic culture and civilization include a rich artistic tradition, particularly in relation to order and pattern, geometry, calligraphy and the natural world. However, three-dimensional figurative imagery of humans is considered idolatrous by some Muslims. It is very important that the school understands this and is also careful not to ask its students to reproduce images of Jesus, Prophet Mohammed or other figures considered to be prophets in Islam. Some Muslim pupils may not wish to draw the human figure.”
The “rich” Islamic arts scene has no Van Goghs, Michelangelos, or Rembrandts:
“Narrated Abu Talha:
The Prophet said, “Angels do not enter a house that has either a dog or a picture in it.” Sahih al-Bukhari 3322
It also has no Mozarts, Chopins, or Beethovens:
“Narrated Abu ‘Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash’ari:
that he heard the Prophet saying, “From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful…” Sahih al-Bukhari 5590
Many Muslims eschew European music, embracing only that which Mohammed allowed, which wasn’t much. According to Sharing the Journey:
“…In Islam, music is traditionally limited to the human voice and non-tuneable percussion instruments as in the days of the Prophet, when they were only used in marriage ceremonies and on the battlefield…”
Dance class is also part of exposing students to the arts, but maybe not if you’re a Muslim kid. Neither the Koran nor the Sunna outright prohibit dancing, but the scholarly position is that any activity that can lead to sin should be avoided. Scholars cite dancing as such an activity, since among other things, it often requires males and females to engage in physical contact with one another, which is not allowed in Islam.
Once children reach puberty, Islamic doctrine makes girls and women invisible by covering them up and segregating the sexes instead of requiring boys and men to learn self-control. Some scholars say it is permissible for men or women to dance with one another as long as no one of the opposite sex is present; some maintain that for women—and by extension, girls—dancing is offensive and is therefore discouraged. Still others ban dancing for women altogether, citing sexual attraction and temptation—even if only women are present—as the reason for doing so.
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands’ fathers, or their sons or their husbands’ sons, or their brothers or their brothers’ sons or sisters’ sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women’s nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed.” Koran 24:31
Drama may also contravene Islamic principles, especially for girls, since all eyes are on the person on stage. Schools in England have to walk a precarious tightrope since physical, fine arts, religious, and sex education classes are all mandated by law to be provided for each student while at the same time, parents have the legal right to withdraw their children from most classes they are uncomfortable or disagree with.
The idea of sex education in schools can send any parent or guardian into paroxysms of fear and loathing depending upon the subject matter being discussed in a given lesson. It’s normal for parents to be concerned about this aspect of the school curriculum because it broaches sensitive subject matter that many of them feel should be discussed at home and in a way that reflects their values. What is not normal is for the debate to escalate into violence or threats of violence.
Religious education is another sore spot, but not just for Muslims. The national curriculum is meant to expose students to a wide variety of religious and philosophical world views, as well as inculcate within students the necessary values to get along well in British society.
Despite claims of neutrality, there are parents who fear Islamic indoctrination. Recently, during a lesson on Islam in a Church of England School, seven-year-old students were shown a video of Muslims praying to Allah and were then encouraged to “give it a go.” Non-Muslim (Kafir) parents who don’t want their children to attend RE classes that focus on Islam are called out as racists and bigots, but is this fair? Muslim parents who withdraw children from RE classes teaching about other religions are not called bigoted despite the fact that Islam’s political side encourages its followers to see themselves as superior, leading to an “us and them” mentality:
“Ye are the best community that hath been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in Allah. And if the People of the Scripture had believed it had been better for them. Some of them are believers; but most of them are evil-livers.” Koran 3:110
“He it is Who hath sent His messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse.” Koran 9:33
“I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer, and pay Zakat and if they do it, their blood and property are guaranteed protection on my behalf except when justified by law, and their affairs rest with Allah.” Sahih Muslim 22
The religion that people have the most objections over being taught in RE is Islam. Over two-thirds of withdrawal requests are made by people who do not want their children to learn about Islam. They do not have to explain themselves to the school, but according to teachers about 10% of people who request withdrawals are not shy about giving their reasons. Indignant teachers claim that these parents are Islamophobic bigots. Can fear and dislike of Islam really be classified as a phobia? Or is people’s ambivalence justified?
Britain (Rotherham) was the location of a grooming gang scandal that rocked the nation and victimized about 1400 underage girls between 1997–2013 while the police did nothing since taking action would be “bigoted” because the vast majority of perpetrators were Muslim men of Pakistani origin. The media simply refers to them as “Asian,” but Britons are not fooled by this obfuscation. They know who the culprits are.
UK citizens—especially Jews—were silenced and sidelined for raising any objection while their streets and public spaces were taken over for pro-Palestine demonstrations that were decidedly pro-Hamas in flavour because they were organized by a senior Hamas figure. They are subjected to public Islamic prayers that are meant to intimidate Britons and make it clear that their country belongs to Allah now.
For years there have been stories about Islamic no-go zones in the UK which have been largely “debunked” by media fact checkers, but a new book written by Ed Husain, an academic of Muslim heritage, challenges the assertion that they are a myth.
The British have suffered jihad attacks on their own soil. They see their culture being disregarded, disrespected and displaced because it is deemed unacceptable and un-Islamic. The NEU, the largest and most influential teachers’ union in Britain has been infiltrated by the Palestinian Solidarity Committee and as a result, classrooms have become places of political indoctrination instead of education.
All of these things—the indoctrination, the grooming gangs, the demonstrations, the acts of violence and the rejection of British culture—are manifestations of Political Islam.
Is it any wonder that people are traumatized and dead-set against any more exposure to this ideology, especially in regard to their children? Today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders and giving Britain’s future leaders incomplete and misleading information about Islam is worse than giving them none at all. It will ensure that the leaders of the future continue on the current path of appeasement until their British society has been turned into an Islamic one.
One of the most important things schools do is pass a society’s culture on to its children. Emphasis on moral relativism and sparing everyone’s feelings is hampering dissemination of English culture because it allows people to opt out. Allowing British culture to be spurned while simultaneously teaching children about foreign cultures—especially one of conquest and dominance—sends a dangerous and destabilizing message to British children that their culture and way of life don’t count. They deserve better.