Staff at Muslim Primary School 'Caught on Camera Describing How Clapping Hands Is Satanic and That Gay People Should Be Stoned to Death'

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Teachers at school 'had discussions about whether music is un-Islamic' / Claims over The Olive School in Blackburn made by Channel 4 Dispatches / It's alleged staff also talked about how ties could be turned into snakes / Officials at school's Islam Trust contacted DfE after learning of allegations

Teachers at a Muslim faith primary have allegedly referred to clapping hands as ‘Satanic’ - and had discussions about whether music in school might be un-Islamic.

Footage was obtained for a Channel 4 documentary at The Olive School - a Muslim faith primary for 600 pupils in Blackburn, run by the Tauheedul Islam Faith, Education and Community Trust.

It is also claimed that footage shows staff talking about how ties could be turned into snakes and that gay people should be stoned to death. The Trust has labelled the discussions as ‘staff room gossip’.

Channel 4 did not say what footage from the school would be aired. Officials at the Trust contacted the Department for Education after learning of the allegations, reported the Blackburn Citizen.

The Trust invited inspectors to visit the school, and the DfE ordered an emergency ‘no notice’ Ofsted inspection last week. The Trust later insisted that this inspection went ‘very well’.

The Trust also confirmed that Dispatches had filmed undercover at the school and promised to act if anything on the film ‘is shown to undermine our progressive vision, ethos and approach’.

A Tauheedul governor said: ‘The Trust’s schools provide a first class education for young people in modern-day Britain… We need to look at what these schools have achieved for their pupils.’

Blackburn MP Jack Straw said: ‘I reserve final judgment until I see the programme. From what I know the allegations are groundless.’ » | Mark Duell and Jo Knowsley | Sunday, July 13, 2014

UK Schools Inspector: Gender Segregation OK for Muslim Children

BREITBART: Britain's school inspection organisation Ofsted has told its inspectors that segregating boys and girls in the classroom is acceptable in Muslim schools and need not be criticised.

The Times reports that inspectors have been sent instructions saying that boys and girls “may well” be seated separately in classrooms in Islamic faith schools and that this should not be seen as discrimination – a claim that should doubtlessly anger equal rights campaigners, though may indeed be ignored by cultural relativists.

Music and art classes may also be “restricted”, it said, even though they are requirements in the national curriculum. The guidance also says that girls being required to wear headscarves should be an expression of their identity, rather than oppression. » | Nick Hallett | Thursday, June 12, 2014

New Dark Age Alert! Damning Reports Will Show State Schools in Birmingham Are Imposing Islamic Practices

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, will claim next week that
children in Birmingham are being denied a "rounded education"
to prepare them for life as British citizens

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The head of Ofsted is expected to reveal six schools have been placed in special measures following worrying evidence of religious interference in the classroom

Teachers are to be sent on training programmes to help them stop extremism entering the classroom, as damning reports show that some state schools have been imposing Islamic practices and attitudes.

The reports are due to be published by the education watchdog Ofsted next week, after inspectors carried out emergency checks in 21 schools in Birmingham following complaints of homophobia, the segregation of boys and girls in some lessons, refusal to teach sex education, bullying and invitations to extremists to speak at assemblies.

It is understood six schools, including Park View Academy, have been placed in special measures after inspectors found worrying evidence of religious interference in the classroom.

According to The Sunday Times [£], Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, will claim next week that children in Birmingham are being denied a “rounded education” to prepare them for life as British citizens. » | Nicola Fifield | Sunday, June 01, 2014

BBC Whitewash? Trojan Horse: 25 Schools Probed Over Alleged Takeover Plot

BBC: An investigation into an alleged hard-line Islamist takeover plot of Birmingham schools has widened, with 25 schools now under the spotlight.

Birmingham City Council said it had received more than 200 reports in relation to its inquiry.

It has appointed former head teacher Ian Kershaw as its chief advisor.

Anonymous claims hard-line Muslims were trying to take over the running of some city schools were made in a letter sent to local authorities last year.

The 25 schools now being looked at include primaries, secondaries and academies.

The 200-plus reports to the council include emails and calls from staff, parents and governors. (+ BBC video) » | Monday, April 14, 2014

More Schools to Be Investigated over 'Extremist Muslim' Plot Fears

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: More schools will be investigated by the Department for Education over concerns about extremist plots to take over institutions

The number of schools to be investigated over fears children are being “radicalised” by extremist Muslims attempting to seize control of institutions has increased to 25.

Teams of inspectors are to be sent into schools and will be able to penalise those where religious conservatism is believed to be getting in the way of teaching.

The Department for Education (DfE) launched the investigation after an alleged Islamic takeover plot to force out governors and head teachers was reported in Birmingham.

An anonymous letter claiming responsibility for changes in leadership at four schools in the city says it was part of a campaign called Operation Trojan Horse. The letter set out a blueprint for seizing control of schools and claimed a radical group of Muslims were pursuing their own agenda in classrooms and forcing out head teachers and governors who refused to cooperate. Read on and comment » | Claire Carter, and agencies | Monday, April 14, 2014

My comment:

The politicians/authorities are up their necks in trouble, all caused by mass immigration. Serves them right! Trouble is that we, the people, have to suffer for their foul up. If ever we were in need of a change of narrative, we are today. Change it now! Islam is not a 'religion of peace' but a religion which brings with it only trouble and strife. Can't the fools look around them and observe? In each and every country where Islam is strong, there is trouble and strife. Yet these fools keep on with the narrative of Islam being a 'religion of peace'. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

Islam Conquering Higher European Education

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: Critics say that such efforts to create a "European Islam" are naïve and misguided, and will serve only to contribute to the "mainstreaming" of a religious and political ideology that is intrinsically opposed to all aspects of the European way of life.

The Catholic University of Leuven, the oldest university in Belgium and one that has been a major contributor to the development of Roman Catholic theology for more than 500 years, will offer a degree in Islamic theology beginning in 2014.

The decision by KU Leuven, as the university is commonly known, to focus on Islam follows similar moves by other leading universities in Europe and reflects the growing influence of Islam on the continent.

The proliferation of degree programs in Islamic theology is being justified by European governments -- which are subsidizing the teaching of Islam in European universities with taxpayer money -- as a way to "professionalize" the training of Muslim imams, or religious teachers, many of whom do not even speak the language of their European host countries.

Some European governments believe that by controlling the religious education of imams, they can promote the establishment of a "European Islam," one that combines Islamic principles and duties with European values and traditions such as the rule of law, democracy, human rights and gender equality.

But critics say such efforts to create a "European Islam" are naïve and misguided, and will serve only to contribute to the "mainstreaming" of a religious and political ideology that is intrinsically opposed to all aspects of the European way of life.

The KU Leuven degree in Islamic theology will be offered within the department of World Religions, Interreligious Dialogue and Religious Studies (WIDR). The program is intended only for those who already have a bachelor's degree, a requirement that would appear to eliminate the chances for admission for a vast majority of the imams in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe. » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, August 13, 2013

First Muslim College Opens in the US
A Muslim college in the United States is the first of its kind, its mission is to join Islamic scholarship with the Western academic emphasis on free inquiry and developing critical intellectual capacities. Zaytuna College in Berkeley California is a fledgling institution with only 31 students, operating out space rented from a Baptist seminary. Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from California.

Controversial Islamic School Ordered Off Public Property

CTV NEWS: TORONTO — The Toronto District School Board has forbidden a controversial Islamic school from operating out of one of its properties.

The board revoked the permit for the East End Madrassah, a Sunday school for Muslim children, citing an ongoing police investigation into alleged anti-Semitic course material.

East End Madrassah came under fire earlier this month after Jewish groups objected to material posted on its website.

A curriculum document compared Judaism with Nazism and said that "treacherous jews" had killed Islam's Prophet.

TDSB spokeswoman Shari Schwartz-Maltz says East End Madrassah will have to find a new meeting place until the police investigation is complete, adding the board has also requested a meeting with school officials to ensure their teachings are in line with the board's policies.

Schwartz-Maltz says East End Madrassah complied willingly and was quick to apologize for the controversy.

"We've had a relationship with the organization for about 30 years, and in that 30 years we've had no complaints whatsoever," she said.

Jewish groups praised the board's decision, calling it an excellent first step. » | The Canadian Press | Thursday, May 17, 2012

Related »

Islamic School Under Investigation for Anti-Semitic Teachings
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: A Toronto-area Islamic organization is facing a police investigation over a Sunday school text that compares Judaism with Nazism and writes that “treacherous” Jews “conspired to kill” Mohammed.

The East End madrassah has apologized for the statements, removed them from its website and pledged to review all its teaching material to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Asked about the materials Tuesday, premier Dalton McGuinty told reporters: “There is no room for hatred or intolerance in this province.” » | Adrian Morrow | Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Related »

Tunis Reopens Ancient Islamic College to Counter Radicals

REUTERS.COM: Watched by residents of the old quarter of Tunis, a court official stepped forward and unlocked the huge wooden doors. From the gloom within, volunteers began to bring out stools and chairs that had gathered dust and cobwebs for half a century.

The school at Tunisia's 8th-century Zaitouna Mosque, one of the world's leading centers of Islamic learning, was closed by independence leader and secularist strongman Habib Bourguiba in 1964 as part of an effort to curb the influence of religion. Its ancient university was merged with the state's Tunis University.

The college reopened its ancient doors to students on Monday, part of a drive by religious scholars and activists to revive Zaitouna's moderate brand of Islam, which once dominated North Africa, and counter the spread of more radical views.

"The return of this religious educational beacon is very important in light of the increased religious extremism that we are living with," said Fathi al-Khamiri, who heads a pressure group that obtained a court order allowing the school to reopen.

"The aim is to restore Zaitouna's educational and religious role in Tunisia and North Africa in order to spread the principles of moderate religion."

Zaitouna once rivaled Egypt's Al Azhar as a centre of Islamic learning, and during the golden age of Islam generations of leading Islamic thinkers studied logic, philosophy, medicine and grammar as well as theology within its walls.

That rich tradition had already begun to atrophy by the time Bourguiba became president in the 1950s. In recent decades, radical religious ideas have spread across the Middle East, partly in response to a perceived attack on Islam by the West. » | Tarek Amara | Writing by Lin Noueihed; editing by Tim Pearce | Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Germany Teaches Islamic Theology
ON ISLAM: TUEBINGEN, Germany – One of Germany's oldest university [sic] has opened the country's first department of Islamic theology to educate a new generation of enlightened Muslim preachers, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported.

“Religion needs to be thought through,” Education Minister Annette Schavan, who is herself a graduate in Catholic theology, said.

Opening the theology department at Tuebingen University, Schavan said the department was a “milestone for integration” of Muslims who make up 5 percent of the population.

The course, to start at the University of Tu[e]bingen, will offer bachelor programs in Islamic studies.

Students will be offered advanced Western academic qualifications.

Though the teaching will be conducted in German, Arabic, the language of the Qur’an, will be a compulsory subject.

The three professors at the department had to satisfy an Islamic advisory council that they were devout Muslims.

Tu[e]bingen department is one of four new centers in Germany dedicated to the study of Islamic theology.

Tuebingen, a public university where tuition is free, is one of Europe’s leading centers of academic Christian theology. » | OnIslam & News Agencies | Tuesday, January 17, 2012

WIKI: Tübingen University »

Islamic Schools Flourish to Meet Demand

THE GUARDIAN: Demand for Islamic education in England is growing fast and schools – official and unofficial – are springing up to meet it. Now some local authorities are concerned that there is insufficient regulation

At about eight o'clock on a dull autumnal morning, a mother is preparing breakfast for her young son in the kitchen of an unassuming private house on a little modern estate in Leicester. The doorbell rings. Outside, a series of people carriers and estate cars are rolling up one by one; out of them tumbling a succession of children in twos and threes, all in traditional Islamic dress.

By 8.30, 26 children – some of them only just old enough for school, some almost grown – are sitting in tight rows on the floor of a little inner room, reciting morning prayers in Arabic and in English. By 9.30, the conservatory has become an infant classroom, the dining room has been taken over by the juniors and in the living room, year 7 and 8 girls are preparing to spread their geography projects across the laminate flooring.

By now, the mother has vanished – she doesn't want her name or address to be used, she says, because already families are turning up at odd hours asking to look round the "school" – and Fatima D'Oyen, director of Manara Education, has taken charge with her small team of staff.

There's no doubting that the Manara academy is a most unusual educational institution. But it's also part of a national trend. Although the number of Islamic schools is still small – around 140 at the latest count, just 12 of them state-funded – it is growing fast. About 60 of these schools have opened in the last 10 years; several in the last couple of months. And the demand from parents seems to be huge – one school in Birmingham recently attracted 1,500 applications for just 60 places. At least five Islamic schools have recently applied to be free schools, although so far only one has been approved.

Manara is one of two Islamic schools that have opened in Leicester this autumn – although in its case, the word "school" can only be used loosely. Manara operates just three mornings a week, and its pupils are registered as home-educated. » | Fran Abrams | Monday, November 28, 2011

Dispatches: Lessons in Hate and Violence





MAIL ONLINE: 'Muslim Eton' at centre of Channel 4 hate-preaching allegations is forced to shut over far-Right safety fears >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Monday, February 14, 2011

Extremist Muslim Schools: Islamism's Most Worrying Manifestation of All
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – ANDREW GILLIGAN: I’ve just finished watching John Ware’s excellent BBC Panorama about what’s being taught in some Muslim schools: a subject which I, and others, believe is the single most worrying aspect of Islamist and radical activity in Britain.

At present the vast majority of British Muslims have little or no truck with Islamist ideas. But in some Muslim schools – not in all, but in a significant and growing number – a new generation is being raised to be much more radical than its parents.

The BBC’s film is another encouraging sign of the growing pressure under which Islamism now finds itself. But the Telegraph has been following this story for a while. As I’ve reported in the paper over the last couple of years, some British schools (most but not exclusively Muslim) are teaching impressionable children to suspect, even despise, the society in which they will have to live. Other schools are teaching an overly narrow, Islamic-focused curriculum, turning out students ill-equipped for life in anything other than a Muslim ghetto. This is, quite simply, a betrayal of the children involved and a recipe for social conflict.

The most shocking and headline-grabbing aspect of the film was, understandably, the Saudi-sponsored weekend schools which teach children racism, anti-Semitism and Sharia punishments. It was fun watching the Islamists’ usual transparent wriggling and lies – the Saudi government trying to deny responsibility for its own textbooks, and so on. Read on and comment >>> Andrew Gilligan | Tuesday, November 22, 2010

Panorama: British Schools, Islamic Rules


Or watch the programme on a BBC iPlayer here if you are a resident of the UK.

Related >>>

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A plan to tackle extremism in the classroom: Those who wish to set up schools in Britain should have to commit to core British values, argues Ruth Dudley Edwards. >>> Ruth Dudley Edwards | Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Verbunden >>>

Islamic College Opens in California
ARAB NEWS: WASHINGTON: The long history of Islamic scholarship has just gotten a novel addition: a college in California that seeks to educate Muslim leaders.

Zaytuna College held its inaugural classes Aug. 24 and aims to become America's first four-year, accredited, Islamic institution of higher learning.

Founded by three Muslim-American scholars, Zaytuna focuses on renewing Islam's intellectual tradition while placing it in the context of American society.

"As the years pass, the founding of Zaytuna College will prove to be a milestone in bringing about both a sounder understanding of Islam and better relations between Muslims and members of other faith communities here in the United States - God willing," founder Zaid Shakir said in a news release marking the college's opening.

Dustin Craun, a student from Colorado in Zaytuna's first class, said the college will help Muslims navigate their role in the United States.

"I think that we, as Muslims in America, have to figure out how to learn what Islam is for us as Americans, and that is part of what this institution is about," Craun said. The college is "about being standard-bearers for the Muslims in this country."

Craun and the 14 other students in Zaytuna's initial class can choose from two majors: Islamic law and theology or Arabic. The school's founders expect some of them to become leaders of their communities as imams or in other capacities. Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that would be an important achievement because some foreign-born imams do not understand American culture and society.

"Importing works great for carpets. It doesn't work particularly great for imams in an American context, where they might need to know just as much about marital counseling," Safi said. Future Muslim religious leaders in America "are going to have to be completely up on the world of Facebook and [teenage singer] Justin Bieber, just as they are on the classical aspects of Islamic law."

Other U.S. colleges offer courses in Islamic studies, but Hatem Bazian, the academic affairs chair and a co-founder of Zaytuna, said the fledgling college takes another approach.

"At institutions that teach about Islam, it is teaching from the outside looking in, and often it is from a deconstructing approach," Bazian said. "We will be looking at Islam from within and with a sense of not to seek to deconstruct, but how to take that valuable core of the tradition and build upon it." >>> M. Scott Bortot | Saturday, August 28, 2010

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: America's first Muslim College opens in Berkeley >>> IB Times Staff Reporter | August 26, 2010

Zaytuna College: An Idea Whose Time Has Come *


* One would have to be naïve to believe this!

David Cameron Accused of 'Divisive Smears' Over Islamic Schools Claim
Most people tend to live up to their names. Ed Balls appears to be no exception. – © Mark
TIMES ONLINE: David Cameron was accused of using "divisive smears" by the Schools Secretary after alleging that a radical Muslim group had set up two schools with the help of public cash meant to tackle extremism.

The Tory leader claimed that the Government had been warned that the independent schools in London were being run by a “front organisation for Hizb ut Tahrir”.

Demanding an investigation from Gordon Brown, Mr Cameron said schools run by the ISF (Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation) in Slough and Haringey, London, had received £113,000 of Government money, some of which was from the Pathfinder scheme, the objective of which is meant to be preventing violent extremism. >>> Francis Elliott and Times Online | Thursday, November 26, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: Brown denies Tory claim that £100,000 of public money was given to 'Muslim extremist schools' >>> Kirsty Walker | Thursday, November 26, 2009

One Step Closer to Islam Being a “Religion of State”!

With many thanks to Always On Watch for alerting me to this story:

WORLD NET DAILY: A new government study is being condemned by the Christian ministry the Barnabas Fund because its proposals would move closer to imposing Islam in the United Kingdom as "a religion of state."

Among the proposals from the study being considered for implementation is the provision by universities for Islamic studies for all students.

The report was initiated by Bill Rammell, the minister of state for higher education and lifelong learning, officials said. He appointed Ataullah Siddiqui, senior research fellow at the Islamic Foundation, to write it.

The Barnabas Fund, in an analysis, said the report "signals another step toward the Islamisation of Britain and its education system"

"Should this report be implemented, education will be handed over more and more to Muslims who will train and shape the next generation," the analysis said. Islamic education for all: Great Britain plan would move toward 'religion of state' (more)

Mark Alexander