And there are cults killing each other on the campus of a university!

How do people possibly believe this sort of stuff?

@2: I may have slightly misspoken to use “racism”, but its the closest word that comes to mind. And it’s not far off when a bunch mostly White Anglo-Saxons (and Protestants at that) are opposed to a group that is mostly comprised of Middle-Eastern and West Asian people.

@3: All religions should be open to criticism, and no educational institution should be aligned with any ideology. Truth transcends ideology – no matter how much you want something to be true, it either is or it isn’t. And education is about learning truths.

It is. War is always a political issue.

It is bigoted to prevent a school being established for religious reasons. (Nitpicking about the commenter’s choice of words doesn’t change this fact.) Islam does have requirements with regards to most parts of everyday life, but so do the majority of religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

I think, “it is wholly justified to oppose an ideology which is incompatible with their way of life,” is not only untrue, but that it smacks of a cop out.

What a preposterous assertion. Islam is a religion not a race. It is – and should be – open to criticism, especially since it has a political element (Islam proscribes for all aspects of life not only spirituality). It is wholly justified to oppose an ideology which is incompatible with their way of life.

London School of Islamics is an educational Trust. Its aim is to make British public, institutions and media aware of the needs and demands of the Muslim community in the field of education and possible solutions.

Slough Islamic school Trust Slough had a seminar on Muslim education and schools in Thames Valley Atheltic Centre. The seminar was addressed by the education spokesman of MCB. I could not attend the seminar but I believe lot of Muslims from Slough and surrounding areas must have attended. Very soon, the Muslims of Slough will have a state funded Muslim school but there is a need for more schools. A day will come when all Muslim children will attend state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role model.

Muslim schools are not only faith schools but they are more or less
bilingual schools.

Bilingual Muslim children need to learn standard English to follow the
National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve
humanity. They need to be well versed in Arabic to recite and understand the Holy Quran. They need to be well versed in Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.

Bilingualism is an asset but the British schooling regards it as a
problem. A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village. He/she does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brit. Pakistan is only seven hours from London and majority of British Muslims are from Pakistan.

More than third of British Muslim have no qualifications. British school system has been failing large number of Muslims children for the last 60 years. Muslim scholars see the pursuit of knowledge as a duty, with the Quran containing several verses to the rewards of learning. 33% of British Muslims of working age have no qualifications and Muslims are also the least likely to have degrees or equivalent qualifications. Most of estimated 500,000 Muslim school-aged pupils in England and Wales are educated in the
state system with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. Majority of them are underachievers because they are at a wrong place at a wrong time.

Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school. As far as higher education is concerned, Muslim students can be educated with others. Let Muslim community educate its own children so that they can develop their own Islamic, cultural and linguistic identities and become usefull members of the British society rather than becoming a buden.

We are living in an English speaking country and English is an
international language, therefore, we want our children to learn and be well versed in standard English and at the same time well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. Is there anything wrong with this approach?

It is not only the Muslim community who would like to send their children to Muslim school. Sikh and Hindu communities have started setting up their schools. Last week. British Black Community has planned the first all black school with Black teachers in Birmingham.

Scotland’s first state funded Muslim school could get the go-ahead within months after First Munister Alex Salmond declared he was sympathetic towards the needs and demands of the Muslim community.

And my comment about this over at his blog keeps getting deleted.

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I hope you’ll continue reading, and let us know what you think.