Muslim parents unaware of 'hardline' teaching at some Islamic schools

SOME Islamic schools in Britain were today accused of teaching "fundamentalist" views in a new report which warns they could undermine the country's social cohesion.

The report, by Right-wing think tank Civitas, claims pupils are being told to shun chess, music, cricket and even Harry Potter in material posted or linked to school websites.

It says the teaching risks encouraging some Muslim children to "despise British culture" and prepare them to live "separate lives" in "Muslim enclaves" distant from the rest of society.

The report also claims some Muslim parents deliberately send their children to "sectarian schools", but suggests many are unaware of the hardline content of teaching, and are simply choosing Islamic schools in preference to less successful state alternatives.

The claims - which are based on a study of the websites of Islamic schools in Britain, including some in London - will revive concerns about the risk that religious schooling could widen divisions within society.

Ministers, who have permitted the creation of Islamic state schools alongside existing Church of England, Catholic, Jewish and other institutions, insist that a requirement for publicly funded schools to teach the national curriculum counters this danger.

Today's Civitas report warns, however, that with more than 100 private Islamic schools, and many other state-educated pupils receiving extra tuition in weekend or evening madrassa lessons, many Muslim children are being exposed to fundamentalist teaching.

"The schools that give cause for concern are being run by religious fundamentalists," the report states. "Their aim is to capture the next generation of Muslims for fundamentalism, and to turn children away, not only from Western influence, but also from liberal and secular Muslims, whom they despise perhaps with greater vehemence than non-Muslims.

"Sometimes Muslim parents send their children to sectarian schools knowing what they are getting, but we suspect some parents are simply dissatisfied with the low standards in the local state school and send their children to private Muslim schools only as an escape from the local authority.

"They may be getting more than they bargained for."

One website extract cited by the report is from the Madani Girls' School in east London, which is quoted as saying: "Our children are exposed to a culture that is in opposition with almost everything Islam stands for."

The report describes this as a "bruising comment" that is giving pupils a "negative picture of Western life". The report also quotes Themina Ahmed, described as the creator of the history curriculum for Islamic Shaksiyah Foundation schools in Walthamstow and Slough,as writing that: "The world will witness the death of the criminal capitalist nation of America and all other states when the army of jihad is unleashed upon them."

Other examples include website instructions that pupils should not "waste time" playing cricket, or reading "shameless novels and fiction books" such as the Harry Potter series.

The Association of Muslim Schools said the report was based on flawed research. Dr Mohamed Mukadam, the association's chairman, said: "The author has pieced together bits of information from the internet. He hasn't set foot in a single Muslim school or spoken to a teacher or pupil."