Road Sassy

Iftikhar Ahmad September 11th, 2008 at 9:40 am

Muslim youths are angry, frustrated and extremist because they have been mis-educated and de-educated by the British schooling. Muslim children are confused because they are being educated in a wrong place at a wrong time in state schools with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. They face lots of problems of growing up in two distinctive cultural traditions and value systems, which may come into conflict over issues such as the role of women in the society, and adherence to religious and cultural traditions. The conflicting demands made by home and schools on behaviour, loyalties and obligations can be a source of psychological conflict and tension in Muslim youngsters. There are also the issues of racial prejudice and discrimination to deal with, in education and employment. They have been victim of racism and bullying in all walks of life. According to DCSF, 56% of Pakistanis and 54% of Bangladeshi children has been victims of bullies. The first wave of Muslim migrants were happy to send their children to state schools, thinking their children would get a much better education. Than little by little, the overt and covert discrimination in the system turned them off. There are fifteen areas where Muslim parents find themselves offended by state schools.

The right to education in one’s own comfort zone is a fundamental and inalienable human right that should be available to all people irrespective of their ethnicity or religious background. Schools do not belong to state, they belong to parents. It is the parents’ choice to have faith schools for their children. Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. There is no place for a non-Muslim teacher or a child in a Muslim school. There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools. An ICM Poll of British Muslims showed that nearly half wanted their children to attend Muslim schools. There are only 143 Muslim schools. A state funded Muslim school in Birmingham has 220 pupils and more than 1000 applicants chasing just 60.

Majority of anti-Muslim stories are not about terrorism but about Muslim
culture–the hijab, Muslim schools, family life and religiosity. Muslims in the west ought to be recognised as a western community, not as an alien culture.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

zee September 14th, 2008 at 1:10 am

Iftikhar Ahmad

They face lots of problems of growing up in two distinctive cultural traditions and value systems, which may come into conflict over issues such as the role of women in the society, and adherence to religious and cultural traditions.

Cry me a river. It’s quite simple. Assimilate or leave. It’s a lame excuse anyway. In America the Amish, Quakers, and other assorted odd groups manage quite well to maintain their “values” without squealing for accommodation

The right to education in one’s own comfort zone is a fundamental and inalienable human right

What a bizarre idea. Education is not a human right. And then to demand that the state provide you a “comfort zone” is contemptible. For a muslim to dare to speak of human rights is ludicrous on it’s face. Your very religion is antithetical to the most basic of human rights; individual free will

There are fifteen areas where Muslim parents find themselves offended by state schools.

Too freaking bad. Get over it.

It is the parents’ choice to have faith schools for their children. Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools

What egregious nerve. Create and fund your own damn schools. The state has no obligation to accommodate your peculiarities.

Majority of anti-Muslim stories are not about terrorism but about Muslim culture–the hijab, Muslim schools, family life and religiosity.

Quite frankly, your culture is far more insidious than your suicide bombers. Sharia law has no place in the West. And you forgot to mention genital mutilation, forced marriages and honor killings. Must have slipped your mind.

Muslims in the west ought to be recognised as a western community, not as an alien culture

You are truly delusional. You rant how incompatible western schooling is for your children and then you have the nerve to be wish to be viewed as Western. If your culture were not so alien, than why do you find the need to demand schools that cater to you?
Trust me, all that islam is alien and quite frankly, repellent.

Iftikhar Ahmad November 1st, 2008 at 12:25 pm

Salaam

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.

The demand for state funded Muslim schools is in accordance with the law of the land.

I do not blame the parents, Imams and Masajid for the plight of the Muslim youths. All Muslim youths suffer from identity crises because they find themselves cut off from their cultural roots, literature and poetry. All of them lack self-confidence and self-esteem. British education has made them stupid. They have become economic slaves of the British society. They do not know where they belong. They are unable to enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. A man is a product of his culture, language and faith. They go hand in hand.

The solution of all the problems is state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models right from nursery classes. The Charter of Islam teaches true tolerance and equality and indeed is more, acceptable to all people of the world than the United Nation Human Rights Charter. Islam does not just mean a beard, a cap and a bunch of self-interpreted fatwas.

Accoding to a research by Goldsmiths, university of London, bilingual learning can provide substantial benefits for second and third generationchildren whose families speak a language other than English. Even when
children have grown up in the UK with English as their stronger language,using both languages aids cognitive development and strengthenstheir identity as learners. It is crucial that schools support c hildren’s mother tongue through bilingual learning activities connected with the
mainstream curriculum. Now Primary National Strategy recognises the value of bilingualism and promotes early language learning. Policy makers need to encourage good practice in schools, otherwise, the potential benefits of bilingual leaning will be lost to future generations.

The research also discovered that many second and third generation children are in danger of losing these skills if they do not have opportunities todevelop their mother tongue through academic work at school. Bilingual
children who learn in their family’s language as well as English do better at school. It is very important that parents continue to talk to theirchildren in their first language.

It is absurd to say that Muslim schools threaten the social cohesion of the nation. Diversity is a blessing and we should feel proud of diversity. The real threat to social cohesiondoes nt come from Muslim parents but from government that seeks to force these parents to conform with the state’s ideas about how and what their children should be taught. There is no evidence that Muslim schools are undermining social cohesion.