Salaam

Racism and discrimination remain a serious problem across the British society. Majority of the Muslim children are from Pakistan. Their alienation had to be addressed as a priority. British society and Establishment must learn to respect, understand and appreciate their faith, their needs, their anger, their aspiration and stop demonising them.

The word Jehad has three definations, all refer to struggle, such as the struggle against one's own evil desires, speaking truth in the face of tyranny and any arduous fight, violent or non-violent, in a righteous cause.

Bilingual Muslim children need to be well versed in Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. At the same time they need to be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.

Salaam

Institutional racism, drugs, crime, incivility, binge drinking, teenage pregnancies and anti-social behaviour are common part of life in modern Britain. Muslim parents do not want their children to become integrated into such barbarity.

Majority of Muslim children leave schools with low grades because state schools with monolingual teachers are not capable to teach English language to bilingual children. The schools have also failed to teach Arabic, Urdu and other community languages, making them cut off from their cultural roots. As a result, they grow up to become angry young men.

Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. They need to be well versed in Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. They also need to be well versed in their mother tongues and Arabic to keep in touch with their cultural heritage and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.

A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village. He/She does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brits.

Polish Children Vs Muslim Children

John Reid, the ex-Home Secretary has predicted that more Catholic schools are needed due to influx of East European migrants. An estimated 20,000 Polish children need schools for their faith. He highlighted the growing pressure on faith school places because of the growing number of Polish Catholic children in the United Kingdom. There is a demand for Catholic school places because 95% of Polish are Catholics. Polish ambassador to the United Kingdom said that there are now so many Polish children in British schools that they should be taught Polish language, history and culture, so that they do not find themselves cut off from their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. Many schools are recruiting Polish teachers as role models. Churches have started Sermons in Polish language so that the Polish people can feel at home.

Muslim communities have started to arrive during the 50s, mainly from the sub-continent. They brought their cultures, languages and faith. They contributed for the British economy by paying all sorts of taxes. They built Masajid for offering prayers and community centers for the education of their young generations. Not a single politician ever thought and campaigned for state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. Instead, Muslim children are being discouraged to learn and speak their mother tongues even at home by the politicians. Even Imams are being forbidden to use Urdu in their sermons, inspite of the fact that majority of British Muslims are from Pakistan. Bilingualism should be encouraged because it is enormously beneficial to children development. It should be introduced as early as nursery level. I believe the result would be amazing. It is absurd to send bilingual children to schools with monolingual teachers.

Muslim schools in Britain emerged as an answer to a major challenge that Muslim communities faced in the West on how to educate their children and inculcate Islamic values and morals among them. Muslim children have been suffering academically, linguistically, socially, emotionally and spiritually for the last 50 years. They have been in a wrong place at a wrong time. The state schools have become exam factories. They have no time and energy to educate children. Institutional racism, incivility, drug, crime, binge drinking, anti-social behaviour, high rate of abortion and an increase in teenage pregnancies are common part of life in state schools. Muslim parents do not want their children to be integrated into such barbarity. Muslim children need to learn to be proud of their Islamic, cultural and linguistic Identities without fear of discrimination and bullying. There are over 500,000 school age Muslim children and only 4% of them attend Muslim schools. There is a need for more Muslim schools but they are being asked by the politicians to open their doors for the children of other faiths or no faiths. The demand for Muslim schools is immense and every school has a lengthy waiting lists. Muslim communities do not have enough resources to set up schools for each and every Muslim child. 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.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Community Cohesion
According to Ruth Kelly, migrants must learn English language to integrate. Learning English language is about as useful as learning Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. The British Establishment and society has systematically failed to understand the causes of migration, global terrorism and social and emotional, economic segregation. Muslims suffer different forms of discrimination which reduce their employment opportunities and affect their educational achievements. This can give rise to hopelessness and could undermine Muslims? sense of belongingness. Islamophobia is a growing reality of racism around the world. The only way to stop it is by respecting the religious diversity. Communities are more divided than ever. The Government presses ahead with flawed policies and anti-terrorist legislation that created further resentment, alienation and criminalization. A dramatic surge of racist and religiously?motivated violence followed the 7/7, London and Glasgow bombing.

Muslim communities are angry at plans to ?spy? on Muslim students at universities. The proposal is an act of racism. Universities are not the problem. Just because some of the 7/7 bombers were graduates, does not mean they formed their ideas in a university. It is the western society which is creating extreme Muslims all around the world. Young Muslims are becoming more separated from society than their parents who were not well versed in English while young Muslim generation is notoriously monolinguals. Schools do not encourage and teach Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. They are even discouraged to speak mother tongues at home. They only learn British History not their own history. The British society was and still reluctant to open up its sense of citizenship to all those that have come to live here. Integration is a two-way process. Many Muslims acknowledge that they need to do more to engage with wider society. At the same time British and European politicians must make stronger efforts to promote meaningful intercultural dialogue and tackle racism, discrimination and marginalization more effectively.

The British establishment is wrong in thinking that Imams are to blame for extremism. Imams are not solution to the problem for extremism. Extremism is nothing to do with Imams. Extremism is not created from abroad, it is coming from within. Britain fails to help Muslim communities feel part of British society. Race trouble is being predicted by the Daily Express, because of an ethnic boom in UK major cities. Muslim communities need imams for the solutions of their needs and demands in their own native languages. Muslim parents would like to see their children well versed in Standard English and to go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. The fact is that majority of Muslim children leave schools with low grades because monolingual teachers are not capable to teach Standard English to bilingual Muslim children. A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village. He/she does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brit.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Building Bridges
The unrest among British Muslims both young and old is not only due the British policies abroad but also due the policies at home for the last fifty years. Anti-immigration was the norm during 60s & 70s and the British society and the Establishment just closed its eyes and even state schools tried to hide all physical and verbal abuse of Muslim children and teachers under the carpet. Muslims do not feel equal; that leads to a victim identity and extremism can take place. On top of that the young generation was deprived of their cultures and languages making them cut off from their cultural and linguistic roots. The second and the third generation were educated in State schools and they all speak English in local accents but not well versed in Standard English. Schools do not encourage and teach Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. They are even discouraged to speak their own languages at home.

Now young generation of English speaking Muslims have an opportunity to build many more bridges between the British society and the Muslim community. Instead of building bridges both the societies are splitting apart at a point of no return. The words ISLAM & MUSLIMS have become the pre-occupation, biggest headache of and anathema to western politicians, media and public. These two words irritate them beyond imagination. Majority of Muslim pupils leave schools with low grades and now the few British Muslims who are in the institutions of higher education are under suspicion and the universities authorities have been urged to keep on eye on Muslims so that they do not involve in any subversive activities. This means a Muslim in an institution is not going to concentrate on his/her education and I am afraid to say that now majority of Muslim students are not going to complete their studies or research. The proposal is an act of racism. In my opinion, 7/7 bombers were the product of the British education system. They were mis-educated and de-educated by the native teachers who are not interested to understand their needs and demands. British society is reluctant to open up its sense of citizenship to all those that have come to live here. It has failed to help Muslims feel part of society. Institutional racism, drugs, crime incivility, binge drinking, anti-social behavior, rise in the rate of abortion and teen age pregnancies are common part of life in modern Britain. Muslim parent do not want their children to become integrated into such barbarity.

The DFES document clearly states that children should be encouraged to maintain and develop their home languages. The research of Jim Cummins (2000) high lights, how bilingualism is a positive benefit to cognitive development and bilingual teacher is a must. A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny village. He/She does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brits. Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools to be well versed in English, Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. They need Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. They need to be proud of their cultural heritage.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

English Only Vs English Plus
There is an increase of those children in state schools who do not come from English speaking back ground. One in seven children at primary school in England and one in ten at secondary school speak a language other than English at home. A research team from Goldsmiths concludes that using two or more languages deepens an understanding of mathematical concepts and results in a better overall performance in school. Bilingual children are able to access key concepts through both languages, giving them an advantage over monolinguals. Children who speak at least two languages actually strengthen their identities as learners and boost their cognitive development. Researchers say this finding is of particular importance for second and third generation immigrant children. It is important to ?embed? mother tongues into daily activities through games, songs and incidental use, such as answering the register and giving praise and simple instructions, familiar stories can be told or acted out in their languages.

In the 60s and 70s, the British education system has destroyed the home languages and the new research proved that the policy was wrong and the British education system is guilty of crime against humanity. It is very important that immigrant parents keep talking to their children in their home tongues as this will give children a valuable tool to access lessons, deepen understanding of key ideas, and enhance overall school performance. Children who led bilingual lives could access their lessons through both languages. The children in the project expressed a strong desire to use their community languages in school. Teachers were able to tap into their pupils? full range of cultural knowledge.

Children who attended mother tongues classes did better in their National Curriculum tests. Research suggests that bilingual pupils do better than those with just one language. The researcher warns that many second and third generation children are in danger of losing their bilingual skills if they do not have the chance to develop their mother tongue through their school work. Multilingual children may be allowed to use their mother tongue in mainstream classes. Rather than thinking in terms of an ?English only? culture we should be promoting ?English plus?.

Among all the migrant children, Muslim children suffer more than others. Bilingual Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. They need to be well versed in 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, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

An Open Letter to Ruth Kelly

According to Ruth Kelly, approved citizenship lessons may be introduced in Muslim schools and supplementary schools to eradicate extremism and violence in Muslim communities. Muslim schools help to strengthen community cohesion, not undermine it. This is the reason why all Teachers Unions do not like to see the rapid growth of Muslim schools after 9/11 and 7/7. According to a world wide survey, Islam was found to have little to do with radicalization or antipathy towards western culture. The war on terror has radicalized Muslims around the world to unprecedented levels of anti-American feeling. The wealthier and better ?educated were more likely to be radicalized. This is a climate of growing mistrust between Islam and the West. Muslims are a group causing very little terrorism in Europe, while at the same time; Muslims are much more likely to be arrested on suspicion of terrorism. There were 498 incidents in eleven EU countries in 2006. The truth is that only one out of 498 terrorist attacks was carried out by Muslims. But the Western and especially British media are not interested on reporting such incidents. More than half of Muslims were arrested on suspicion of terrorism.

The native children need citizenship education as well as Islamic education because they have no respect and are reluctant to tolerate those who are different. Government figures revealed that the number of pupils suspended from schools for racist abuse rose nearly one-third in a year. The schools are reluctant to report racist bullying because they do not want their schools to gain a reputation for having racist problems. Blackburn and Burnley were identified as being among the country?s most divided areas, where racial tension is very high. The wholly negative attitudes towards Islam in the West have a very long history and have a palpable feel more than ever at the moment. Islamophobia is alive and well. The mass media, popular culture and the leading forces in world politics are all mostly hostile to and in their representations of Islam, and Muslims. British right-wing target Muslims as the new ?enemy other?. Muslims in Britain are disempowered, disenfranchised, disenchanted, disaffected groups at the margins of economy, society and polity. Identification with Islam is strengthening among young generations of Muslims, both as a reaction to racist hostility as well as a desire to understand Islam. The brutal colonial history, combined with racism which endemic in the host country, this creates an atmosphere of mistrust.

It is the state schools as well as British media and politicians, creating a sense of intolerance in all walks of British life. There is a tendency in the Western media to portray Islam in a negative way. The media stirs up fear and prejudice towards Islam and reinforce the image of Islam as the enemy. The Western media is stoking up fear of Islam and rely on ?simplistic notion of the battle between cultures.? Lord Falconer?s speech to the National Association of Head teachers? has many contradictions. He talks about freedom yet he wants to take this freedom from Muslim students. He talks about tolerance yet he encourages intolerance towards Muslims. Jack Straw, Phil Woolas, Bill Rammell, David Davis and the list is endless of the politicians that have created an atmosphere of fear and demonisation towards innocent Muslims. The speech reinforces the discrimination towards Muslims legitimised by the Government and the Lord Chancellor.

The number of racist statements has increased dramatically in Europe. The number of racist statements reportedly grew by between 25 and 45 Percent in France, Netherlands, Britain, Italy and Belgium. In one EU country, racism increased by as much as 70%. According to EUMC, the increase can partly be attributed to easier procedures for reporting racism and more publicity on the problem. A leader of the Freedom Party said, if Muslims want to stay in the Netherlands, they should tear out half of the Koran and throw it away and they should not listen to the Imams. Islam is a violent religion. Third World War has begun. In the past he voiced his fear of a ?tsunami of Islamisation in the Netherlands?. Islam is depicted as a threat to Christian identity. It has produced an advertisement showing an Islamic Crescent above an ancient church with these words ?This is the true hidden desire of Muslims?. The interior minister of Austria called for the banning of hijab-clad teachers and asserting that 45% of Muslims defy assimilation. In Belgium, the editor of Het Velb insulted the local Muslim community by referring to it as a breeding ground for thousands of Jihad candidates. Deep in the European subconscious is the memory of a war with the Muslims. How Sicily was lost, how half of Spain was conquered and finally how Constantinople was conquered on Tuesday, May29, 1453, a date that lives in infamy. It was the end of Christianity in Turkey and that was to become Istanbul. Brussels launches sermons about gender equality, though it should be remembered that Turkey gave women the vote before Belgium.

The British Government has continued to create an atmosphere of hatred and fear since 7/7 towards Muslims. Ant-terror laws, indiscriminate arrests of innocent Muslim youths and demonising Muslims that dresses in certain way. It is the mainstream Britain which needs to integrate more with the Muslim way of life, not the other way round. One can learn hospitality, tolerance and generosity from Muslims.

Islam isn?t the sickness. It is the cure. It is one of liberty and equality. Secularists and followers of other religions regard Islam with something approaching panic. It is wrong to say that Islam has turned Osama bin Laden into a devil. It is the Secularist Western policies have turned Osama and others against the West. The world needs Islam to address the moral issues. America and Europe are wealthy, but they are morally impoverished. Broken families, drugs, booze, youth gangs, crime, neglect of children and the old, the sheer boredom of shopaholicism, terrorism, the inner-cities slums, materialism itself, are all the marks of a global society in decline. Children need to be taught to distinguish between right and wrong.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Association of Muslim Governors
There is a shortage of school governors and it is difficult to find a Muslim governor in a state schools. A campaign has started to recruit more and more Muslim governors. In 2003, there were only 53 Muslim schools and now there are more than 126 full-time Muslim schools and more are in the pipe line because of racism and anti-Muslim feeling in state schools. The silent majority of Muslim parents would like to send their children to Muslim schools. In my opinion, AOMG and MCB should campaign for more state funded Muslim schools rather than asking for more Muslim governors in state schools. Muslim children are disadvantaged by an education system that perpetuates inequalities. British media and schooling tried their best to mirror Islamic cultural values as inferior, backward traditions and unworthy. This cultural obliteration is being made possible by the negation of the right to speak Urdu and Arabic as well as choice of dress.

I think that Muslim governors in state schools are not going to bring any kind of change. I became the first Muslim governor in Newham in the 70s but left after three years. I was the only Muslim governors and I found it a waste of time. In the 90s, Stratford school in Newham was opted out by the board of governors from the LEA. Majority of governors were Muslims. Within a year there was a conflict with the non-Muslim head teacher and the Secretary of State for Education dismissed all the governors and appointed new governors. The head teacher took early retirement and was awarded round about two hundred and fifty thousands pounds as a reward for getting rid of Muslim governors

There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. In my opinion, those schools should be designated as Muslim community schools. State funded Muslim schools are the solution and not the problem. Muslim pupils are bilingual. Bilingualism strengthens their cultural identity and foster educational success. It is such a gift to a child, that it is irresponsible not to encourage its natural development. Trilingual 11-years olds outperform monolingual children in reading tests. They are five times more likely to get five A-C grades at GCSE than those who don?t. Bilingualism and biculturalism should be valued and recognized by the teachers. If children?s education leads them to believe that the language of their parents is somehow ?inferior?, the chances of their feeling out of place in their extra-familial environment are likely to be greater (?banlieux? of Paris, November 2005?). Telling them to ?go home?, to a ?home? where they were not born, is no sort of a solution. The price of ignoring children?s bilingualism is educational failure and social exclusion. Learning to read in three languages has social, emotional and cognitive advantages, according to a study of 5-7 years olds in Watford. The children learn English, Urdu and Arabic at the same time at the age of five.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Parents? Power

I have been campaigning for Muslim schools since early 70s, because British schooling is not in a position to satisfy the needs and demands of bilingual Muslim pupils. Now MCB has accused schools of failing to respect the needs and demands of the Muslim pupils. The publication of 72-page document by the MCB is an attempt to promote better integration of Muslim pupils into the state sector. It calls for tolerance of religious needs and demands. According to Daily Express the document demands that all children to be taught in Taliban-style conditions. It calls for special considerations for Muslims in almost every aspect of school life collective worship, PE, dance, swimming, exams, school meals, sex education and parents evening. According to a study, majority of Muslim pupils are underachieving at schools because the curriculum is racist. The lessons failed to motivate or interest pupils and that the curriculum did not provide enough positive models. Head teachers have warned that meeting the needs and demands of the Muslim pupils would pose major practical difficulties for schools and it sounds completely un-doable. The British Established dismissed calls from MCB for schools to do more to accommodate Muslim pupils. In state schools, Muslim pupils are placed in situation where they feel pressured into acting contrary to their beliefs and conscience and also experience Islamophobic sentiments and comments within schools.

Bristol council spent ?18000.00 researching whether there was a demand for an Islamic school. The MORI report showed that support for Islamic schools and awareness of the Bristol Islamic School Trust campaign are at such a level within the Muslim community that the council cannot afford not to address this issue without significantly disappointing parents. I think all over the country, Muslim parents would support state funded Muslim schools. The silent majority of Muslim parents would like to send their children to state funded Muslim schools.

I did a survey in the London Borough of Newham in 1991 to find out the level of support for state funded Muslim schools. I visited each and every Muslim home in the Borough to find out their opinion about Muslim majority state schools to be designated as Muslim community schools. Nearly 90% of Muslim parents supported my proposal. The Guardian newspaper dated 5th of November 1991 devoted half a page on my efforts for state funded Muslim schools. The Channel 4 also produced a documentary which was due to be shown on that evening prime time but the broadcast was cancelled by the higher authorities because of institutional censorship and racism.

There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim pupils are in majority and instead of replacing them with Multi-faith schools; all such schools should be designated as Muslim Community schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. Muslim schools are supposed to be not only faith schools but also bilingual schools where English, Arabic and community languages would have priority for the development of economic, social and emotional literacy. State funded Muslim schools are the solution and not a problem.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

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London School of Islamics
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Email [email protected]
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Crusade for Fairness
According to a poll for a conservative think-tank, the growing number of young Muslims is embracing radical Islam. Young Muslims hold aggressively more extreme views than their parents. The think-tank blames multiculturalism for producing a generation of young Muslims who champion their right to be different. Multiculturalism is nothing to do with community cohesion and at the same time it does not divide people. British society is already divided because of institutional racism and extremism by all political parties. British society can tolerate foreigners as economic slaves but is unwilling to accept them as human beings. Muslims are human beings with social, emotional and spiritual needs and demands. They are not just economics. It is not 9/11 or 7/7; Islam was always portrayed as a threat to Western societies. Fear and the emotions that accompany it, has become a part of the public mindset. Headlines about waves of immigrants and fears of being swamped by foreigners are not much different now and they were in the past, and it is enough to make you wonder if we really were welcome in this country. Britain seems to be more in the grip of Muslim ? Mania ? an obsession with all things Islamic. Not a single Muslim group, Masajid, Imams, Muslim schools are promoting separation. Muslim girls are doing well at schools and universities. It is a myth to say that they are being held back by their fathers. Muslim community would like to see more and more state funded Muslim schools, where Muslim boys and girls could be educated separately by Muslim teachers.

In the past Muslim community was victim of Paki-bashing in all walks of life by the British society and the British establishment did nothing to tackle their suffering. Now the Muslim community is victim of terrorism by the British establishment, despite the fact that majority of Muslim youths were British born and educated. They speak English in local accents. They pick up English from play grounds and from the streets. British schooling never tried to teach them Standard English to follow the National Curriculum. State schools were and still are reluctant to teach Arabic and Urdu to Muslim pupils, making them cut off from the cultural roots. They are even mis-fit for their own communities and at the same time British society never accept them as British. Brutishness is often equated with Englishness, ?whiteness? and also with Christianity. A Pakistani does not, by being born in England become an Englishman. In law he becomes British citizen by birth; infact he is a Pakistani still.

Britain was puzzling over how a few young Muslim men, British born and educated, could feel so alienated that they wanted to blow up their fellow British citizens. I blame the British education system which is the home of institutional racism and native teachers, who are in no way role models for Muslim children. The teaching of citizenship called for greater focus on ?core British values?. Britishness is an artificial concept and it cannot fix the fundamental flaws in the education system. Screaming abuse, the use of aggressive, two-fingered, four-lettered words and self-righteous hatred of foreigners have become typical Britishness. A liberal society prides itself on tolerance, upholding of civil rights, and celebration of diversity and individual space. These attributes are a lot easier to preach and are not always easy to practice.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Multi-faith Schools

There is an extraordinary proposal to unite Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Hindu children in the country?s first multi-faith secondary school. The plans, backed by leading figures, are aimed at transforming the image of faith-based education which has been criticized in the wake of race riots. They hope that the 1000 pupils? school planned for the London Borough of Westminster will be the first of a series of similar ventures around the country. Now Sir Cyril Taylor is of the opinion that schools dominated by Muslim pupils should be closed down and replaced with multi-faith academies. I think Sir Cyril Taylor proposal is short-sighted and xenophobic. It is falsely called a blueprint for community cohesion and raising standards. The multi-faith schools are actually community schools. Every community school is potentially a school of many faiths and no faith, and the new academies are exactly the same. Integration does not mean mixing of different races and creeds; in fact integration means to satisfy the needs and demands of the communities who differ from each other. A few Muslims, Jewish and Christian?s secularists are against such schools and put forward a naive idea of Multi-faith schools which is not going to be accepted by those who believe in choice and diversity in education.

Multifaith schools are not going to bring together children from different faiths. Such schools are going to mis-educate and de-educate Muslim pupils just like any other state school. State schools are already multi-cultural and multi-racial but relation between different communities has gone from bad to worse for the last 30 years. The recent riots are clear evidence of institutional racism which is rife in state schools. Even Polish pupils are victim of physical and verbal abuse. There is no sign of respect and understanding between the children of different communities. There will be hardly any difference between future Multi-faith schools and present state schools.

The silent majority of Muslim parents would like to see their children attending Muslim schools. Muslim schools provide Muslim children with the opportunity to attend institutions of academic excellence which could reinforce their commitment to their culture, religion and languages while at the same time opening constructive dialogue with the British society in which they live. There is a dire need for more state funded Muslim schools. There are hundreds of state schools where Muslim pupils are in majority, such schools may be designated as Muslim community schools under the management and control of Muslim educational Trust or Charities. In Bradford, two Church schools have 90% of Muslim pupils and the Church of England should consider designating those two schools as Muslim community schools.

State funded Muslim schools need bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. Bilingualism is recognized by researchers as educational advantages. Schools need to take steps to support children?s bilingualism, which is an economic asset as well as an asset to migrant communities. The study of Comparative religions is not required in Muslim schools because Islam teaches respect, tolerance and understanding of those who are different. The teaching of Standard English will help Muslim children to follow National Curriculum. They will be able to achieve high grades to pursue higher studies and research to serve humanity. The teaching of community languages and Urdu will help them to enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. They do not find themselves cut off from their cultural roots. The teaching of Arabic will help them to practice Islam and recite and understand the Holy Quran. Only state funded Muslim schools can satisfy the needs and demands of the Muslim parents and pupils right from nursery level.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Open Letter to Sir Cyril Taylor
Sir Cyril Taylor, the chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, is of the opinion that Muslim children are not doing well in schools because they speak their own mother tongues at home. A very high proportion of the mothers come from the sub-continent, few speaking English. It is a major cause of lower results in English.

If children do not use their home language, it will die and with it they lose a big part of their faith and culture. Children see language as a feature of their identity. By welcoming a child?s home language, schools facilitate the flow of knowledge, ideas and feelings between home and school. Humans have a unique ability to learn more than one language. Jimmy Carter called for the providing all immigrant pupils with a teacher speaking their native language. One of the most powerful ways of boosting the moral and academic ambitions of bilingual pupils is to help them get the easiest qualification of all ? their home language GCSE. The result has been stunning. More than 80% of bilingual pupils at st. Martin school in Lambeth who have studied for home language GCSEs have earned As.

According to the Rights of the Child, all children must be allowed to speak their own language and practice their own religion and culture. Schools must recognize bilingualism as positive learning resource. Bilingualism should be explicitly valued as a special achievement. The opportunity to use first language will help development in English. Language is a very important symbol of cultural identity and schools should ensure that they value the linguistic diversity. British schooling is very unwelcoming and intimidating institutions for those with lesser or no English. The studies carried out in Britain concluded that children who speak two languages do better at schools than those who speak only one. Dr Raymonde Sneddon of UEL was able to demonstrate that far from being confused by using different languages, these children display greater comprehension when reading English. They tend to be on higher ability groups ? because the skills they acquire and develop in their language use is transferred to other subjects. A study in Leicester by Arvind Bhatt found that bilingualism improved a child?s overall educational performance by instilling a more subtle use of language and better communication skills. The findings contradicted the controversial comments made in 2002 by the Home Secretary David Blunkett and recently by Ann Cryer, who decried the ?negative impact? on society of children growing up with different languages at home and at school. Their views were based on the false premise that children can learn only one language at a time and that learning a mother tongue interferes with English. Another study in Watford found that a large number of British children learn to read in more than one language at the same time as they learn to read in English. It is a well known fact that to reject a child?s language in the school is to reject a child. Children?s cultural and linguistic experience in the home is the foundation of their future learning and the school must build on that foundation rather than undermine it. The cultural, linguistic and intellectual capital of British society will increase dramatically when we stop seeing culturally and linguistically diverse children as ?a problem to be solved? and instead open our eyes to the linguistic, cultural and intellectual resources they bring from their homes to schools and societies.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Hate Preachers
Not a single Imam preaches religious fascism and racial hatred. Extremism has not been created by the fanatical clerics. Muslim clerics never played any role for the radicalization of Muslim youths. There is no culture of hate, spite and distrust in the Masajid or in Muslim schools. The so- called hate preachers are just religious scholars to satisfy the social, spiritual and emotional needs and demands of the British Muslims in their own languages. The Western media and politicians have an assumption that Islam threatens its liberal sensibilities and it is right to have a go at Islam. It is now open season for attacks on Muslims by politicians, media, institutions and individuals of different faiths or no faith.

The writer Oriana Fallies recently asserted that there is no difference between Muslim extremist and Islam. She still had no trouble winning an audience with the Pope Benedict.
David Cameron, the rising Tory star, campared Islamic extremist to the Nazis threat in the 1930s. Nazism is a European invention, practiced by so-called civilized Europeans. Nazi ideology is exclusively based on the supremacy of one race, while Islam is the exact opposite, all races being equal. Bush and Blair have repeatedly pointed to their cultures? compassionate values, and condemned the barbarity of Muslim militants. The speech by the Pope, which aroused a world wide storm, went well with Bush?s Crusade. The head of OFSTED said that the rise of Muslim schools is a threat to Britain?s sense of national identity and fail to teach tolerance. America?s religious Right regards Islam is an evil ideology that inspires young angry Muslim males in western society. Tony Blair considers veil as a mark of separation and he fully supported the LEA who suspended and sacked the poor teacher. Masajid, Imams, Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers, veil, Halal foods and Arabic and Urdu languages are not a mark of separation but marks of identity. Universities and colleges across Britain are to spy on Muslim students for their suspected involvement in Islamic extremism and supporting terrorist violence. Racist incidents in London schools have increased 26% since the 7/7 bombing and the debate about the wearing of the veil has prompted further incidents. An EU report said that Europe?s Muslims face broad discrimination. Islamophobia included? discriminatatory and aggressive treatment by police?, a factor cited in youth unrest. A German teacher described the defeat of Ottoman forces at the edge of Vienna, as something to be celebrated, otherwise, boys would have been circumcised and the girls would have to cover from head to toe. The real hate preachers are Western politicians, teachers and media and not Muslim clerics and Muslim teachers.

The long-term solution to terrorism lies not in Guantanamo Bay or British prisons, but in education ? education about other religions, tolerance, free speeches, the history and the respect for human life. It is not the Muslim schools or Muslim majority state schools; it is those schools where native Brits are in majority, needs serious attention in terms of anxiety, bullying of Muslim pupils and threats to Muslim teachers. The role of schools to be highlighted in challenging Islamophobia, schools need to ensure that all children must learn about Islam. Muslim majority state schools should be designated as Muslim community schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. Those are the real issues tackling extremism and alienation of the Muslim youths.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

Established 1981
London School of Islamics
An Educational Trust
63 Margery Park Road London E7 9LD
Email [email protected]
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
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Criticism and Praise for Muslim Schools
Muslim schools offer a more conducive environment for learning because Islam teaches respect and stress learning whereas in state schools, there is a high level of disrespect. There is no evidence that Muslim schools foster separatism and hatred and indoctrinate children with values that endanger shared society.

There is a positive co-relation between faith, culture and language. Faith needs culture and languages to flourish. According to a research, children who study the language and culture of their parents may achieve more and become more involved citizens. Migrant Muslims speak variety of languages. State schools as well as Muslim schools give lip service to the community languages but majority of Muslim schools completely ignore or discourage community languages. The chairman of the Association of Muslim Schools Mr.Idrees Mears, a native revert totally rejects the teaching of Urdu and other languages. The same opinion was expressed by the head of state funded Islamia School as well as by the Chairman of the Nida Trust. They are not in a position to understand the needs and demands of the bilingual children because they are themselves monolinguals. It is a well known fact that social and emotional education comes with ones own language, literature and poetry. Pakistani children suffer more than other children. They speak different languages at home and when they go to the Masajid they are exposed to Urdu and Arabic. At schools they are exposed to English and at the age of 11 are exposed to European languages. Now European languages are introduced at Primary level, but Urdu is totally ignored and discouraged by the state as well as by the Muslim schools. English, Arabic and Urdu must be introduced at nursery level so that the children can grow up with three languages. We have already lost three generation and the fourth one is in the process of losing its linguistic and cultural identity by not learning Urdu. The Muslim community is suffering because of social and cultural problems of high rate of divorce, run away young girls, low academic achievements, drug addiction, drinking, teenage pregnancies, disrespect for their parents and elders, forced marriages and honour killings. It is all because our youth are cut off from their cultural roots and languages. I blame state schools because they have never been serious in the teaching of Urdu, Arabic and other community languages.

An American research reveals in 2005 that bilingual learners with no education in their first language take longer to learn English and a bilingual learner with a good education in their own language do best of all. Muslim schools are committing the same mistake by ignoring community languages. Even DFES and OFSTEAD are not serious about the importance of bilingualism and bilingual education. Their priority is the teaching of English language. No body is denying the importance of English as an economic language but equally important is the first languages of the children for social and emotional literacy.

I have been campaigning for Muslim schools since early 70s because there is no place for foreign cultures, languages and faiths in state schools. Muslim children are victim of racial abuse and discrimination. Neither Muslim community nor the DFE paid any attention to my proposal. Muslim community kept on setting up Masajid for worshiping and for the education of their children. Masajid help Muslim children to recite the Holy Quran without understanding and teach them how to perform their prayers. DFE introduced Multicultural education for the integration and assimilation of the Muslims.

I regard Muslim schools not just Faith schools but more or less bilingual schools. I set up the first Muslim school in Forest Gate London in 1981. Special attention was given to Standard English, Arabic and Urdu languages along with National Curriculum. But due to its closure, it could not become a model school for others to follow. Islamia School, founded by Yusuf Islam became the model school where there is no place for the teaching of Urdu and other community languages and only Arabic is taught.

The sound knowledge of ones owns language would appear to help ? not hinder the acquisition of a second language and bilingual children may even have cognitive advantages and that the ability to speak more than one language is going to be increasingly important for the world of the future. Therefore, Muslim children and young Muslims have potentially a major educational advantage, although sadly this is not being developed well at present. British policy makers now recognise bilingualism as an educational asset rather than a problem. Education plays a central role in the transmission of languages from one generation to the next. The teaching of mother tongues is essential in terms of culture and identity. Arabic is a religious language for the Muslims but for Pakistanis, Urdu is also essential for culture and identity. Blind Muslim children in Bradford are learning to read Arabic and Urdu Braille, by a blind teacher who traveled from Pakistan. Now blind Muslim children are not going to miss out on culture, religion, language and the social aspects and integration into their own community and identity.

Majority of Muslim children are from Pakistan. They need to learn Arabic and Urdu to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. Bilingualism and bilingual education should be part and parcel of each and every Muslim school. The problem is that most of Muslim schools are running by British educated Muslims who are made monolinguals by state schools. They do not feel the charm of bilingualism. They have never been given the chance to learn Arabic and Urdu along with English. An English man is proud of his language, culture and faith or no faith. In the same way a Muslim should be proud of his faith, languages and cultures. In my opinion at least three hours a day must be given for the teaching of English, Arabic, Urdu and other community languages from nursery level. The teaching of Standard English will help them to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity.
Iftikhar Ahmad