Thursday, June 12, 2008

Islamic School Closed for Teaching Hate

After 9/11 and the many terrorist attacks throughout the world since then, it is reasonable to ask whether practitioners of Islam in the United States are a threat to our society.  One reasonable emeasure of the long-term threat is:  What values are they teaching their children?  Can we trust that Islamic schools are teaching the children our values of tolerance and love of one's neighbor, even if the neighbor is different from you?

Well, it seems the genie (jinn?) is out of the bottle, so to speak:
updated 8:45 p.m. ET, Wed., June. 11, 2008

McLEAN, Va. - Textbooks at a private Islamic school in northern Virginia teach students that it is permissible for Muslims to kill adulterers and converts from Islam, according to a federal investigation released Wednesday.

...

The commission said it obtained 17 of the academy's textbooks through a variety of channels, including from members of Congress. The texts did appear to contain numerous revisions, including pages that were removed or passages that were whited out, but numerous troubling passages remained, according to the panel:

  • The authors of a 12th-grade text on Quranic interpretation state that apostates (those who convert from Islam), adulterers and people who murder Muslims can be permissibly killed.
  • The authors of a 12th-grade text on monotheism write that "(m)ajor polytheism makes blood and wealth permissible," meaning that a Muslim can take with impunity the life and property of someone believed guilty of polytheism. According to the panel, the strict Saudi interpretation of polytheism includes Shiite and Sufi Muslims as well as Christians, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists.
  • A social studies text offers the view that Jews were responsible for the split between Sunni and Shiite Muslims: "The cause of the discord: The Jews conspired against Islam and its people. A sly, wicked person who sinfully and deceitfully professed Islam infiltrated (the Muslims).
I predict that the only outrage we will see from the Muslim community will not be about the teaching, but about the closing of a Muslim school. Anyone willing to wager against me?

Gender Silliness