Sam Soloman looks into the deeper implications of the Ofsted report into the Birmingham schools
It was disclosed that there was a programme of Islamisation going on in some Birmingham schools.
But some said that it was just a hoax. However, it both fits the description of the investigative findings and also is in line with long-held Islamic doctrines concerning the establishment and progressive self-segregation of the Muslim Umma (i.e. community) within host countries.
The most convincing piece of evidence to demonstrate that it is a valid document is that the disputed plan reflects exactly what was found being implemented in one degree or another in all of the schools under investigation. As an American expert, Andrew McCarthy, made clear, to ignore it would indeed be simply ‘wilful blindness’.
Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, reported to the Commons on the investigation into the alleged disruptive influence of Islamist extremists in Birmingham schools – who were effecting major changes to curriculum and academic direction to reflect exclusive Islamic theology and values – and related intimidation/marginalisation of non-Muslim students and faculty.
The letter
Earlier in 2014, a letter entitled ‘Operation Trojan Horse’ came to light, purporting to be a communication from one extremist to another, discussing jihad techniques for taking control of schools. It outlined such tactics as spreading false allegations to senior managers suggesting that they were promoting sex education or Christian prayers to Muslim children. Accordingly, once control is gained within the governing bodies, the next steps outlined in the plan, and seen to have been applied, were to segregate boys and girls in the classroom, ban mixed physical education, biology and sex education in line with Islamic teachings, and more.
Muslim leaders have rejected the findings but Ofsted has established unequivocally that ‘a culture of fear and intimidation’ does exist within this group of schools. So, what are we really dealing with? And, down the line, what are the growing implications, if any?
Islamic goals
Core Islam is finally bleeding through the most ‘moderate’ face of Islam in our society, and is at last showing itself to be in unison with the main goal, if not the methodology, of the obvious ‘radical fringe’.
‘Education’ is a very specific ‘doctrine’, or rather combination of doctrines within Islam, and as a tenet of Islam it is immutable and beyond negotiation once it is implemented, especially so once an Islamic community gains traction and critical mass within a host country. But be aware that it is in stealth mode in the early stages – by design – and thus appears to be compatible with the host educational system until it is established.
One needs to understand the Islamic concept of education: when Tarbiya (upbringing of children) is applied jointly with ‘education’ (Ta’leem), it means ‘growth and refinement’. This ‘refinement’ is meant to shape and mould Islamic characteristics in a child.
Implications
So what are the implications of this doctrine? These core Islamic values are fully, totally and unequivocally set in stark contrast to our Western Judeo-Christian heritage, and our democratic values.
Take, for instance, the choice of religion – or the freedom of religion – i.e. to discard one’s religion, to embrace another faith, or to have no faith at all, is a personal choice and a personal matter. But Islamically speaking, it isn’t. It is a huge crime.
Take for instance the equality of all – Muslims and non-Muslims – before the law: this is completely un-Islamic.
Take the concept of equality of men and women. And so on, and so forth – one could go on and on – basically illustrating that these core values, our British core values, based on our Judeo-Christian heritage, aided and girded by democratic laws and our parliamentary authority, must, in their minds, ultimately be subservient to Islamic values – and that is what Tarbiya ultimately means.
Two impacts
Once the concept of Islamic Tarbiya is ushered in or introduced and implemented, it would imply and result in two primary impacts. The first impact is a radical change in the method of teaching and in the administration of schools conforming to Islamic guidelines and standards.
Secondly, as Ofsted observed, these institutions will become alienated from the host society, declaring the rest as apostates, enemies of Allah and Islam, and ultimately duty bound to enforce the Shari’a. In other words, to become potential future radicals.
So they begin to conform more and more to the deeper and more difficult core Islamic teachings. This means that at some point they will willingly agree with the forbidding of free mingling of sexes, even in primary schools, and the imposition of dietary laws, i.e. halal meat, not only for Muslim children, but for the whole school at large, and eventually for the whole society.
Alarm bell
One can only emphasise and sympathise with the Ofsted report and its concerns for the alarm bell that it is beginning to ring – for when one begins to understand the Tarbiya concept of ‘education’, one can only then begin to comprehend the vast implications of its establishment and pervasiveness.
The process is to make these students fully equipped with the necessary knowledge, understanding, and organisational skills to make a difference – first in the Muslim society, then in the society at large by taking an active role, first in regard to Islamic ‘rights’, then increasingly to ‘demands’.
This active role ultimately means that their mission is to make Islam supreme and dominant in all walks of life – throughout the socio-political sphere, and in every other sphere of their host society, seeking by degrees to ‘transform’ the host society to comply with, and conform to, its own socio-religious, socio-educational, socio-political, socio-economic, socio-judicial, and socio-legislative systems. That is, to make even the host society itself ‘Shari’a compliant’.
One must also open one’s mind to the further reality that these apparently innocent educational innovations introduced by the Muslim leaders are meticulously designed to be under the radar until such time as they become an indivisible part of the fabric of fait our educational system, and thus a accompli – as we are now detecting in Birmingham and in some other related areas. If the Ofsted report warning bell is silenced, or ignored to any substantial degree, then we will see these Tarbiya initiatives seeping through, not only into primary schools, but also into other educational institutions and much more beyond.
Unexpected gift
Is this disputed letter, ‘Operation Trojan Horse’, only a misguided attempt to malign the Muslim community’s efforts to educate their children? Or is it an amazing coincidence, or perhaps even an unexpected gift – by accident, or some might say by ‘divine grace’ – to allow a glimpse of light into the leading edges of the methodologies of the Tarbiya educational processes already well under way in Britain? We can’t afford to ignore or minimise either this letter or the Ofsted report.
When the smoke clears on this investigation, will some of us lapse back into an uneasy state of complacency? Will we be tempted once more to explain away the evidence by considerations of short-term ‘peace and harmony’, cultural diversity, or worse – political expediency that cannot outlast these increasing socio-political, socio-religious pressures? Or will we keep our eyes and hearts open to the realities that are emerging, and be willing to stand firmly behind all efforts to restore and protect our British values?
