Muslim leaders in America are using the public school system to advance Islamic goals. By using concepts such as tolerance, diversity, and multiculturalism among school children, Islam is promoted as a good and peaceful philosophy.
Confusion about Islam within academia is fertile ground for Muslim leaders with a moderate face to infiltrate the public school system. They are influencing the content and selection of textbooks which teach about Islam.
Remember, this is the same public school system in which some say the words "under God" should not be spoken by school children and where Christian prayer is prohibited.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California has ruled against a group of Christian parents who objected to the teaching of Islam, which included students saying Islamic phrases which are used in prayers and taking on Muslim names in role playing exercises.
The case was brought to the 9th Circuit by the Thomas More Law Center which has now requested that the United States Supreme Court review the 9th Circuit's decison.
Truth For Muslims has obtained some of the curriculum which seems to have been taught in California's Contra Costa County school district which led to the lawsuit. According to the curriculum, the school children role play being Muslims. There are various stages of the learning process with names such as "Caravan Days", "Oasis Days", "Surprises", and "Islamic Bowl" which is described as "a sort of World Series of Islamic knowledge".
The students say Islamic religious phrases in Arabic, take on Muslim names, and imagine being Muslims on a journey where they encounter various "surprises", including being physically attacked and encountering "jinn", which the curriculum calls Satan.
The curriculum states that "dressing as a Muslim and trying to be involved will increase your learning and enjoyment."
"As you portray Muslims" the text continues, "try using phrases in speech such as "inshaAllah" or "God willing." While the Arabic phrase, inshaallah, may seem like benign religious phase to many, it actually carries great theological significance within Islam.
Students are encouraged to study the meaning behind various stages of the ritual Islamic prayers, which are said while facing Mecca. A chapter from the Quran is quoted which is the prayer Muslims say 5 times a day. It is from the English translation of the Quran by Yusuf Ali. This is the translation distributed by many mosques in America and carries the inscription, "the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul-Aziz for the spreading of Allah's Word."
Mohammed is referred to as "Prophet Mohammed". There is no discussion about the fact that many do not consider him to be a prophet of God. The "prophethood" of Mohammed is simply assumed in the curriculum. He is also said to have "been called the most influential man in history."
Jesus probably is never referred to over and over again and again in school textbooks with his title, "the Lord Jesus Christ." But it happens with Mohammed. He is called "Prophet Mohammed" every time.
The distinctions between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are also diminished. This is especially apparent when the text says that all three religions believe in the historical figure of Jesus! This seems designed to overlook important distinctions and to convince non-Muslims that Islam is theologically compatible with Judaism and Christianity, which both have serious distinctions from one another about the historical Jesus, never mind the Islamic view of Jesus!
The curriculum contains a study chart of the Arabic alphabet and a glossary of Islamic terms. Islam is defined as "submission to God's will." While Islam does mean "submission" it really is submission to the teachings of Mohammed. But at least the definition in the text is not "peace", the fraudulent definition promoted by many Muslim leaders in America after September 11.
Mohammed is defined as "God's final prophet who perfected Islam" and the definition of jihad is "to struggle against oppression".
Notice how the definition for Mohammed is that he is God's final prophet and not that he is believed to be a prophet by Muslims. Also notice that he is said to have perfected Islam, a subtle point promoting Islamic theology which teaches Mohammed did not start Islam but that Adam was the first Muslim and all the prophets, such as Moses and Jesus, were Muslims.
According to a report published by Focus on the Family, Edward White, the attorney with the Thomas More Law Center who represented the parents in the complaint against the California School district, the parents did not object to the students learning about Islam but they objected to being indoctrinated into Islam.
White said, "The students were put in the position of being more like trainees of Islam, rather than students learning about a particular religion," according to the Focus on the Family report. White described what went on was "a catechism class in Islam."
According to World Net Daily, White argued in the complaint to the Supreme Court that what happened in the classroom "went far beyond an explanation of the historical or literary significance of Islam and placed these seventh graders into the position of becoming trainees in that religion." White also argued that the students "were indoctrinated in Islam, which the Constitution forbids."
According to a report by Agape Press, "children were told they would 'become Muslims' and had worn identification tags bearing their new Muslim names along with the Star and Crescent Moon symbols of Islam." The report goes on to say the students hung banners in the classroom with the Quranic phrase used in Muslim prayers, "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate."
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that White said, "What happened in this classroom was clearly an endorsement of religion and indoctrination of children in the Islamic religion, which would never have stood if it were a class on Christianity or Judaism."
According to a May 19, 2006 report in Investor's Business Daily, the students simulated the Islamic month of fasting by refraining from eating candy and from watching TV.
The Investor's Business Daily report mentions Susan Douglass as the education consultant who is "a devout Muslim activist on the Saudi government payroll." Douglas taught at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Northern Virginia for several years.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide in the next couple of months whether or not to review the case.
John Marion
Published Summer 2006
Update: The Hijacking of America's Schools, June 2008
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