'Hypocrisy' of a London school's Muslim prayer ban
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Published 2024-04-17
British imam and presenter Ajmal Masroor criticised a school's decision to ban a Muslim student from praying, arguing that if a school is avowedly secular, would they also ban Christmas or Easter holidays or the national anthem that includes religious references? He asserts that denying Muslims the right to pray fundamentally breaches human rights.
This criticism follows a decision by Michaela Community School in northwest London to ban a British Muslim student from prayer rituals. The student challenged the school in a High Court case about freedom of religion, which garnered national attention.
The student argued that the school's policy was discriminatory and unfairly targeted her faith due to its ritualistic practices. She argued that the school's prohibition on prayer, a fundamental aspect of Islam, contributed to the alienation of religious minorities in society.
The court heard that the student, identified only as TTT, requested a modest accommodation to pray for approximately five minutes during lunchtime on specific religious dates, without disrupting regular classes. Additionally, she contested what she described were unjust disciplinary actions resulting in temporary suspensions from school.
In response, the school defended its prayer policy as "justified" and "proportionate," citing past threats of violence linked to religious observance on site.
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All Comments (21)
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That's the difference between an educated person and a hypocrite!
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This anchor is so uncomfortable cause he knows this dude is debunking each point so easily.
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Absolutely cooked!
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I had a Jewish coworker who would constantly take days off because they have so many holidays. The company had to accomodate or they'd be sued.
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Secular means non-religious, not anti-religious. Secular elementary schools in UK teach religious studies as a matter of cultural context. Faith-based schools teach one faith
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But will they ban Jewish and Christian holidays…
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He checkmated each and every one of the headteacher's arguments. Very well said.
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In a day and age, where we worry about the many wrongs that children can be involved in, they have chosen to ban children from praying. It's incredible really. And it takes less than 5 mins.
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Hypocrisy is exposed
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This is certainly no time to be denying anyone from praying. These students are not harming anyone. But not allowing them to pray is hurting them. Shame on this school. Shame on this country, shame on anyone who targets young people for their political agenda. Children are dying in mass daily, now is the time to pray for everybody!
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So why do they do the nativity, Christmas and Easter?
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Minority background or not, a lot of Indian women want to be accepted into whiteness
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I really dont understand the argument of the school. If you say to me as a religious person 'you cant prayer as par your religious teachings in this place because we want you to feel included' how the hell im i supposed to feel included if you are excluding my right to prayer?
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But if he wanted to come to school as a female, that would be tolerated. Why one and not the other? Aren't they both about identity expression?
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How can a prayer hurt a school and it takes only 5minutes
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What people seem to neglect is that other Muslim students asked to ban Muslim prayers because apparently they were bullied by more religious Muslim pupils because they didn’t want to pray at school. Freedoms seldom come from religions.
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So a student asked for 5 minutes at lunchtime to pray and was denied. He should have said I identify as a cat and need 5 minutes alone at lunch to lick myself. They would have probably said yes.
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Ireland broke the empire for a reason . Saoirse don Phalaistin.
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If I turned upto class and said I now identify as a Rabbit, then this would be accepted and celebrated.
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Wow iv seen few of his debates of mr ajmol and he really says some excellent valid questions and answers. 🎉
