Islamic school that taught pupils ‘gay men should be killed’ closed down

October 17, 2016

A boarding school for Muslim girls is set to close its doors following a damning Ofsted report. Jamia Al-Hudaa Residential College for Girls in Nottingham has been accused of teaching strict sharia-style rules to its pupils.

Former student Aliyah Saleem claimed that students were taught a number of extremist beliefs, including that men should be allowed to beat their wives and gay people should be killed.

Its website outlines the school day: from 8.30am to 12.30pm girls study the Koran and Hadiths, then, after lunch and prayers, only two and a half hours are devoted to the national curriculum. Girls must wear a hijab and jilbab (a long robe) at all times. The school’s mission is to turn Muslim girls, admitted at 11 years old, into “alimas” (Islamic scholars) — as its website says, “to develop the Islamic personality in our students so that they will be able to apply the Qur’an and Sunnah in their daily lives, but also work for the cause of Deen [the creed] in Europe”.

An inspection by Oftsed found that standards were ‘not met’ at the boarding school.

Pupils who come from across Britain pay fees according to their means of up to £3,500 a year. This year only 25 per cent of pupils achieved five A* to C GCSE grades, compared with the national average of 53 per cent.

The education watchdog discovered extremist books in the school’s library and said pupils had fundamental gaps in their knowledge. Besides inadequacies in safeguarding pupils — including insufficiently trained and checked staff and bullying — Ofsted noted that pupils lacked “opportunity to learn and make progress and receive effective preparation for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in British society”. Pupils could also access library books “written by controversial authors, for example by one who is not allowed to enter this country”.

Ofsted also expressed concern that girls were entered early for science and maths GCSE, so results did not reflect their true ability. Saleem was made to take maths at 13 and got a B. “I’d have done better later on. But the school wants pupils to pass core subjects so they can be eliminated from the curriculum, with more time spent on Arabic and Islamic studies.”

Following this, Jamia al-Hudaa put out urgent Facebook requests for former pupils to come forward who had any career other than as an Islamic teacher. None seemed forthcoming.

Although it has not issued a closure notice, the Department for Education has ordered the school to shut its residential operation. Since boarders account for about 85 per cent of students, the school admits in a letter to parents that this will mean its effective closure. Parents are being told to collect their daughters on October 18.

The report read: ‘(Pupils) do not understand how laws are made or who is responsible for devising the laws in this country. Older pupils do not understand what is meant by the term ‘British values’.’

The school claims that the decision is “completely biased and unfair”, part of a “highly politicised agenda” in inspections of Muslim schools. “We are ready to take a stand against this,” it adds, asking for donations towards a £300,000 fighting fund. “We request the Muslims of the UK and Europe to unite on this issue.”

Ms Saleem, now an atheist and campaigner, added: ‘Jamia closing feels like a drop in the ocean, because these girls will just go to similar Muslim faith schools where they will receive an equally blinkered education.’

After her 2014 Times article Saleem lost many friends, was called a liar and an Islamophobe online. Teachers at the school have blamed her article for attracting increased official scrutiny.