“I find it sad for the child and the teacher, who may have to redesign her teaching program as a result.” Of course. When in Muslim countries, one must abide by Islamic mores. When in non-Muslim countries, one must abide by Islamic mores.
Noting that Islamic law forbids musical instruments and music itself except in some strictly defined circumstances will bring you swift charges of “ignorance” and “Islamophobia.” I guess this devout Muslim family is actually made up of ignorant Islamophobes.
Hadith Qudsi 19:5: “The Prophet said that Allah commanded him to destroy all the musical instruments, idols, crosses and all the trappings of ignorance.” (The Hadith Qudsi, or holy Hadith, are those in which Muhammad transmits the words of Allah, although those words are not in the Qur’an.)
Muhammad also said:
(1) “Allah Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidance and mercy to believers and commanded me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings, crucifixes, and the affair of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance.”
(2) “On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will pour molten lead into the ears of whoever sits listening to a songstress.”
(3) “Song makes hypocrisy grow in the heart as water does herbage.”
(4) “This community will experience the swallowing up of some people by the earth, metamorphosis of some into animals, and being rained upon with stones.” Someone asked, “When will this be, O Messenger of Allah?” and he said, “When songstresses and musical instruments appear and wine is held to be lawful.”
(5) “There will be peoples of my Community who will hold fornication, silk, wine, and musical instruments to be lawful ….” — ‘Umdat al-Salik r40.0
“Muslim kindergartener permitted to block out music,” from CTV Montreal, December 19 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
MONTREAL “” A kindergarten student in Saint-Michel will be allowed to wear a noise-reducing headset in class, because her parents’ [sic] say their religious beliefs don’t allow the five-year-old girl to listen to music.
Though music is an integral part of the kindergarten program, the principal of Bienville School decided to grant the accommodation request made by a Muslim family and allow their daughter to block out music at school.
“The principal thinks the family is acting in good faith,” said Diane de Courcy, president of the Montreal School Commission. “(They) would have otherwise kept the child at home.”
Kindergarten is not mandatory, and teachers say if the student is being sent into the program, barring the new immigrant from certain activities isolates her from the rest of the class.
“I find it sad for the child and the teacher, who may have to redesign her teaching program as a result,” said Elaine Bertrand of union the Montreal Teachers’ Alliance.
The school and school board felt the decision was a fair compromise to build trust with the family and help the child integrate into the school system sooner.
Nonsense. This isn’t about integration. It is just the opposite of integration.
“Once she’s in grade one, she’ll have to follow the same curriculum as everyone else,” said de Courcy.
Unlikely. Does de Courcy really think the demands for Muslim accommodation will end then?
Many teachers argue the issue is not strictly about music or religion, but rather the pressure they feel to reasonably accommodate a variety of demands from health-related issues to religion.
Montreal Teachers’ Alliance is asking for stricter guidelines for requests.
Education Minister Line Beauchamp said she instead supports the school’s individualized approach.
“It would be impossible to develop a framework to address such a wide variety of reasonable accommodation requests,” she said.
Indeed.