“Female students at Riverheads High School in Staunton, Virginia, were also invited to wear Muslim clothing” — meanwhile, what are public school students all over the country learning about the United States and the West? Slavery, colonialism, racism, imperialism. They will come out thinking that only Islam has produced a noble and good civilization. What will result from that?
“Students practice calligraphy by writing ‘There is no god but Allah,'” by Todd Starnes, FoxNews, December 15, 2015 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
A Virginia school district is defending a classroom assignment that required students to practice calligraphy by writing the Muslim statement of faith, “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
Female students at Riverheads High School in Staunton, Virginia, were also invited to wear Muslim clothing — a story first reported by The Schilling Show.
The school district convened a meeting on Dec. 11th to discuss the assignment with outraged parents.
The Muslim-friendly calligraphy assignment took place in a world geography class. The teacher had the kids copy the Muslim statement of faith, also known as the shahada.
“Neither these lessons, nor any other lesson in the world geography course, are an attempt at indoctrination to Islam or any other religion, or a request for students to renounce their own faith or profess any belief,” the district said in a statement provided to Fox News.
The Muslim-friendly calligraphy assignment took place in a world geography class. The teacher had the kids copy the Muslim statement of faith, also known as the shahada.
Parents told The Schilling Show that their children were not given the translation of what they were writing.
In other words, there were more than likely a few Christian teenagers in that room who had no idea they were writing, “There is no god but Allah.”
But the school district doesn’t seem to think that’s a problem.
“The statement presented as an example of the calligraphy was not translated for students, nor were students asked to translate it, recite it or otherwise adopt or pronounce it as a personal belief,” the district stated.
They said it was all about the art — not about the theology.
“They were simply asked to attempt to artistically render written Arabic in order to understand its artistic complexity,” they stated.
And out of sheer coincidence — out of all the Arabic words and phrases the teacher could have selected, she picked the Islamic statement of faith?
The district said the assignment was consistent with the Virginia Department of Education Standards of Learning and the requirements for content instruction on world monotheistic religions.
And what about having the female students dressing up in Islamic garb — is that consistent with the state mandates, too?
The district said the students were taught about the “modest dress adopted by many in the Islamic faith and were invited to try on a scarf as a part of an interactive lesson about the Islamic concept of modest dress.”
“The scarf used in the activity was not an actual Islamic religious hijab,” the district stated.
The district said they also cover other religions — including Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism.
However, one parent told The Schilling Show that while the Koran was presented to students, the Bible was not. The teacher reportedly declined to provide a Bible because all the students have either read or seen a Bible….

Adrian says
you mean “There is no God but a black rock”?
خَليفة says
There is no god but Muhammed and Allah is his imaginary friend.
A question for all Muslims – Where in the Quran are the 5 pillars of Islam mentioned and where is the shahada stated?
mortimer says
The Black Rock is an idol representing the birth of the new moon out of the vulva of the Goddess Allat or the Goddess Uzza. The Black Rock was used in women’s monthly purification rituals. The Ka’aba represents the Goddess and is covered with a black veil. The growing crescent moon of Islam is the moon god and the star of Islam is Venus or Aphrodite. The principle goddess and god of Arabia were coalesced into Allah by ‘The Messenger’ whose name is not known. ‘Mohammed’ is an honorific title.
Custos Custodum says
Thanks for the fascinating summary – other readers may want to look up more of the story behind the “Satanic Verses” in the Qur’an itself which – bizarrely – refer back to the three pre-Islamic deities al-Lat, Manat and Al-‘Uzzah.
(BTW: Al-Lat was also identified with Aphrodite – perhaps her name would have been an interesting subject for appreciating the beauty of Arabic calligraphy.)
The Qur’an’s reference to the three pre-Islamic deities poses major problems to Muslim efforts to erase all memory of the Jewish and Christian past of the Arab Peninsula which Muslims disparage as the age of jahiliyya (جاهلية, i.e. “ignorance”.)
Jihadwatch.org has a good introduction to the history of the “Satanic Verses” here:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/03/whats-so-bad-about-satanic-anyway
Muslim “narrative control” is uncompromising and total. Even historical Muslim sites (such as the tomb of “Muhammad’s” mother Aminah bint Wahb) are destroyed without a second thought lest they raise questions in the mind of the faithful and detract from the approved practice of taqlid ( تَقْليد , i.e. blindly following the authority of some or other imam). These efforts – as much or more than those of the Soviet regime illustrate the truth of George Orwell’s observation: “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”
Adrian says
Are the students told this Allah (according to Islam’s own scriptures) is the most sadistic, hateful and intolerant, psychotic, and cruel “deity” ever invented? Do they realize Allah was the actual name of the rock and an alter-ego for Muhammed himself?.. do the teachers realize what they are doing?
Adrian says
The God of OT and NT desires LOVE from man… Allah demands only obedience through FEAR
Hell in Judaeo-Christianity is separation from God…In Islam, the dark spirit wants to be left alone to personally supervise the gruesomely detailed torture and anguish:
Sura 74: “The trumpet shall sound a day of anguish for disbelievers. Leave me alone to deal with the creature whom I created bare and alone! Leave me to deal with those I granted wealth and sons… Soon I will visit them with a mountain of calamities, imposing a fearful doom and distressing punishment. So woe to them… Soon I will fling them into the burning Hell Fire! … which permits nothing to endure, and nothing does it spare! It darkens and changes the color of man, burning the skin! It shrivels and scorches men…” etc etc etc
Such is the god of “love” in Islam….
Joseph says
Adrian,
I guess for some people it is a real hard choice between an eternity of the love of JESUS CHRIST and an eternity of pain and suffering. For others it is not a hard choice at all, they will choose darkness, pain, torment, torture and unimaginable suffering.
Why JESUS loves man as HE does is a complete mystery, one that I am very grateful for. Man is NOT saved by works but by the grace and love of our precious Lord, JESUS CHRIST.
DM says
Someone please correct me if this is incorrect. By writing or saying the shahada (what one says in order to convert to Islam) the students are affirming their de facto allegiance to islam. This is not a small matter. By doing that, under sharia law they can be executed for practicing any other religion. Either the teacher /school board members are horribly ignorant of what is going on in the world or they are complicit in the destruction of Western Civilization. At some point this may in fact put these children at horrible risk from their fellow students who are practicing muslims or the students parents/families who will know they have de facto accepted islam but are practicing some other religion. This is serious business not to be taken lightly.
Gea says
Hopefully, the parents will use full power of the law to get those who made a decision of promoting Islam in violation of the First Amandment and separation of state and religion be expelled from the school system. This is outrageous! SUE THE SOBS! Sue the mosques for promoting HATE speech against humanity as represented by Koran, Hadith and Sira. This hate speech of Islam that created new soldiers for Allah every day in the mosque near you, and results in death and material damage must be stopped in America!
marc says
…and next week kids, we’ll be practicing our swastikas, and our special salutes…
manuel paleologus says
No, they will be practicing beheading people.
Salome says
Nice name.
Amy glass says
Couldn’t they have chosen a phrase that did not symbolize conversion to Islam? The shahada “ash-had u-an-la-il aha-illalaa-wa-ash-hadu-an-na-Muhammada-Rasu-lul-Laa” is what a new convert to Islam is required to say just as new Christians have to accept Jesus as their savior. Out of all the other phrases- Islamic related or non-Islamic related-that they could have chosen, why did they go with this particular phrase which explicitly symbolizes conversion to Islam by infidels? I guess it is pay the jizya (submit), convert, or die. Wow! Nothing is hidden any more. It’s all in plain sight for those who wish to open their eyes.
mortimer says
The Islamic veil is the symbol that women are the absolute property of a man and do not have a right to speak, leave home or do anything else without his permission. The veil is symbol not of religious submission to Allah, but a political submission to the patriarch of a tribe.
Learning Arabic script is a frustrating exercise. The script is a messy confusing set of inconsistencies, alternate forms and forms that resemble other forms. The ridiculously complicated Arabic system of writing has led to much of the illiteracy in the Arab world and to a class of religious authorities who wield power over others from a position of invincible ignorance about practically everything besides Islam.
There is no value in students learning Islam from the Islamic perspective. The only value to students would be an Islamo-critical course that exposes the jihad doctrine, the doctrine of Taqiyya and the doctrine of Islamic gender apartheid and hatred of the Kafir.
Adrian says
“There is no value in students learning Islam from the Islamic perspective.”
Agreed, mortimer.
Much of the flim-flam perpetrated is by labeling their commentators Muslim “scholars”…
We in the West immediately start to think, that therefore they must be serious academic “scholars” like those who in western religious studies programs have long gone over the OT and NT with a fine tooth comb – things like critical textual analyses, historical cross-referencing, comparative religion studies etc etc….
Not at all… Muslim and Quran “scholars” are like carnival hucksters sitting around a campfire, seeing how they can twist and turn a verse into anything else… they were the first deconstructionists… Jacques Derrida was a naive Boy Scout compared to Islamic scholars…
Here’s an example of deflection, smoke and mirrors i find in my Yusuf Ali edition notes to the infamous 5:33 verse –
“For the double crime of treason against the State combined with treason against God, as shown by overt crimes, four alternative punishments are mentioned, … to be applied according to circumstances : cutting off the head, crucifixion, maiming or exile. These were features of the Criminal Law then and for centuries afterwards, EXCEPT THAT tortures such as “hanging, drawing and quartering” as in English Law, and piercing of eyes and leaving the unfortunate victim exposed to a tropical sun, which was practiced in Arabia, and all such tortures were abolished. IN ANY CASE, sincere repentance BEFORE IT WAS TOO LATE was recognized as grounds for mercy.”
O, how superior to the backward West and backward Arabs!
So, hey, now that Mr. Ali puts it that way, i can really rest easy that Islam was so enlightened…. after all, didn’t the Saudis ‘abolish’ slavery in 1962?
When will Islamophobes stop picking on them, for Pete’s sake?
Custos Custodum says
The Islamic veil is the symbol that women are the absolute property of a man and do not have a right to speak, leave home or do anything else without his permission. The veil is symbol not of religious submission to Allah, but a political submission to the patriarch of a tribe.
Precisely. More generally, Muslim women sexually “belong” to Muslim men exclusively. This is why gangs of adolescent Muslim boys (below the age of adult criminal laws) in Western countries are sent (and willingly go) on “virtue” patrols to intimidate Muslim women who show signs of straying from the fold.
Meanwhile kufar women are available to be raped with impunity while understanding Leftists look on with their hands in their sleeves but busily and ruthlessly suppressing outbreaks of “hate” (consciousness) and “vigilantism” (self-defense) among the victims of Muslim violence.
gravenimage says
The Islamic veil is also an indication that Muslim men should go and rape an *unveiled* woman.
Doc says
Wait a minute, people! There is a terribly important question of Islamic law that must be addressed:
In the eyes of a sharia court, are the children who have stated and written the shahada (Muslim declaration of faith) now regarded as having converted to Islam?
Were any of the children or their parents told, at any point by the teacher, that all it takes for one to convert to Islam is to state those very words with a true heart, and that once they’ve converted to Islam the punishment for leaving Islam is death?
mortimer says
No it doesn’t count. It may be called “Islamic grooming”.
If they are going to do that, I demand the right to EQUAL TIME to teach the history of Islamic misogyny, slavery and the history of assassination of most of the caliphs and sultans.
manuel paleologus says
I would send those females teachers to Boko Haram for two weeks. And than ask to do the same thing here in US.
John C. Barile says
“They said it was all about the art — not about the theology.”
They may say that, but they are subtly inculcating Islamic theological concepts–like Islamic notions of feminine modesty and of idolatry.
The worksheet given to the students reads, “Since Islam forbids idolatry, mosques are decorated with calligraphy rather than with pictures of human and animal figures.” This lesson implies that iconography equals idolatry.
So then, divine subjects aren’t represented by artistic renderings of Jesus or Christian saints, but by sacred Islamic text–it’s so ironic that, in this post-Christian learning environment, students wouldn’t be told to portray Christian subjects, but are told to graphically depict Islamic sanctities.
manuel paleologus says
Those teachers are worse than the islamists. They do not know what they are doing.
mortimer says
The female teachers would never return from Boko Haram.
PRCS says
I’d bet they DO know what they’re doing.
somehistory says
So now that they have all written it, moslims will consider them moslim and expect them to carry on as moslims…and if they choose not to, they’ll get to find out islam is nothing but lust for killing and rape of those who would rather not have anything to do with lusty moslims.
And the *reason* they were not given a Bible…*all of them had read or **seen** a Bible.
How does the indoctrinator…er, teacher…know all of the kids have “read or seen a Bible”?
And how is merely *seeing* a Bible the equivalent of being given to read the unholy book from the murdering raper of children? What about the students who had *seen* one of those? Were they still given one?
And the scarf wasn’t *actually* part of the *real garb of islam*. So, there is only one *special* scarf that is the *legal* one for the cult of islam? And these girls have never *seen* a regular scarf so that they would know what a scarf was or how it might be used to cover the hair to keep it from blowing in the wind or rain? Unlike having seen a Bible, none of them had *seen* ladies scarves. Hmmm.
Next weeks class will be all about other aspects of the internal struggle for finding victim to sacrifice to satan. Choosing knives and learning how to make pipe bombs as the kids may not have ever seen or made one.
The wild beast from satan has his grip on the education system…there must be many moslims in *high* places in that area of society.
Westman says
School District: “Neither these lessons, nor any other lesson in the world geography course, are an attempt at indoctrination to Islam or any other religion….”..”..the calligraphy was not translated for students..”
Uhhh. This is the top line of text on the black ISIS flag! Of course, the tech-savy students have never seen it before…
Tomorrow, will there will be an assignment to draw a Swastika without telling the students what it means?
PrayerWarrior says
Don’t look for the courts to be any help now:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/carolyn-walker-diallo-muslim-judge-sworn-koran-article-1.2467218
“Carolyn Walker-Diallo, Muslim judge, sworn in on Koran in Brooklyn”
Take a good look at her picture. America, this is your future and its happening now!
I hope someone keeps close eye on her rulings.
gravenimage says
Disgusting, PrayerWarrior. Thanks for the head’s up.
somehistory says
And as for calligraphy: learning that style of writing doesn’t have to include wiring anything about satan and the wrong, evil, disgusting idea that the devil is superior to the True God. It doesn’t even have to be in another language the kids might not understand. It can be English.
I don’t speak, write or read arabic, but I have seen and read and understood things written in calligraphy. It is a style of writing, not a certain language and definitely not a religious or political idea.
Mirren10 says
”It is a style of writing, not a certain language and definitely not a religious or political idea.”
Exactly, somehistory. He/she (the teacher) could have chosen from below, or illuminated letters, or an Arabic word that had **nothing** to do with islam. Clearly there was an agenda.
I am, as you know, an agnostic, but if any child of mine had been inveigled into attempting to copy such evil crap, I’d have hit the roof, made a huge stink, and sued the school, *and* the teacher.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=old+english+calligraphy&qpvt=old+english+calligraphy&qpvt=old+english+calligraphy&FORM=IGRE
somehistory says
Many years ago, I was given a set of calligraphy pens. I had many family responsibilities at the time, and although I practiced a little, never did learn to really write it. And it’s no secret that some experts say that those of us who write so others can’t read are really intelligent individuals, so I have really terrible handwriting.
I can understand anyone…Christian, Jew, agnostic, atheist or otherwise, would hit the ceiling upon finding out the children were being taught such stuff. It is not only not appropriate for the kids, in reality, it has been ruled against the law if the law were to be applied equally.
There are *many lands* where the Bible was viewed as holy and it is filled with history…not just of the Jewish people, but it has much history from the nations that dwelt in the area. Because of the laws on hygiene, and medical things, it has science in it, also.
But several years ago, based on the rantings of mad murray ohair, the Bible could not be read in the classroom, a teacher could not say what his/her religion (or lack thereof) might be, could not advocate anything that might sound like it came from the Bible and could only listen if the student brought up the subject.
Before that, we had daily Bible reading…no commentary or explanations, just reading…in the period of home room before first class.
Now, islam seems to have free reign because, for one reason, it presents as *culture* and *geography* and *history* even though it’s all their religious stuff. The other reason is because there are moslims in the government and the schools and everywhere
I took my kids out before all that began. The school ceilings would have been full of holes if that had been the reason I took them out. It was dented, anyway.
I don’t know if the world is going to hell in a handbasket, but it might be in a head scarf…the official kind of evil islam.
mccode says
Illegible scrawling that looks like graffiti.
If one wishes to practice calligraphy (which is beautiful), one should practice letters and words phrases that are inspiring and legible to the student.
Irene says
Exactly. I wonder if the students can even write beautiful script? Read cursive writing well enough to read our founding documents?
Atheist kufar says
Keep religion out of public schools period. This is all about indoctrination and subversion. Teach instead what is great about America and what it stands for. If parents don’t like it then why are they here.
pongidae rex says
In the school classroom, Islam is not a religion. It is geography, art, culture, etc. and they rub your kid’s noses in it.
Any other religion under the sun is Religion with an ‘R’ and is kicked to the curb.
Affirmative action gets them into decision making positions in your schools, then the rest follows.l
Irene says
Where did this worksheet come from? A prewritten curriculum, or just made by the teacher? Look at the instructions!
“Since Islam forbids idolatry, mosques are decorated with calligraphy rather than with human or animal figures.”
This implies that houses of worship that DO use human and animal figures in art do not forbid idolatry. I really want to know the source of this curriculum.
Gary says
Jesus Christ
………in him dwelt the fullness of the godhead bodily.
Custos Custodum says
This is NOT ONE TEACHER acting on her own. Nor, of course, is it a coincidence that the shahada was chosen behind the students’ back.
Anyone who has dealt with school districts and schools over the last 30 years knows the process. Before this “spontaneous” teaching effort, there were SEVERAL confidential meetings (perhaps dressed up as “workshops”) with local CAIR representatives facilitated by a cultural Marxist at the school district office with an EdD (i.e. no real education other than “teachers’ ed” propaganda training).
One can say with confidence that the guinea pig teacher and the school district Marxist do not have a fulfilling family life – most likely, they are divorced women or Lesbians living alone.
By contrast, the CAIR official has several children and lives with the self-satisfied certainty that Muslim forces are in the ascendancy with few obvious obstacles on its path to complete dominance with power to kill, rape and exploit all kufar. All three aims are of equal importance to Islam.
Unwittingly, the exercise may have taught the students a useful lesson – read and think for yourself, even in a foreign language.
Angemon says
Yup, writing the islamic profession of faith has nothing to do with professing any belief. Also, flour, eggs and milk have nothing to do with cookies, and clay and water have nothing to do with pottery.
ConnectingDots says
Did the school invite boys to wear the head-scarves?
If not, why not?
Peggy says
They should invite them to wear a Yamaka. Now that would make things more balanced.
Then the following month the girls can wear a sari and boys lederhosen and so on.
This ofcourse will have to include Muslim girls and boys. They should also be encouraged to try something new. Just imagine a Muslim boy wearing a Yamaka and Muslim girls wearing crosses around their necks. It should not be a problem if Muslims want our children to wear their garb and write in Arabic.
PRCS says
And during one week’s lessons, girls should be required to sit in the back of the room–and the informed girls can start asking why that is required by Muslim men.
underbed cat says
Got this a day late, but today CNN reports about Virginia students copying from the Geography lesson book to learn about Arabic Caligraphy the Islamic Shahada. Insanity rules the day when the straight lines good college folks or commentators, try to say “no big deall, very common” to write the commitment to the Islamic faith.Whoa….and the complaints of the children’s parents are called haters. well with a quick picture of the book page, it appears to be the same as the Isis flag. No big deal?
Ashley good reporting but you left out the entire reason isis exists and wants to convert Americans and then they do it by terror. To a muslim if you say the shahada and then leave the faith there is a death penalty….you didn’t mention that bit of information…..that is dangerous. Caligraphy in geography is insane enough. I could not believe what I saw and heard….
underbed cat says
Instead of good reporting Ashley it appears to be propaganda ….of course you work for a media outlet that seems to be “cool” with it,,,,just like Isis would be and maybe most of the Obama administration, except maybe James Comey, head of the FBI would just grimmace, of course that is my opinion…
Something fishy (uninformed) in the schools that allow this.
David says
I’m sorry. But my home work would end up reading; “The muslim IDOL named allah is REALLY SATAN HIMSELF!!!
I pray that everone reading this post has a Very Merry Christmas AND a wonderful and SAFE New year.
And may the one TRUE CREATOR GOD please bless THESE UNITED STATED OF AMERICA!
dragaozaoa says
Truly, we live in absurdistan! Does anything have anything to do with something?
This reminds me of Shrek 1: when all tis is over I’ll need a psychiatrist…
And, today more than ever, I intend to celebrate CHRISTMAS as it should be celebrated: no Santa; only the birth of Jesus. Merry Christmas to you all.
Kepha says
Dunno. When I was learning Classical Chinese, I looked at texts by authors who were Daoists and Buddhists, when I am neither.
Given that Islam is a big piece of the Arabic literary and cultural heritage, something like this might be unavoidable if students are to be instructed in that language.
gravenimage says
With all respect, Kepha, I disagree. Having casual students copy the Shehada–by which they *pronounce themselves to be Muslim*–is hardly unavoidable.
And this isn’t something any child should be forced to do without understanding its implications.
Robert_K says
And perhaps we could add to the Shahada “There is no greater President than Obama and Hillary is his successor”.
PRCS says
Like.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
As part of its No Child Left Unreverted program, the Virginia Department of
Education Standards of Learning has requirements for instruction on
world monotheistic religions (thereby shortchanging us polytheists).
Students are required to copy out the shahada. This is encouraging,
but it would be better to start out with something simpler,
such as the Nazarene-labeling “Nun”
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=arabic%20nun%20symbol
or the “Lan astaslem” calligraphy:
http://ronbosoldier.blogspot.com/2007/04/ronbos-new-tattoo-i-will-not-submit.html
And shahada education should include not just art but also music.
The key part of the shahada is the seven-syllable phrase
lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh لا إله إلا الله
which can be set to a catchy tune like
in HEAV-en there IS no BEER
la ’ILL-a -ha ‘ILL- a-LLAH
Notice that just saying “La” repeatedly makes a pretty good rendition
of the shahada. Here is an audience-participation video of dawah artists
getting unwitting middle-aged Polish-Americans to recite the shahada:
Karen says
The government schools have thoroughly cleansed Christian symbols, texts and ideology from the curriculum for decades now, until they were confined to World Religion classes. Now Christianity may not be mentioned even in that context. So, a 5th grader reading her Bible before class will likely get tackled by the school’s ACLU enforcers, but the administration of this school asks us to believe they don’t play favorites and that their use of the Shahada was completely innocent. What, there wasn’t one non-religious example of calligraphy to choose from? I’ll believe that when the kids are asked to embroider the Lord’s Prayer. They also assert that offering repressive Islamic garb to non-Muslim girls was just a fun exercise in modesty. Since when are the government schools interested in promoting a value like ‘modesty’? What do they take us for? (Don’t answer that.) Many thanks to the “outraged” parents who are raising a ruckus about this; hopefully there will be many more.
Edwin1683 says
“Modest dress adopted by many in the Muslim faith”? Give me a f***ing break! More like “Headbag symbolizing absolute submission of females to male Neanderthals”.
God help our children.
gravenimage says
And this sort of thing is not just happening in Virginia–here are children in Tennessee also coerced into writing the Shehada:
https://www.truthorfiction.com/7th-graders-forced-to-write-allah-is-the-only-god/
A child at at least one school was allowed to opt out–but how many Middle School kids are brave enough to take such a stand? And not all teachers will be as decent and understanding as this one. I imagine some would fail the student.
The whole thing is utterly outrageous.
And here’s a similar story from Florida:
http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2015/feb/24/blog-posting/high-schoolers-had-recite-islamic-prayer-class-mak/
Davegreybeard says
هو الله
ضرطة محمد على
I am told, by a person I know who is knowledgeable in Arabic, that the above means:
“Allah is Muhammad’s fart.”
I would think that such a phrase would be acceptable to anyone here as calligraphy practice.
I’m thinking of having a banner made, similar to the ISIS one, with this on it.
Any comments?
Andrew Sapia says
I really wish and call on any bright high school student when given an assignment on Islam writes something thoughtful and demonstrably true debunking this white washed version of Islam. Perhaps a paper on Islam and Slavery in Africa. Research it thoroughly and if and when your teacher fails you get with some counter-jihad group and sue them. This has to stop. Parent everywhere need to challenge this stuff especially when Islamic history is whitewashed. In reality they are teaching your children falsehoods. Even the supposed golden age. Get a book like Caliphs and Kings by Roger Collins. Point out the mass slaughter of Jews and the filling of Islamic harams with white sex slaves. Write about the horrible cruelty of the Janissary system. Forcing families throughout the Balkans to give up their sons to be forcefully converted to Islam and trained as fanatical devotees of the Sultan. People would cripple their sons to avoid their being taken by the Turks. This is what student need to do is write factual papers on the horrors of Islam throughout history. The conquest of India (80 million dead Hindus). The fact that Afghanistan was a Buddhist country and today there is not a Buddhist left. Same in Indonesia. They cannot stop you from writing papers that are true. If they try or fail you sue them. Have your parents threaten to sue them.
David Hartman says
This is insane & has to be stopped!
Can you imagine the uproar from the Left if this teacher had assigned the students to write an Aramaic sentence from the New Testament proclaiming the Holiness of the Trinity and asking the students to dress like shepherds?
The teacher would be run out of town on rails!
Ashley says
A Virginia school district is defending a classroom assignment that required students to practice calligraphy by writing the Muslim statement of faith, “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
_______________________
This is insane. INSANE!
First…that ISN’T calligraphy…it is penning in Arabic.
And it is twisted and sinister…
EL KABONG says
We must realize that in our modern western culture we are surrounded by marketing messages, brands, and icons of culture that are promoted alongside current needs in a 24/7 newscycle leading stories. One of the most prominent stories is of course the threat from now mega-terrorist brand ISIS, in addition to veteran terrorists al-Qaeda. News channels essentially inundate American viewers with the ideological and visual brand assets of ISIS and a-Qaeda. Since 9/11.
When many Americans are shown Arabic calligraphy, often our first response is to associate that image—to us, there is ONLY a visual message since we do not read Arabic calligraphy—with the most familiar example of that same visual image, and today that is ISIS.
ISIS is a brand. A brand of The organization behaves more proficiently like a brand than many western brands have yet learned to do as they evolve. Why would a young person, or even perhaps their average everyday parents, be able to distinguish between Arabic calligraphy and ISIS? To expect them to do so is incredibly naive and greatly underestimates the power of mass media combined with perpetually repeated and relentless imagery of murder and genocide. Media has spent years teaching us about the brands of extremist Islam, focusing on al-Qaeda and ISIS. We’ve been saturated in the imagery of these brands, whose primary brand assets are Arabic calligraphy stylistically positioned atop solid black, and death and terror. Very powerful icons of fear and human depravity.
The choice made by this teacher to use such an ideologically focused translation, written in Arabic, to communicate the ubiquity of beautiful Arabic calligraphy within the world of the Muslim culture, was remiss in that she underestimated the vast lack of nuanced familiarity our western culture possesses when it comes to middle eastern culture and Muslim religion.
Had the calligraphy, instead, translated to something like “In our culture, we study calligraphy starting at a very young age, to preserve an important part Muslim history.”
In this instance, the visual impact might have been mitigated considerably, and when the class examined the translation an important lesson could have emerged by associating what has historically been associated with terrorism, and now shows a much more innocuous association.
Students could learn that Arabic calligraphy can take on a broad variety of meanings rather than what we’ve become so accustomed to since 9/11.
Just my 2¢