How did this requirement get put in place at all? Probably it was done by Islamic supremacists who were counting on the ignorance and complacency of Irish authorities, and were quite correct in assuming that no one would notice or care. The “Leaving Cert,” or Leaving Certificate Examinations, are the final exams in Ireland’s secondary school system.
“Requirement to study Koran as part of Leaving Cert Arabic exam to be reviewed,” by Carl O’Brien and Brian Mooney, Irish Times, April 19, 2016:
A controversial requirement that all students who sit the Arabic exam in the Leaving Cert must study the Koran is to be reviewed by education authorities.
Ever since the subject was introduced to the Leaving Cert in 2004, extracts from the “Holy Koran” have been prescribed material for all candidates.
However, a Syrian father whose Christian daughter is due to sit the exam says the requirement is unfair for students and discriminatory.
“She, as a Christian, has never studied the Koran,” said Marwan, who asked that his surname not be used.
“I am very distressed that having arrived in Ireland and having been granted refugee status on the basis of the threat to us as Christians we should now be discriminated against in this way.
He added: “Since my daughter’s exam is only weeks away I would respectfully appeal to those in a position to rectify this injustice to do so immediately.”
In a statement, the State body for development subject material, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), said the Koran was included on the basis of its linguistic and literary value and not because of its association with religion.
It said the requirement for questions based on the Koran are explicitly stated in the syllabus.
In the Arabic exam, candidates are presented with three texts: an extract from the Koran, a portion of Arabic verse and an extract from a work of modern Arabic prose.
The questions related to the Koran are mandatory for all candidates, while candidates may choose from a portion of verse and modern prose.
Eight separate sections of the Koran are identified as prescribed texts in the exam.
One of the sections urges, for example, says followers should “remember Allah’s favour on you when you were enemies of each other” and that “while you were on a brink of a pit of Fire then He delivered from it!.”
That’s Qur’an 3:103.
It goes on to advise believers to “be not like those who separated, and disagreed after clear evidences had come to them; and these are they that will have a grievous chastisement.”
That’s Qur’an 3:105.
In a statement, the NCCA said the syllabus is being reviewed and this will consider the “range and sources” of prescribed texts.
This includes concerns over the mandatory status of questions relating to Koran.
About 55,000 students sit the Leaving Cert each year, while between 100 and 150 students undertake the Arabic exam.
In common with other minority languages, the proportion of students who receive honours in the exam – about 85 per cent – is particularly high. This, say teachers, is due to the number of students who are native speakers….

Jay Boo says
In case you missed the video I posted with Irish men singing a song about drinking with their heads chopped off
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/04/unforgivable-uk-muslim-bites-pork-roll-incorrectly-labeled-as-cheese#comment-1418812
Jay Boo says
A Jihad Watch requirement would be more useful.
katherine says
Logically then, anyone who studies English must have comprehension passages from the King James Bible – and that includes Muslim students. French studies – there’s always La Bible Francais. Chinese – no problem – The Little Red Book . Are the Irish administrators really that dumb – don’t they recall that in Ireland the Roman Catholic Tome is the reference ?
Anyway what are they doing Arabic for – cultural diversity needs to be enforced ( according to EU’s Timmerman ) so these ignorant mono-cultural new citizens need to be familiarized with Gaelic to promote racial understanding. Now THAT is a language justifiably needed for the the Irish cert. Special privileges must be provided for the minority culture of Gaelic speaking peoples. Arabic speakers are simply much too much of a majority in this world.
Love this Arabic Logic – yes ?
grace says
Great answer.
DFD says
Cosigned by DFD
Bob says
My daughter in South Africa, writing finals for a teaching degree found that the examiners asked for the five pillars of Islam or some such nonsense, which’d never been a part of their course.
Angemon says
Which it obviously is. Why did it take a Syrian to protest against it? Where were the Irish when this measure was approved?
Bamaguje says
It would have been ‘racist’ for a native Irish to complain.
Anyway, there are very few native Irish secondary school pupils who choose to learn Arabic. Hence the report points out that most of the Arabic learning students are native speakers.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
“She [My daughter], as a Christian, has never studied the Koran,” said Marwan, who asked that his surname not be used.
Wait a minute. What is the daughter’s name? Is it by any chance “Asma”? They we are dealing with
http://www.muftisays.com/qa/question/2144/asma-bint-marwan.html
Michael Johnson says
If I had a child and they tried to make her study the Koran I would pull her out of school immediately
Rick says
You should read it. After all, you must: “Know your enemy”!
Timothius says
I think it is wise to study the koran. They may be able to see hoe awful it is. Then if the uni allows it they can have an open discussion about it and the prof should be required to keep his mouth shut and his opinions to himself.
katherine says
Fully agree with Timothius – it is wise to study the Koran but only with the expert guidance of Robert Spenser, David Wood, Hirsi Ali, al-Rassooli, Ray Ibrahim and Pam Geller. Your local deceiver will simply lead you to the sanitized versions of the verses or the Meccan hodgepodge of Old Testament re-runs to make you another useful idiot, so be very careful.
grace says
And Farrah Prudence who lived it and knows how bad it is.
Champ says
Ireland to review requirement that all students who take Arabic secondary school exam must study “Holy Koran”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More like unholy koran …
David Wood explains:
https://youtu.be/VXJ50pOZ0EU
Veritas says
You mean the Republic of Ireland.
Hardly surprising in a country which is around 98% Roman Catholic and most of the schools are run by the church. Presumably they are taking their lead from the RC church like they do in most things.
How they will deal with the growing Muslim influx? Presumably just like the rest of Europe.
Judi says
Yet another country joining Eurabia.
TH says
It was 98% Catholic. No longer. Like the rest of Europe, it is hell bent on self destruction. As for the the schools being under the control of the Church, that is no longer the case. These days there is an unrelenting anti-Catholic campaign lead by the media in Ireland. It would seem that every ill present in Ireland these days is the fault of the Catholic Church.
gravenimage says
Ireland to review requirement that all students who take Arabic secondary school exam must study “Holy Koran”
……………………..
*Sickening*.
And it’s not as though there would ever be a requirement in secular Latin or Greek classes to study the Bible.
D says
Arabic is a language class not a culture class. Study of the Koran should not be required.
R Russell says
Why was it the Koran? After all the Bible is available in Syrian. I think it is just another form of Islamisation. Ie dawa
R Russell says
Sorry wrote Syrian instead of Arabic. I was thinking of their Syrian roots and wrote the wrong word!
linnte says
If the Pope were to take a strong stand regarding Islam, denying it to be a fellow religion, the Irish would reject it too. This makes my stomach flip. How could the Gaelic people succumb to this and give away their heritage?
TH says
I wonder and doubt what you say. These days the Irish are more likely to reject whatever a Pope might say, or simply pay no attention to it. Yes, they have succumbed to this politically correct madness and now one may ask what identity does Ireland have in the world? NONE.
linnte says
Our Pope is condoning Islam by washing the feet of Muslims. The Irish Catholic people are following his example, as they have for hundreds of years. If the Pope was to speak out against Islam and expose it for what it is, even Jerry Adams would become a fighter against Islam. The Irish have for too long been under the dominion of non Catholics to not rebel. The Pope is their leader!
Why did the Drum Cree chicken cross the road? Because his feathers and forefeathers crossed the road. I have faith that Ireland will eventually “get it” that Islam wants to dominate them.
Nan says
He shows Mercy by washing the feet of Muslims. If he spoke against Islam, the genocide of Christians would move faster.
linnte says
He doesn’t have to speak AGAINST Islam, just ABOUT Islam. What Muslims don’t want us to know is that many many verses in the Qur’an speak for themselves and are horrifying. He is acquiescing to the people who want to destroy his beliefs. Jesus NEVER shrank from criticism nor lied with his actions or his words. God does not lie. God does not hide truth from his people. The Pope clearly doesn’t believe God when He said He would give us the words we needed through the Holy Spirit when we needed them!! The Pope has let down his flock, and therefore should not remain in the Vatican.
Custos Custodum says
No doubt, the Qur’an requirement was enthusiastically and secretly introduced by the usual semi-educated leftist “educators” who still get a juvenile thrill out of undermining society for the sake of their millenial socialist cult.
In the hands of a real teacher, actually studying the Qur’an in Arabic could provide many useful insights.
In practice, it is unlikely that Ireland has the ideological stamina to insist on proper screening of those teaching Arabic (or any other subject) in its schools. The Qur’an requirements themselves indicate that “teaching Arabic” has long become a mere front for classroom Da’wah at taxpayer expense.
Sibila says
Arabic language doesn’t have to mean one is a Muslim at all. I know a migrant Christian girl from Egypt who selected Arabic Language as a subject in private Christian Melbourne highs school as she was fighting for as better score as possible for her Uni entrance. Nothing to do with Islamic studies (certainly NOT with studying Kuran in Christian school) but with her mother tongue that helped her to score high.
Christian world being inclusive does NOT mean we are weak or stupid. Muslims are manipulative and they would, without any consciousness, go for their dirty low. My dogs know better.
Matthieu Baudin says
“… However, a Syrian father whose Christian daughter is due to sit the exam says the requirement is unfair for students and discriminatory…”
Yeah, Arabic is just another language so why impose all the heavy baggage, especially a requirement to study that incredibly stubborn book, the Quoran?
Bill says
The Republic of Ireland is socialist, just like the rest of Europe. I witnessed great sympathy for middle eastern muslims and great animosity towards Israel. Perhaps I am wrong, but I sensed that the Church is losing influence. The Pope, for whatever reason, is leading the Roman Catholic Church to a subordinate position to Islam. So, whatever remains of the strength of the Church, it will follow the socialist/communist Pope and so this reported development is quite natural and predictable. I was in Cork perhaps 10 years ago and witnessed the anti-Israel protests and the Islamic proselytizing tables on the street. These were non-violent protests. Just crowds of chanting marchers. The proselytizers were not aggressive but were visible. I could only think, it has begun and the Irish do not know what they are ultimately in for. The Irish for over 800 years have, with varying degrees of success, resisted English cultural, legal and military domination. If they are not careful, they will lose to Islam what they denied the English and it will happen in decades, not in hundreds of years. I would like to hear from anyone here as to whether my observations are valid and what the current state of affairs may be as it relates to Islam in Ireland.
UNCLE VLADDI says
I’m actually OK with forcing stupid infidels to actually study the Unholy Qur’ap!
That way there’s no ignorance excuse they can make to defend it, ever again!
linnte says
After thinking about it for a couple days, I agree! But the problem is the Arabic language. I say give EVERYONE in Canada, America, Ireland, Britain, Europe, Australia a Qur’an! It sure would open many eyes and minds to the goal of Islam!
Barry says
High blood pressure must be quite prevalent in this religion of peace as I’ve never seen a picture or watched a video where the muslims weren’t screaming at each other and throwing stones at something. How can anyone say that there is any love hiding in this insane ideology called Islam?