Dispatches ‘Lessons in Hatred and Violence’: A Review

The answer to that is a sad ‘no’. Some of these issues have already been highlighted on these very pages.

We are afraid that those issues raised in the programme although isolated need to be investigated fully. However, we must remember that the incidents of violence are still isolated as many mosques and committees have taken huge steps in ensuring that this no longer takes place in religious institutions.

Two main issues are explored in the programme. First is notion that ‘extreme’ views are being taught in a madressa and secondly, children are being abused with physical violence.

Violence in Mosques.

The evidence of beatings inside the Jamia Mosque is indeed shocking and disgusting.

Many British Muslims may have experienced this themselves in the eighties and mosques themselves have worked hard to outlaw this.

Sadly, as this programme shows we have much work to do.

The teacher in charge of children at the Jamia Mosque in Keighley who is seen openly hitting children shouldn’t be anywhere near a mosque or children.

He seems to someone who has come from South Asia and is using the same teaching methods he would be aware of in that part of the world. Hitting children is sadly still common in some parts of South Asia.

There are also sections where young children are hit by other young people. This form of bullying must also be investigated fully. This is entirely the fault of the mosque management who are leaving young children in the presence of violent young people.

The teacher himself is powerless to intervene or chooses not too as he sees it acceptable to behave in this way.

To state this is widespread is questionable however as many parents will urge their children to them if anyone lays a hand on them at mosque. Due to the actions of parents Mosques have taken steps to eradicate this.

Many mosques have checks in place to ensure that any abuse is taken seriously and parents have taken an active approach in helping to change this culture.

But is this enough?

This programme shows there needs to be more common and uniform controls on who teaches in mosques as children’s safety is of paramount importance. Because it seems we cannot rely on some of our out dated mosque committees to take on this responsibility.

Preaching ‘isolation’.

Whilst you could say action has been taken by mosques with regards to teaching methods in mosques we are afraid the same cannot be cannot be said about the views exposed in a Deobani Madrassa.

The Darul Uloom Islamic High School and College is the focal point for the programme.

The programme in particular looks at the theology of ‘Deobandism’ which it returns to again and again. The Deonbandi movement itself has been criticised by some Muslims themselves for some of it’s ‘anti-social’ brand of Islam. This is not the first time such views have been exposed.

Stating that non-Muslims are inferior in some way to Muslims is indeed damning. What is equally shocking is that some those permitted to air their views are young men. These young men are being ‘groomed’ to become future teachers.

These statements expose the hypocrisy of some of these teachers. It seems they are happy to live and work within a society that they then want nothing to do with. This is wrong and totally unacceptable.

These phrases are being said by people who are indeed taking the literal meanings of religious edicts and using them to force separation inside people’s minds.

Sayings such as ‘no-one has helped Islam who’s beard has not been less than a fistful of beard.’ And ‘Anyone caught with having trousers below their ankles will have two detentions’ are sadly not uncommon.

There are some in these Deobandi inspired movements who continue to take the basic meanings of religion to challenge the beliefs of other cultures.

Whilst we can be quick to blame a whole movement we think in particular cases it is important for the authorities to look more closely who they support.

We are well aware of several movements and mosques to which politicians themselves simply turn a blind eye too because they wish to rely heavily on the ‘block votes’ for support.

The comments in much of the programme by Dr Taj Hargey, founder of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford are welcomed as are those of Ghayasuddin Siddiqui of the Muslim Parliament.

It is wrong to state that extremism itself is responsible for the rise of racist groups such as the English Defence League (EDL). These groups are not concerned about extremism within Islam or any religion they are focussed on removing Muslims from this soil – of they are integrating or not.

What will be the aftermath of this programme? In the short-term it will be used an excuse to show how backward Muslims are in this country. It will seek to tell the public, albeit wrongly, how Muslims are not willing to integrate with the host community.

There will also be calls for more controls of what is said in mosques and who says them.

And after watching these reprehensible views on show one can see why.