Islamic school books that say women ‘must submit’
BOOKS that claim Hell is mostly full of women because they are ‘ungrateful to their husbands’ have been found in Islamic schools.
In a school library, Ofsted inspectors found the book Women Who Deserve To Go To Hell, which said women were ‘deficient’ in intelligence and must always obey men.
The book, which was available to pupils, claimed women will go to Hell if they cut their hair, pluck their eyebrows or have cosmetic dental work.
It also said women must not refuse to have sex with their husbands, show ‘ingratitude’ or ‘have tall ambitions’.
Readers are told: ‘In the beginning of the 20th century, a movement for the freedom of women was launched with the basic objective of driving women towards aberrant ways.’
The book by Egyptian preacher Mansoor Abdul Hakim was among a dossier of misogynist religious literature found by inspectors visiting Muslim schools.
The materials came from state-funded schools as well as private faith schools and those running illegally as unregistered madrassas – Islamic schools that teach Arabic and the Koran.
Ofsted said the dossier of material it collected was out of step with mainstream Muslim thinking and posed a risk to children. Chief Ofsted inspector Amanda Spielman has previously said she wanted to ensure children at religious schools were prepared for ‘life in modern Britain’. Last month, she went to court to successfully defend a decision to place the Al-Hijrah School in Birmingham into special measures for segregating boys and girls from the age of nine.
One school Ofsted visited encouraged children to read a text that contrasted the ‘noble women of the East’ with the ‘internally torn woman of the West’.
It claimed Western women just wanted to attract men and hang around aimlessly in cinemas and cafés.
Other books insisted that ‘the man by way of correction can also beat’ his wife.
Ofsted said its inspectors saw pupils’ work marked by teachers that stated women had a responsibility ‘only to bear children and bring them up as Muslims’.
In a box entitled ‘daily life and relationships’, a pupil had written that men are ‘physically stronger’ and women are ‘emotionally weaker’. The worksheet was covered in ticks from the teacher.
Ofsted said it was concerned that religious schools were exposing children to inappropriate material. It added that by trying to be inclusive, well-meaning mainstream schools may be unintentionally permitting extreme forms of Islam.
Ofsted added there was ‘growing concern’ about primary schools that allowed girls as young as four to wear the hijab, which covers the head but leaves the face exposed. In mainstream Muslim teaching, the hijab is commonly worn by girls after they reach puberty.
The Department for Education did not reply to a request for comment.
‘Bear children and bring them up’