Religion in the Public Schools

Some parents in Walton County are up in a furor because their children are allegedly being forced to learn about Islam which goes against their principles. According to the media reports, Walton county schools are teaching the middle school students the tenets of Islam and “Talk of Allah”. Parents think that teachers are trying to convert their children when they are teaching the students about the five pillars of Islam, including the Shahada (declaration of faith). As a Muslim mother I encourage my children to learn about other religions including Christianity and Judaism. Learning about other cultures and faiths can only enlighten our children. It is absurd to think that talking about the tenets of Islam will encourage the students to convert to Islam.

One of the parents also mentioned that teachers are teaching half the truth about Islam and ignoring the radical part of it. “Muslim fundamentalists”, “Extremists” “Radical Islamists”, these are just a few labels that have been falsely enforced on all Muslims. If a Muslim commits an act of terrorism, then that person is guilty of acting against his own religious teachings. Is it really fair to punish and criticize all Muslims for the acts of a single person? When a shooter is Muslim, the entire religion is guilty. Would we blame the shooter if he is an African-American or a White American?

Islam is a universal religion with more than 1 billion followers. We Muslims speak out against terrorism consistently, but we’re not always heard. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, of which I am a member, has launched several campaigns such as, “Muslims for Peace”, “Muslims for Loyalty” and “Muslims for Life”. The “Muslims for Life” campaign, in the past four years, has helped arrange some 1,074 blood drives which collected 39,477 pints - enough to have helped save as many as 118,431 lives. Why do not we get judged by this act of humanity? The only reason Ahmadi Muslims shed blood is to save lives.

Any right of parents to guide their children’s values cannot justify preventing students from receiving accurate and useful information about other religions. Simply learning about a religion does not automatically make a person change his religion. Religious literacy is mandatory to the health of a democratic, pluralistic society. The media’s portrayal of Islam often misleads those whose religious knowledge is limited. Without understanding the world’s religious traditions, students cannot understand and evaluate what they see every night on cable TV- information that might be devoid of the real truth.