A private Muslim school in England is again drawing attention, this time for teaching anti-Semitism and a strong anti-European ideology.
The Islamic Tarbiyah Academy, located in the northern town of Dewsbury, offers classes for 140 children, as well as hosting an after-school religioous program and adult education classes. It is still run by its founder, Mufti Zubair Dudha.
Sky News recently revealed that a significant portion of Mufti Dudha’s teachings revolve around convincing his students that the outside world is dedicated to attacking Muslims. To counter this, Dudha treats interactions with the wider society as a battle of life and death.
In particular, he used the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious anti-Semitic forgery, to claim that Jews are controlling the world.
Other times, he referred to movies, magazines and colorful pictures as tools to “poison the thinking and minds” of Muslims. “The various forms of distractions have been successful to consider extent in achieving their objectives (of destroying Islam),” he explained.
Dudha further warned that women should not be permitted to work and that they must cover their entire bodies whenever they step outside of their homes.
While Dudha has denounced terrorism and violence, he also encourages all Muslims to be ready to “expend… even life” in the struggle to remake the world “according to Allah’s just order.” The same leaflet ended with the message: “Therefore to struggle in the path of Allah with the pen; speech and sword is Jihad.”
When asked for comment, Dudha claimed that his statements were misrepresented. “It saddens me greatly that certain extracts from our publications have been taken and misrepresented to link the Academy with extremism,” he said. “We fully believe in the importance and need of integration whilst being able to practice our faith.”
Dewsbury has had a significant history with radical Islam spreading among its youth. Despite having a population of only about 60,000 people, it produced one of the attackers involved in the 2005 London bombings, as well as the youngest suicide bomber and the youngest convicted terrorist in the country.
UK politicians are focusing more on domestic extremism following the recent ISIS attacks in Europe, and some have pointed to the Islamic Tarbiyah Academy as a specific concern.
Keith Vaz, the Home Affairs Select Committee chair, told Sky News, “After what we have seen in Paris and in Brussels and the way in which the Muslim community has come out so strongly in favor of peace and tolerance, I think these kinds of leaflets serve no purpose but to divide in a poisonous and totally reckless way.”
Similarly, a statement from the Department for Education read, “These serious allegations are under investigation. While it would be inappropriate to comment on the specific investigations of these institutions, we are clear that extremism has no place in our society and we are determined to protect children from it.”
Arutz Sheva has previously reported on the Islamic Tarbiyah Academy, noting that the school received a positive outside reviews despite threatening to expel students who socialize with non-Muslims.
