Furious Muslims have voiced their anger after a religious studies secondary school teacher used a picture of Osama Bin Laden to depict the Prophet Muhammad – an act likened to comparing the Pope to Jimmy Savile.
The teacher at the Church of England All Saints Academy in Dunstable, near Luton, has now been suspended after Year 10 pupils were shown the image during a Power Point presentation on Friday.
After the use of the image was brought to the academy’s attention by a concerned pupil in the class, the school apologised and pledged to bring in an ‘external person’ to carry out an investigation.
But outraged Muslims, many of whom consider any depiction of their prophet to be deeply offensive, are accusing the school of ‘Islamophobia’ and claiming the incident reveals a ‘pure hatred’ for their religion.
Akbar Dad Khan, a community leader in nearby Luton who attends the Central Mosque in the town, said putting the name of the Prophet Muhammad alongside a photograph of Osama Bin Laden had been compared with Jimmy Savile’s name appearing underneath an image of The Pope.
Mr Khan, who is the Chair of a community group called Building Bridges, said: ‘I have had conversations with young people about this and they are very angry. They feel this has been done deliberately to defame Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
‘Putting name of the Prophet alongside an international terrorist is very directly connecting Islam with terrorism . It is condemnable and should be condemned.’
All Saints Academy in Dunstable, outside Luton, has apologised for using a picture of Osama bin Laden to depict the Prophet Muhammad
Deputy Editor of Muslim community news site 5 Pillars, Dilly Hussain, wrote to the school: ‘Your apology and short-term suspension of the teacher aside, the Muslim community want answers: How did a photo of Osama bin Laden used to depict the name of the Prophet Muhammad?’
He went on: ‘It is right for the school to suspend the teacher concerned and carry out a full investigation. It must be impartial. The school has acted promptly and has issued an apology, which is the right thing to do.’
The school, which teaches around 700 pupils aged 13 to 18-years-old, says it has a Christian ethos and ‘very useful’ links had now been established with the Muslim community in Luton.
Muslim community news site 5 Pillars, which has more than 400,000 followers, is now demanding answers to six questions regarding the circumstances of the incident.
Deputy Editor Dilly Hussain wrote to the school: ‘Your apology and short-term suspension of the teacher aside, the Muslim community want answers: How did a photo of Osama bin Laden used to depict the name of the Prophet Muhammad?
‘[We want] chronology and full details, [including] all who knew and involved.’
One social media message directed to the school’s Twitter page reads: ‘Absolutely despicable. It’s hard to see this as anything other than malicious! This needs investigating asap!’
Another said: ‘All I see is pure hatred for Islam and all Muslims here. I see no error… If all you did was remove the content, then you don’t really see the gravity of this offense. That means your views are not too far off from the offender’s.’
A third said: ‘Disgusting. You’re clearly an Islamophobic, ignorant, pusillanimous school. I hope the world sees how disgusting you are.’
In a statement, the school said it was ‘totally inappropriate’ to use the picture and that it ‘recognises the deep hurt and distress’ caused.
They said: ‘Not only was it offensive to attempt to portray an image of the prophet Muhammad, but the image that was used was that of Osama bin Laden, a terrorist leader, which added further added to the deep insult.
‘The academy reiterates its unreserved and sincere apology for the distress this episode has caused.’
It is not yet clear how the picture of the al-Qaeda leader ended up in the PowerPoint presentation.
Muslims, many of whom consider any depiction of their prophet to be deeply offensive, are accusing the school of ‘Islamophobia’ and claiming the incident reveals a ‘pure hatred’ for their religion
In Islam, it is deeply offensive to depict the Prophet Muhammad because it is seen as similar to the forbidden worship of idols.
The use of the image was brought to the Academy’s attention by a concerned pupil in the Year 10 class.
After suspending the teacher, who has not been named, the school said it would also undertake a review.
On its latest inspection by OFSTED — the school’s regulator — in 2019, it was described as ‘requires improvement’.
