Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
Islamic charity rebuked for ‘inflaming tensions’ at UK school

Islamic charity rebuked for ‘inflaming tensions’ at UK school

Last updated on: October 2, 2021 at 2:29 pm by Barry Duke

Islamic charity rebuked for ‘inflaming tensions’ at UK school 2021-10-02T14:29:44+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Images via Youtube

AFTER the Purpose of Life charity, headed by Mohammad Sajad Hussain, inset above, revealed the name of a teacher who showed an image of the “prophet” Mohammed to pupils at a school in Yorkshire, the teacher was forced into hiding and received death threats.

Now it’s been reported that Purpose of Life has been formally rebuked by the Charity Commission for “inflaming tensions” and the risking safety of the teacher at the centre of the Batley Grammar School blasphemy row.

In March, Mohammad Sajad Hussain, Purpose of Life’s Chief Executive, accused the teacher of “terrorism” and “insulting Islam”. In a video he also called for the teacher’s sacking for showing pupils “sadistic” material.

Ironically, the union that came to the teacher’s defence had earlier given the charity a £3,000 donation. After protests began at the school, the Kirklees branch of the National Education Union said a statement:

The NEU is fully supporting its members at Batley school, and has been since the start. We have been actively pursuing news organisations and websites that have published names and asked them to withdraw them.

Free speech campaigners then complained to the Charity Commission, accusing the group of “recklessly” placing the teacher in danger of “physical harm”.

Following a lengthy investigation involving trustees, the regulator confirmed on Friday it has now issued Purpose of Life an official warning under section 75A of the 2011 Charities Act.

The notice says the Commission:

Considers that a breach of trust and/or duty and/or misconduct and/or mismanagement has been committed in connection with the charity.

Regulators said the charity’s open letter naming the teacher did not consider “foreseeable risk to the person’s safety” and:

Was written in such a way as to be likely to inflame existing tensions within the local community.

The Charity Commission demanded a series of actions to be taken, including:

Implementing effective written oversight and/or control mechanisms for the charity’s social media channels.

The charity’s leaders were also told to familiarise themselves with data protection law.

The Charity Commission threatened “further regulator action” may be taken if the breaches it identified are not remedied.

Image via YouTube

Toby Young, above, General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, which made the original complaint about the charity, said:

I welcome the action the Charity Commission has taken: naming the teacher at Batley Grammar School on Twitter was an irresponsible thing to do, given that a French teacher embroiled in a similar row had been beheaded by an Islamist terrorist the year before.

Teachers should be free to discuss controversial topics without having to worry that they will be doxxed by activists who take a particular aide in those controversies and their lives put in danger.

Purpose of Life, which eventually removed the teacher’s name from its online post after a fierce backlash over safety concerns, will have the regulator’s warning attached to its register entry for one year.

The teacher’s father told MailOnline earlier this year:

He knows that he’s not going to be able to return to work or live in Batley. It’s just going to be too dangerous for him and his family.

Following the row, the school pledged more rigorous monitoring of teaching aids and said it would never use the image of the prophet again.

The investigation concluded that the religious education teacher, in a bid to start a discussion about the meaning of blasphemy:

Genuinely believed that using the image had an educational purpose and benefit.

Hat tip: Robert Stovold

• Please report any typos/errors to [email protected]

If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

I’d love a cup of coffee

Uncategorized

Batley Grammar School

Charity Commission

Mohammad Sajad Hussain

Mohammed

Purpose of Life

Toby Young

Previous Post

October 1, 2021

Staff at Baptist couple's Missouri school charged with abuse

Next Post

October 3, 2021 RCC in France: As many as 10,000 may have been sexually abused

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which of Job’s friends said, "Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?"

Select your answer to see how you score.

Bildad Zophar Eliphaz Elihu

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »