Some Virginia Schools Closed Friday Over Islam Lesson

The assignment on Islam spiraled into an angry backlash among the people which forced officials to shut down all the schools across the Augusta county in Virginia, United States.

The school closings came one week after the teacher gave Riverheads High School students an assignment that involved practicing calligraphy and writing a statement in Arabic, the Shahada, a profession of faith recited in Muslims’ daily prayers. And it said that despite the outcry, it would continue to educate students about the world’s religious diversity as required by state education guidelines but that “a different, nonreligious sample of Arabic calligraphy will be used in the future”. The “shahada” translates to “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”.

Social media too exploded with angers from parents over the school lesson.

The teacher had not asked the students to do the assignment on her own discretion, it was merely part of the syllabus in the World Geography section, reports the News Leader.

The message went on to say that futur lessons would feature a non-religious example of Arabic calligraphy.

The county school system also added the school is not trying to convert any student to either Islam or any other religion.

Superintendent Eric Bond, of the Augusta County School District in Virginia, said in a message to parents and employees on Friday that some of the tens of thousands of emails and Facebook posts “posed a risk of harm to school officials”.

Meanwhile, more than 20,000 like-minded parents and others gathered in the sanctuary of Good Will Ministries with Kimberly Herndon who kept her son home from schools to voice grievances against the school and also against the teacher.

“I will not have my children sit under a woman who indoctrinates them with the Islam religion when I am a Christian, and I’m going to stand behind Christ”, she said.

At the school campus worries about security have started mounting. Many in this Shenandoah Valley community defended LaPorte and the school district.

All the Los Angeles public schools remained closed on December 15 after a hoax email threat.