For Dr. Pipes: It seems that there is a madrassa in Queens, NY

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Aug 21, 2006 at 06:58

Hi Daniel:

I was very surprised to read in the Metro Section of the NYT this past week that there is a madrassa in Queens, New York. The boys that attend the madrassa are of Pakistani origin and the teachers are Muslim Indians. These boys spend 8 hours per day, five days a week memorizing the Qur'an! Notice that they are reading a text in a language that they do not understand and I suspect that the teachers also might not be literate in Arabic!!! And what is the pay back? The child will be called a Hafiz! Or he who memorized (the Qur'an). ...

Do they spend time learning othere subjects? It seems that the madrassa will be introducing other topics for a total of two extra hours per day. So these boys will be reading the scary stuff in the Qur'an as in fight ahl al-kitab and kill the polytheists and the horrible anti-semitic remarks as in describing the jews as apes and pigs. But the good news is they cannot understand what the Quranic text really says or at least not as of yet!

Shame on the Department of Education in New York City

And what should be done for those Indian teachers (most likely tableghees)? Send them back to India. I do not see why they were allowed to reside here in the US in the first place.

Any comments?

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Daniel Pipes replies:

Yes, I read that NYT article and am concerned, given the track record of Islamic schools (on which, see "What Are Islamic Schools Teaching?" and "Troubles at Islamic Schools in North America.")