The terrible news broke on Saturday: rumors were flying that a copy of the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, had been desecrated at a high school. But the authorities had a handle on the situation: the students in question were suspended, the police were called in, and the school assured local Muslim leaders that it was teaching students that the book of Allah must be treated with the proper respect. This is not a news item from Pakistan, Iran, or Saudi Arabia: this took place Wednesday at Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield, England. This is not the Merrie Old England of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Dickens, or even the fight-them-in-the-streets England of Winston Churchill. Welcome to the new, Sharia-compliant United Kingdom.
The BBC reported that “four pupils have been suspended from a West Yorkshire secondary school after a copy of the Quran was damaged by students.” It all started when “a copy of the Islamic text was brought in” to Kettlethorpe High “by a Year 10 pupil.” After that, the rumors began: there were reports that the student miscreants had burned or otherwise destroyed the Qur’an. Others claimed that the students had kicked it around on school grounds. But no one was really sure what exactly had happened, and so many people began contacting the local governing official, Akef Akbar, who is the independent councillor for Wakefield East, to get the straight dope.
Akef Akbar, being a conscientious and responsible Englishman, called a meeting with school officials, who handed him the copy of the Qur’an that had allegedly been desecrated, so that he could determine for himself whether or not it had been treated with the proper respect. Akbar thereupon was able to reassure the community that “reports the Quran had been burnt or destroyed were untrue.” The school also denied the claims that some Kettlethorpe students had used the book as a soccer ball.
In the course of Akbar’s investigation, the councillor recounted, “he had been told the book had been taken to school as a dare by a pupil who lost while playing a Call of Duty videogame with other students.” Then while the book was at Kettlethorpe, it somehow “sustained a slight tear to the cover and smears of dirt on some of the pages.” That was it.
Tudor Griffiths, the head teacher at Kettlethorpe High, tried to calm everyone by issuing an unequivocal statement in favor of the freedom of expression — no, just kidding! Griffiths’ statement was a full-hearted endorsement of the assumption that the Qur’an must be treated with a respect that is not accorded to anything else on this green earth: “We would like to reassure all our community that the holy book remains fully intact and that our initial enquiries indicate there was no malicious intent by those involved.” Whew! “However, we have made it very clear that their actions did not treat the Quran with the respect it should have, so those involved have been suspended and we will be working with them to ensure they understand why their actions were unacceptable.” So the miscreants had “no malicious intent” but were suspended anyway, just so they understand that they must never, ever treat every last copy of the Qur’an with anything other than unalloyed reverence.
Griffiths didn’t stop there. He added, “This morning, we met with our local Muslim community leaders, local councillors and police to share all the information we currently know, the action taken and the immediate steps we have taken to reinforce the values and behaviour we expect from every member of this school community to ensure that all religions are respected.” The West Yorkshire Police confirmed the veracity of this statement, saying that the cops were “liaising” with the school and adding, “Initial enquiries have confirmed minor damage was caused to the text and officers are continuing to work closely with the school.” That’s a relief.
Related: A UN Body Has Condemned the Burning of a Qur’an in Sweden. Here’s Why It Shouldn’t Have.
Now: if a Bible had been taken to school and suffered “a slight tear to the cover and smears of dirt on some of the pages,” would the students involved have been suspended despite having no malicious intent, and given lessons in the respect they should give to the book? Would the cops have been called in?
It appears as if Britain’s submission to Sharia, at least in regard to how the Qur’an should be treated, is already well-established and taken for granted. But behind it all, of course, is naked fear. Griffiths talked all about “respect,” but what he really meant was that he doesn’t want to see riots and people getting killed over a copy of the Qur’an that was supposedly desecrated, and there is abundant precedent of such reactions. So all he is doing is trying to stave off jihad violence. The problem is that appeasement doesn’t calm aggressors, it only emboldens them. Britain has started down the road to full enforcement of Sharia. It will find it exceedingly difficult to get off that road.
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