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You will see that lots of the ideas here involve maps, places and culture. This is to allow you to connect with the Geography curriculum whenever you can.
Combining learning in RE and Geography (with some History) allows pupils to explore the world's connections, cultures and people in a more holistic way. People live in places, and place are shaped by people.

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·         Take the first paragraph of this section, ‘what is the Trojan Horse affair?’ and copy for groups. Ask pupil to highlight in two colours on the text. They should look for:

1st colour: what the letter sent to the council claimed Muslims are doing in schools

2nd colour: other views of this situation

·         Next, draw two speech bubbles. Groups should summarise two viewpoints in this series of events and write them in the speech bubbles

·         Watch the video of the Trojan Horse in the Trojan Wars, found at the end of the ‘what is a Trojan Horse?’ section. Discuss and make sure pupils understand what the phrase means.

·         Find an image of a Greek Trojan Horse on the internet, print for groups. Groups write on the inside of the horse what Muslims in Birmingham schools were accused of in this situation.

·         Go back to the first section and read it again. Ask groups to write on the outside of the horse any consequences of this series of events.

·         Talk about why the affair in Birmingham was named ‘Trojan Horse’. How does this portray Muslims in the UK? Do pupils think this is fair or unfair, discuss why

·         Show a map of Europe and America. Add a post-it note to Britain, saying ‘religion in schools’. Find France on the map. Add a post-it note to France and America saying ‘no religion in schools’.

·         Remove the post-its and stick at the side of the board. Ask pupils what they think is meant by ‘religion in schools’. Make a list or listen to their ideas.

·         Teach that by ‘religion’ in schools, France and America mean outward signs of religious identity should not be seen, such as clothes or jewellery. There is no expectation that pupils will somehow lose their religious faith when they come to school. Ask groups to come up with two arguments: (1) why religious symbols and clothes should be kept private, and (2) why religious pupils should be allowed to show their religious identity if they choose. Listen to arguments around the room. Ask the class to choose two or three arguments on both sides that they think are strong and persuasive.

·         The Humanist and historical argument in the section ‘should there be religion in schools?’ are summarised below:

In Support of Religion in Schools
- Religious faith is part of someone’s identity, they cannot hide it.

- An inclusive environment should be able to welcome lots of different worldviews and ways of living.

- Britain is traditionally Christian and learning about Christianity is part of understanding our culture and history.

Against Religion in Schools
- Schools are for everyone, religious beliefs should not influence schools because not all pupils and teachers are part of that religion.

- Worship and prayer are personal actions, schools should not expect pupils to take part in these practices

- Religion is a matter for the family, it is not the role of school to support any one belief or religion over others.

Ask groups to choose any arguments they agree with and explain why

·    Do pupils think religion in schools generally is a ‘Trojan Horse’?

·    Ask groups to come up with a metaphor that describes how they see religion in schools

·    Find an image on the internet of an old school with separate entrances for boys and girls. Many Victorian school buildings have separate doors with ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ carved above them (as well as a door for ‘infants’ sometimes). Search for ‘boys entrance school’ and ‘girls entrance school’. Ask pupils to suggest why they think old schools had separate doors. Explain that in England most schools educated boys and girls separately until the 1960s. Pupils might know of schools in the area that are still single sex.

·    Display these two views:

‘boys and girls learn better on their own because they do not distract each other’

‘boys and girls should be taught together, it is unfair to separate them’

Ask groups to give an argument supporting either of these views. Listen to ideas

· Teach that the al-Hijrah school in Birmingham educates boys and girls in the same way but separate classes. This is so they do not distract each other. Single-sex education is popular among many parents in the UK, including Muslim parents. This school was very popular but was shut down after the Trojan Horse affair. The government said the separation of girls and boys was unfair.

· Take the Trojan Horse images pupils have been working on. Where would they add ‘single-sex education’ to the image? Inside the horse? Outside the horse? Listen to pupils ideas.

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·         Talk about how cricket came to England with the Norman (French) invasion in 1066. Although it seems so English or British, it was actually brought over by invaders.

·         Talk about how cricket was brought to South Asia, again through invasion, this time with the British Empire.

·         Ask pupils to shut their eyes and imagine everything that comes into their heads when you ask them to think of 'cricket'. Let them talk to others and share their impressions- gather some. Talk about pupils' impressions of the game- what are they? This could be an interesting exercise! If any pupils play cricket, ask them to share their experiences if they are willing

·         Look at the data from the information above: 33% of people who play cricket in Britain are from a South Asian background, but only 4% of people from a South Asian play at a national level. Discuss what this means. It means that many people from a South Asian background play in local clubs but for some reason do not have the opportunity to play for county clubs or the national team.

·         Compare this imbalance to another imbalance: the objections to Moeen Ali's beard, compared to the complete lack of objection to WG Field's beard.  Read the information about 'The Beard that's Feared' and give pupils time to highlight the text. They should highlight anything they have questions about. Listen to the questions, can you and the class help to answer them?

·         Read about how Edgbaston cricket ground are making efforts to welcome young people from black and Asian backgrounds. Looking at the information the class has just discussed, such as the low numbers of South Asian-heritage players, and the comments Moeen Ali receives about his beard, can the class see why Edgbaston would do this? How do they feel about Edgbaston's attempt?

·         Read Munir Ali's quote. why does he describe success in cricket as 'breaking through'? Breaking through what?

·         Read about the 'Ramadan League'. If any children in the class fast at Ramadan (or their families), ask them if they would like to talk about it. Do they get tired during the days? Is it fun to have the iftar meal at the end of the day?

·         Choose three aspects of the 'Ramadan League' that pupils think would encourage young people to join up and get involved. Do pupils think this could be a good way to help British Muslims to feel welcome at the grounds?

·         Moeen Ali and other South Asian heritage people in Britain seem to be excluded from cricket. However the class might also have noticed that so far they have only learnt about men and boys being excluded. Ask the class if they know of any women or girls who play cricket. Do they imagine cricket as more of a male sport? Why is this?

·         Read about Abtaha Maqsood, a British Muslim woman who plays cricket. Talk about how Abtaha got into cricket. Ask the class why an interviewer chose to ask her about wearing the hijab. Do pupils think this is anything to do with her sporting skills? Discuss this point.

·         what is a role model? Why does Abtaha feel she has to be a role model?

·         Should Edgbaston run an event similar to the Ramadan League to welcome girls into the sport? What could this be called?

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·         Find Pakistan and India on a map. Trace the journey from these countries to Birmingham- how many miles? Locate map references for Pakistani cities, such as Lahore and Islamabad. Find map references for the centre of Birmingham.

·         Find out about the physical geography of Pakistan and the UK. Compare and contrast.

·         Find out how people would have travelled in the 1960s and 1970s- did people fly? Did some come on road and by boat?

·         If any children in the class are from a South Asian background and want to share some information, find out where their family comes from and identify these places on a map. Ask children to find out from their parents and grandparents why they decided to come to Birmingham

·         Find out about the climate of Pakistan and India; what do people wear? Imagine the differences between Pakistan and India and Birmingham. What is the weather like? What do people here wear? Talk about what is might have been like to arrive in a new continent and get used to a different way of life.

·         What is 'Partition'? Pupils might ask this. Some will know about it from their family histories. Partition is a seismic event in 1947 when Pakistan split from India to create a new country. Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims who lived around the new border were caught up in panic, chaos, loss and violence. Many South Asian families came to Britain to escape the instability of Partition. This act was completed as the British left India, a newly independent nation, after 200 years of British rule. A BBC 2 series called 'India's Partition: the forgotten story', is helpful for your subject knowledge. There are short clips on You Tube from this series if you want to show any to your class.

·         You might know some facts and figures about the population of Birmingham. Here is an interesting piece of information:

'44% of Birmingham's population have a migrant background, half of whom were born overseas' (p. xiv, 'Our City' by Jon Bloomfield, 2019).

Talk about how this might have an impact on a city- half of the population have a non-British home culture. What might be brought to the city from different home cultures, such as food, music, stories, clothes, etc?

·         Read each of the women in the case studies in the way that is best for your class. Read them one at a time, pausing to identify the key information, or ask 5 children to read one case study to the class, and then compare them as a group.

·         Record this information in groups:

1) Where were they born?

2) What led them, to Birmingham?

3) Do you know about their family?

4) Do they work?

5) Do you know about their religious views?

6) Can you say anything about their personality?

·         Ask groups to read out the information they have gathered about the women’s religious views and personality.  Listen to groups’ impressions.

·         Ask groups to choose one woman and create a factfile. The factfile must show 5 things that are important to their person- the group can decide what these 5 things are and present them to communicate clearly.

·         What do the class want to know more about – whether factories, Partition, the hijab, arranged marriages, food, anything. Make a list of information the class would like to find out more about.

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·         Ask groups to make a list of the food they most like to eat. Try and work out how many countries or regions are represented around the class in the food pupils eat. Do pupils know the cultural or geographical origins of some of their food?

·         Talk about a time when pupils went on holiday and tried something new to eat or drink. Did they like it? Was it strange? Child food nutritionists suggest to parents that their children need to eat a new food 10- 15 times before it becomes familiar. Have pupils noticed a food they used to find unappetising, such as olives, they now quite like?

·         Pupils will read that most 'Indian' restaurants are in fact run by Paksitani and Bangladeshi people. The lands we now call Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of India until 1947. In what sense is it correct to call all South Asian food 'Indian', and in what sense is it incorrect? Do pupils think non-Asian British people should make the effort to know this, or is it just an easy short-hand phrase?

·         Learn about the word 'desi', meaning 'land' in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. Food from the subcontinent can be described as 'desi' food, referring to its shared cultural and geographical history. Do south Asian-heritage pupils in your class use this word at home? Look at a map of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Teach children that before 1947 they were one land, India. This shows how there will be many shared cultural elements, despite new borders and religious differences.

·         An Indian - American food blogger, Chaheti Bansall, argues that we should not use the word 'curry' to describe all Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi food. She suggests that the word 'curry' is not really used in India, but was applied during the British invasion by white Europeans unwilling to learn about the incredibly diverse food of India. When we describe South Asian food using the generic term 'curry', we are repeating this colonial-era thinking. Share this argument with pupils. Chaheti Bansall's cooking website is called 'Rooted in Spice', you could even watch some of her videos. Invite pupils to discuss the issue- is it more respectful to learn the correct words for cultural aspects such as food? Is the term' curry' is used positively, or does it represent colonial-era thinking?

·         Read about the area of Sparkhill, do any pupils know the area? You could look up images online of the 'Balti triangle' from the 1950s or 1960s. List the different cultural groups who have lived in the area. Talk about what people might bring from one culture to another; food, music, clothes, festivals, words and language, etc.

·         Read about the first mosque in Sparkhill. Who built it? Imagine what it must be like to establish a place of worship in a new country. What metaphor describes this; planting a seed? Opening a door? Laying a foundation stone? Turning on a light? Lighting a fire?

·         Pupils have heard that restaurant chains such as Nandos, KFC and Pizza Express use halal meat. However there are also objections to halal slaughter made by the RSCPA and some farmers' groups. The objection is that the Islamic method of slaughter is less humane than approved British standards of slaughter, especially stunning the animal before it is killed.  Islamically an animal that has been stunned is not considered halal. If this is something you would like to explore further, this briefing page from The Week Magazine offers a clear overview of all the arguments: https://www.theweek.co.uk/58447/halal-meat-what-does-it-involve-and-is-it-cruel-to-animals

·         Ask pupils to pretend they have been away from home for a long time. One day, while thinking of home from another country, they start to think about the food they miss most. What food would pupils miss most if they did not live at home? Talk about why food can be something we miss and long for, and why it can remind us of home. Can pupils make a connection to the reasons why people who come to a new country often bring their food traditions with them?

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In 2013 there was a huge scandal about the way some schools in Birmingham were run. Someone sent a letter to the government accusing the schools of having been taken over by Muslim extremists who they said were trying to force their views on the children. Some of the schools were shut down and some teachers lost their jobs. There were journalists and politicians who believed that Muslims who were extreme were trying to take control of the schools by pretending to be ordinary teachers when in reality they were extremists. Some of the schools were accused of trying to teach the children a version of Islam that was intolerant of other peoples’ beliefs.

There was a huge row between the government and the schools and some of the schools were investigated and shut down. The Government ordered an official investigation into 21 schools in Birmingham, all the schools had lots of Muslim pupils. After 5 different investigations there was no evidence that anyone had broken the law. One of the reasons that the Trojan Horse Affair has upset so many people is that there are disagreements over what really happened. Some people believe that the Muslim schools in Birmingham were targeted just because they were Muslim and that there was racism against them. Other people believe that even though the schools did not break the law they were promoting ideas and practices that were not respectful or tolerant.

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On 3 February, the New York Times ( NYT)/Serial Productions published a podcast series called The Trojan Horse Affair, presented by Brian Reed and Hamza Syed.

The podcast focuses on events in 2014 that followed the emergence of a letter purporting to be written by a participant in an Islamist plot to take over state schools in Birmingham. That letter was widely believed by all serious parties at the time to be an obvious fake - and still is. Much of what it described, however, reflected genuine safeguarding, children's rights, and educational problems that were coming to light in a number of schools at around the same time.

Since 2014, a narrative has developed that foregrounds the fake letter and asserts from this that because the letter was fake, all the concerns and events surrounding the schools were an Islamophobic witch hunt. This is at odds with the facts.

Much of the public attention in 2014 certainly was driven by prejudice in its tone and extent. We have ample experience dealing with safeguarding and children's rights issues in different religious contexts, and we know from that work that when Muslims are accused of violations, they attract more coverage - and often of a less accurate nature - than similar events involving perpetrators from other religions. This reflects a real bias in society. In addition, politicians' actions in 2014 were often clumsy, insensitive, and seemed motivated by prejudice.

Nonetheless, as all investigations found and as we know ourselves, there were genuine and significant problems in the schools in Birmingham, corroborated by multiple whistleblowers and by documentary evidence. This remains true even if some of the other claims made in the official investigations turn out to be untrue or unsubstantiated. It cannot be swept under the carpet as Islamophobia.

We believe the podcast presents a misleading account of our own involvement in these events. We have sought and continue to seek a number of corrections and retractions from the NYT. To date they have made one correction but we still hope for more. In the meantime, we are setting out here (i) the facts of our involvement and (ii) some of the ways in which the editing of an interview with one of our staff presents a misleading account. We focus only on what affects us directly and not on other ways in which the podcast may be misleading.

Humanists UK has worked in education for over 125 years and this work is a major and ongoing focus for us. This is true in terms of education practice, where we provide resources and speakers for schools, teacher training, and work with the local councils that set RE syllabuses, alongside religious people. But it is also a major focus of our policy work, because many aspects of the education system in the UK fail to respect human rights and equality in relation to religion or belief. This ranges from religious selection in school admissions, to required daily acts of collective worship, to issues with the school curriculum. We routinely advise and assist parents, teachers, and others to deal with a variety of complaints about these issues. What happened in Park View School, a school legally designated as having no religious character, was an example of this.

January-February 2014: our passing of child safeguarding and other issues to authorities

In January-February 2014, prior to the public emergence of the 'Trojan Horse' letter, we were approached by three former staff members (not all of whom the podcasters have spoken to) with concerns about what was happening at Park View School.

The concerns included child safeguarding issues, serious and unlawful sex discrimination against girls, homophobia by staff, nepotism in recruitment, creationism taught as science, Islam unlawfully being taught as true (schools without a religious character must remain neutral on matters of religion or belief in their teaching of RE), and a range of instances of inappropriate behaviour by some male staff. Some of the most serious incidents brought to our attention at that time are still not in the public domain, as they could lead to the identification of the whistleblowers.

Because they involved first-hand accounts of serious child safeguarding issues, we passed them immediately on to the relevant authorities, as any responsible organisation should and must do. Our policy team also reviewed the school's website and noted that it prescribed what appeared to be an unlawful approach to the curriculum subjects of RE and PSHE. We passed this information on to authorities at the same time.

We made no public comment on any of this and had no contact with any media.

April 2014: publication of corroborated claims of whistleblowers

By late April 2014, we were in touch with six whistleblowers in total, both Muslim and non-Muslim. The additional whistleblowers independently corroborated a number of the allegations made to us in January-February.

Having corroborated the claims, we began facilitating some of the whistleblowers to speak out anonymously about them in public. We thought this was important because some of those accused of wrongdoing were trying to dismiss the allegations they faced on the basis that they all stemmed from the 'Trojan Horse' letter, which was itself fake. We knew that they were wrong to do so.

The first interview the whistleblowers conducted was with Newsnight. Prior to their reporting, Newsnight journalists independently verified the claims of the whistleblowers that they reported. This was done through their contact with staff members additional to the six to whom we were speaking and again included Muslims as well as non-Muslims. We did not know these additional staff members.

Having now had the claims corroborated by (i) the six whistleblowers we were in touch with, (ii) in some instances by Newsnight's additional sources, and (iii) in some instances by documentary evidence on the school's website, we published those claims (and only those corroborated claims) on our website. We did this because, as our then Head of Public Affairs Pavan Dhaliwal commented at the time:

'It is vital that all our state schools - publicly funded by the community at large - teach a broad and balanced curriculum, actively contribute to community cohesion and foster an environment inclusive of every child, parent and member of staff, regardless of their religious or non-religious beliefs. Education is an opportunity to broaden children's horizons and should not just reflect back to them the possible prejudices and opinions of their or their peers' parents, regardless of their religion or belief. These deeply serious allegations have been made to us by a number of former staff; they corroborate each other and with other reports we have seen. They are seriously alarming and we hope that the inspections and investigations under way will comprehensively explore every single one of them.'

June 2014-17: official inquiries, investigations, and tribunals

Four separate official investigations by the Department for Education, by Birmingham Council, by Ofsted, and by the Education Funding Agency all concluded that there was widespread wrongdoing along the lines of that exposed by the whistleblowers.

The Chair of Governors of the Trust was given a lifetime ban from being a governor on account of improper behaviour, which was subsequently upheld by Judge Mr H Khan at a Tribunal and still stands.

One teacher was dismissed for homophobic behaviour. His dismissal was subsequently upheld by Judge Hutchinson at the Employment Tribunal and this decision too still stands.

14 teachers faced lifetime bans from the profession, and in a few cases the relevant Tribunal ruled against them. These bans were later overturned on account of procedural failings by the (now defunct) National College for Teaching and Leadership, the public agency bringing the case, which also caused the ongoing cases to collapse.

August 2019: our interview with the podcasters

On 7 August 2019, our current Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson was interviewed by the podcasters.

At the time of the interview it had been five years since the events in question and prior to the interview Richy did not sense the level of detail the podcasters expected. Prior communication had, it seemed to him, suggested a desire for a broader conversation around the context, for example (to quote an email from Reed before the interview):

'How do we live with one another? How do we reconcile our differences in a multicultural society? What role should religion have in such a society? Also as investigative reporters, we can't help but be interested in the provenance of the letter. Something I find interesting is that your whistleblowing effort and the circulation of the anonymous letter appear to have started independently of one another, and then proceeded on equally impactful and simultaneous paths.'

As a result, Richy was unprepared to answer detailed questions of how much verification we had done five years previously. This led to him saying at some points that he could not recall what levels of verification we did and at others erroneously saying we did less verification than we actually did.

November 2019: our follow-up with the podcasters

Prior to the interview in August, Richy was reassured that it would not matter if he could not remember all the details and later in 2019, once he had had a chance to check the facts, Richy made it clear to the podcasters that all of the claims we published in 2014 had indeed been verified at that time.

Following the interview, out of an abundance of caution, we undertook additional verification to check further on the accuracy of what we published in 2014.

We spoke in detail to 16 staff members, four of whom are Muslims, about what happened. These 16 range from senior staff to classroom teachers to non-teaching staff. They constitute at least four unconnected groups of individuals.

As a result of this, every single claim we published in 2014 was further corroborated and we emailed the podcasters to make clear this very high degree of corroboration.

Our email from November 2019 says:

...first of all I want to say that it's been five years since all this happened, memory does fade over time, and prior to our interview I didn't have any sense at all of the level of detail you were expecting. Your emails had seemed to me to suggest you just wanted a broader chat about it, and you may recall I asked to see the questions prior to interview, in order to help me prepare, but you refused. So I'm sorry but when you interviewed me I couldn't remember all the details.
Verification
...[O]ut of an abundance of caution, I have now discussed what we published with all the whistleblowers we were working with in 2014, and have also sought out and spoken to a number of additional staff who I did not speak to before meeting you. In total I have now spoken in detail about things to fourteen staff members [ this would rise to 16 by the end of November], thirteen of whom were at Park View and one at another school in the chain. That includes everything from senior staff members through to rank and file teachers and non-teaching staff. It includes people from a wide variety of departments. Since you asked about it, I will mention that three of them are Muslim women...

Finally, having now spoken to [the reporter who was in 2014 at Newsnight], I can confirm that [they] did indeed verify what he reported. What is more, I understand that the staff [they] verified things with are different staff again from those I have spoken to, and that the other staff he interviewed (aside from those you are already aware of) were all Muslims.

Having now done these additional checks, I am comfortable that we sufficiently verified what we published at the time we published it. I am comfortable with our decision to publish what we published.

I told you when we did the interview that I believed staff other than the [husband and wife whistleblowers] who we were working with in 2014 could confirm or corroborate the allegations we published then, though I couldn't remember the details. Having now checked, I can confirm that that was right. I regret that I was unable to assert this with more confidence at the time of our interview, and again can only point out that the passage of time means that memories fade.

January 2022: further follow-up with the podcasters

In January 2022 we were notified by the podcasters that their publication was imminent and told by them that we could respond to them by 17 January. We emailed them:

April 2014
You say [in your email to us] 'our reporting shows that the Humanists are in part responsible for... propagating [the husband and wife whistleblowers'] complaints via press releases and connections in the media.' I remember in our interview you also accused us of doing insufficient verification when taking this step. I therefore want to set out why that is not true. Some of what I say here is repeated from previous emails I sent you.

Firstly, by the time we published the allegations of our whistleblowers on 24 April, I was in touch with six whistleblowers. The three whistleblowers who I was in touch with but you have not spoken to were able to effectively corroborate the claims of those I did speak to. The whistleblowers did not and do not all know each other.
...
Additional verification in 2019-20
Finally on verification, out of an abundance of caution, in 2019-20 I discussed what we published with all the whistleblowers we were working with in 2014, and also sought out and spoke to 10 additional staff who I did not speak to before meeting you. In total I spoke in detail about things to 16 staff members (two more than when I emailed you on 15 November 2019), 15 of whom were at Park View and one at another school in the chain. That includes everything from senior staff members through to rank and file teachers and non-teaching staff. It includes people from a wide variety of departments. Since you asked about it, I will mention that three of them are Muslim women...

I understand that with one exception, the staff [ Newsnight] verified things with are different staff again from those I spoke to in 2019-20, and that the other staff he interviewed were all Muslims.

Having done these additional checks, I am comfortable that we sufficiently verified what we published at the time we published it. I am comfortable with our decision to publish what we published.

I told you when we did the interview that I believed staff other than the [husband and wife whistleblowers] who we were working with in 2014 could confirm or corroborate the allegations we published then, though I couldn't remember the details. Having now checked, I can confirm that that was right. I regret that I was unable to assert this with more confidence at the time of our interview, and again can only point out that the passage of time means that memories fade.

Fortunately for us, Richy made his own recording of his time with the podcasters (we think this includes time before and after their own interview recording begins and ends) and so we are in a position to directly illustrate the ways in which we believe the presentation of the interview is misleading.

These issues have already led the New York Times to make one correction to the episode. But we believe much more needs to be done. We think the whole episode should be retracted and an apology given. We have provided a number of reasons for this to the New York Times but here we focus on just a few of them.

The claim that our Director was callously indifferent to the effects of the 'Trojan Horse' letter

At around 53 minutes, it is asserted by Syed that Richy 'utter[ed] five words that were so callous, so enraging, that whatever so called journalistic civilities I was meant to uphold came tumbling right down.' At 55:30, it is revealed that this is Richy asking of the 'Trojan Horse' letter, 'What impact did it have then?' Reed then narrates that 'Richy had been a booster of the Trojan Horse affair for years. He helped bring it into being. He'd promulgated it through the halls of power and into the national consciousness. He'd held a fundraising drive off the back of it with [a whistleblower]. But he was asking Hamza to catch him up on what impact the Trojan Horse had.'

Richy was not 'asking Hamza to catch him up' on the impact. In the context of the full conversation, in which they had already discussed the impact of the affair, he invited Syed to expand on his views. This gave rise to an immediate misunderstanding between the two, which was then clarified, and Richy went on to give his own account of what subsequently changed in education policy, some of which Syed appeared to be unfamiliar with. This clarification and account however do not feature in the episode.

...

Hamza Syed, narrating: '[I]n the midst of our back and forth, Richy would utter five words that were so callous, so enraging, that whatever so-called journalistic civilities I was meant to uphold came tumbling right down.'...

Syed, in-interview: 'Things don't happen overnight. It's the climate that's created through years and years of this kind of stuff, these kind of stories. There's a sentiment that has now taken hold and taken over and is informing everyone's political choices and everything else in the world because of events like this. The Trojan Horse, which I'm sure you'll accept, as far as Britain is concerned, had a huge impact.'

Richy Thompson: 'What impact did it have then?'

Syed: 'What impact did it have?'

Brian Reed, narrating: ' Five words. Richy had been a booster of the Trojan Horse affair for years. He helped bring it into being. He'd promulgated it through the halls of power and into the national consciousness. He held a fundraising drive off the back of it with [a whistleblower they interview]. But he was asking Hamza to catch him up on what impact the Trojan Horse had. '

Syed, in-interview: 'It changed our educational policy. It changed our counterterrorism policy.It gave lifetime bans to educationalists in East Birmingham. It destroyed Park View Trust that was doing things that people around Europe were coming to learn from. It had a swarm of headlines. This was referenced in the Tory Party conferences. Do you know what I'm saying? This is not a little thing. This wasn't a little thing. It continues to inform debate and dialogue about Muslims in this country.'

Thompson: 'Yeah, sure. Sure, OK.'

Syed: 'So you asked what - that's the impact it had. So I don't know. You know, I-'

Thompson: 'Well, I don't know that it's quite - I think, obviously, I don't know what to say for that impact. Clearly, all the impact and everything else that went around it was not on us.'

Reed, narrating: ' Hamza and Richy kept at it.'
...

...
Hamza Syed, in-interview: 'No, it's just, you know, things, things, things don't happen overnight. It's a climate that's created through years and years of this kind of stuff, these kinds of stories. There's, there's, there's the sentiment that has now taken hold and taken over and is informing everyone's political choices and anything else in the world because of events like this. The Trojan Horse, which I'm sure you'll accept, as far as Britain is concerned, had a huge impact. It informed our counter-terrorism policy.

Richy Thompson:'What impact did it have then?'

Syed:'What impact did it have? Do you deny the Trojan Horse had an impact?'

Thompson: 'No, I asked you a question.'

Syed: 'Okay, well you seemed to ask me the question as if you, you denied the assertion that I made.'

Thompson: 'No, I was wondering -'

Syed: '[Interrupting] It changed our educational policy. It changed our counter-terrorism policy.'

Thompson: '[Agreeing] Right. '

Syed: 'It gave lifetime bans to educationists in East Birmingham. It destroyed Park View Trust.'

Brain Reed: 'Largely Muslim.'

Syed: 'Largely Muslim, right. It dismantled a Trust that was operating in... Doing things that were - people who are [sic] in Europe are coming to inspect and, and learn from . I don't know if you have had an opportunity to follow up on what's happened to their lives since. We have. Right. So you asked about what impact it had? It grew - it had a swarm of headlines that informed this idea. This was referenced in the Tory Party conferences in Birmingham. Do you know what I'm saying? Like this is not a little thing.'

Thompson: '[Agreeing] Yeah. '

Syed:'This wasn't a little thing.'

Syed: 'It continues to be referenced as a thing. It continues, even when these No Outsiders things happen. What's the first reference that's being made about it? Trojan Horse. Where's the newspaper? Where's the cameras assembling? Who are they, who are they trying to get as part of the reports? Where are the links being made? Trojan Horse. It continues to inform debate and dialogue about Muslims in this country. '

Thompson:'Yeah, sure. Sure. Okay.'

Syed:'So you asked what - that's the impact it had. So I don't know, you know, I -'

Thompson:'Well, I don't know that it's quite... I think, obviously I don't know what to say for all that impact. I think I've explained to you what we did at the time and why we did it. And clearly all the impact and everything else that went around it, was not on us. And more than that, I can't go through every single one of those things. I will say, although of course means don't justify ends, I think that the British values, the specific British values [ 'to actively promote democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs'], are good. And it's good that schools are being scrutinised.'

Syed: 'Well, I agree. I think those values are good. I just think without it being branded as British values [inaudible] -'

Thompson: 'Yeah, sure.'

Syed: '- towards anyway, those are universal values and I think you are as uncomfortable attributing them as like British values as -'

Thompson: [Agreeing] 'Yeah, sure. '

Syed: 'These are universal values.'

Thompson: 'Although I'm not sure that they are universal values, because I know that some other schools that are, various of other types of faith school -'

Syed: 'Faith schools? I don't know about faith schools. This is not a story about faith schools, this is a story about state schools [ sic. Faith schools are usually state schools. We assume he meant that Park View was a school of no religious character].'

Thompson: 'Right, okay. So what I'm saying is that the British values coming in has helped -'

Syed: 'I know this is, I don't know how much that is -'

Thompson: '- deal with faith school issues.'

Syed: '- I don't know how much that has been applied to faith schools. Do you know how much it has been applied to faith schools?'

Thompson: 'The British values?'

Syed: 'Yeah.'

Thompson: '[Surprised] Yeah. It's now a requirement that all independent schools [ which includes Academies and Free Schools, which are state schools] uphold the British values -'

Syed: 'Faith schools?'

Thompson: 'Including faith schools.' [ Many faith schools are independent schools, whether Academies, Free Schools, or private schools.]

Syed: 'Right? And what, I don't - in what way has that been applied? Do you know?'

Thompson: 'It's been helpful when it comes to several schools, for example, being picked up by Ofsted in their treatment of LGBT issues and their attitudes towards women and that kind of thing. And so some good has come out, in my view, of those British values.' [ See e.g. here, here, and here.]

Syed: 'Right. And without, without the Trojan Horse event, something like that would not have been implemented, you believe?'

Thompson: 'I don't know. And as I said, means don't justify ends. So, I can't say that, you know, if the means were bad here, that the ends were justified.'

Syed: 'Okay.'

Thompson: 'But it's context, that's worth being aware of.'

Syed: 'Yeah.'

Reed: 'Thanks Richy. We appreciate it.'

Even if Syed was outraged in the moment, we struggle to see how his misunderstanding of the nature of Richy's question could be legitimately maintained past the end of the conversation. And yet it appears in the podcast without the rest of the conversation.

It is also not true that Richy had done the things that Reed narrates him as having done in relation to the 'Trojan Horse' aspects of what happened in 2014. We had nothing to do with the 'Trojan Horse' letter or those elements of the investigations whatsoever, never supported it, never claimed it was true, and never did anything to promote it. Our involvement was solely in relation to the whistleblowers we worked with and our own research, focussed on human rights and equality issues in state schools. This is work we are proud of and are happy to have fundraised for.

Reporting that we did not verify claims in 2014 before publishing them

At around 54:30, the podcast quotes Richy saying, 'At the time, we did not go to any effort to verify the allegations beyond talking to them and seeing whether or not we felt in broad terms that they were credible.' Later, while that previous quote is still in frame, Syed asks: 'Do you think it's dangerous to put allegations out there specifically on the internet, unchecked, unchallenged, uncorroborated? Do you think that's a dangerous thing to do?' Reed then narrates: 'So it was while Hamza was questioning Richy about a bunch of claims against Park View that the humanists had published on their website without checking them...'

The impression given is that in the words quoted, Richy was talking about April 2014, when we published some of their claims. But in fact, he was talking about January 2014, when we passed allegations onto the Department for Education (as detailed in 'The facts of our involvement' above).

In any case, we made it plain to the podcasters in emails, both later in 2019 and in January this year, that having had a chance to go away and check the facts, we did not think it was true to say that we had not done any verification, whether we are talking about January or April. Richy got some things wrong in the interview, but corrected the record in good time subsequently.

In 2019 and again in January, we had also told the podcasters about the verification done by Newsnight and that our knowledge of that verification preceded our publication of the claims. More generally, after Newsnight reported, we also only facilitated the whistleblowers to speak to reputable media outlets that we knew had other whistleblowers through which they conducted their own further verification.

As we say above, after the interview in 2019 we embarked upon a much more extensive verification exercise to be as certain as possible that what we published was accurate. The result of having now spoken to a total of 16 staff members is that we are still confident that everything we published was correct. Any impression given that we never verified what we published in April 2014 is simply not true.

Claim that our Director didn't tell the podcasters what other whistleblowers said (now retracted by the NYT)

In the original broadcast episode Reed narrated, 'Richy was dodging, equivocating. He said at some point, he was in touch with some other people from Park View, but wouldn't tell us how many, or what they said.'

We complained to the NYT that this misrepresented what Richy said. They then amended the episode to say 'He said he was in touch with two or three other people from Park View, who shared similar concerns as the [whistleblowers he spoke to] - who alleged there'd been instances of gender discrimination and homophobia at the school. And he said as time went on he felt the allegations were corroborated by other reporting.' A correction has been posted in a footnote on the NYT website. However, this does not fully explain what was said originally in the podcast, so it is not possible to see how badly the podcast misrepresented the situation. Nor is the fact that there has been a correction aired in the podcast itself - just the updated audio. Nor is the correction on any podcast platform. UK journalists have suggested to us that this would not meet the UK Independent Press Standards Organisation (ISPO) Editors' Code of Practice.

On 'fake news'

At one point they air Syed asking, 'Do you think it's dangerous to put allegations out there specifically on the internet, unchecked, unchallenged, uncorroborated? Do you think that's a dangerous thing to do?' They then air Richy as saying, 'I would also say as well with regard to your reference to fake news that this of course was five years ago [2014] when the problems that we have seen since with fake news...'

The broadcast exchange omits both the second part of Syed's question, when he referred to 'the damage Internet stories have done to democracy around the world', as well as the first part of Richy's answer, where he made clear he did not think we had done this.

...

Syed, in-interview: 'Do you think it's dangerous to put allegations out there, specifically on the internet, unchecked, unchallenged, uncorroborated? Do you think that's a dangerous thing to do?'

Thompson: 'Well, it depends on the nature of the allegations, obviously.'

Reed, narrating: ' It was while Hamza was questioning Richy about a bunch of claims against Park View that the humanists had published on their website without checking them or contacting the school first that Richy set him off.'

Thompson: 'I would also say as well with regards to your reference to fake news that this, of course, was five years ago when the problems that we have seen since with fake news -'

Syed: 'Things don't happen overnight. It's the climate that's created through years and years of this kind of stuff, these kind of stories. There's a sentiment that has now taken hold and taken over and is informing everyone's political choices and everything else in the world because of events like this. The Trojan Horse, which I'm sure you'll accept, as far as Britain is concerned, had a huge impact.'
...

...

Syed:'Do you think it's dangerous to put allegations out there, specifically on the internet, unchecked, unchallenged, uncorroborated? Do you think that's a dangerous thing to do?'

Thompson:'Well, it depends on the nature of the allegations, obviously.'

Syed: 'On stuff that says marital rape has been taught in school. Do you think that's dangerous for us there?'

Thompson: 'That was verified by Newsnight.'

Reed: 'The worksheet was not verified.' [ This is not true, as per this video.]

Syed: 'The stuff that says a kid's got homework to convert their, to convert their, to convert their staff, at Park View. Is that something that's dangerous to go on the Internet unverified?'

Thompson: 'As I said, that was consistent with other wider allegations that had been made at the time.'

Syed: 'That specific point was never consistent. How is that consistent with...'

Reed: 'I don't get how that is consistent with what you read online about their RE syllabus. I'm sorry, I don't see how that's consistent.'

Thompson: 'Well it's obviously not the same, but what the RE syllabus seems to suggest is that they were...'

Syed: 'See, look at those words, seems to suggest. I shared with you the reputation that you guys have and I don't think you're helping yourself here.'

Thompson: 'And this is what we said in the statement, we made clear in the statement that we put out that these were allegations.' [ As above, we had in fact corroborated this between multiple staff before publishing it. Thompson couldn't remember all the details of this verification during the interview, but we made it clear to the podcasters in emails well prior to release.]

Syed: 'So when I ask you, do you think it's dangerous to put such allegations out on the Internet, unverified, unchecked. Do you think that's a dangerous thing to do, knowing, for example, what the society's like at the moment and the damage internet stories have done to democracy around the world? Do you think it's a dangerous thing to contribute to, to put stuff like that out there on the internet?'

Thompson: 'I did not think that it was a dangerous thing to do at that time. No. And I felt subsequently that the various reports that came back confirmed much of what had been alleged and showed that there had been real issues in the schools.'

Syed: 'Okay, alright, that's fair.'

Reed: 'And you still feel that way?'

Thompson: 'I'd have to look at everything you've told me. I'd be interested, for example, to see that letter [ that one of the whistleblowers sent, but that Thompson only first knew of in the interview].'

Reed: 'The Ofsted one?'

Thompson: 'The 2013 one. Yeah. And I also, I would also say as well with regard to your reference to fake news that this of course was five years ago when, um, the problems that we have seen since with fake news. '

Reed: 'Yeah, but we're talking about...'

Thompson: 'And, you know, that doesn't justify...'

Syed: No, it's just, you know, things, things, things don't happen overnight. It's a climate that's created through years and years of this kind of stuff, these kind of stories. There's a sentiment that has now taken hold and taken over and is informing everyone's political choices and everything else in the world because of events like this. The Trojan Horse, which I'm sure you'll accept, as far as Britain is concerned, had a huge impact. '
...

Claim that our Director went 'stricken' from the room

Reed narrates that: 'Richy turned from us, stricken, and walked out of the room.' This did not happen.

What actually happened, as the tape shows, is that Richy responded, 'I don't have anything more to say'. (The interview ran significantly over time and was going over the same questions repeatedly.) Richy briefly left the room, but came back in. Our tape shows the three of them then resumed chatting normally and the three of them left the room together.

...
Syed, in-interview: 'That's something you could have done by April to change the entire spectrum of this conversation. So there was still something left for you to do in April if you'd done your job. No comment?'
Reed, narrating: ' Richy turned from us, stricken, and walked out of the room. I packed up our stuff and headed out of the building to get us a cab. I saw Hamza go look for Richy to shake his hand.'
...

...

[ At the end of a very lengthy discussion]
Syed:'That's something you could've done by April to change the entire spectrum of this conversation. So that was still something that you could've done in April, if you'd done your job... No comment?'
Thompson: 'Well, I don't, I mean...'

Reed: 'You guys disagree.'

Thompson: 'Yeah. I don't have anything more to say.'

Syed: 'Okay.'

[ Sound of the door opening and closing as Thompson leaves the room, then eight seconds later...]

Reed, quietly, presumably into his microphone: 'He just walked out.'

[ Four more seconds later, sound of door opening again, immediately followed by sound of telephone ringing elsewhere in the office through the open door.]

Reed, to Syed: 'We gotta go now.'

Syed: 'What time is it?'

Reed: 'About 2.45, 3.'

Syed: '3?'

Reed: 'Yeah. Can you pack this up then?'

Syed: 'Yeah.'

[ 47 seconds after the door closed, possibly now past the end of the podcasters' tape, Thompson, clearly by now back in the room, asks...]

Thompson: 'Are you speaking to [ the next person they were due to interview that day] next then?'

Reed: 'We have to go to him right now.'

Thompson: '[Laughs] Will you be late for him?'

Reed: 'No. We're right on time. How far is it to [names the location of the next interview]?'

Thompson: 'Oh, not that far. About 20 minutes, half an hour.'

Syed: 'Okay, nice one.'

Thompson: 'And you haven't spoken to Ofsted or the DfE?'

Reed: 'We've been talking to the DfE for a while, yeah. They've been very difficult. Honestly, it's been frustrating. I mean listen, I hope you appreciate that, what brings us to this is, we've gone in earnest to [names a whistleblower] that we've gone, we've spent the last three months reading every account [they've] given of a lot of this stuff.'

Thompson: 'Yeah. Sure'

Reed: 'Like we, you know, we put the work in here. Like literally three, three of us for the last two months...'

[ Tape trails off as the three of them walk out the room together.]

There are many more ways in which we believe the podcast presents a misleading picture but, finally, we wish to address the podcast quoting an accusation recounted by Syed's brother that we are motivated by prejudice against Muslims. This is false. Prejudice certainly motivated much of the public attention that the 'Trojan Horse' affair received in 2014 but in no way motivated any of our actions. Our view, which we made clear to the podcasters prior to publication, and assert here again, is that discrimination against Muslims is profoundly unjust, and damaging to our society.

Our own work is motivated by a commitment to the human rights of freedom of belief and of thought, to equal treatment, and to the human rights of children. Although it is not a major focus for us, this includes a programme of active dialogue with Muslim groups, and of public advocacy challenging anti-Muslim hatred.

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Humanists UK comment on Trojan Horse Affair podcast

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On 3 February, the New York Times (NYT)/Serial Productions published a podcast series called The Trojan Horse Affair, presented by Brian Reed and Hamza Syed. The podcast focuses on events in 2014 that followed the emergence of a letter purporting to be written by a participant in an Islamist plot to take over state schools [...]

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The Ancients Greeks used to tell a story about a long war that went on for over ten years between the Greeks and the Kingdom of Troy. The son of the King of Troy had kidnapped the wife of the Greek King Agamemnon, the most beautiful woman in the world called Helen. The Greeks sailed to Troy to try and get her back. They fought for 10 years but they were unable to beat the Trojans because the walls of their city were so strong. One of the Greeks, the famous hero, Odysseus, had a cunning plan. He suggested that the Greeks build a huge wooden horse and smuggle their men inside the horse and leave it outside the gates of Troy. The Greeks pretended to sail away in their ships. The next morning the people of Troy believed that the Greeks had left them an offering, a huge wooden horse. They wheeled the horse inside their city. That night the Greeks escaped from inside the wooden horse, they captured Helen and burned the city down.

Ever since then people have used the expression of a ‘Trojan Horse’ to describe a plot where someone is deceived by pretending to be something they are not.

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In some countries religion is banned in schools. In America and France they believe that being religious and even learning about religious is something you should only do at home or in private. Pupils and teachers are not allowed to pray and in France they are not even allowed to wear any jewellery or clothes that might be religious, for example a cross or a Hijab. If someone goes to school wearing a hijab they are likely to be told to take it off.

In France and America they believe that your beliefs about God are private and that public places, like schools or hospitals or government offices should be non religious (secular).

In England some schools are religious, (they may be Christian, or Muslim or Jewish). About 25% of all schools in the UK are Christian. This means that they are allowed to have Christian ceremonies and festivals and they can ask pupils to pray and worship when they are at school. It also means, that if they want to they can teach children that their religion and what their religion teaches is true.

In non-religious schools it is the law that everyone should have an act of worship every day unless you or your parents ask for you to be excused. The reason for this is that some people say that England is a Christian country and throughout a large part of its history Christian beliefs and customs were common in many homes.

Some people believe that schools should not be religious because children should be able to make up their minds. Other people think that schools should be neutral (that is they don’t take a side) when it comes to religion. Humanists are people that don’t believe in God and they also believe that in schools children should not be encouraged to believe in a religion as children should be able to make up their own minds.

Those who support religious schools argue that they have a right for their children to be educated in the beliefs of their family. Other people believe that schools should not take sides when it comes to religion.

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Should boys and girls go to the same school?

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Should boys and girls go to the same school?

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Many traditional Muslim schools are segregated, this means that boys and girls are educated separately. The Al-Hijrah School in Birmingham was one of the schools that was shut down because of the Trojan Horse Affair. Before it closed it was the most over subscribed school in the country and every year the school received 1,000 applications, even though there were only ever 60 new places. One of the reasons the government shut down the school was because it said that the separation of boys and girls within the same school was a form of discrimination. In this school boys and girls received exactly the same education but they were taught separately.

In England there is a long tradition of educating boys and girls separately. Up until the 1960s most schools in this country were single sex. Today it is mostly private schools (where parents have to pay money to send their children to school) or grammar schools (where children have to pass an intelligence test to get in).

One reason why some parents want their children to go to single sex schools is because they believe that children will learn better and be better behaved if they only have their same sex with them in classes.

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Curries are some of the most popular food in England. When families from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan began to come to England in the late 1950s and 1960s they bought many of their traditions and customs with them, including food.  Today there are nearly 9000 curry houses in the UK and they employ more than 7000 people. Most restaurants in Britain that are called ‘Indian Restaurants’ are usually owned by people originally from Bangladeshi and Pakistan and are usually Muslim. When Muslim families first set up restaurants most of their customers were other Muslims but today curries are one of the most popular types of food in Britain for all groups.

By the end of the 1990s the Balti was so popular in Birmingham that 90% of the people who visited the triangle for a curry were white. Over the years the number of Balti curry houses has shrunk but the area is still famous for its restaurants and curry houses. Today the area is full of shops that sell goods for Muslim and Asian families, like special jewellery and wedding dresses.

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Birmingham is the original home of the Balti. From award-winning city centre restaurants to authentic family-run establishments in the Balti Triangle, no visit to Birmingham is complete without...

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(Grid reference SP085843)

The Balti triangle is between Sparkhill and Mosely in the South of Birmingham City Centre. It has traditionally been a poorer area of Birmingham where new immigrants could afford to live. Irish families, then families from the Caribbean and then families from South Asia and India moved to the area. Today they area has a growing population of people from the Sudan and Romania. The first Muslim immigrant communities came to live there in the 1960s because it was not as expensive as other areas. There was already a small Muslim community there. In 1940 two men from Yemen bought a cottage and turned it into a mosque.

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The Balti is a curry that is made is a specially designed bowl. Local legend says that it was invented by Pakistani man, Mohammed Arif in Birmingham who had the bowls especially made in Birmingham from pressed steel so that it heats up very quickly. It first appeared in a Restaurant called Adil’s in 1977. Traditionally you eat it with a huge naan bread in the centre of the table that is shared by everyone. It can be (halal) meat-based or vegetarian but is cooked using vegetable oil rather than ghee. It can be cooked muck quicker than a traditional curry (around 10 minutes) and is meant to be a healthy curry because it has less fat and because its cooked so quickly all the goodness is retained. Traditional spices used in a Balti curry are garlic, ginger, coriander, garam masala and cassia bark.

The Balti was designed to appeal to Westerners and it was hoped that more white people would visit the curry houses in the centre of Birmingham. Mohammed Arif came up with the idea for the Balti after a visit to Pakistan where he saw people cooking curries in a single dish and then serving them in the same dish. The Balti became so famous that in 2015 the European Union gave it  protected status so no one can use the name without it being a ‘real Balti’.

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Where do British Muslims find Halal Food?

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Where do British Muslims find Halal Food?

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When Asian families, including Muslim families, first came to the UK in the 1960s one of their priorities was finding food they could eat. Food was very different in the early 1960s to the food we have today. There was almost no ‘fast food’ or food that was already made, you had to cook everything from scratch. There were only three flavours of crisps and most ordinary people would never eat at a restaurant or outside the home.

Another thing you would have noticed is that there was very little meat, almost no spices were used in food and most would have been flavourless and mushy to our modern palates. When Asian families came to this country they struggled to find the ingredients that made their food tasty. Muslims also struggled to find food that was Halal.

Halal food is animals that are slaughtered and prepared according to the laws set down in the Muslim holy book, the Quran. Animals must be killed in such a way that the blood is drained from their body. The animals should be killed in a way that reduces the distress of the animal. No animal should be killed in front of another animal, the animal must be killed quickly and the animals should be healthy and well cared for.

Food that is forbidden  in Islam is called haram, this usually includes, pork and alcohol.

More than 1.6 million people follow a halal diet in the UK. Many Muslims buy meat that has a certificate that says it is Halal, this means it has been killed in the correct way. Lots of restaurants offer halal food and fast food restaurants are also starting to use halal meat.

More than 100 KFC restaurants around the country are currently halal. Pizza Express uses halal approved chicken, as do about one-fifth of Nandos 270-odd restaurants in Britain.

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These case studies are taken from 'Our City' By Jon Bloomfield

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These case studies are taken from 'Our City' By Jon Bloomfield

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'Indispensable . . . Speaks of hope and courage' Observer

'An ode to openness, offering a refreshing alternative to those accounts that treat migrants as faceless statistics' David Lammy MP

'A highly informed and eloquent account of life in a modern British city during a period of globalisation, austerity and mass migration' Patrick Cockburn, Independent

Race and migration are the most prominent and divisive issues in British politics today.

As Brexit and the dangers of Islamist extremism are being used to reassert a closed British identity, these stories – of fifty migrants, first and second generations; men and women; from thirteen different countries from Ireland to India, Pakistan to Poland, the Caribbean to Somalia – highlight the variety of migrant experience and offer an antidote to the fear-mongering of the tabloid press.

This positive story of integration is all too rarely told, and it offers a firm defence of the principles of equality and increased diversity. Our City shows why mixed, open societies are the way forward for twenty-first-century cities, and how migrants help modern Britain not only survive but prosper.

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Rashda was born in a small town in Pakistan. She came to the UK in 1976 through an arranged marriage. She had wanted to work but had 5 children to look after and very little help from her husband. On top of this her eldest child is disabled and requires a lot of care. Her husband left her to raise the children alone.

She benefitted from the English classes offered by Birmingham council and secured a job in a school. She hoped to become a teacher, however due to the demands of home, she ended up becoming an interpreter, which is a more flexible job. Today she works at the Magistrates court interpreting in Urdu and Punjabi. The pay is not great but she is happy to work. She does not want to just be at home.

She does not like to see the face veil (niqab) making a resurgence. She feels that God has given her a face, and she should show it to the world. There is nothing to be ashamed of.

She is happy for her children to make their own choices regarding who they marry.

Initially her eldest son asked her who she wanted him to marry. She insisted it should be a Pakistani girl. Her son joked that he would marry an Egyptian. This made her examine her views and they have changed a lot. She realised she would not try to control her children as they make such an important decision. Her son has two children with a Chinese woman and they all get on very well. Above everything Fatima wants her children and grandchildren to be happy.

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Samera is in her late 30s. Her father was Indian but moved to Pakistan in 1947 after Partition. In 1960 he moved to the UK. Samera’s father worked as a manual labourer in a factory. Samera works in a big department store in the middle of the city. This move from manual to more ‘mental’ work is one that many parents in her community are happy about. Her working conditions are comfortable and less physically risky than her father’s had been. Samera loves her job and has no plans to move. She enjoys being in the middle of the cosmopolitan city, meeting and working with people from all sorts of backgrounds.

She does not like seeing Muslim women wearing the face veil. She sees it as an Arabic cultural introduction and not required by Islam. She herself does not cover her hair in her day to day to life, wearing T-shirts and jeans. She only covers her hair in the mosque as a sign of respect. However she does not wear short skirts. She thinks in public people need to be able to communicate with each other, and the face veil prevents this.

Samera enjoys the freedom of life in the UK. She is still single and lives at home with her extended family. She does not particularly want children. She goes out with her friends and if she has a boyfriend, they are usually from an Italian Catholic background. She doesn’t often introduce her boyfriends to her parents, as she knows there are tensions in her community, where parents want to see their daughters marrying other South Asian, Muslim men. She doesn’t have much time for these traditional views of women.

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Fatima’s father came to Birmingham from Mirpur in Pakistan in 1965, when he was only 15. He worked in a factory producing steel parts. Had a heart attack and a heart transplant, then had to live on incapacity benefit.

The area Fatima grew up in was poor and her upbringing was tough. There were Asian gangs selling drugs. She saw young people whose lives were ruined by drugs.

Fatima went to sixth form college and then University to study social policy. At the time her mum wanted her to stay at home and learn to keep the house in preparation to be a good wife. However her dad was excited that she was off to Uni. He was open-mined and wanted to hear about her new experiences. Her dad really encouraged her to spread her wings. She studied social policy partly as a result of her experiences in a poor area as a child. She feels her teachers also encouraged her to move out of the area and make something of her life.

Fatima is now married and has a child. She shares the childcare with her husband so she can work. She works for a faith-based charity looking after orphans in Pakistan. Initially the charity funded two orphanages, but has grown now to employ 30 staff in the UK. The charity can now work in more countries supporting orphans with education and homes, and also other development projects such as improving the local environment and water supply.

Religion is important to Fatima. She wears the headscarf and feels more comfortable with it on. She prays 5 times every day.

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Zubeda’s father was 14 when he came from Gujarat in India in the early 1960s with his father. The British government were calling for people to come and work in the textile mills, doing work the white people did not want to do.

Zubeda’s mother married her father in India and then joined her new husband in the UK. Zubeda was born in 1975 in Bolton, Lancashire, one of 7 children. She grew up in an Indian area of the city, a mixture of Hindu and Muslim families, with very few white people. At secondary school there were more white students and she experienced racism.

Zubeda's mother was very keen that she should receive a good education. She attended madrassah school and learned Urdu, Arabic and to read the Qur'an. Although Zubeda’s mother did not speak English very well, she felt Zubeda’s school was not pushing the children.  She went to see the headmaster and asked for more homework. She had not been well-educated herself and wanted better for her children.

Zubeda went to Manchester University and then gained a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies. For Zubeda, continuing with her education was a way to keep her parents happy while avoiding marriage. As Muslims they support education because prophet Muhammad often spoke about the value of education.

Zubeda’s father was politically active, involved in the trades union movement, and she also enjoyed politics. She worked for the Labour Party when she first graduated followed by Bolton Council. She did not want to be forced into getting married so she went travelling by herself, without her parents’ permission. She travelled around Syria, Jordan and Egypt and loved it.

Spending time in Cairo inspired Zubeda to live in a more cosmopolitan environment so she moved to Birmingham and began to work for the council.

In 2013 Zubeda co-founded a charity called ‘Connect Justice’ which aims to build trust between the police and people from ethnic minority groups. This is a necessary service and the charity is doing well. Zubeda’s other co-founders are a white convert to Islam and a white atheist.

Zubeda’s mother wears the Islamic headscarf (hijab). For a period she wore the full face covering (niqab). After 9/11 it became harder for Muslim women to wear these items. Zubeda thinks that for Muslim women the headscarf and niqab are about their identity. She can see that when Muslims, or any community, feel excluded, they cling together, but this can increase their exclusion. This can be particularly true of women within the community. She can see why non-Muslim society finds the face-covering hard, as it limits communication, but she also supports someone’s right to choose what they wear. She thinks banning the hijab and niqab, as in France, is a bad idea.

Zubeda is not married. 5 of her siblings have married people from similar backgrounds. For her, it is more important to find someone who shares her values and outlook, whatever their ethnicity, religion or culture. She knows this upsets her parents and does not want to hurt them, so has not really discussed this with them.

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Kalsoom arrived in Britain from Pakistan in 1969. She was a young bride, brought to the UK by her new husband. He worked in a factory. They had 4 sons when she was still young.

She did not want to stay at home with the children and went to study as soon as her youngest son was at nursery. He husband supported and encouraged her.

At the time Birmingham council was providing English language courses so people who did not have good English could improve. Kalsoom took advantage of this. She also used her own languages, Urdu and Punjabi, and worked in a school to help children from India and Pakistan.

She qualified as a teacher and taught languages at Secondary School for 2 years. When she started, although most of the children in her school were Asian-heritage, there were hardly any Asian teachers.

When Kalsoom arrived in the late 1960s they lived in a very Asian areas and she did not experience any racism. However in the late 1970s they moved to a more white neighbourhood and she was subjected to racist abuse immediately. She witnessed physical aggression, racist graffiti and once her hijab was pulled off her head.

Although she suffered for years, she feels that today there is less racism in white society and less incidences of the sort she experienced.

As a Muslim woman she wore the headscarf while teaching. She does not think wearing a full face veil is a good idea as teaching is all about communication.

All 4 of Kalsoom’s sons are married. Two of her sons have had arranged marriages and two have found their own partners. She is content for them to do what they think is best in their lives. While she would prefer her sons to marry Muslim women and keep the faith alive, she accepts that times are changing. In fact, her eldest son is married to a Spanish Catholic and Kalsoom gets on well with her. She accepts that her daughter-in-law is not going to become a Muslim. They have two sons and while she would love them to grow up in a more Islamic home, she acknowledges that her daughter-in-law could not be a better wife and mother.

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Cricket has been played in England since the Normans invaded. Today it is a game that is loved by millions of people all over the world, many of them Muslims. It can seem that cricket is mostly played by wealthy men who were educated at private schools, but the game is played by all sorts of people and has become associated with Englishness.

Cricket was introduced to India through the British Empire. Between and British people invaded and took control of India. Thousands of British people lived in India, and brought cricket, as well as other aspects of British culture, with them. In 1947 the country of Pakistan split from India, creating a new country. Pakistan is a Muslim country, India is largely Hindu. Today cricket is the most popular game in Pakistan and a third of all people who play cricket for fun in England are from South Asian backgrounds. However only 4% of those are from a South Asian background play cricket at national level.

Edgbaston Cricket Grounds in Birmingham is one of the most important cricket grounds in the country and the fourth biggest. It can hold up to 25,000 people and has five permanent floodlights.  Over the years Edgbaston Cricket Club has tried to support and honour black and Asian players and young people who love cricket. The Birmingham Commonwealth Cricket League was created in 1976 because there was discrimination against black, Asian and Muslim players. Their most recent initiative to support Muslims is to establish the Ramadan Cricket League (see below).

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Moeen Ali is one of England’s greatest modern cricketers, he was part of the England Team that won the Cricket World Cup is 2021. He was given the nickname ‘the beard that’s feared’ when he played for Worcester because he was so talented- he was feared by the opposing team, and he has a beard!

Moeen Ali grew up in Sparkhill, a poorer district of Birmingham that is sometimes called the ‘Balti triangle’ because there are so many curry houses there. To help Ali improve his game, his family remortgaged their house so they could afford to build a bowling machine in the back garden so he could practice. His family are not very religious but they all love cricket. His Dad, Munir, asked Moeen to give two years of life training hard to become a cricketer because he thought his son had talent and because he was determined that racism and prejudice wouldn’t hold his son back:

"They said it couldn't be done," Munir says. "They said that we, a poor Asian family from inner-city Birmingham, could never break through to the professional game. They said it was all for public-school boys and the rich. But the boys have shown that if you have the right attitude and ability, there is a way."

Why does he have a big beard?

When he was 19 Moeen decided to fully embrace Islam and grew his beard as a symbol of his Muslim identity. Wearing beards is important for many Muslim men because although the Quran does not say men shouldn’t shave the Prophet Muhamad had a beard.  There is saying (Hadith) from Muhammad recommending that men should ‘Cut the moustaches short and leave the beard’.

Moeen’s beard has caused a lot of controversy. Although one of the most famous (white) English cricketers of all time, W. G. Fields, grew a large beard, some think that Moeen Ali’s beard is not acceptable because he wears it as a symbol of his Muslim faith. In an interview Moeen Ali told journalists, “It’s a label for me to show that I am a Muslim and for other people to know that they can be strong in their faith and still play the sport,”

People who are prejudiced against Islam accuse Muslims of being terrorists, this has happened to Moeen. When he was playing in one of international crickets most famous competitions, The Ashes, an Australian player reportedly called him ‘Osama’ as an insult. Osama Bin laden was the leader of a terrorist group. He was from a Yemeni background and was raised in Saudi Arabia. Moeen said that although he was a Muslim, his religion didn’t mean that he wasn’t as British as anyone else in the national team.

“I was no Osama. I never had been. My England team-mates did not think so. They knew I was a devout Muslim. They respected that but didn’t find it in any way strange or weird. What is more, neither did the English fans. The beard was no longer something to be mocked or abused but accepted — as much a part of English cricket culture as WG Grace’s beard had been. My faith may be different but I was as English as the rest of the team.”

Taken from: https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/926493/the-making-of-moeen

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Can you Wear a Hijab and play Professional Cricket?

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Can you Wear a Hijab and play Professional Cricket?

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Abtaha Maqsood plays for Birmingham Phoenix, a team based in Birmingham. She is from Scotland, her parents are from Pakistan and she started playing cricket when she was 11. After only four months she was selected to represent Scotland’s under 17 squad against Ireland. She has a black belt in Taekwondo and in the 2014 Commonwealth games she was a flag bearer for Scotland.

Abtaha Maqsood wears a hijab, this is a scarf some Muslim women and girls wear to cover the hair. The word Hijab means ‘veil’ and Muslim women who wear it do so for many reasons. In some parts of the world most Muslim women will wear a hijab but in other countries there may be a mixture of women who do or do not cover their hair.

When she wore her hijab to play cricket for the Birmingham Phoenix, she was the first woman to wear a hijab in a professional cricket game. In an interview a journalist asked Abtaha why she wore a hijab and she said:

“Wearing a hijab was my own choice. I went away to perform Umrah with my family when I was 11, and on our way back to the UK, I saw my mum started wearing hijab. So I asked her why was she wearing that and then she told me [how it was a religious obligation], so I decided to wear one as well," said Abtaha.

[Umrah is the Hajj pilgrimage that can be taken at any time of the year, not only in the special month of Hajj]

At her first games of cricket she was the only girl in the club and so she played a alongside the boys. When she first started playing professionally, she sometimes felt uncomfortable, there wasn’t always halal food for her to eat and a lot of the other girls would wear short sleeved tops and shorts when they trained.

Abtaha feels that is important to be a role model for Muslim girls who want to be proud of who they are.

“Like, there's not that many hijabi players out there. And none that are playing at a level like this. And so yeah, it makes me feel proud. I'm happy that I am a role model for a lot of people and there can be a little bit of pressure with that.”

taken from: https://cricket.one/news/news-details/MHhCHK1TtNRi5OXHE41J/I-never-had-a-role-model-with-which-I-could-identify-Abtaha-Maqsood-first-Hijab-wearing-cricketer-in-UK

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Stereotypes are created by continuous repression of somebody's desire by societal pressure. Sometimes it takes generations and many interventions to break that, at other times, just the free will of a determined person achieves it in a splash.

Abtaha Maqsood, a British Muslim of Pakistani descent, who represents Scotland Women in International cricket and Birmingham Phoenix Women in the inaugural edition of The Hundred seemed to have broken a stereotype by her sheer willpower.

A dentistry student from Glassgow, not only does Abtaha became the first woman to wear a Hijab (sacred headscarf worn generally by Muslim women to cover their head) in her international games for Scotland, but she also became the first cricketer to play a game in England and Wales sporting the Hijab. It happened during The Hundred where she has so far played seven games for Phoenix.

Talking about this unique feat, the 22-year-old said, "When I was a young kid and I first started wearing the hijab and started playing cricket, it was tough for me back then." "And now that I'm on this big stage and I feel so comfortable with myself, it just feels amazing to me," she added in an interview with Sky Cricket.

Saying that she didn't feel she belonged on the biggest stage as she was having problems making her teammates and cricket board understand her needs and limitations, the leggie now feels that things have changed for the better.

"Cricket Scotland has learned a lot and now things like halal food, and wearing long-sleeved shirts and stuff like that, not wearing shorts, all that sort of thing is just like second nature to them. They just kind of know now not to give me non-halal food and always to make sure that there is food available for me. We've come really far," said the bowler who has represented her national team in 18 T20Is and has so far picked up 23 international wickets.

Abataha feels that Birmingham Phoenix has been a great experience for her so far. But she focuses on the fact that representation of all ethnicities and all kinds of diversity is necessary for cricket and especially for young children to identify themselves with their role models.

"I think representation matters so much. When I was growing up I never really had a role model to look up to who looked exactly like me; I really hope to be that person for a lot of people and I really hope that The Hundred shows me in that light and people are hopefully able to be inspired by that," she said.

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abtaha maqsood first hijab wearing international cricketer

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abtaha maqsood south asian descent woman playing cricket

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I never had a role model with which I could identify: Abtaha Maqsood, first Hijab-wearing cricketer in UK

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Stereotypes are created by continuous repression of somebody's desire by societal pressure. Sometimes it takes generations and many interventions to break that, at other times, just the free will of a determined person achieves it in a splash.

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What is Ramadan?
Ramadan is the name of the 9th month in the Muslim calendar. This is the time that many Muslims remember when God gave the holy book, the Qur’an, to the Prophet Muhammed. The dates of Ramadan change every year because the Muslim calendar is lunar, it is based on the moon rather than the sun.

During the month of Ramadan many Muslims fast during daylight hours. The fast is meant to help Muslims reflect on Allah (God) and to help them to use the time to focus on what it means to lead a good Muslim life. Going without food and drink for such a long time can make you tired and light- headed, especially if you are still going to school or work. It’s really difficult to play sports when you are fasting because you may not have the strength or the concentration. In the summer months the days last longer. This means Muslims in Britain fast for 16 hours a day when Ramadan falls around June.

In 2021, Warwickshire Cricket board, who play at Edgbaston, came up with the idea of running late-night sessions for young Muslims to play cricket during Ramadan.

Stuart Cain, Chief Executive of Edgbaston, said: “The youngsters here tonight have been fasting for around 16 hours, so playing the game during normal daytime hours isn’t possible. They’re so passionate about the game, so we want to create a safe space to enjoy the game after Iftar. We’ve extended the opening times of the Edgbaston Cricket Centre to midnight, invested in local coaches to deliver the sessions and provide travel to and from players’ homes.

Iftar is the name of the meal that Muslims eat when they finish fasting for the day. The word means ‘to break a fast’, like the English word ‘breakfast’. During Ramadan, Edgbaston Club laid on food for Iftar and many of the non-Muslim staff fasted during one of the days in solidarity with Muslim friends and colleagues. The Cricket club wanted to make young Muslims feel welcome and they believed that in Birmingham, which is one of Europe’s most racially and ethnic diverse cities they should do everything they can to celebrate different communities.

One of the cricket coaches, Siraj Alis said that cricket can be very expensive to play and a lot of young Muslim boys ‘had been priced out of the game’ so providing sport facilities for young Muslim men and boys is a good way of encouraging to stick with the game.

The Ramadan Cricket league has been so successful that Edgbaston now holds games for adults as well as young people.

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The stroke play is aggressive, the bowling ferocious - the atmosphere electric. The players on the pitch haven't had a bite to eat or drink all day, but as the batsmen run manically between the wickets for a quick single, there are clearly no signs of fatigue here.

This is the Ramadan Cricket League - a twice weekly competition held at Cricket Centre for young Muslims in Birmingham. The scheme - one of only a handful in the country - aims to provide a safe space for Muslims in the city to come and play cricket after breaking their fast.

Launched last year, the free tournament - piloted by Warwickshire Cricket Club and cricket charity Chance to Shine - uses cricket as a vehicle to bring young people together 'in a safe space' after Iftar. Cricket Development Manager Eaton Gordon said it was important to give youngsters the chance to stay active during Ramadan.
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"I think it's gone really, really well. The fact that we are thinking outside the box and giving kids something to do after they break their fast, rather than just hanging out on the street, is great.

"It's important for us as a club to embrace the culture of different communities around Birmingham. We invited them all to Edgbaston today to break their fast with us - many of our staff here have been fasting themselves - as a way to help integrate the community that bit more."

Just after 8pm, all players and Warwickshire staff observed Iftar together and enjoyed a feast laid on by the club. Stuart Cain, Warwickshire County Cricket Club CEO believes events like these are "crucial" in diverse cities like Birmingham.

"We're in the middle of one of Europe's most diverse cities, so we have to serve the communities around us," he said. "We went out and started talking to people who told us that after Iftar, when people have more energy, it's important to have things people can do.

"A lot of the lads love cricket so we decided to open our doors and give people the chance to play for a few hours until about midnight."

The youngsters play a faster, more energetic form of the game called Street Cricket - played by teams of six with a taped tennis ball. The onus is on big hits and quick scoring, but despite the frenetic tempo, coaches on the sidelines are keeping a close eye on the player's technique.

"There is some amazing talent on show tonight," says Raja Shahzeb, a coach at Warwickshire. "If we spot talent, we as coaches try to get them into clubs or get them involved in the youth set up here at Warwickshire.

"Most of the players here today don't train, they've never had coaching, but there's just so much natural talent."

Despite the talent on show, many of these teens have been priced out of competitive cricket - a sport with an elitist reputation. The club - who also provide a free taxi service for players to get to and from Edgbaston - recognise the importance of keeping the league free and accessible.

"A lot of these lads are from deprived areas like Saltley, Aston, Bordesley Green, Nechells," says coach Siraj Ali. "This scheme offers them the chance to all come together which doesn't happen on a regular basis. Everybody gets along, the banter is there and they all enjoy being in each other's company."

Players at Edgbaston were treated to a batting masterclass from Birmingham Phoenix's Chris Benjamin who was on hand throughout the session to give the youngsters some tips and tricks for developing their game. A surprise message from England starlet Moeen Ali, who grew up just streets away, served as a reminder that the sky is the limit for young Muslim cricketers in Birmingham.

The Ramadan Cricket League is still in its infancy - there are plans to open an adult league and run additional tournaments in the coming years. Stuart Cain, CEO, wants to see the programme extended to other parts of the country.

"We want more lads playing next year and want to run similar schemes across the West Midlands to get more and more people playing cricket," he said. "There are similar leagues running in Yorkshire and London but we want to keep expanding it to places like Bristol and Manchester so this can become a nationwide network of lads playing cricket after Iftar."

"It's a chance for the lads to burn their energy off, meet friends and socialise - it all adds up to a great event."
For more stories from across Birmingham's Muslim communities during Ramadan and beyond, sign up to our free Brummie Muslims newsletter here.

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Ramadan Cricket League - where faith and fitness meet

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The stroke play is aggressive, the bowling ferocious - the atmosphere electric. The players on the pitch haven't had a bite to eat or drink all day, but as the batsmen run manically between the wickets for a quick single, there are clearly no signs of fatigue here.