First State-Funded Islamic School Houses Diverse, "Distinctly European" Muslim Culture

October 24, 2004

Source: Yahoo! News

Wire Service: AFP

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1538&ncid=732&e=2&u=/afp/20041024/wl_uk_afp/britain_religion_islam_education

On October 24, 2004 Agence France-Presse reported, "Irish-Moroccan or Egyptian-English, with headscarf or without, the diverse students at Britain's first state-funded Islamic school are at the vanguard of a trend toward a distinctly European Muslim culture. The Islamiya Primary School of north London and its 210 students are famous across Britain, and not only because the institution was founded by Yusuf Islam, better known as the folk singer Cat Stevens. Islam started Islamiya in 1982 along with several friends, then had to battle through anti-Muslim stereotypes under prime minister Margaret Thatcher's Conservative rule in order to win state recognition."