Joys of Islam: Kids Removed From Music Classes 'Because Islam Forbids Playing an Instrument'

Seems music of any kind is a problem. I guess at the rate the UK is going music will be banned entirely before long so as not to offend the delicate sensibilities of their Islamic overlords.

Muslim pupils are being withdrawn from music lessons because some Islamic beliefs forbid followers learning an instrument.

State schools are thought to have allowed hundreds of pupils to stop having classes despite music being part of the compulsory National Curriculum.

In one London primary, 20 pupils were withdrawn from the Christmas musical while the family of one five-year-old girl banned her from music classes.

The situation at Lambeth's Herbert Morrison Primary, where 29 per cent of pupils come from mainly Somalian Muslim families, emerged as part of a BBC investigation.

Headteacher Eileen Ross said some parents 'don't want children to play musical instruments and they don't have music in their homes'.

'For goodwill I allow that parent to withdraw their child from all music but I am in fact denying the child the opportunity that the other children in the class have,' she told BBC London News.

Some Muslims believe that playing musical instruments is forbidden in the same way that alcohol is banned.

Parents have no automatic right to withdraw their children from subjects such as music, although legal exemptions exist for religious and sex education.

The situation has already provoked concerns from Ofsted and education experts.

The Open University's Dr Diana Harris, an expert on music education and Muslims, said she had visited schools where half of the pupils were withdrawn from music lessons during Ramadan.

She claimed Ofsted inspectors sometimes turned 'a blind eye' to the issue.

'Although I wouldn't want anyone to do anything against their religion, I feel there's a lot in music which gives us great joy in life,' she said.

Joy is also prohibited, apparently.