Reports unveils secret training for radical preachers in UK

Joachim Veliocas

Young imams are being trained in a network of Islamic schools across the UK that have been accused of promoting intolerance and misogyny, a secret Government report has warned.

The report claims preachers emerging from some of the dozens of Darul Uloom madrasas scattered across Britain have views as extreme as those held by radical clerics who move to the UK from Islamic countries – and may spread them to worshippers.

The Mail on Sunday has identified 48 Darul Ulooms – which can be translated as House of Knowledge – that follow a strict syllabus called Dars-E-Nizami.

It espouses the literal following of the Koran and is used by the hardline Islamic movement Deobandism, whose training schools produced the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The ban on music is similar to the one imposed by Islamic State, which carried out public floggings on those who broke the rule.

Last night, a source familiar with the report said: ‘UK-based training provided by Darul Ulooms results in the development of extremist views because the institutions are highly conservative and often fail to address the challenge facing Muslims in modern Britain. It means imams trained in Britain will be no better equipped than foreign-born imams in providing satisfactory support to British Muslims.’

The madrasas operate in many cities, including London, Manchester, Glasgow and Leicester, but the report cites the Darul Uloom High School in Birmingham as an example of an ‘extremist madrasa’.

Four years ago, it was investigated by Ofsted after leaflets stating that music and dancing were ‘acts of the devil’ were found on its premises. The school, which has around 175 pupils, was also exposed by a Channel 4 investigation in 2011 that found pupils being taught to hate Jews, Christians and Hindus.