Taric the One-Eyed: Minnesota School named for Jihadist

Believe it or not, there is a publicly funded charter school in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota named in honor of the Muslim general who conquered Spain in 711.

The school, The Tarek Ibn Ziyad Academy, is named after the Umayyad Berber general who on April 29th, 711 landed his forces at Gibraltar as the first stage in the Muslim conquest of Visigothic Spain. According to the Muslim historian Al Magarri upon landing, Tarek ordered the burning of his fleet, removing the option of retreat from his men.

Oh my warriors, wither would you flee? Behind you is the sea, before you, the enemy... You have heard that in this country there are a large number of ravishingly beautiful Greek maidens, their graceful forms are draped in sumptuous gowns on which gleam pearls, coral, and purest gold, and they live in the palaces of royal kings. The Commander of True Believers, Alwalid, son of Abdalmelik, has chosen you for this attack from among all his Arab warriors; and he promises that you shall become his comrades and shall hold the rank of kings in this country.

The speech he gave to his men can be found here: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/711Tarik1.html

After his victory Tarek, known as Taric el Tuerto or Taric the one-eyed in Spanish history and legend, was made governor of Hispania, although recalled to Damascus after only one year.

Curiously, the school makes no mention of Tarek being a conqueror first and administrator second, as they have this to say regarding their namesake: "As an inspiration to our students, we have named our school after Tarek Ibn Ziyad, the Ummayad administrator of medieval Spain. Thirteen hundred years ago, serving in the multifaceted roles of activist, leader, explorer, teacher, administrator and peacemaker, he inspired his fellow citizens to the same striving for human greatness that we hope to instill in our students today."

I thought that the purpose of schools was to teach history, not rewrite it. Tarek was a general, conqueror, and expanded the territory of Islam through Jihad. He was the military administrator of an occupied territory for one year. It is a wonder how one comes up with the adjectives "activist, leader, explorer, teacher, and peacemaker"... administrator I'll concede. I particularly find 'peacemaker' somewhat amusing, as how one describes the general of a force of 7-10 thousand men, burning his boats to prevent retreat as a 'peacemaker'. The principal of the school has even commented on how much he likes the 'analogy' of burning boats.

The school is sponsored by Islamic Relief USA, as well as receiving over $62,000 per year in state aid, and has been embroiled in separation of church and state issues. Founded by the current principal Asad Zaman and Hesham Hussein, both local Imams and leaders of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota the school has been accused of violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution. The investigative report from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDoE) can be found here:
http://www.eleventh-avenue-south.com/Tiza%20Findings.pdf

While the school allows time for Muslim prayer, it is voluntary and apparently legal in Minnesota. The MDoE did however find problems in the longer Friday prayer services in which the teachers participated, but did not lead, and in the fact that the schools buses did not depart at the end of the school day to allow for participation in after-school activities, such as Muslim Studies. The problem being that if students did not participate in these 'independent' after school activities, they were stuck waiting around for an hour for the bus home.

The MDoe investigation was prompted by a column in the Star Tribune following allegations by a substitute teacher that the prayer was not voluntary. The article may be found here: http://www.startribune.com/local/17406054.html

Of course, one wonders how voluntary this all was, prior to the Star Tribune article and the school being aware that they were in the spotlight. There is a place for religious schools in America, and it is in the realm of privately funded institutions. We should no more tolerate an Imam coming on to school grounds to lead prayer in the gymnasium than a Roman Catholic priest or Protestant minister. To have staff praying alongside students, is an anathema to our principle of separation of church and state. Remember that we are dealing with K-8th graders here, show me a kindergartner capable of recognizing that his teacher praying is not a public endorsement of a particular faith. One wonders how accepting the students and staff would be to a second grader reciting the rosary at their Friday services.

Focusing studies at the elementary school level on Arab, African, and Asian studies is not helping students become better Americans, providing balanced instruction in American and World history is.

~Pelagius~
~S P Q R~