Ex-Muslim campaigner Aliyah Saleem to speak at ‘Living better together’ conference
Posted: Mon, 6th Jun 2016
Aliyah Saleem, a former pupil of an ultra-conservative Islamic boarding school in the UK, is to speak about her experiences at the National Secular Society's 150th anniversary conference.
Aliyah Saleem, a former pupil of an ultra-conservative Islamic boarding school in the UK, is to speak about her experiences at the National Secular Society's 150th anniversary conference.
Aliyah was educated from a young age in madrassas and attended an Islamic boarding school in the UK
The curriculum at the boarding school was restricted in "every way possible" and pupils were given no sex education or education about evolution. "Islamic history" replaced the history curriculum, and there was no instruction in geography, music or art.
She wrote in The Times that during her 'education' at the school she "challenged the teachings in our Saudi-bought books which decried homosexuality, permitted men to beat their wives and denied evolution."
The school finally "publicly expelled" her for owning a camera, shortly before she was due to leave.
After leaving the UK school Aliyah spent time in Islamic schools in Pakistan and Canada. She said the Pakistani madrassa was actually more "accommodating" than the Islamic school in Britain, but that her experiences at the ultra-conservative Islamic school in Pakistan left her "on the brink of radicalisation."
Eventually she left Islam, and wrote that "Only in retrospect do I realise that essentially I'd been brainwashed into something resembling a cult."
Aliyah went on to become a co-founder of Faith to Faithless, an organisation which aims to help those leaving religion to speak out about their difficult situations.
After news of the 'Trojan horse' schools scandal broke, she called for more attention to be given to independent schools, not just the state schools affected by the revelations: "Just because independent schools are funded by parents and charities doesn't mean those children do not matter."
"The institutions are being used as a way to control girls' sexuality and boys' sexuality as well and so there's no place in these schools for the transgressive student, for the pianist, for the lesbian, and for the agnostic. And it is essential that we realise that all of those people are a part of this society and they need to have the same rights and the same experiences and also to have a safe place to be in which they're not going to be mocked by teachers."
Stephen Evans, the Society's campaigns director, said: "Aliyah has been a passionate advocate for secular education and makes a strong case from her own experiences of going through Islamic education in the UK, Pakistan and Canada.
"One of the National Secular Society's most serious concerns is the plight of the thousands of children attending independent, and sometimes unregistered (and illegal) religious schools, many of whom will have little or no secular education. We share Aliyah's passion for protecting these children's right to a thorough and proper education.
"Our conference will benefit hugely from her perspective."
