Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/804561
3 TIM DIACONO EDUCATION at state schools should be secular and void of re- ligious doctrine, the leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Malta said yesterday. As the debate on whether Islamic studies should be thought in State schools heats up, Laiq Ahmed Atif told MaltaToday at a conference that religious education at state schools should be limited to providing stu- dents with a comparative study of different religions. "States and religions are differ- ent entities and each should play their own role. State schools should provide secular education to all stu- dents irrespective of their faith," he said. "Muslim students can go to imams and prayer schools to learn about their faith, and similarly for Christians and Jews. The state's role shouldn't be to indoctrinate stu- dents but to provide them with basic points about each religion." In light of the impending closure of the Mariam al-Batool Muslim school in Paola, Imam Moham- med El Sadi has said that Muslim students should be allowed to learn Islam at state schools. Archbishop Charles Scicluna said that he would be open to allowing Muslim students to have separate classes in Islam while their peers have their normal Catholic religion classes, a suggestion that prompted an online petition calling for his re- moval. Education minister Evarist Bartolo said that like all other subjects, Is- lamic studies would need to adhere to a programme approved by the ministry and which would lead to SEC certification. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Com- munity was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who is held by followers as a prophet. This has placed them in conflict with tradi- tional Muslims who label them as 'heretics'. During the conference at the Uni- versity, which was held to address common misconceptions of jihad and terrorism, Atif admitted that there existed a degree of friction be- tween the Ahmadiyya community and the Sunni Muslim community led by Imam El Sadi. However, he extended a hand of friendship to the Imam and called for more dialogue to develop be- tween the two communities. "Dialogue with other Muslims is crucial and no Muslim should eve- ry deny this; dialogue is a starting point for us to demolish barriers and build bridges," he said. "The Holy Quran states that Muslims should unite with Christians and Jews in their common belief of God. Mus- lims have so much in common with each other, so why don't we unite on our commonalities? "As a community, we always preach the importance of building bridges and we have never resisted dialogue towards the common good." Similarly, Irish Imam Ibrahim Noonan – who was invited for the conference – said that Atif has often tried to open up dialogue with El- Sadi but that the latter has kept on resisting. "We will keep on pushing for dia- logue. We recently held a brief con- versation with the Imam but it is clear that they are not open to it." The two Ahmadi leaders both argued that terrorism had noth- ing to do with the tenets of Islam, with Noonan going as far to say that people who carry out acts of terror in the name of Islam are not truly Muslims. "If you understand the source of Muslim knowledge, then it is im- possible to envision using it as an excuse for terrorism," he said. "My own teacher had told that just as fire and water cannot live together, so is it impossible for a Muslim to be a terrorist. Some people say that not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim, but how can any terrorist be Muslim at all when the Quran teaches love, harmony and righteousness?' Atif said that Islam upholds the principles of human dignity and freedom, and the Quran stipulates that Muslims should act benevo- lently to people of other faiths. Ig- norance is the greatest enemy of humanity and is often exploited for terrorism. How can a young child who knows nothing of the religion believe that killing a human being will send him to paradise?" maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 29 MARCH 2017 News Muslim leader calls for secular education at state schools Laiq Ahmed Atif said 'State schools should not teach religious doctrine, but provide students with basic knowledge about every religion' Man jailed for attacking police officers in courtroom assault A man who attacked three po- lice officers and two women in a courtroom was yesterday jailed for six months and fined €4,000. 38-year-old Antonio Briffa from Luqa was charged with having attacked police inspec- tor Hubert Cini and consta- bles Brenton Gilford and Clint Bohm on 21 February, during the hearing of a case where Briffa was one of the parties. A law yer and the man's former wife, are also understood to have been assaulted in the at- tack. At the time, Briffa had been on bail for another offence, as well as having been in the mid- dle of the operative period of a suspended sentence and being in breach of two separate con- ditional discharges at the time of the incident, noted the court. The incident was made all the more serious by the fact that it occurred inside the courtroom. Noting that assaults on uni- formed officers and wardens were on the rise, magistrate Joe Mifsud was unequivocal in his defence of the forces of law and order in their line of duty. "The court makes it clear that all officials entrusted with en- forcing public order are to be protected in the course of their duties and nobody is excused – whatever the reason – for threatening or injuring them." Orders by law enforcement of- ficials are to be obeyed immedi- ately and respect is to be shown "to every official, always and every where," especially in situa- tions of heightened tension, said the court. Magistrate Joe Mifsud stressed that when such incidents occur, the court ushers and police are to intervene immediately and not allow the incident to contin- ue to escalate as had happened in this case. A police officer had suffered slight injuries as a result of the courtroom assault. The court found the man not guilty of breaching two condi- tional discharges, and abstained - at the prosecution's request - from deciding on the charges of having threatening the police officers in the course of their du- ties or of causing them slight in- juries. The man was also cleared of breaching two separate sets of bail conditions that had been imposed on him in February and August 2016. Briffa was, however, found guilty of violently resisting the forces of public order, attacking the five persons in the court- room, failing to obey police or- ders and breaching the peace. For this he was jailed for six months and fined €4,000. In- stead of bringing into effect the man's one year suspended pris- on sentence, the court chose to restart the period of suspension from yesterday. Also finding him guilty of breaching bail conditions, the court revoked the man's bail and ordered his re-arrest, which is understood to imply that he will remain under arrest even were he to file an appeal. The magistrate said he felt that in the circumstances, he should not confiscate the man's €15,000 personal guarantee. Protection orders were issued in favour of inspector Cini, PCs Gilford and Bohm, Briffa's es- tranged partner and her law yer, against a personal guarantee of €1,000. The court ordered that Briffa be given assistance to overcome his psychological problems that it said were leading him to de- linquency, placing him under a three-year treatment order for this purpose. Inspector Daryl Borg pros- ecuted. Antonio Briffa was as- sisted by law yer Alfred Abela. A man who attacked three police officers and two women in a courtroom has been jailed for six months and fined €4,000