My child goes to secondary school in London(UK) and as part of the GCSE subjects, it has been mandatory that RE lesson (Christianity) is taught. This means that the child is reading and learning text books which contain verses from the bible. I don't want my child to learn this, but the school said it is mandatory. I don't know what to do. I now want to take my child out of the school,but worried other schools may be doing the same. Have I done something wrong by allowing my child to have learned this far since September 2012 school start year?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Qaadhi Abu Bakr ibn Al-Arabi made a good statement which we find to be a good introduction to our answer to your question as he said: “The boy is a trust with his parents, and his pure heart is a precious jewel which is naive and free from all engravings and images, but he is susceptible to every engraving, and susceptible to any teaching that one wants to teach him, so if he is accustomed to do good, and he is taught it, he will be brought up on it, and so he will be happy in this life and in the Hereafter; his parents and any instructor or educator who taught him [that good] will get the same reward like him; but if he is accustomed to do evil, and he is neglected, then he will be miserable and he will be doomed.”

Hence, your son is a trust with you, so putting him in such an environment that may corrupt him, is, without any doubt, a grave mistake. Therefore, you have to rectify the matter (before it is too late) and transfer him to another school that is free from such a religious prohibition. We think that you can find an Islamic school, or at least a school that does not oblige him to study Christianity or other false religions.

If there is no alternative other than leaving school or studying in it with such a bitter reality, then leaving school would be the lesser evil. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 30220 and 31707.

On the other hand, please ponder with us on this Hadeeth which was narrated by Ahmad that Jaabir ibn Abdullaah narrated that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him, came to the Prophet with a book which he took from some People of the Book, and he said that the Prophet became angry and said: “Are you confused about it (i.e. the message of Islam), O Ibn Al-Khattaab? I swear by the One in whose hand my soul is, I have brought it to you white and pure.” [Al-Albaani graded it Hasan (good)] In some narrations it was reported that it was a copy of the Torah.

Since the Prophet was angry when ‘Umar had showed him that copy of the Torah, so how can we accept that our children study a religion other than their religion of Truth?

On this occasion, we draw your attention to the danger of residing in a non-Muslim country as this causes much embarrassment for the Muslim because of the difference between Islamic culture and the culture of the country in which he resides; this negatively and greatly reflects on the children. Hence, if it is possible for a Muslim to migrate to a Muslim country to reside there, then this is better and more appropriate. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 179175.

Allaah Knows best.