A teacher is still in hiding one year on from the Prophet Muhammed Batley school row. The teacher had shown a caricature of the founder of Islam, during a religious studies lesson at Batley Grammar School in March 2021.
The problem arose as the teacher claims he was unaware of the sensitivities surrounding showing a caricature. According to the BBC, there is no mention in the Koran of a ban against using images either drawn, carved or painted, of the Prophet Muhammed or Allah.
However in chapter 42, verse 11, it states: "[Allah is] the originator of the heavens and the earth... [there is] nothing like a likeness of Him." It is this section that is thought to be the basis of upset, as some Muslims understand this to mean that Allah or Prophet Muhammed cannot be captured in any image.
To try to do so, might be perceived as an insult. At the time the teacher faced backlash from some parts of the local community and was suspended.
Now, as reported in YorkshireLive, an MP has provided words of support for the teacher and his family. Kim Leadbeater MP said the teacher faced "completely unacceptable" backlash as she offered him her "full support" a year on from the row.
The teacher was reportedly moved into police protection after receiving death threats. At the time, the school issued an 'unequivocal apology' for using the 'completely inappropriate' cartoon during class.
In May last year, an independent panel concluded the teacher could return to work. In a statement given to YorkshireLive almost a year since the protests broke out, Ms Leadbeater said it was "completely unacceptable for the teacher to have been forced into hiding and his family put at risk.”
She added: “I have kept in regular contact with him and his family through his union since my election in July 2021. He knows that he has my full support and that if there is anything I can do to help him as the current MP for the area, I will do it.
"I have written to the teacher on two occasions to reiterate to him and his family that there is no time limit on my offer of help and support, but I fully understand and respect his very clear desire to get on with his life. In my view it is not for me or anybody else to decide what is right for this family, and they must be allowed to have their privacy respected."
A fundraiser launched in the immediate aftermath of the fallout has gone on to raise more than £83,000 for the teacher and his family.
