A social studies teacher at a taxpayer-funded middle school in Orange County, Calif. has incensed some local parents by instructing her seventh graders to learn and sing a song all about how great Islam is.
The site of the singing was Spring View Middle School in Huntington Beach. The teacher made up the verses and set the ditty to the rousing tune of “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten, reports CBS Los Angeles.
Here’s a snippet of the lyrics:
Like a sandstorm in the desert, sending camels into motion,
like how a single faith can make a heart open,
they might only have one god,
but they can make an explosion.
“This is their fight song,” the catchy ditty declares. “Spread Islam now song.”
Also:
And they don’t really care,
If no Jews of C’s believe
Cause they still have
A lot of others to reach
Part of the chorus goes:
Islam…Allah’s on the way
They will preach them loud tonight
Can you hear their voices this time?
Local parent Nichole Negron has spearheaded the charge against the song. Negron and Susan Negron, her mother, objected to the lyrics at an Oceanview School Board meeting on Tuesday night.
“I believe that by singing this song, the children feel comfortable believing that maybe Allah is the only god, and maybe that they should start following him,” Susan Negron said, according to CBS Los Angeles.
As part of the local public school social studies curriculum, Huntington Beach seventh graders are covering the world’s big religions including Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism.
According to Nichole Negron, part of her son’s Islam lesson included an illustration of a stick-figure guy proclaiming: “Believe in Allah! There is no other god.”
In a statement, school district superintendent Carol Hansen suggested that the Islam lesson set to a pop song was poorly timed.
“It was unfortunate that the lesson on Islam ended just prior to the tragic world events on Friday, Nov. 13,” Hansen said, according to the Huntington Beach Independent. “It was not the intention of the teacher to incite anger or offend.”
“I apologize on behalf of the district if the song used in the World History lesson may have offended anyone,” Hansen also said, according to the Orange County Register.
The superintendent added that the teacher did not mean “to incite, anger or offend.”
The teacher’s jingle also managed to upset the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
CAIR spokeswoman Ojaala Ahmad took exception to the word “explosion” because it might imply that some proponents of Islam use violence. (RELATED: Paris Attack Death Toll At Least Five Times That Of Charlie Hebdo Massacre)
“Our reaction was that obviously the teacher could have had a better choice of words,” Ahmad told the Register.
“Especially with the recent attacks ISIS has been doing, knowing that this potentially Islamaphobic backlash might come about, what was the teacher’s intention?” Ahmed also asked, according to CBS Los Angeles.
Negron, who initially posted the social studies class material on a Huntington Beach community Facebook page said she is fine with material about world religions at school in general.
“I would have liked notice before my son sang it repeatedly,” she told the Register. “I would not have let him partake in that particular activity.”
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