Prayer Ban at Katharine Birbalsingh's School that was Challenged by Muslim Pupil is Lawful, High Court Rules

Prayer Ban at Katharine Birbalsingh’s School that was Challenged by Muslim Pupil is Lawful, High Court Rules

A prayer ban imposed at Katharine Birbalsingh’s school that was challenged by a Muslim pupil is lawful, a High Court judge has ruled. The Telegraph has more.

Michaela Community School in Brent, north-west London, has defended a legal challenge from a Muslim pupil, who claimed the school’s ban on prayer rituals was discriminatory.

The prayer ritual policy did not “interfere” with the pupil’s freedom to manifest her religious beliefs, according to a ruling handed down on Tuesday.

The pupil had chosen the school knowing of its strict regime and could have chosen to attend a different school that would have allowed her to pray at lunchtime, the ruling found.

In his written ruling, Mr. Justice Linden said the prayer policy was “a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims” of the school and was therefore justified.

He found that the disadvantage to Muslim pupils was outweighed by the aims that it seeks to promote in the interests of the school community as a whole, including Muslim pupils.

However, the judge upheld the pupil’s challenge to a decision to temporarily exclude her from the school after allegations by fellow pupils about comments she had made.

He said the pupil ought to have been asked for her version of events before the head teacher excluded her.

The secular school introduced the prayer ban in March last year after up to 30 pupils began praying in the yard.

Ms. Birbalsingh, the school’s founder who has been dubbed Britain’s strictest headteacher, has defended the policy, saying it “is wrong to separate children according to religion or race”.

Lawyers for the school previously said pupils praying outside contributed to a “concerted campaign” on social media over the school’s secular approach to religion.

A High Court heard in January that the school was targeted with death threats, abuse, “false” allegations of Islamophobia and a “bomb hoax”.

Lawyers for the school also said its actions came after a number of children had been told that they were “bad Muslims” for not praying and had begun to pray.