US county closes schools after uproar over Arabic calligraphy homework

Female students were also invited to wear Islamic clothing

A Virginia school district closed all of its schools and offices after an outcry over a high school geography lesson that included an example of Arabic religious calligraphy.

The lesson, which was part of a world geography class at Riverheads High School, asked the students to copy the Arabic letters that translate to: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad (PBUH) is the messenger of Allah."

Augusta Co. schools in Virginia closed Friday due to controversial assignment https://t.co/p4JLqTRgAx pic.twitter.com/NuzYBGr5Va

— WBTV News (@WBTV_News) December 18, 2015

The school district held a meeting on December 11 to discuss the assignment with concerned parents and said the lesson wasn't to promote Islam but to study "the artistic complexity of the calligraphy."

“Neither these lessons, nor any other lesson in the world geography course, are an attempt at indoctrination to Islam or any other religion, or a request for students to renounce their own faith or profess any belief,” the district said in a statement provided to Fox News.

A look at tonight's meeting about a world geography assignment at Riverheads High school. More tonight @WHSVnews pic.twitter.com/yK8c4Fogav

— Devin Turk (@Devin_Turk) December 15, 2015

Parents protested against the assignment at Riverheads High School in Augusta County and said that the children were not given the translation of what they were writing. However, the school district did not think this posed a problem as it was all about the art, not theology.

“The statement presented as an example of the calligraphy was not translated for students, nor were students asked to translate it, recite it or otherwise adopt or pronounce it as a personal belief,” the district stated.

Here's the full statement from #Augusta County Public Schools on why they cancelled school activities. pic.twitter.com/FmcHVmtWBy

— 29News - Charlottesville (@29NewsWVIR) December 17, 2015

“They were simply asked to attempt to artistically render written Arabic in order to understand its artistic complexity,” they added.

Further according to The Schilling Show, female students were also invited to don Islamic clothing.



In response the district said the students were taught about the “modest dress adopted by many in the Islamic faith and were invited to try on a scarf as a part of an interactive lesson about the Islamic concept of modest dress.”

“The scarf used in the activity was not an actual Islamic religious hijab,” the district stated.

Moreover, it added that the assignment was consistent with the Virginia Department of Education Standards of Learning as students were also taught other religions including Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism.

However, one outraged parent told The Schilling Show, “while the Quran was presented to students, the Bible was not.” The teacher reportedly declined to provide a Bible because all the students have either read or seen a Bible.

This article originally appeared on Fox News