LONDON: A teacher in Britain has been suspended from their duties after showing their class an image of the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to portray the Prophet Muhammad.
Year 10 students — aged 14 and 15 — were shown the image on Friday in a religious studies lesson. It is not clear why the image was used.
Muslims consider depictions of the Prophet Muhammad to be religiously forbidden and deeply offensive.
The school, All Saints Academy in the English town of Dunstable, said it became aware of the incident from a “concerned student,” with the member of staff being “suspended immediately.”
In a statement, the school issued an “unreserved and sincere apology for the distress this episode has caused.”
It added: “All Saints Academy recognises the deep hurt and distress that has been caused to the Muslim community, and many other people of faith, by the totally inappropriate images that were used as part of a recent RS lesson.
“Not only was it offensive to attempt to portray an image of the prophet Muhammad, but the image that was used was that of Osama bin Laden, a terrorist leader, which further added to the deep insult.”
