How a lesson on Islam led to school closings in Virginia

(The Christian Science Monitor) Schools in a Shenandoah Valley county in Virginia were closed and weekend activities were canceled after the schools became inundated with angry phone calls and e-mails regarding a world geography assignment that involved learning about Islam.

The assignment in question was for a ninth-grade class at Riverheads High School. The assignment was meant to teach students about calligraphy, and used the Shahada, the Muslim statement of faith, as an example. Translated from Arabic, the statement is, "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."

Outraged parents accused the teacher of crossing the line between teaching students about religion as a subject and incorporating religious teachings into a public school education.