The Editor
Daily Telegraph

16 Feb 2004

Sir

I am writing to complain about the article in The Daily Telegraph (16th of February 2004) entitled �Anger over call to teach children atheism in school� in which a false impression has been given of views expressed by myself.

The Muslim Council of Britain is not of the view that atheism should be taught within RE. Atheism has no place in RE in fact.

My comments have been cited completely out of context. I did not make any of these comments in the context of �including atheism within RE� but was speaking about philosophical questions to do with �purpose of life and creation� and why people believe in God� etc. and these had always been discussed within RE lessons. At no point did I use the word �atheism� in my conversation .

I expect that this letter will be published to rectify the completely false impressions that have been given of the views of the Muslim Council of Britain.

Tahir Alam
Chair, MCB Education Committee