• Muslims have a proud history of serving in and alongside the British armed forces.
• Those in the British Indian army made an important contribution to the victory of the allied powers in the First World War

LONDON – A British Muslim school in Blackburn will soon become the first Islamic school to launch a British Army cadet force.

“In recent years the armed forces have struggled to recruit British Muslims. It is welcome news, therefore, that Tauheedul Islam Boys’ High School in Blackburn will soon become the first Islamic school to launch an army cadet force,” an article published in The Times Sunday read.

“Teenagers at the school will practice drills, fieldcraft, map reading and casualty treatment, all with the blessing of local mosque leaders,” it added.

Though the Islamic academy did not confirm the news, the announcement was instead made on social media alongside an opinion piece by the Times Newspaper.

“The government knows that it needs to attract more Muslims into the forces, but the task has proven difficult,” The Times wrote.

“Yet building stronger links between the forces and Muslim communities will benefit the military and British society in general. The cadet force at Tauheedul School is a good start.”

We are proud that Tauheedul Islam Boys’ School in Blackburn will become the first Islamic Faith School in the UK to start an army cadet force #WeAreStarhttps://t.co/4Fvq02FTan https://t.co/VGGAyCFwbh

— Star Academies (@StarAcademies) November 26, 2018

A milestone in the history of @tauheedulboys & @StarAcademies. Onwards and upwards (God willing!) https://t.co/aErJ0xYLUK

— TIBHS (@tauheedulboys) November 26, 2018

The news was also shared by the Home Secretary yesterday.

Wonderful https://t.co/eSx6AwQFGq

— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) November 26, 2018

Tauheedul Islam Boys’ High School is a secondary free school for boys in Blackburn, Lancashire. TIBHS opened in September 2012 and received an “Outstanding” Ofsted inspection in 2014.

A study by think tank British Future found just 22% of people in Britain knew Muslims had fought in the World War One.

A research by Dr. Islam Issa, Lecturer in English Literature at Birmingham City University, proved that 1.5 million Indians and 280,000 Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians fought for the Allies during the war, as well as soldiers recruited from other parts of Africa.

Nearly 3.7 million tons of supplies and more than 170,000 animals were shipped from India to support the war effort.