The subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures. This article was published more than 10 years ago.
Some information in it may no longer be current. A private Islamic boarding school in Ajax, where young boys are taught to memorize the entire Koran in three years, was rocked yesterday by the arrest of its principal and founder, a Muslim religious leader, on charges of sexual assault, exploitation and interference.
All eight of the charges against year-old Abdul Majid Khan of Ajax involve incidents alleged to have occurred between and The four alleged male victims, who range in age from 10 and 21, are former and present students of the boarding school. Khan and attended several functions at the school. The Institute of Islamic Learning in Ajax is a rarity among Toronto-area private schools for its specific focus on studies of the Koran -- the Islamic holy book.
The school dates back as far as the earliest allegation against Mr. Khan -- who galvanized Ajax's Muslim community around its establishment. It started in as a modest enterprise in a two-family home, where just nine students boarded and took their classes in a converted garage. Several years ago, the local Muslim community raised enough money to relocate the school to a acre site on Audley Road and build a three-storey facility fit for students.
A source said the boys school attracted students from all over, and that the tuition was not "unbearably expensive" for a school where sons of devout families could memorize the entire Koran in three to four years and still comply with provincial education requirements. The school was for boys aged 12 and up, though it offered instruction for Grades 2 to 12 from six teachers, most of them Muslim clerics. Other courses included studies of the Urdu and Arabic languages as well as Islamic law and jurisprudence.
