There is an urgent need for wide-ranging reforms to take place within the madrasa system, an influential British Muslim has warned after a Keighley man was sent to prison for kicking and slapping children in a mosque.

Javed Bashir, the director of the Professional Muslims Institute and visiting fellow at the University of Bradford, has described the current madrasa system as out of date and said reform was needed, including protecting and safeguarding children and young people.

Sabir Hussain, 60, of Spencer Street, Keighley, was jailed for ten weeks at Bradford Magistrates Court on Wednesday after admitting four charges of assaulting pupils at the Markazi Jamia Mosque, in Emily Street, Keighley, where he was teaching them the Koran on two occasions in December last year.

Hussain was arrested after he was secretly filmed in a Channel 4 documentary earlier this year. An appeal against the sentence was lodged but an application for bail was refused.

Mr Bashir said while there was some good practice, many madrasas did not have qualified teachers who can understand and communicate with young people.

He said: “It has been more than 50 years since the first mosque was built in Bradford but unfortunately we are still relying on Imams and teachers from the Indian sub-continents who lack relevant skills to effectively engage and communicate with British-born Muslims.

“Consequently, these teachers often lack expertise in the subjects they are appointed to teach, and students do not properly participate in the learning process. Students are not taught to freely use their reason and to think on their own.”

Mr Bashir said: “A complete new syllabus needs to be devised which should be prepared by educational experts and which must take into account the age, interests, learning styles and psychology of the students. Different methods of teaching must be adopted, and greater focus needs to be paid to teaching English and maths as well as the Islamic education.”