UK Muslim mother faces fine over attempt to take children to Umrah

A Muslim mother living in the United Kingdom (UK) faces a steep fine for her attempt to take her children to Mecca.

The school has threatened mother Shahnaz Bi with 120 sterling in fines for each of the children if she took her 7- and-9-year-old daughters, Fatimah and Maryam, to the holy cities Mecca and Medina of Saudi Arabia.

The mother, Shahnaz Bi, from Sheffield, said she is planning a legal challenge to being threatened with fines for taking her children on pilgrimage to Mecca.

The mother also said that the trip was educational and provided much-needed family time.

“I organized a head-to-head meeting and I explained that it was not a holiday and would be educational,” she said.

“Islam is a peaceful religion and teaches respect. Coming back from the Umrah, my daughters would have a greater understanding of what respecting and honoring people, such as their teachers, means,” she added.