Flying While Muslim

The Six Imams case is simply a civil rights case where six Muslim clerics were subjected to discrimination and harsh treatment by US Airways and the Metropolitan Airport Commission officers based only on their religion, ethnicity and national origin.

Question: Did The Imams have one-way tickets bought by cash? (Reported by Fox News and several others).

Answer: The Imams purchased roundtrip tickets by Imam Shahin’s credit card. The originally flew from Arizona to Minnesota to attend the North American Imams Federation (NAIF) conference in Minneapolis.

Question: Did any of the Imams angrily curse George Bush and/or the U.S.’s involvement in Iraq while seated at the boarding gate? (Reported by Investors Business Daily and others).

Answer: The Imams did not discuss any politics. They spoke in Arabic and English and were joking lightheartedly. This myth originates from the passenger who passed the note to the flight attendant which said that the Imams were “cursing US involvement w/Saddam.”

Question: Did the Imams pray on the plane? (Reported by some early reports and carried on by many blogs)

Answer: Three of the Imams prayed their early evening prayers in the waiting area for an adjoining gate and not on the plane.

Question: Did the Imams not sit in their assigned seats and spread out in the plane? (Reported by Investors Business Daily and echoed by Congressman Wolf of Virginia)

Answer: All of the Imams sat in their assigned seats. Their seats were not chosen by them but rather randomly assigned to them by US Airways. A passenger switched seats with Imam Sadeddin, who is blind, so that he could be close to and assisted by Imam Sulaiman.

Question: Did some of the Imams run back and forth on the plane speaking to each other in Arabic? (Reported by Investors Business Daily and echoed by Congressman Wolf)

Answer: This is inaccurate.  One imam, Imam Shahin, walked to the back of the plane to speak with  two others imams to see if  they knew why the flight was delayed.

Question: Did most of the Imams request seat belt extenders? (Reported by Fox News, others reported that all Imams requested seat belt extenders)

Answer: Two of the Imams, Imam Shahin and Imam Sadeddin requested seat belt extenders only. Both men are heavily built and clearly need the extenders for comfort. Imam Sadeddin is 5’11 and 250 pounds and Imam Shahin is 6’1 and 285 pounds. One flight attendant assisted Imam Sadeddin in putting on the seat belt extender.

Question: Were the Imams attending Congressman Keith Ellison’s victory celebration? (Stated by Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann)

Answer: The Imams were returning from the North American Imams Federation (NAIF) convention. They were not returning from nor on their way to a Keith Ellison victory celebration.

Question: Did the Imams resist police officers when they were asked to leave the plane.

Answer: The Imams did not resist and obeyed orders to deplane.

Question: Was Imam Sadeddin faking blindness?

Answer: Imam Sadeddin has been blind for years.. He began losing his sight as a youth, due to a degenerative ocular condition.