It seems as if the “suspicious behavior” on the Minneapolis flight from which six Muslims, who turn out to be imams, were removed consisted of the imams’ evening prayers. So Shahin says “he was ‘humiliated’ and never felt so bad in his life. He said ‘it’s terrible’ to put six scholars in handcuffs.”
Indeed. It is terrible. It is terrible to have to do so. It is terrible that these and other scholars have allowed those who commit violence in the name of their religion to do so unimpeded and unchallenged. It is terrible that these and other Islamic scholars have responded only with vilification when asked about the teachings of their faith that promote violence, instead of with honest dialogue and attempts to reform those teachings. It is terrible that they have thereby allowed their religion to become so associated with violence that American citizens on an airplane become alarmed at the sight of Islamic prayer.
It is terrible. But it is completely understandable. And the onus is not on the other passengers and the air marshals or whoever took them off the plane. It is on Muslim spokesmen such as Edina Lekovic, who deny and obfuscate when questioned about Islamic terrorism, instead of discussing it honestly.
An update to this story from AP, with thanks to Theseus:
MINNEAPOLIS — Six Muslim imams were removed from a US Airways flight on Monday night in Minneapolis after several of them got up for evening prayers.
The imams were returning to Phoenix after attending a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation. The president of the group, Omar Shahin, of Phoenix, was among the imams removed from the plane.
Shahin said he was “humiliated” and never felt so bad in his life. He said “it’s terrible” to put six scholars in handcuffs.
Three of the imams had gotten up to say their normal evening prayers, Shahin said. A passenger who was concerned passed a note to a flight attendant. An airline spokeswoman said police were called after the men refused to leave the plane.