Muslim cab drivers are 3/4 of total 900 drivers there (I guess those who service airport). They should put trust in Allah, and leave the job, and insha’Allah they would get something better than this. Fighting this case in court would be waste of time.

Asalaamu alaikum. Shahzad has a good point. We live in a country where we’re surrounded by haram things. For the sake of dawah, we need to pick our battles. According to the article, “There were 27 alcohol-related refusals of service out of an estimated 120,000 rides from mid-November to mid-January, one of the airport’s busiest seasons, according to recent MAC figures.” Is this worth going to court over?

Bismillah. I have a few extra points to add to this subject:

1. Dialog is extremely important. Muslims everywhere in every profession must commit themselves to engaging their employers and society around them in positive ways to create goodwill and understanding. A fallback to the legal system to help solve problems happens often when there is absence of understanding between two parties. At the same time Muslims, must be tough when it matters, and develop that legal expertise as well. Time and time again, if have experienced personally, professionally and at a community level that when we engage those around us proactively, then solutions and accommodations are easier to arrive at.

2. I am conflicted on Ruth’s idea of picking our battles for the sake of the da’wah. Every Muslim counts, especially when he/she is confronted with discrimination or is forced to compromise his/her Deen. But rather than fight every battle at a national level, Muslims need to be taught some basic principles on how to effectively fight their own battles. The first principle, I think, is dialog and constantly building bridges with others, like I mentioned in my first point above. And don’t tell me you have to be born and educated in North America to be good at that. I have seen many new immigrants of various educational backgrounds show excellent communication skills. And subhanAllah! Look at the skill of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in communicating and bridge building. A second principle is that moving away from haram at a systemic level requires gradualism and constant action.

3. Finally, I find Muslims are quick to go the overseas scholar and get the fatwa, but are VERY passive when it comes to creating change in society in a dynamic way. Our scholars can give us the halal/haram verdict but it’s up to rank and file Muslim to show leadership when it comes to implementing Islamic guidance in the society within which we live. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we had a bunch of brothers/sisters from amongst those cabbies that can provide such leadership?

Why the muslim cab drivers made this an issue on first place, if they did not want to follow through?

The airport can only impose penalties on taxi drivers operating within the airport though, right? i.e. even if someone has their right to pick people up on airport grounds revoked, they can still operate their taxi outside the airport.

If that’s the case, then it’s not really a big deal: the owners of taxis have the right to refuse to do business with whoever they want; passengers have the right to refuse to enter particular taxis; and the airport has the right to impose whatever rules it wants on drivers who decide to enter its grounds; and likewise drivers should be free not to go to the airport to pick people up if they don’t like those rules.

I dont understand why people make a big fuss, here it was not about druken passangers, it was about people buying alcohol and taking it home in bottles.

I would think that if it were about druken passengers, and Muslims were refusing to take them home it would be a much bigger issue, because then in essence what Muslims are promoting is drunk driving- or least that is how it will be preceived.

I think the brothers are making a much bigger deal on this issue then they should. We have many other things to work on rather then fighting for the right to refuse to drive people who bought alcohol at the airport.

Allah knows best.

Bismillah.

I would have to disagree with Affad and agree with Umm Layth. Ever heard of the phrase “think global but act local”?

How on earth is our community going to learn how to deal with the big stuff if we can’t effectively deal with the small stuff? Every person has a circle of influence, whether that be one’s family, one’s line of work or one’s community. And every Muslim is accountable with how effective he/she is within his/her universe.

as-Salaamu `alaykum

I posted a comment and it gave me an error. I also didn’t save, so here I go again, insha’Allaah.

Firstly, can you, without any hesitation (without any fear) say that driving around people carrying alcohol is 100% permissible in the Shari`ah? What happened to ‘do not cooperate in sin and transgression? Our Beloved Muhammad (sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam) told us to beware of the doubtful matters and at the very least this issue seems ‘somewhat’ doubtful.

Secondly, there are non-Muslims out there who believe just like these Muslims believe (and like a lot of non-cab driving Muslims believe) and would stand up for it as well but are afraid to. So it is praiseworthy that they tried. Now, they got their answer and their best way to go is what I said above, of owning their own business.

Thirdly, brother, these are just common muslims. They aren’t leaders etc… They are just people who are trying to support them and their families and who want to work a job in the best way they can. As a group they have stood by each other but they had to, but amongst the other problems that the Somali community may have, again this is their business and they chose to stand up for something that affects them. It’s just like Shahzad mentioned. We each have our own universe to worry about as well.

“I’m curious to know if transporting women without hijab is an issue for the cabbies.”

C’mon…now that is just trivializing the matter…

I am happy to see people engaging in the conversation. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

I want to address something i inferred in Maverick’s comment- I understand what your saying but I think it is up to individuals to do what they feel comfortable with. True that prioritization is critical in how we engage in seeking out our rights as well as establishing Islam as a mainstream religion in the US. I give credit for the brothers to stand up and pursue this, because in honesty not many of our fellow Muslims will even bother to take the step beyond complaining. So I dont see the benefit of putting them down, and I am not implying you are but I feel that its on the verge of doing so.

But going back to priorities, I do concur with the general sentiment on what is and is not important, that is a discussion we can have but without the people involved to present their perspective it would be an infinite open ended discussion, and that serves no purpose at this point. But in a way it is an issue of importance and not a matter of trivializing the situation. It is a legimate question and discussion but without the key players it might not be to fruitful for us.

It is our business though, and thats why I do take issue with Um Layth when it is stated that its the Cabbies decision. No I take issue because i am a firm believer in that when the community of believers suffers its as if a part of my body is suffering- we can take that further when a part is doing well and succeeding i take pride in that as well. If we are a community of believers in the US and we think that each one of us lives in our diconnected world then we are doomed to not see the bigger picture.

Why is it that a war can rage in Iraq people get killed and kids in school here in diverse California are called rag-heads and terrorists? Its not because its the universe i live in and a bubble i function in.

I can go further and say why is that a tragedy happening in Virgina can bring together so many people? Its because we are connected and what happens in one place affects us in our day to day lives.

Going back to the cabbies, again i commend what they did and give them mad props for stepping up to the plate. However, its over and now we have to learn the lesson that came from it. First, go back to the statement by the Imam:

“We see this as a harsh penalty against fellow Americans only because they are practicing their faith,” the Muslim scholar said. “This does not reflect the American values of tolerance and accommodation.”

What is happened in the aftermath of this is that Americans who are know nothing about Islam and might be skeptical about right wing extremists rants see that their life style is being attacked by Muslims who want to practice their exotic brand of Islam, and this is further equated as Islam being something foriegn and alien, so Muslims being less American or being able to live in America, and that directly feeds into this idea of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment. Why are should we drive a nail into our own foot?

We as a community face the realities of this situation in its aftermath. We definently need to learn from this and try to move on, and this means being cognizant of the “bigger picture” and being able to provide insight if put in a situation in the future.