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| March 16, 2010 | American Muslim groups protest use of unIslamic full body scanners at airports | | Washington: Two American Muslim groups have objected to the us of full body scanners at airports in the United States, stating that the devices are inconsistent with the tenets of Islam. The full body scanners made their debut at Chicago 's O'Hare International Airport on
Monday
and the two Islamic groups claim the technology is too invasive. The Fiqh Council
of North America, a body of Islamic scholars located in Plainfield , Indiana ,
said the screening imagery is a violation of Islam. Last month the council issued
a statement that said the full body imagery "is against the teachings of Islam,
natural law, and all religions and cultures that stand for decency and modesty."
"It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked
by other men and women," the statement continued. "There must be a compelling
case for the necessity and the exemption to this rule must be proportional to
the demonstrated need." The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a
Washington-based
civil rights advocacy group, agreed. Its Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper
said CAIR plans to track Muslims concerns with the scanners before deciding what
actions to take next. "Modesty is a basic principal of the Islamic faith, it's
very important and always has been. People say, 'I'll do anything for safety,'
but that's not the question. Everybody wants to be safe. Muslims fly like anybody
else ... you can be safe and secure and still maintain your privacy rights," Hooper
said. The number of full-body scanners at US airports is to triple in 2010, reports
the Christian Science Monitor (CSM). The Transportation Security Administration
(TSA) has deployed 150 scanners across 21 US airports this month, partly in
response
to the failed Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound jetliner, where
bomb-making
materials were hidden in a passenger's underwear - something full-body scanners
would have seen. The TSA expects to install an additional 300 scanners in nine
additional airports by the end of this year. But security officials say they will
be able to accommodate the wishes of passengers - Muslim or otherwise - who
object
to the full-body screener. The technology is "completely optional for all passengers,"
says Jim Fotenos, a TSA spokesman, and those who choose not to participate get
"an equal level of screening," which includes a walk through a metal detector
and a physical pat-down by an officer of the same sex. To stress the anonymity
of the process, the TSA says officers review the images in a remote location and
never see the actual passengers. What they do see via their monitors is automatically
deleted from the system once the passenger passes review. The Fiqh Council,
however,
is urging followers to request pat-down searches as an alternative. CAIR's Mr.
Hooper also advocates an increase in federal funding for alternate screening
technologies
that do not require visual screening, such as the "Puffer," a machine that can
identify chemical particles a person may have on their body and analyze whether
or not they are harmful. | |
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