SHARIYA PAGE!Muslim Cabbies Refusing to Take Fares With Alcohol !!
Question
As-salamu `alaykum. This is in reference to what was published in Murcurynews.com about the attitude of the airport authorities in Minneapolis toward Muslim cabbies who refuse to transport passengers with alcohol because of religious concerns.The airport authorities stated that the response was overwhelmingly negative, and some taxi companies feared that people would switch to other forms of ground transportation. The authorities stated that taxi drivers who refuse passengers with alcohol will continue to forfeit their place in the taxi queue and return to the back of the line, which often means a three-hour wait for another fare.The question now is this: Is the attitude of these Muslim cabbies who refuse to carry passengers with alcohol in line with the teachings of Islam? Are cabbies required to inquire about the items passengers carry and whether they contain alcohol or not? Or should cabbies refuse to carry passengers when they see pictures of alcoholic beverages on the stuff they may carry? How can they, as Muslims, react to such procedures by the airport authorities?
Date
31/May/2007
Name of Mufti
Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti
Topic
Morals & Manners, Social Manners, Morals & Values
Answer
Wa `alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Thanks for your important question, and we implore Allah earnestly to guide us all to the best of acts in this world and reward us with the highest reward in the hereafter. Ameen.First of all, we would like to stress that Muslims, especially those living in Muslim-minority countries, should try their best to be excellent ambassadors of their religion. If they are faced with uneven circumstances, such as the one referred to in the question, then they should solve the problems while applying wisdom and fair exhortation, making use of the civil liberties that guarantee respect for everyone's beliefs . On the other hand, the taxi companies responsible should help ease the problems Muslims might face as a result of religious concerns.
Responding to the question, Sheikh Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains, Lubbock, Texas, states the following:
First of all, Muslims in general should not keep themselves too much concerned about non-Muslims abiding by Islamic laws and ethics because non-Muslims are not required to follow the Shari`ah (Islamic Law) and rules of conduct. Throughout Islamic history, non-Muslims lived in Muslim countries and they used to drink alcohol without being punished for doing that, even though the act itself is punishable when done by a Muslim, according to Islamic Law.Moreover, the relationship between the cabbie and the passenger is based on a deal to transport the passenger from one place to another regardless of what they carry, except for items that are to be avoided for safety measures (guns, knifes, drugs, etc.). Therefore, in normal circumstances the cabbie is not supposed to investigate what the passenger is carrying, because it is a matter of privacy for the passenger, which the cabbie has no right to interfere in, as it falls beyond the boundaries of the contract they have struck together.Having said that, I should add that for some committed, practicing Muslims, carrying items such as alcohol and the like is an issue that goes against what appeals to their religious conscience because not only is drinking alcohol forbidden in Islam, but any form of supporting the process such as serving, buying, selling, etc. is forbidden as well. Therefore, neither the company nor the people should take this as an offense or interpret it as an act of discrimination since it is a purely religious, ethical concern.What is compatible with legal traditions in North America, which were established upon the respect for everyone's beliefs and civil liberties, people should understand very well. The company should try to accommodate the Muslim cabbies' demands as much as possible. For example, if a Muslim cabbie is waiting in the line and he does not feel comfortable taking a fare, then the next driver in line should take over while the former should continue to wait in the queue rather than going to the end of the line, because that would be unfair.
Posted by இப்னு அப்துல் ரஜாக்
on 10/14/2008 08:37:00 AM.
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