MichiganRadio

Islamic Leaders Object To Airport Body Scanners SOUTHFIELD, MI (Michigan Radio) - A group of Muslim religious scholars has issued a religious document saying that airport body scanners violate Islamic law.

The Fiqh Council of North America issued a Fatwa telling Muslims to avoid the scanners because of Islamic teachings regarding nudity.

There are currently 40 scanners in U.S. airports. The Transportation Security Administration plans to add over 400 more this year, after the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day. The suspect in that case, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is a Nigerian Muslim.

Dawud Walid is Director of Michigan's Council on American Islamic Relations. He supports the fatwa because scanners violate Islamic standards of modesty. "We're not allowed to be seen by people of the opposite gender, unless it's for an extreme emergency, like a medical emergency," Walid says.

Walid says an acceptable alternative would be a pat-down by a same-gender security guard. The TSA says it already offers that option.
© Copyright 2012, Michigan Radio