Fjordman

Norway: Blind People Rejected by Muslim Taxi Drivers

This case is in fact several months old, but I didn't get around to translating it until now.This is partly because there is an ongoing "Taxi Jihad" in Oslo, but I decided I will follow this up later as matters unfold. Muslim taxi drivers demand a separate prayer room at Oslo Airport, where they can pray during working hours, but have received a negative answer. The leader of the Somali Taxi Association, Ali Hassan, finds this discriminating and unacceptable, and is planning a law suit over the matter: "We think we have a right to pray during working hours. We demand to get a room where we can perform prayers, without losing our spot in the taxi queue."

This is similar to a case in the USA recently, where 30 Muslim workers were fired for praying on job at Dell Computers. However, after CAIR and their Saudi-paid lawyers got involved, a settlement was reached in which the Muslim employees were reinstated, received back pay, and was granted religious accommodation. It seems as if demanding a prayer room at the work place is high in the Islamic agenda in Western nations these days.

At the same time as this is going on, blind people with their guide dogs are finding it increasingly difficult to get a taxi ride, and not just in the capital. In Oslo, Muslims make up such a high percentage of cab drivers that it can be hard to obtain a taxi during Islamic holidays. The following example is from the city of Drammen outside Oslo, one of the Norwegian municipalities where the number of Muslim immigrants is now so large that the conflicts are becoming significant. A pro-Israeli politician from the rightwing Progress Party recently received death threats here. A lady in Drammen ran into some unexpected difficulties when travelling to visit another town:


Grethe Olsen, accompanied by her guide dog Isak, experienced being rejected by no less than 21 taxis before finally getting a ride. Olsen thinks the taxi drivers said no for religious reasons. The Norwegian Blind Association confirms that this is a well known problem all over the country, especially in cities with many immigrants. It arises when a blind person accompanied by a guide dog wants to take a taxi from a stand, instead of ordering one in advance.

According to spokesperson Amber Khan from World Islamic Mission in Oslo, this has nothing to do with Islam. "This is culture, not religion," she says. "If somebody is dependent upon a dog, this should take precedence over religion." Director Viggo Korsnes in Norway's Taxi Association has no sympathy for drivers who refuse to accept guide dogs into their cars. "You are obliged to accept the dog. Those who don't should find something else to do."

Amber Khan is not entirely wrong. Dogs, although considered extremely dirty animals and greatly disliked, are permitted for certain limited uses, such as guarding your property. I have never seen anything mentioned about guide dogs included in these few exceptions. At best, it is a matter of a great deal of interpretation. Khan is blatantly wrong in stating that this has nothing to do with the Islamic religion. First of all, Islam is not just a religion, but culture and politics as well, all rolled into one. It is difficult to see how non-Muslims are supposed to separate between religion and culture given that Islam admits no such distinction. And core Islamic texts do reveal a strong distaste for dogs, going back to Muhammad himself. Here are two hadith from the most important collections for one billion Sunni Muslims:

Bukhari Volume 7, Book 72, Number 833:

Narrated Abu Talha : The Prophet said, "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or there are pictures."

Muslim Book 010, Number 3811:

Abdullah (b. Umar) (Allah be pleased with them) reported: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) ordered the killing of dogs and we would send (men) in Medina and its corners and we did not spare any dog that we did not kill, so much so that we killed the dog that accompanied the wet she-camel belonging to the people of the desert.


From Islam Q&A: Ruling on having a dog

According to Islaamic Sharee’ah, it is not permitted to keep a dog except within narrowly-defined limits, as the Prophet explained: "Whoever keeps a dog, his good deeds will decrease every day by one qeeraat (a unit of measurement), unless it is a dog for farming or herding." Dogs are extremely naajis (impure, unclean). Keeping dogs nowadays is the habit of the kuffaar (infidels), who adopt them as friends, kiss them, let them lick them and their clothes, sleep with them and even leave them money in their wills. Keeping a dog is an imitation of the kuffaar. Some Muslims may claim that they need to keep a dog at home for purposes of protection, to which we respond that nowadays there are burglar alarm systems and other measures one may take for security purposes, and there is no need to keep a dog, praise be to Allaah.

Another issue following the large number of Muslim immigrants among taxi drivers is increased harassment of women customers, in line with the general pattern. In the old days, women were advised to take a taxi home to avoid rape. Now, it could be the taxi driver raping you:

Capital rise in taxi rapes

Since the latest in a string of sexual assaults against women in Copenhagen taxicabs was reported earlier last week, Copenhagen police say they have received at least 10 reports from women who have claim to have experienced physical or verbal harassment from taxicab drivers in recent months. On 5 September, a young woman told police she was sexually molested by a cab driver. On 6 October, a 25-year-old woman reported that a dark-skinned taxi driver raped her after she hailed his cab shortly after midnight. The chairman of the Greater Copenhagen Taxi Council, Erik Eefsen, told daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten that installing closed circuit video cameras in all capital city taxis might be a necessary step to protect the safety of drivers and customers alike.

Muslims always claim that the West need Islamic morality. Do we really need a religion where having sex with children is ok, but letting a blind person’s guide dog into your car is considered immoral? How on earth can the same Muslims who whine and want special treatment that no other religious group enjoys with a straight face deny blind people assistance? And they wonder why people get "Islamophobia"?

It should be added that the usual anti-racist and anti-discrimination groups have remained strangely silent about this grave and illegal discrimination of handicapped Norwegian citizens in their own country. I'm sure they'll wake up when the Somali Taxi Association sues to get a sponsored room where they can pray during working hours. Non-Muslims, blind or otherwise, will just have to wait in line while the taxi drivers are busy praying. That's the Islamic concept of "mutual respect".

posted by Unknown @ 3:58 PM