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event horizon · Jul 19, 2010

Blind passengers are being ordered off buses or refused taxi rides because Muslim drivers or passengers object to their 'unclean' guide dogs.

One pensioner, a cancer sufferer, told how he had twice been confronted by drivers and asked to get off the bus because of his guide dog, and had also faced hostility at a hospital and in a supermarket over the animal.

The problem to carry guide dogs on religious grounds has become so widespread that the matter was raised in the House of Lords last week, prompting transport minister Norman Baker to warn that a religious objection was not a reason to eject a passenger with a well-behaved guide dog.

While drivers can use their discretion to refuse to carry non-disabled passengers with dogs, they are compelled to accept guide dogs under disability discrimination law.

Yesterday both the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and the National Federation of the Blind confirmed the problem was common, and, according to the latter organisation was 'getting worse'.

The tension stems from a strand of Islamic teaching which warns against contact with dogs because the animal's saliva was considered to be impure, the Muslim Council of Britain said.

It urged Muslims to show tolerance and common sense over the issue.

'We need to be flexible on this,' a spokesman said. 'Muslim drivers should have no hesitation in allowing guide dogs into their bus or car.

'If a dog does lick you, it's not the end of the world. Just go home and wash yourself.'

George Herridge, 73, a retired hospital maintenance manager, told the Daily Mail he was 'stunned' to be twice asked by bus drivers to leave their vehicles because of his guide dog Andy, a black Labrador.

Mr Herridge, who lives with wife Janet, 69, in Tilehurst, Reading, said that on the first occasion two years ago, he got off at the request of a Muslim driver because some Muslim children on board were 'screaming' because of the dog.

He found himself in a similar scenario in May last year, when a Muslim woman and her children became 'hysterical'. Mr Herridge this time refused the driver's request to alight.

He complained to the bus company which launched an investigation. It later informed him the matter had been dealt with 'internally'.

Jill Allen-King, spokesman for the NFB, said she had been repeatedly left on the kerb by Muslim taxi drivers who refused to take her dog.

One cab driver told her he would have to 'go home now and wash myself' when she tried to enter his car with her dog.

Mr Baker yesterday warned bus and cab companies that, while there were within their rights to ask a passenger to leave if the dog was causing a nuisance, it was 'much more questionable to be asked to remove a dog for religious reasons'.

He added: 'One person's freedom is someone else's restriction.'

In 2006, Muslim minicab driver Abdul Rasheed Majekodumni was fined £200 and ordered to pay £1,200 costs by magistrates in Marylebone, central London, after being prosecuted for failing to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act when he refused to take a blind passenger because her guide dog was 'unclean'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z0u8fDkHvt

Dubai Knight · Jul 20, 2010

I would say that the guide dogs are probably more clean and better behaved than the bus or taxi drivers!

They go though years of rigorous training and are specially selected for their intelligence and temperament.

Unlike the drivers.

These people are paid to drive 'public service vehicles', that is the job, not objecting to a passengers essential rights on purely religious grounds. They should be removed from the position is they are unwilling to provide that public service. I am tempted to get on a bus in the UK with a Muslim driver whilst carrying a guide skunk. He would not object as its not in the Kor'an, but he bloody might when he gets sprayed with evil smelling musk!

Try going home and washing that off.

:evil:

Knight

shafique · Jul 20, 2010

I agree DK - it is wrong, IMO, for drivers to object to guide dogs.

Back in December 2007, the Muslim Council in Britain said the same thing - so it seems to be a question of educating the drivers.:

UK Mosque Welcomes Guiding Dog
By Emdad Rahman, IOL Correspondent

"It is correct to say that the saliva of a dog is regarded impure. In this case the guide dogs are highly trained," Mogra said.

LONDON — A mosque in the city of Leicester will soon allow a dog into its premises to help its blind owner attend congregational prayers, a precedent supported by the umbrella Muslim organization and welcomed by congregants.

"To tackle the inevitable issue of a Muslim owned guide dog we engaged in conferences with relevant agencies, imams and mosques in Leicester to learn, raise awareness and tackle the issue," Imam Ibrahim Mogra, chair of the interfaith committee at the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), told IslamOnline.net.

"One mosque has been identified in Leicester and we will pilot a case there in 2008."

Leaders of Al-Falah Mosque have agreed to allow Mahomed Khatri, a blind Muslim teen, to be accompanied by a guide dog into the mosque premises.

The retriever is undergoing specialist training by Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, a national association which provides guide dogs, to assist and enable Khatri pray in the mosque.

It will remain in a purpose-built kennel outside the prayer hall of the mosque and wait for the blind teen to come out after worship.

Imam Mogra said the MCB, the umbrella organization of Britain's two million Muslims, carried out a full review of the Shari`ah ruling on keeping dogs.

"It is correct to say that the saliva of a dog is regarded impure," he noted.

"In this case the guide dogs are highly trained. A lot of money is invested in their training and these animals are very disciplined, and highly unlikely to jump on people, sniff them unnecessarily or lick their faces, or any other parts of a person’s body."

A retriever salivates less than other dogs and thus reduces of the risk of flicking spittle onto worshippers.

Khatri’s retriever is getting extra training to restrain it from instincts to lick its owner.

Islam forbids Muslims to keep dogs as pets. However it is permissible to have a dog for legitimate benefits such as hunting or guarding.

Urgent

MCB leaders saw tackling the issue of guide dogs as urgent, given recent incidents in which Muslim restaurant owners and taxi drivers refused customers with guide dogs.

"We initially got in touch with national guide dog associations after controversies highlighted in the media, surrounding the reluctance of taxi drivers to allow guide dogs into their vehicles," said imam Mogra.

In June, Sallahaddin Abdullah was fined £200 in Cambridge after refusing to allow a blind couple into his taxi because they had a guide dog.

The MCB then issued a ruling saying British Muslims should allow guide dogs to enter restaurants and taxis.

Mogra affirmed that Shari`ah does not preclude being around guide dogs, and it is actually an Islamic duty to help the visually impaired.

"We have been involved in consultations for a period of time and therefore acknowledge that a guide dog enhances the health and safety of an individual, it helps a person and enables better mobility."

Welcome

Al-Falah Mosque congregants welcomed allowing Khatri's guide dog into their mosque.

"I am not bothered in the slightest," Sulaiman Patel, a regular worshipper at the mosque, told IOL.

Patel insists that the blind Muslim teen should receive every possible support to help him pray at the mosque.

"I can’t see any arguments against it," added the 26-year-old bakery manager.

"I’m very proud that my mosque is leading on this."

Idris Desai, 32, praised the Al Falah Mosque administration for accommodating Khatri's needs.

"It’s no big deal. The dog will not be standing next to worshippers."

Mariam Lorgat, a student at Loughborough University where Khatri studies, also commended the mosque leaders.

"It is appropriate that we are discussing relevant issues like this," said Lorgat, a regular Al-Falah Mosque congregant.

"As time goes on there will be more guide dog users, all over the country.

"This will help break many barriers."

Read more: http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Sate ... z0uBZkJvJ0

Dubai Knight · Jul 20, 2010

That sort of answered my next question: What kind of animal would a blind muslim use as a guide?

Judging by some of the more bizarre pets seen around Dubai, it could be any of the following:

A Guide Lion
A Guide Chimpanzee
A Guide Tiger
A Guide Parrot
or a Guide Iguana

If you did have a Guide Lion, the taxi driver would be meals on wheels.

:shock:

Knight

shafique · Jul 20, 2010

Sorry to sort of ruin the joke - meals on wheels, excellent! Can you imagine the headlines on JihadWatch though - 'Moooslims train guide lions in secret plot to kill infidels' !!

Perhaps we need to send out an ambulance to eh's place, he's probably still in shock at the news that Muslims in the UK ruled a few years ago (assuming he's read the piece - but to help him out, let me quote the relevant bit again from 2007):

The MCB then issued a ruling saying British Muslims should allow guide dogs to enter restaurants and taxis.

Mogra affirmed that Shari`ah does not preclude being around guide dogs, and it is actually an Islamic duty to help the visually impaired.

"We have been involved in consultations for a period of time and therefore acknowledge that a guide dog enhances the health and safety of an individual, it helps a person and enables better mobility."

Shock, horror - whatever next? Mooslim meets European and doesn't want to kill him shock???

Cheers,
Shafique

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