Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Imam's call for boycott may put jihadis in a quandary

Exclusive to the Jihadi Journal

According to USAToday, Imam Omar Shahin, one of the Muslims pulled from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis, is calling for a boycott of the airline. A boycott of the airline, though, may put some aspiring jihadis in a tough position.

Imam Awana Qil'ya, head of the al-Bundhi Islamic Center in Charlotte, NC, said "Charlotte is a US Airways hub airport. If one of our brothers wants to commit himself to jihad in the tradition of the 9/11 martyrs, inshallah, he doesn't have many choices."

Such a boycott would place an undue burden on the mosque's fatwa department, Qil'ya said. "They already have to come to me for a fatwa (Islamic religious ruling) to approve their mission. Now, they'll have to request an additional fatwa to break the boycott", Qil'ya said.

Using another airline out of Charlotte isn't a good option, Qil'ya said. Most Delta flights, for example, are regional jets to Atlanta. "What are they gonna hit with one of those? A Starbucks shop?", Qil'ya wondered. In addition, flights on other airlines tend to be more costly because Charlotte isn't a hub city for them. "We only get so much money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, y'know.", Qil'ya said.

"This whole thing is just a huge assache for me.", Qil'ya said with a sigh.

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