| Front Page |
By Ali Deria, Doha, Qatar
The Somali cabbies in Minneapolis are demanding the "right to refuse service" to anyone carrying alcohol. As a Muslim, I'm amazed that many of those cabbies in the Twin Cities would refuse to pick up such passengers. Their justification is that the Muslim religion would not allow them to "carry alcohol."
First, we cannot force our values on to non-Muslims as they cannot force theirs on us. It is the Muslim religion that forbids us to transport alcohol, not theirs. So, it is not your business for what a passenger brings in to your cab as long as it is legal in that country.
By the way, it is the passenger who is carrying the alcohol, not the cabbie who is driving it.
Secondly, depending on your values, you've a choice to make when it comes to choosing a career. For example, you can enroll in one of those good schools in the Twin Cities and choose a respectable career in the medical or engineering fields.
But if you insist being a cabbie, then you've chosen a job that serves both the most and the least respectable people in the society. A great majority of those who use taxi at nights and weekends, for example, are people who do not want to "drink and drive." And you cannot pick and choose whom you want to serve.
When you decide to become a cabbie in the US, then you've to sign and follow the Taxi Commission's rules in the city that you want to work. By signing it, you are obliged to follow its rules. But, you've the right to refuse to sign the commission's rules and choose a different job. There are many other jobs that are better than picking up a drunken passenger at night just to throw up in your cab.
There is already enough discrimination against Muslims in the Western world. Think what this nonsense demand will bring on to Muslims as a payback.
Still, the United States remains a very diverse country where many ethnic and religious groups live in peace together unlike the Hindus and Muslims in India, Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, or the foolish tribal conflicts between the Somalis in Somalia.
Home | Contact us | Links | Archives