SA Muslim Scholar Turned Away From US

CAIR was able to speak to South African Muslim scholar Moulana Fazlur Rahman Azmi who was refused entry to the United States when he landed in San Francisco on Friday. Azmi was held in detention and put on a flight to London on Saturday.

Azmi, a 60-year-old diabetic, told CAIR that he was "put in jail" and treated "like I did a big crime" despite the fact that he was never informed why he was refused entry. He said he only ate bread during his time in detention and that he slept in a chair Friday night.

CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper [at] cair.com

http://www.cair.com/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=2329&theType=NR

One of South Africa's most senior Muslim clerics has been denied entry into the United States, prompting questions from San Francisco Bay area Muslims who invited him to participate in activities marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Fazlur Rahman Azmi, deputy leader of the Gauteng-based Jamiatul Ulema Transvaal, was detained by US Customs and Border Protection officials when he arrived at San Francisco International Airport from London.

Azmi, who had made previous visits to the country as recently as April without problems, was questioned for hours. He was then denied entry and sent on a plane out of the country on Saturday, said the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties group.

....

Nawaz Khan of the Fremont, California-based Islamic Society of East Bay, whose members waited at the airport on Friday while officials questioned Azmi, said: "There's nothing suspicious about him. He is not involved in any political groups. All he does is teach at the mosque and pray."

Khan said no one from the group was allowed to speak to Azmi or provide food for the 60-year-old man, who is diabetic and was fasting during the day in observance of Ramadan.

Officials only gave Azmi chips and water, he said.

"The way visiting Islamic leaders are treated by American authorities can send either a positive or negative message to Muslims worldwide," CAIR spokesperson Ibrahim Hooper said. "So far, the message in this case has been negative."

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