Overreactions based on lack of knowledge

A Muslim man’s call to prayer app went off on his smartphone during a Southwest Airlines flight. It was to remind him when to pray. He was arrested because of this.

When the prayer app went off, someone had become alarmed and alerted the flight crew. Then the crew had the Fort Lauderdale-bound flight diverted to Georgia.

A SWAT team stormed the plane, then arrested this man. But later, he was cleared of any wrongdoing. There were no charges filed against him.

As Americans, we have a right to freedom of religion. The prayer app on this man’s smartphone said Allahu akbar, which means God is great.

But upon hearing this, one of the other passengers on this flight had this man arrested.

This Muslim call to prayer is known as the Adhan.

One solution to the problem of passengers overreacting to people of other religions is for flight crews to be educated about the Muslim culture. This is needed more than ever in a time of fear, hate and Islamophobia.

Abrar Qureshi

Willowbrook