Islam is to be put on a flight out of America

Additional Reporting By Mustafa Abdel-Halim, IOL Staff

CAIRO, September 22 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – US authorities have denied entry to British Muslim activist Yusuf Islam, formerly known as pop singer Cat Stevens, a move expected to drew ire of British Muslims, who condemned it as outrageous and racist.

“This is a strategy by Washington targeting Muslim activists in the West, as no reasons were cited for the decision to deny him access to the country – let alone the fact that Islam is a moderate activist,” Kamal El-Helbawy, a London-based political expert, told IslamOnline.net Wednesday, September 22.

A London-to-Washington flight carrying Islam was forced to be diverted to another US airport after US officials identified that the Muslim revert was reportedly on one of their “watch lists”.

United Airlines Flight 919 was diverted 600 miles (1000km), landing in Maine, the BBC News Online said.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials was quoted by the BBC as saying the access was denied “on national security grounds”. He gave no further details.

Islam is now expected to be put on a flight out of America later on Wednesday.

His top aide Zafr Ashraf said Islam is to make a statement on the circumstances related to the incident.

“We have no information over what has happened so far,” Ashraf told IOL over the phone.

Islam became Muslim in 1977. Following a 17-year hiatus from the music business, he returned in 1995 and has since released three albums of Islam related songs, The Life of the Last Prophet (1995), Prayers of the Last Prophet (1999) and a record for children, A Is for Allah (2000).

He has sold more than 40 million albums, though few of those are from his Yusuf Islam era.

Furious

But Muslim experts in Britain reacted with anger to the news, fearing other Muslim activists in the West could be also targeted.

“Just think of what happed to Tariq Ramadan and Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi,” Al-Helbawy told IOL.

Ramadan was scheduled to take a teaching post at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, last week, but was barred at the last minute when the US State Department revoked his visa.

US authorities have refused to comment in detail on Ramadan's case, but the move has been widely criticized by US academics, who suspect that Ramadan had been barred because of his criticism of US foreign policy.

While Sheikh Qaradawi – a famous moderate Muslim scholar recently ending a trip to London – has been denied access to the US since 1997.

Islam has been an outspoken opponent to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 20. He went to South Africa to record a new version and clip of his 1972 anti-war song "Peace Train" with local musicians five days before the US-British offensive on the oil-rich Arab country.

Condemnation

“Yusuf Islam has devoted himself teaching and actively promoting Islam worldwide since quitting a successful music career in the late 1970s,” El-Helbawy said.

Islam is the founder of a Muslim school in 1983. “He is the owner of other influential high-profile Muslim institutions in Britain.”

Sources close to the former pop singer said Muslim organizations in London are to issue statements condemning the airport move against him.

Amnesty International has said in a fresh report, released this month, that racial profiling by US law enforcement agencies has grown over the past three years to cover one in nine Americans, mostly targeting Muslims.