Letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation: Ban In-flight Islamic Prayers in U.S. Planes (Part 1)

The Honorable Sean Duffy
Secretary of Transportation
Department of Transportation

Dear Mr. Secretary,

This concerns Islamic prayer during flights, as the U.S. is the world’s largest aviation market, with 876 million passengers traveling annually. We request that you direct the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to introduce regulations that permanently prohibit all U.S. airlines from facilitating such Islamic prayer.

Allowing Islamic in-flight prayer violates the U.S. Constitution, is contrary to the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), inconveniences other passengers, is a security risk, discriminatory towards women, and a manifestation of Islamic patriarchal supremacy.

We raise this issue following several similar incidents. Many complaints have been lodged with airlines with seemingly no effect. Recently, one Jack Pearson (name changed) boarded a U.S. air carrier on a flight from Heathrow Airport, London to the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. During the flight, a flight crew member announced that if passengers wanted to pray, they would, in effect, facilitate it.

A Muslim man got up and prayed on the spot (near the window by the side of the toilet), which the airline staff indicated. The facial expressions and body language of other passengers showed they were quite uncomfortable. As inflight crew announcements are delivered according to a standard script, this suggests that the airline routinely makes such announcements on flights from one non-Islamic country (UK) to another (U.S.).

It is relevant to note that the ICAO website states that one of its strategic goals is that ‘every flight is safe and secure’ and that ‘security should be everyone’s responsibility – from the ground up and top down.’ Additionally, ‘air passenger experience involves the identification of high-risk travelers and global anti-terrorism objectives.’ ICAO also professes its commitment to gender equality.

Islamic prayers in planes are problematic for several reasons.

First, as many Islamic websites attest, how to pray during flight is a big issue for Muslims. (See here, here and here). An Islamic website advises, ‘Standing and facing the Qibla during mandatory prayers on a plane matters a lot’ and ‘The Muslim praying may also change his direction during prayer as it is essential to face the qibla during prayer even if the plane changes direction.’

The Islamic prayer ritual is highly physical, visible and distinctive. It involves a series of physical postures and movements, including standing, bowing, and prostration, performed while facing Mecca. It can be unsettling when performed in the confined interior of a plane, with the prayer lasting 5 and 10 minutes, requiring other passengers to tiptoe around the praying Muslim or keep their distance. Followers of no other religion demand such accommodation while flying.

Second, there are hygienic reasons to disallow such a practice. Muslims are required to wash their feet (Wuḍū) ritually, and they do this in the plane’s restrooms. Mere wiping is not enough. As an Islamic site states, ‘Wuḍūʾ must be performed on the plane, as tayammum (the Islamic act of dry ritual purification using purified sand, stone or earth, which may be performed in place of ritual washing if no clean water is readily available) is impermissible when water is readily available. Airplanes typically have sufficient water in the restrooms, so the conditions for tayammum are not met.’ It is doubtful if the practice of washing one’s feet in the plane’s restroom will be met with unanimous approval by non-Muslim passengers. Distaste would be a more natural reaction.

Third, Islamic prayer in flight is a security issue. In 2019, an outlet from the Middle East published a video of a ‘Muslim man who chose the airplane’s aisle as a place to perform his religious duty even though he blocked the aisle and caused inconvenience for the flight attendants. Moments after he is done praying, he gets up to punch the flight attendant in the face.’ A reaction included ‘ Islamic hysteria goes beyond the earth into the sky while staying true to its fundamentals: barbarity and aggression.’ Commenting on the same incident, another outlet wrote, ‘heightened global sensitivities around aviation security and terrorism led to fear and confusion among fellow travelers. Some passengers reportedly began to panic, fearing the worst, as crew members attempted to de-escalate the situation.’ Another website showed a Muslim praying in an airplane’s aisle, prompting a watching passenger to exclaim, “unbelievable!”

Fourth, the phrase in the Islamic prayer (‘Allahu akbar’) is hardly a model of peaceful coexistence. According to the Yaqeen Institute, it means, ‘Allah is the greatest, the Creator of everything, the Owner of the Universes, the Sublime, the One, and the only. He is greater than all words could ever express, greater than all else in existence.’

Even if the prayer passes off uneventfully, a Muslim praying in a plane is informing non-Muslims that his God, Allah, is greater than their God. Such a claim can be deeply offensive to others who might equally have the conviction that their God is the only God. Would airlines allow a Christian to stand in an aisle and loudly proclaim that ‘Christ is King’ or an atheist to announce, ‘God is a delusion’’ or a Hindu to start chanting verses from the Bhagavad Gita?

Yaqeen Institute tries to dismiss any fear this phrase might arouse in others, stating, ‘“Allahu Akbar” is thrown around by political pundits, media outlets, and so-called security experts as a term that is a harbinger of violence and terrorism.’

The obvious omission in this list of persons ‘throwing around’ this phrase is those who commit terrorism. Recall that the 9/11 hijacker, Mohamed Atta, wrote a reminder to himself recovered from his baggage that, in part, read, “When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers.” And in the doomed United Flight Airlines flight 93, that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania the final audible phrase sequence was “Allahu akbar,” “Allahu akbar,” “Allahu akbar,” “Allahu akbar,” “Allahu akbar,” “Allahu akbar,” “Allahu akbar.”

9/11 may seem to belong to the misty past for most New Yorkers, but fears around this phrase are still very much alive. On February 23, 2026, an X handle reported, ‘Muslim Man Shouts “Allahu Akbar” and Throws Bag in NYC Subway Instant terror. Passengers react immediately in fear, leaping from seats, rushing to doors, and emptying the entire car in seconds. People sprint down the platform away from the train, unsure if it is a threat or a bomb. The man stands there as the car clears out fast, showing how one phrase tied to Muslim attacks triggers real panic in public transport. No other group causes this level of instinctive fear with just words.’

On March 11, 2026, a Muslim man was removed from a Southwest flight after his Ramadan prayer call was mistaken for a ‘bomb threat’. Chaos erupted mid-air on an EasyJet flight from Luton, England to Scotland after a male passenger stood up suddenly, screamed “Allahu akbar,” and claimed he was carrying a bomb.

To be continued.