Imam launches website to log harassment faced by Muslims flying to the US

Ajmal Masroor, a British imam who was denied entry to the US in December, has launched a portal to report about humiliation faced by Muslims during air travel. The website aims at reporting about any unfair treatment by customs officials at airports.

Masroor, who leads Friday prayer at several mosques in London, said on his Facebook page that the trend of banning or harassing Muslims when travelling to the US was growing. "Attacking, banning or discriminating Muslims does not make USA safer, it loses friends and definitely does not win hearts and minds of anyone except the extremists," he said. The website, Flying While Muslim, aims at helping Muslims share their experiences.

Masroor, 44, was barred from boarding a Virgin Atlantic plane to New York on 17 December, just days before a British Muslim family on their way to Disneyland in California was denied boarding at Gatwick Airport. He was told his business visa had been revoked and that "he must have done something".

The high-profile imam said all he wanted was an explanation, reason and an apology from the US embassy. "I have not asked them for monetary compensations or reinstatement of my business visa yet," he added.

Masroor accused the US State Department of illegally enacting Donald Trump's proposed policies of completely banning entry of Muslims to America even when he is not in power. "This ban would give Donald Trump and his maniacs a victory; if USA does not approve of the Trump policies then it must not bar innocent Muslims from entering USA."

He added that to single out Muslims and ban them from entering the US is unjust. Masroor has urged Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene on behalf of British citizens to put an end to harassment faced my Muslim travellers. "British citizens don't have to be white and Christian to be allowed in the USA, they can be black or brown and from Islamic background."