Airport body scanners violate Islamic rules on nudity

Islamic scholars have forbidden Muslim travellers from passing through full body scans at airports because they violate religious rules on nudity. The Fiqh Council of North America issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, yesterday warning Muslims not to go through the scanners. ‘It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women,’ read the order.

Islam highly emphasises haya (modesty) and considers it part of faith. The Quran has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts,’ it added.

The ban is the latest privacy blow to the controversial x-ray machines now in place at Heathrow, Manchester and many airports around the world. In the U.S., there are now forty scanners in nineteen airports and could be as many as 450 by the end of the year.