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Muslims rally behind banished doctor
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Muslim leaders said Friday they have asked to meet with Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain and other officials about a Tempe doctor barred from returning to the United States.
Leaders of four groups held a news conference at a Tempe mosque to defend Dr. Nadeem Hassan, who was denied re-entry to the country last week after traveling to Saudi Arabia for hajj, a Muslim pilgrimage.
The Arizona office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations requested meetings with the congressmen, said Asim Ameer, a member of the group’s state board of directors.
“We just want to be in a position where we can get some attention from our elected representatives,” Ameer said.
While the group’s requests have not been turned down, it has yet to be granted a meeting time with any of the legislators, he said.
“We have followed their process to the letter, and we’re being stonewalled,” Ameer said.
Representatives for Kyl and McCain did not return calls for comment late Friday.
The Muslim American Society requested meetings with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, said Deedra Abboud, the society’s executive director.
The leaders said they believe officials deliberately denied Hassan’s green-card application while he was away.
“He went back for a hajj, and behind his back they canceled his visa,” said Dr. Nadeem Kazi, president-elect of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America.
Abboud said she believes the timing of the denial was intentional.
“Had he been here, under the law he would have been able to stand before a judge, and they would have to prove he was a terrorist,” she said.
Hassan knew before he left that his application might have been denied during the trip but took the risk to make the pilgrimage, Abboud added.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokeswoman Marie Sebrechts said she could not comment on individual cases.
The Muslim leaders also said Jamaat al Tablighi, a group Hassan was reportedly linked to, was not a terrorist group.
“Their sole purpose is Muslim-to-Muslim missionary work,” Abboud said. “They’re basically visiting Muslims asking Muslims to come to the mosque.”
Ameer said Hassan was discriminated against based on his appearance.
“Dr. Hassan does not look like me,” said Ameer, who wore a jacket and tie. “He looks like Osama bin Laden. He wears a turban. He looks different.”
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