Muslim women refuse to take full-body scan and are barred from Manchester to Pakistan flight

Two Muslim women have become the first passengers to refuse the controversial  full body airport scans.


Security officials insist they were selected at random, and chose to forfeit their flight rather than undergo the scan. One of the women refused to pass through the full-body scanner at Manchester Airport on religious grounds while her travelling companion claimed medical reasons for not complying.


The pair were travelling together to Islamabad and had checked in at T2, after which they were selected to pass through the controversial security scan. An estimated 15,000 people have already passed through the scanners, which were installed at Manchester and Heathrow Airports last month.


They were informed that if they did not agree to the security scan, they would not be allowed to board the Pakistan International Airlines flight to Islamabad. They both informed staff that they were not prepared to undertake the scan.The pair decided they would rather forfeit their tickets, at a reported loss of £400 collected their luggage and left.


Apparently they did not make a complaint just refused to go before the scanner. The hugely controversial scanning machines allow security staff to see a 'naked' image of passengers which would reveal any drugs, explosives or weapons hidden about the passenger.


There is presently one scanner in use at Manchesters's terminal 2, and a further 2 machines have been delivered , which will be used on terminals 1 and 3. The scanners have been criticised by the human rights group Liberty and the government's own Equality and Human Rights Commission.


Two weeks ago, Islamic scholars in the U.S. decreed that Muslim travellers should not pass through the scanners because they violate religious rules on nudity.The Fiqh Council of North America issued a fatwa, instructing Muslims not to pass through the scanners.