Christians Under Attack

Faisal, a taxicab driver who works at O'Hare Airport, wants to be a good cabbie while staying true to his Muslim faith.

But Muslim cabdrivers are finding the latter difficult lately, as they've been hit with a rash of tickets for parking in access lanes leading to the airport terminals near where the city helped set up a prayer trailer for them.

"For most of us who need to pray, that's part of our religious duty," said Faisal, a 13-year-cab veteran who declined to give his last name.

"It doesn't do us any favors if you write us a ticket and you know this guy's going to come back in five minutes and his friend is waiting outside to move the car in case of an emergency," the cabbie complained.

Drivers such as Faisal say they mean no harm by parking in the lanes leading to the prayer trailer on the grounds of O'Hare's commercial lot -- which either have no-parking signs posted or are meant for brief stops.

The cabbies say they are caught in a Catch-22 -- that the city provided them the location in which to practice their faith, but punishes them when they park and pray.

Drivers are particularly worried about receiving tickets as they celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, a time for steadfast prayer, fasting and spiritual reawakening.

Many American Muslims began celebrating Ramadan last week.

The commercial access area is the staging ground for taxis and limo drivers who use various lanes to park their cars for shift changes or for a brief lunch stop. It is only open to commercial vehicles that pick up passengers at the airport and is maintained by the city's Department of Aviation.

Wolfgang J. Weiss, one of the managing directors of the Chicago Professional Taxicab Drivers Association, said more than 500 cabs have been ticketed. Ultimately, drivers are responsible for paying the tickets -- ranging from $50 to $80 -- which can cut their daily profit in half, Weiss said.

"The financial impact, at least from a revenue standpoint, is huge," he said. "We just want them to back off."

But Weiss admits that authorities probably won't give them a break, so his association is going to petition Mayor Daley and others for relief.

Aviation Department spokesman Greg Cunningham said authorities do not want to interrupt Muslims and their prayer habits. But he contends that cabbies must follow the rules at a facility that needs to be clear of traffic in order for operations to run smoothly and safely.

"It's a temporary parking and holding area," Cunningham said. "If a vehicle blocks off other vehicles from leaving the facility, it becomes a problem."

Iqbal, another Muslim cabdriver, said the city is punishing honest people duty-bound to their faith. "It doesn't happen every day," he said. "We need to cover all our bases with God."

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