Rayani Air, the first shariah- compliant airline in Malaysia took off yesterday on its inaugural flight flying from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi.
If you like to drink during a flight then this airline won’t be for you as alcohol is “strictly prohibited”, according to Yahoo News.
Rayani Air will offer meals which are halal and the Muslim crew must wear a hijab. Non-Muslim crew will need to “be decently dressed“. Yahoo mentions that there will also be prayers before take-off.
The managing director of the airline, Jaafar Zamhari told The Star, “We are the first Malaysian airline to be shariah-compliant based on guidelines by relevant authorities. We are proud of this“.
The article mentions that other shariah- friendly airlines already exist. When I did a quick google search, I came up empty. The only thing that came up was an airline mentioned in the Yahoo article, Firnas Airways a UK-based airline set to debut next year.
What do you think about the concept of a sharia- compliant airline? Would you feel uncomfortable flying an airline that does pre-flight prayers or would you be more upset about there being no alcohol served?
Find out more about Rayani Air here.
Prateek- Good point. If a muslim woman is hired as a FA and not religious, now she will be forced to cover up.
Kent- You bring up an interesting question…
Josh- I don’t remember if there was a prayer before our Etihad flight over the summer. (It was on a Jet Airways plane so I don’t know if that would matter.)
Saudia seems to offer a similar service. They don’t offer alcohol and have only halal meals, plus there’s a prayer area on board and Quran recitations before takeoff. Honestly, this sounds like a non-issue. Islamic compliance has nothing to do with safety; shariah is a loaded word, which scares people. Anyone who subscribes to a religion follows some sort of religious law? If I remember correctly, Etihad also does a preflight prayer and people seem to have no reservations flying them.
I would not feel comfortable at all, not because I will not be served any alcohol, but because I do not like people who are bound by religious laws.
Same here…Muslim people are the most intolerant folks..but want acceptance everywhere they go. I wonder how they would react if airlines said prayer in non-Islamic countries before they flew..