A Muslim bus driver stunned passengers by pulling over mid-route and beginning to pray in the aisle.
The driver stopped the bus without warning before removing his shoes and, using a fluorescent jacket as a prayer mat, beginning to chant in Arabic.
Passengers said they feared the driver could be preparing for a terror attack.
No one was able to get on or off the vehicle during the five-minute prayer session.
Passenger Gayle Griffiths complained to Transport for London about the bizarre incident on the No.24 bus in Gospel Oak, north London, this week.
Mother-of-one Miss Griffiths, 33, of Camden, north-west London, had boarded the bus a few minutes earlier on her way home from work.
She says that she even feared at the time that the driver might be a fanatic planning to blow up the bus.
She said: 'I have done the journey a million times before but I was in a hurry to get home to pick my little girl up from school.
'We had just picked up and let off people at a bus stop and moved off again when the driver stopped the bus very suddenly.
'He got out of his cab, leaving the engine running, and walked towards the middle exit door.
'He laid out a fluorescent jacket on the floor and I thought that somebody must have been sick and he was covering it up.
'I didn't really think much of it.
'But then he took off his shoes and began praying. I was gobsmacked and quite bewildered.'
Miss Griffiths said the bus driver didn't give the passengers any explanation as to what he was doing.
'He hadn't addressed the passengers at all,' she said. 'I didn't say anything and nor did anyone else. I thought it would all be over in 30 seconds but it went on for over five minutes.
'It even went through my mind that this might be some sort of terrorist attack with the bus blown up because I had heard that suicide bombers prayed before attacks.
'As the engine was running anyone could also have got in the cab and driven off with a bus full of passengers.
'He was also blocking the exit, so if something had happened we would not have been able to get off.
'Everyone was looking round in a mix of shock and amazement. It was truly bizarre, ludicrous and aggravating.
'We are delayed often enough as it is in London.
'We live in a multi-cultural society but there is a time and a place for prayer and the middle of a journey with a busload of passengers is not it.'
Transport for London said it had apologised to all the passengers for the delay to their journey and said all Muslim drivers are being reminded that they should pray during statutory rest periods rather than hold up services.
Gigi David, 38, a bus driver on the same route, claimed that he was aware of other Muslim drivers who had stopped buses to pray in the past.
"I don't like it and I don't accept it, but they do it," he said.
"They stop the bus and they make people wait while they pray.
"It's not fair on the public - why should they have to wait? If these Muslim drivers want to pray they should do it in their own time."
Ricardo Dinis, 27, who also drives the number 24, said: "It's wrong because it causes delays. I think these drivers should have time for their religion, but when it comes to work he should have waited.'
Sources close to London General said the company had consulted with a local mosque and been told Islam allows for the drivers to be flexible about their prayer times.
The driver in question, who is new to the company, is said to be from Somalia. London General refused to disclose his name.
TfL has apologised to all the passengers for the delay to their journey and the driver has been reprimanded. [+]
A TfL spokesman said: 'A route 24 bus was delayed following a decision by the driver to stop the bus to pray.
'The bus company, London General, has had a word with the driver as this is not something that should be happening.
'TfL apologises to passengers for any inconvenience this may have caused them.
'We understand that there is some flexibility in the Muslim faith as to the times of day that drivers can pray.
'TfL and the individual bus operating companies acknowledge and value the diversity of their staff.
'As diverse employers, TfL and the bus operators provide suitable prayer or quiet rooms at garages and other key locations for staff who wish to practise their faith.
'We have asked London General to remind drivers who have a requirement to pray to use these facilities during their rest periods.'
Daily Mail
4 comments:
it could have been over in less than 30 seconds, had anyone on the bus had the courage to go over and tell him to get up.
(Being disturbed at prayer by a kufir and/or woman makes it invalid.)
Will the British also just look on when someone starts beating their wives/daughters in public?
it could have been over in less than 30 seconds, had anyone on the bus had the courage to go over and tell him to get up.
(Being disturbed at prayer by a kufir and/or woman makes it invalid.)
Will the British also just look on when someone starts beating their wives/daughters in public?
The grim situation on the streets of Athens in Greece, similar to that of a third world capital, with more than 150,000 illegal immigrants only in the centre of the city, thousands of clandestine vendors, an army of immigrants to jostle in the City soup kitchens and prostitution, was painted yesterday by the mayor of City, Nikitas Kaklamanis.
“This picture, is not consistent with that of a European capital, and is added to the drugs, outbreaks of tuberculosis, hepatitis and AIDS due to the presence of too many foreigners in the occupied districts of Athens.
The final blow to the once thriving trade of the city, give the dozens of illegal shops, that opens and closes with staggering rates nationals of countries from Asia and Africa, helping to create the absolute chaos.
If you recognize the crime has increased by at least 16.25% between 2007 and 2008 (it was almost zero before the arrival of the immigrants) you can see that Athens has almost become a "war zone".
Something not far from reality, are daily clashes between different gangs of immigrants from Asia and Africa.”
At the same time begins to emerge the first outbreaks of resistance of Greek citizens in the neighbourhoods of Athens.
Mr. Kaklamanis portrayed a grey picture on prostitution too, where thousands of African children are exploited by immigrant gangs, without any interference by the public authorities and the police. Only from the illegal trade, every year the state lose two billion Euros. An alarming situation is the increasing number of homeless immigrants. An estimated number of 1,700 of them are dispersed in 460 different parts of the city, parks, hills and squares, up the abandoned wagons and the ruined buildings on the edge of central Omonia Square.
According to the most modest estimates throughout Athens, there are 1640 abandoned buildings that house immigrants.
For its part the City is doing all it can to support the immigrants, said the Major. Daily the city feeds 5,000 immigrants by giving them three full meals, 365 days a year.
In addition, the community grocery store serves 1,600 people annually, while at the hospice of the City 180 people find a warm bed the mayor said.
The painting of Athens today is completed by a lot of Greek citizens mugged daily even in the central streets of Athens by immigrants gangs. Shooting, killing, violence and robberies of banks, shops, houses puts the final details in the picture. At the same time the Greek government invites every muslim from Asia and Africa to immigrate in the country. “Why are you afraid off ?” said yesterday the minister of “Protection of Citizen ” (Sic) Mr. Chrisochoidis in the house of parliament. “Even the president of USA is a muslim!!!”
(Being disturbed at prayer by a kufir and/or woman makes it invalid.)
What annuls prayer - is a dog, a donkey, and a woman ~ Muhammad told Aisha - and Kufir would fit right into his vision of the lower castes !!
I was thinking - why didn't someone go over there and stop him. I believe he was from Somalia ~ likely there to 'pray' in front of other indicates worth.
I have been to the Muslim world a couple of times ~ and I have never ever seen that!! These guys are taking the piss pure and simple!
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