Airport backs down on restroom wudu stations
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has scrapped a proposal to install additional wudu stations inside Terminal D restrooms, following opposition from Texas Governor Greg Abbott. The decision came after Abbott ordered a review of state grants to DFW and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), which already has wudu stations, and referred both airports to federal agencies for investigation.
The airport said it accelerated its review "due to elevated public interest this week" and determined not to proceed with the project "as it would not deliver the originally anticipated operational benefits," according to a statement reported by Al Jazeera.
Two small washing stations already exist in DFW's Terminal D interfaith chapel, added during renovations in 2019, as The Dallas Morning News reported. The recent proposal to install two additional stations inside Terminal D restrooms — one in a men's and one in a women's restroom — sparked backlash.
Abbott escalates dispute
On Friday, Abbott escalated the dispute by asking the U.S. Department of Justice to review washing stations currently in use at the airports, according to both Al Jazeera and The Dallas Morning News.
In a social media post, Abbott declared that "Texas will not allow illegal religious discrimination at taxpayer-funded facilities," as quoted by The Dallas Morning News. He argued that the ablution facilities "appear designed to single out one subset of the population based on religion," calling them illegal, according to Al Jazeera.
Abbott's office did not provide additional comment on Friday, The Dallas Morning News reported.
CAIR responds
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Abbott's opposition to the wudu stations, accusing him of performing another "anti-Muslim political stunt." In a social media post, the civil rights group said: "Of all the silly controversies that [Abbott] has manufactured about Muslims over the past year, the airport washing station outrage might be the most ridiculous. And hypocritical."
CAIR also noted that the wudu stations would be available for anyone to use, comparing them to interfaith prayer rooms or toilet bidets, and pointed to Abbott's signing of a law requiring schools to display the Ten Commandments, as well as the Texas State Board of Education's decision to make Bible stories required reading. The group said Abbott should focus on issues like data centres, school shootings, economic inequality, and erosion of religious freedom.
Last year, Abbott declared CAIR a "foreign terrorist" organization, a designation CAIR is challenging in court, Al Jazeera reported. The controversy comes amid an increase in Islamophobic rhetoric, including former President Trump sharing a photo of Abdul El-Sayed with his family, and follows a shooting in May in which two gunmen killed three people at a mosque in San Diego.
Editorial weighs in
The Dallas Morning News editorial board endorsed DFW's decision to scrap the project, writing that "religious accommodations belong in the interfaith chapel, not in restrooms." The editorial argued that providing space for wudu in an interfaith chapel makes sense, noting that Islam is one of the world's major religions and that Texas is home to 313,000 Muslims, according to World Population Review. It also observed that a large international airport with airlines flying to Muslim countries should anticipate prayer needs.
However, the editorial cautioned that installing accommodations in restrooms used by the public broadly could expose the airport to requests from all sorts of groups and potential lawsuits. It suggested the debate should rest on discussions about the proper scope of accommodations rather than animosity toward Muslims, and it warned against portraying Muslims as threatening outsiders.
The editorial noted the controversy follows a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric in Texas, including fears about "Islamification" or a Shariah takeover.