CINCINNATI – A Muslim couple’s journey celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary has turned into a nightmare after Delta Air Lines kicked them off a plane for “sweating”, saying the word “Allah” and texting to their parents.

“That was really alarming.” Nazia Ali, the wife of Faisal Ali, told The Independent on Friday, August 5.

The Muslim couple was waiting for about 45 minutes on a Delta Airlines flight in Paris to fly back to Cincinnati, Ohio, when a Delta employee asked the couple to exit the aircraft as he needed to ask them questions.

“We asked if we should get our stuff and he said, ‘Yes, take all of your stuff as you won’t be on that flight’,” she said.

A French police officer was waiting outside the gate who interrogated them about their stay in Paris.

“I was scared because it looked like some random guy was taking pictures of our passports on his personal phone,” she said.

A Delta employee then explained that the pilot had decided to ask them to leave as one of the crew members had felt “uncomfortable” in their presence.

Ali said he had been texting his mother to let her know they had safely boarded the plane as she would be picking them up from Cincinnati airport.

“I wanted to get on that plane so badly. I didn’t care about my privacy, I just wanted the captain to see my phone so he could see we were just texting our parents,” she said.

Her husband added he might have been sweating due to poor air circulation on the plane as it had been on the tarmac for about 45 minutes.

“We just went straight to the terminal and they booked us on the next flight home, so they know we didn’t do anything and we know that we didn’t do anything,” said Ms Ali.

Leaving their three young children under the age of five, the couple was booked into a hotel by the airline overnight.

“I told my four year old that you’ll see me tomorrow, in another nine hours,” she said. “But that didn’t happen.”

World Dilemma

The first stop on their anniversary was London (Nazia Ali)

Arriving home in Cincinnati, the couple was interrogated again by a US customs agent at the airport the next day.

When Ali asked what they had done wrong, the agent said: “You have done nothing wrong, unfortunately this is the way the world is right now. It is Delta’s word against yours.”

They finally boarded the plane and the wife said she still felt scared.

“We now know that just because you’re on the flight doesn’t mean you won’t be asked to leave – until you’re airborne,” she said.

The incident was widely condemned by the Council of American-Islamic Relations, which filed a complaint against the airline and said that the couple had been discriminated against.

“By falsely construing their simple and normal actions into something scary and threatening, it is clear that Mr and Mrs Ali were being singled out due to their Muslim appearance and name,” wrote staff lawyer Sana Hassan.

Delta Air Lines spokesman Morgan Durrant said they were investigating the incident.

“Delta condemns discrimination toward our customers in regards to age, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or gender,” he said.

“As a global airline that brings hundreds of thousands of people together every day, Delta is deeply committed to treating all of our customers with respect.  Delta continues its investigation into this matter and will issue a full refund of these customers’ airfare.”

US Muslims, estimated at between seven to eight million, have been sensing hostility since 9/11 attacks.

Anti-Muslim sentiments have reached an all-time high after the rise of the so-called Islamic State, formerly known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

This is not the first incident for American Muslims in flights.

In 2009, nine members of a Muslim family were removed from a domestic AirTran Airways flight to Orlando, Florida, after they chatted about their seats in the plane.

Another incident occurred in 2006 when six imams were removed from a domestic flight for what passengers considered suspicious behavior.

They were removed from the flight, handcuffed and detained in the airport for questioning for over five hours.