The woman’s name is Latifa Aimaq, the store is The Cooper Street Farmers Market, and the store owner is Chris Perez.
Each accuses the other of over-reacting. “I said, ‘We’re Muslim; this is the way we dress,’” Aimaq recalls having told Perez. “He did not care.”
Aimaq said Perez made it clear why he wanted her out. “He said, ‘I don’t want the Muslims to shop here.’”
Perez disputed that account. “Muslims are probably 40 to 50 percent of my business,” he said. “I’m not turning them away.”
Terence Ali, a frequent customer at Cooper Street Farmers Market, overheard the explanation from Perez and joined in.
“If you’re shopping in a store, obviously they’re going to want to see your face, or want to be able to see your face to protect other customers,” Ali said. “I don’t think it’s wrong for a business owner to say that.”
Ali — who is a Muslim — said he has shopped here every week for years, and shopkeepers know he is a Muslim. “There’s never been a problem,” he said.
But Latifa Aimaq said she has never had a problem like this before — not at the airport, at the bank or even when getting her driver’s license photo.
She is urging Muslims and others to boycott the store.
“I began to cover fully three years ago,” she said. “It’s not mandatory to cover your face, but it’s highly recommended.”
Dan 6:19 am on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
She should stfu and stop pulling the “they-hate-me-cuz-I’m-Muslim” card whenever stuff like this comes. As evident by Ali’s comments in the article, this is not an attempt to slander Muslims.
I am sick and tired of niqabis trying to clamour for their sensibilities to be respected, while staying silent over the Taliban and their ill treatment of women. I’m sure the Taliban apologists at MuslimMatters will be quick to defend this hack, just like they are whenever any Taliban sympathizer is suspect.
I also live in the D/FW metroplex and I don’t like this crap.
null 7:21 am on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
Why are you singling out niqabis in Texas to condemn the Taliban? How did we get to MuslimMatters from a niqabi shopping protest?
I agree in the broadest sense – this is not a case of Muslim bashing, but a simple case of a shop keeper of conducting his own private business as he wishes too. Thats the beauty of the free market. He has every right to not sell to her, and she has every right to not give him her money.
Dan 7:27 am on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
Niqabis, like it or not, have some of the most absurd demands and they expect the rest of the “kaffirs” (according to their deluded worldview) to bow down to their sensitivities.
And given that MM has a victimization mentality of crying about how Muslims are treated in the West and elsewhere (without bringing to light how Iraqi Christians are forced to flee their ancestral homelands, for example), it wouldn’t be surprising if they jump on this case.
As for the shop owner, he has every right to protect his business. There have obviously been cases of robberies involving men donning the niqab, most famously in Germantown, PA, last year, so I do not blame him for it.
If she doesn’t like it, she can either move to Saudi Arabia or to Kandahar. Simple as that.
null 7:29 am on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
I don’t know any niqabis like that.
Abu Noor 8:19 am on October 27, 2009 Permalink
May Allaah reward you for your comments Null.
People like Dan and buzz often use this forum to launch into bizarre anti-Islam rants. I don’t have the mental energy to respond (also at times it appears they are “trolling,” but Allaah knows best, but it bothers me sometimes to see comments such as theirs stand without response.
I am not sure what the answer is but I am glad to know that the readers and commentors don’t agree with such nonsense.
null 9:31 am on October 27, 2009 Permalink
I think Dan has come clean in the past that he plays a ‘character’ online. Problem is I have seen him come out of character a few times, and that’s what really confused me.
On the one hand, when the trolls come and leave thier usual predictable notes about Muslim/Islam, Dan is often the first person to engage (read: swear at) them.
On the other hand, well…read above.
I agree with your other sentiments exactly.
null 9:32 am on October 27, 2009 Permalink
I think Dan in the past has at least admitted to playing a “character” online, but I have seen him come out of character a handle of of times, and that’s what really confuses me.
On the one hand sometimes when trolls come here and leave their predictably nasty comments Dan is often the first person to engage (read: swear at) them. On the other hand, well…see above.
buzz 12:07 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink
Not at all, Abu.
I just don’t follow the herd as you do.
I am not a cultural Muslim and don’t feel the need to follow the politics of the religion (as if such a thing exists).
My desire to worship God is not bound up in beards and thobes, anti-American attitudes and other acts of conformity.
Anti-Islam? Anything but.
Would I be likely to bend a knee next to you?
Not in this lifetime.
buzz 12:16 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink
btw: sorry to hear about your lack of mental energy.
Dan 2:34 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink
Abu Noor, contrary to popular belief, I hold no ill against you at all. As for the trolling, I only do it on sites such as IslaminEurope blog because there’s a lot more Islamophobic trash on there left by commenters. And I echo buzz’s sentiments. You see, I notice that the same people who are always in an uproar when a Muslim regime of secular governance or non-Muslim entities commits oppression often looks the other way when the states that supposedly practice Shari’a are conspicuously silent. Not only that, they go out of their way to defend these theocrats simply because they profess to uphold the message of the Almighty. They are easily fooled into these movements and then express double standards which are highly apparent. Unlike others, I have no problem calling out the secular dictators in addition to theocratic ones. That’s something the extremely conservative Muslims and the secular hacks such as Tarek Fatah lack the ability to do so.
Null, what character are you referring to exactly? I have my own views which really don’t fit into either liberal or conservative side of the spectrum. I don’t like Islamophobia but that doesn’t mean I should blindly side with every Muslim who has absurd demands and making us look like a fifth column. I will defend a woman’s right to wear a hijab, but a niqab is simply too much and it has more to do with giving a middle finger to the country they chose to either migrate to or were raised in.
Abu Noor Al-Irlandee 6:00 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink
buzz,
You’ve got me pegged….I’m quite the herd-follower.
It’s amazing how the human keeps forgetting and has to be reminded over and over. How true are the descriptions of this aspect of human nature in the Qur’an.
I don’t know why I keep forgetting that the people on the internet don’t know you in the least and it’s quite foolish to care too much about what they think about you or to worry about what they are typing away…but I thank Allaah (swt) and then Dan and Buzz for reminding me of these important truths.
Salaam.
Buzz 6:09 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink
What worries me is that you are also a herd leader.
In any case, I don’t know what you keep forgetting nor do I know about your weak mental state, I only know that you said I insulted Islam which, if I did, was not intentional. I hope you and your traditionalism are very happy together.
As for you, I liked it better when we didn’t communicate. Let’s go back to that. I’d appreciate it.
Buzz 6:39 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink
My parting advice to you, oh Abu Noor, is to admit no partners with Allah.
Abu Noor 8:07 am on October 28, 2009 Permalink
Buzz,
Thank you for your advice. I apologize if I misunderstood or misrepresented your remarks.
Regardless of our differences, I do think it was a mistake of me to just lump you and Dan together. It was done out of laziness, but I know that I don’t appreciate when people just lump me together with others who are really coming with different points than I am.
Please forgive me for my mistakes.
Abu Noor 8:09 am on October 28, 2009 Permalink
I also apologize to you Dan if I misrepresented your remarks. If I want to respond to your posts, I should respond to the points being made rather than just labeling as “troll” or “anti-Islam.”
Please forgive me.
Dan 8:23 am on October 28, 2009 Permalink
I’m not offended Abu Noor. I do agree with some of the stuff you post on here so I can’t hold ill will against that.
And this is the Internet so it is hard to take things seriously. I sometimes have sarcastic remarks, but I should learn to use italics next time to make it easier.
Apology accepted.
thabet 8:40 am on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
I’m not a fan of MM, but do you need to bring them into every discussion?
Dan 2:35 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
Thabet, I actually brought them up only a few times. When I do, it is usually in reference to subject matters like this where they have been known to champion them.
sui sen 12:38 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
If a woman enters the store in bikini, would this same owner stop the woman from buying from his store?
I am not sure. If he does, then he is true to his words if not then he is just a plain bigot!
I find it also disappointing to hear Muslims picking on other Muslims who are practicing a different level of religiousity. Yes niqab may not be required for Muslim women to wear but can we not respect and support them for wearing it?
We are guilty of the same resentment that non-muslims have against hijab. Can we not see this hypocrisy?
Len 1:11 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
It’s really a safety issue (I remember the Germantown incident, and I also remember reading somewhere how a Pakistani jewelery store was robbed by someone wearing a niqab…).
It’s not all that different than if I came into a store with a balaclava and a hoodie on. Even if I hold the door open for people and help an old lady with her groceries, people will still be pretty freaked out that I may just rob the place.
I’m no niqab expert, but I always found it somewhat amusing where someone wants to wear the niqab, but isn’t really down with being a stay at home mom or traveling with a mahram at all times. You know, those other pesky things that scholars say women should do.
thabet 1:34 am on October 28, 2009 Permalink |
Amman, Jordan:
Dan 10:52 am on October 28, 2009 Permalink |
Agreed Len. Sounds like the niqaabis want to have their cake and eat it, but it isn’t going to work in the West.
razib, murtad fitri 1:51 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
If a woman enters the store in bikini, would this same owner stop the woman from buying from his store?
*bikinis* are not appropriate in most stores (i.e., you’re not on a beachfront). many stores have have signs about the limits of minimal clothing. some of this is explicitly class based in many reasons, but there isn’t a “white trash” defense fund last i checked.
I find it also disappointing to hear Muslims picking on other Muslims who are practicing a different level of religiousity.
have you ever given the thought that other muslims might not perceive someone who wears a niqab as more religious, but differently religious?
anyway, gotta stop reading this website. the more i do, the more islamophobic i get
buzz 1:54 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
Word.
Dan 2:26 pm on October 27, 2009 Permalink |
razib, there are worse Islamic sites out there. TalkIslam is a sigh of relief for me compared to what’s out there!
Willow 9:39 am on October 28, 2009 Permalink |
Where to start, where to start.
Razib, throwing something like this anyway, gotta stop reading this website. the more i do, the more islamophobic i get in the faces of people who invited you here and have tried to insulate and defend you is just f*cking low. You want to leave, leave. You want to stay, stay. This crap is unworthy of you.
And you. Buzz and Dan. “Word”. The twins. It’s starting to sound like a self-hating echo chamber in here. I don’t always agree with Abu N either, but let me tell you, if I’d apologized to you and you came back at me with that kind of sarcasm I’d have unloaded on you and not felt bad about it even once. Abu N must have nerves of steel.
Everybody take a couple of deep knee-bends and get over it, mmkay? Aziz is away for a few days and I’m in hall monitor mode again.
Dan 10:51 am on October 28, 2009 Permalink |
What sarcasm? I did accept his apology after all.
buzz 11:14 am on October 28, 2009 Permalink |
Self-hating? Huh?
I did not realize Abu Noor was apologizing. I thought he pulled out his Koran and condemned me as some “type” he keeps forgetting about. I honestly did not understand the comment.
I would not refuse any honest apology.
I appreciate your administrative efforts but please don’t overdo it. We are all adults here. We can get by even without your patronizing overtones. The discussion was in disagreement but no one was drawing blood.
Willow 4:39 pm on October 28, 2009 Permalink |
Patronizing is my middle name. The G is for gratuitous.
What bothered me, buzz, is that in the midst of this theoretically adult conversation you ‘reminded’ Abu N to admit no partners with Allah, as if he’d suggested adding And Edward is the True Soulmate of Bella to the shaheda or something. Every time a hardliner wanders through here and even hints at takfir, we come down on him/her like a ton of bricks. And it works–this is one of the most takfir-free Islamic forums on the web. Abu N doesn’t need an aqidah lesson, even a sarcastic one. If the salafis don’t get to run around calling the most basic elements of people’s faith into question, neither do the progressives. If a militant said that to you, even in sarcasm, we’d have chucked him out on his ass. You know we would have. The respect has to go both ways. Otherwise we’re all just a bunch of posers.
Buzz 6:34 pm on October 28, 2009 Permalink |
I guess, because we were disagreeing, I thought this statement:
was completely sarcastic. My mistake.
As someone who accused me of anti-Islamic rhetoric, I did not connect that he was actually being sincere. He made that clear later. So, I shot back a little sarcasm. As it turns out, I should not have done that, but if you look at the flow, it was not clear to me atleast what he was saying.
Anyway, I guess I should have been more patient and assumed that Abu Noor would fall back on traditional Islamic courtesy which is kind of his MO. I was actually surprised that I got bundled in with Dan on some disagreement they were having about Hijab or something.
Anyway, for my part, even though I think by standards of past behavior, I was actually restrained, I am sorry for any misunderstanding or insult.
Willow 7:48 pm on October 28, 2009 Permalink
I think by standards of past behavior, I was actually restrained
Absolutely true.
I have been enjoying the buzz without the kill.