The Muslim Observer

Southfield, Michigan: July 26, 2000 - A Michigan store has agreed to stop selling women's jeans covered with verses from the Quran, a product that Muslim leaders labeled blasphemous, officials for the shopping mall where the store is located said on Wednesday.

Officials for the Northland Centre shopping mall on Tuesday bought the remaining 20 pairs of pants, which were inscribed with the words "Allah" and "In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful."

Other verses from the Muslim holy book ran around the waist and cuffs of the jeans made by a company called Unity USA.

The owner of the store Hot Stuff 2, located in the mall just a few miles north of Detroit, has agreed to no longer sell the garments, said Northland Centre spokeswoman, Susan Haddad.

"The pants have all been removed," Haddad said. "Hopefully we'll have peace and the merchant can stop getting these phone calls."

Muslim groups from the Detroit area, which has the largest concentration of Arab-Americans in the United States, had threatened to boycott the store and the mall.