Muslim Woman Receives
Desecrated Holy Qur’an
Los Angeles, CA: A Muslim woman who placed
an order for the Qur’an through "Amazon.com"
and found profanity and religious slurs written inside the
holy book on receiving it. has asked for an apology and a
full investigation by the online retailer.
Azza Basarudin, 30, said she received the Qur’an by
mail on May 5 after ordering it through a used books division
of Amazon.com that allows customers to order directly from
third-party sellers approved by the company.
When she opened the Qur’an, Basarudin said she found
profanity and the phrase "Death to all Muslims"
written in thick black marker on the otherwise-blank first
page.
"I dropped the book because I didn't know what to do,"
she said at a news conference at the Islamic Centre of Southern
California. Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim
Public Affairs Council, said his organization wants a public
apology and investigation from Amazon.com, as well as the
firing of those responsible for mailing the desecrated book.
Patty Smith, a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based book retailer,
said the Qur’an was purchased directly from Bellwether
Books, a small book resale company in McKeesport, Pennsylvania,
through the "Marketplace" section of Amazon's website.
"This was not our inventory, it was nowhere in our order
or fulfillment process," she said. "It was a used
book purchased through a third party". Richard Roberts,
owner of Bellwether, said he doubts the book was defaced by
his employees. The company buys used books at bargain prices
from individuals, other bookstores and libraries and then
resells them through Amazon.com and other outlets.
He said before this incident, his six employees gave each
book a cursory check before shipping and didn't look inside
the pages.
Roberts said Bellwether has since instituted a more stringent
quality control check. Bellwether is also suspended indefinitely
from selling Qur’ans through Amazon.com, Smith said.
Bellwether apologized to Basarudin by e-mail and offered to
replace the book. Amazon.com also apologized, reimbursed her
for the Qur’an's cost and mailed Basarudin a gift certificate,
Smith said.
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