Houston Store Owner Who Shut Store Down on 9/11 Last Year To Pay Respect to Muslim Prophet Receives Backlash

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HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A misunderstanding involving Islam and September 11 has led to death threats for one Houston family, and this is not the first time they've had to deal with this.
It started last year when a widely circulated e-mail wrongly accused a Houston-area business owner who's Muslim of commemorating the 911 attacks. That same e-mail is circulating again this year. Sajid Master says he's being targeted over an issue he says is inaccurate. "I respect everybody's sentiments to be American," he said. "I am American, too, but nevertheless you need to go to the truth." The cause of his problems is the sign he put up last year announcing the closing of his Harwin-area business on September 11 to commemorate, says the sign, the martyrdom of Imam Ali. A picture of the sign was widely circulated last year through e-mail, saying the store owners were commemorating the 911 attacks. Instead, says Master, Imam Ali is a Muslim prophet who lived over 1,000 years ago.
It was a distinction not known to Marine Michael Shamsi, who received the e-mail last year while serving in Iraq. "I remembered it because it upset a lot of people, especially the local contractors here based out of Houston," Shamsi said. "It gave Houston a very negative image."
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JMC Ministries Response

It is one thing to shut your business down for 9/11 to pay respect for the thousands of Americans who lost their lives in the terrorists attacks. But is its another to pay respect to a Muslim Prophet on the day that Extremist Muslims attack the U.S and killed thousands.

We feel that it is disrespectful to all Americans who lost their lives and were forever affected by the events of 9/11. The fact that this man is not paying his respects for those who died in the 9/11 attacks but for a Muslim Prophet died over a 1,000 years ago.

The News station in Houston and the Store Owner may say this was a "misunderstanding" but the store owner made it perfectly clear that he was not shutting his store down to pay respect for those affected by the Terrorist attacks but for a dead Muslim Prophet. Where is the misunderstanding in that?