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Sears Stops Selling ‘Infidel’ Hat After CAIR Pitches A Fit

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Sears, Roebuck & Company, the department store, has announced that it will stop selling a baseball cap bearing the words “Infidel” and “kafir” on its website.

The decision came after the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights group, complained about the cap.

The black headgear is embroidered with the all-caps English word “INFIDEL.” Below that word is the second word “kafir” in Arabic script.

On Monday, Twitter user Imraan Siddiqi tweeted an image of the cap:

Siddiqi is the executive director of CAIR in Arizona and the editor of the blog StopIslamophobiaNow.com.

The “infidel” cap had been sold at Sears.com by a third-party seller before Sears officials ordered it removed on Monday.

“We thank Sears for its prompt action in dealing with this issue and hope the controversy sends a message to other major corporations that they should closely monitor their product lines so as not to inadvertently assist in the promotion of bigotry,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in an email sent to The Daily Caller. (RELATED: 11 Muslims Who Probably Won’t Win CAIR’s 2015 Muslim Of The Year Trophy)

“Anti-Muslim bigots should not be allowed to monetize their hate,” Siddiqi added.

The word “infidel” originated in Latin and means “a person who does not believe in a religion that someone regards as the true religion,” according to Merriam-Webster.

Islamic radicals have used the term “infidel” to refer to people who don’t subscribe to Islam.

In somewhat the same way soldiers in the American Revolutionary War co-opted the derogative epithet “Yankee,” some non-Muslims have co-opted the word express pride in not being Muslim.

The word “kafir” (also “kaffir,” kuffaar” and other spelling variants) is an Arabic word which means “a person who is not a Muslim.” In Arabic, “kafir” derives from the word “kafara,” which means “to cover up.” Farmer are called “kuffar” in Arabic because they use dirt to “cover up” seeds, notes a Muslim author at Patheos.com. A related Arabic word means “ingratitude.”

The notorious “Infidel” cap is still available — for now — from several third-party Amazon sellers including SevenBros, Zeckos and CafePress.

Gadsden and Culpeper offers a modified camouflage version.

There’s also a shirt.

Amazon purchasers are general happy with their hats. “As a Vietnam Era Veteran, I am THE INFIDEL!” says one happy reviewer. “My husband loves it!” gushes another.

Purchasers of the camouflage “Infidel” cap call it a “comfortable, a good hat.”

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