Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago Muslim leader rips ‘Blow Your Brains Out’ doll

  A joke birthday card that depicts an Islamic girl doll as a suicide bomber who’ll “Blow Your Brains Out” drew criticism Satuday as “bigoted and moronic” from a leader of the Chicago area’s Muslim community.

The card, which shows a picture of a “talking doll” wearing a hijab — the traditional head scarf worn by many observant Muslim women — has the words “She’ll Love You To Death” and “Pull string for message — if “Hope your birthday is a BLOW OUT!” is printed on the inside.

“The joke is that if you wear a hijab, you’re a terrorist — it’s that primitive,” said Ahmed Rehab of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who wants the card to be withdrawn. “It’s an ugly stereotype. Muslim women who wear the hijab face dirty looks, catcalls and even abuse — and it’s connected to irresponsible ‘jokes’ like this.”

The card, made by New Jersey-based Nobleworks, is a spoof of “Aamina, the Muslim Doll,” a toy designed to teach Muslim children basic Arabic phrases such as “Peace be unto you” and “If God wills it.”

It was available until it sold out Friday at He Who Eats Mud, a Lake View card and novelties store at 3247 N. Broadway, where cards targeting other religions also are sold.

The store’s owner credited the Boston Marathon bombing for boosting sales and said Saturday he plans to reorder the $2.95 suicide bomber card “because they’re selling well.”

“This isn’t Hallmark — we’re not a politically correct store,” said the man who identified himself as the store’s owner. He would not give his name.

He said he doesn’t see anything wrong with offering “dark humor” that presents “commentary on what is happening in the world today.”

He said he’s been in business for 38 years and occasionally gets complaints from offended customers, including Catholics who were unhappy about a Pope John Paul II gag and Democrats upset at a Barack Obama T-shirt that bore the words: “I had 1,000,000 people at my inauguration and only 4 missed work.”

“This is a liberal neighborhood, and I serve adult customers,” the owner said. “People have the right to be offended. But if they don’t want to shop here, they don’t have to.”