A first reading book for an elementary school child, bought on the internet from Amazon: an unsuspecting woman gave this to her goddaughter in Vienna. When she opens the book, confusion suddenly arises: halfway through the child-friendly content is abruptly interrupted and a text about the Muslim headscarf begins, interspersed with quotes from the Quran. The parents are shocked.
It says “that the hijab frees the girls”, that is “rather bad”, they express disgust at the content. The child’s father turned to Viennese ÖVP politician Jan Ledóchowski, whose daughters are friends. Ledóchowski, also chairman of the conservative “Platform Christian Democracy”, sent scanned extracts of the book to krone.at. In the midst of girls’ adventure stories, it begins a treatise on why believing women should wear the Muslim headscarf entitled: “Muslim women and the hijab veil; oppression or liberation”.
“Great example of how political Islam works”
Quotations from the Quran about the role of women are quoted for pages. It is a “sin” for a Muslim woman not to wear hijab, “but it is not true to say that Islam oppresses women in general,” it said. For Ledóchowski, the text is a “good example of how political Islam works”. But how do the problematic pages get into the book? It’s a mystery to the parents: “It was either someone from the publisher or someone from Amazon… It can’t be a coincidence,” they suspect.
When krone.at asked the German publisher Thier Media, who publishes “Anna, die Meeresforscherin”, owner and director Julian Thier was also surprised: “We cannot explain how such texts ended up in our children’s book”, he writes in a e-mail. . “I can assure you that there are no religious texts or texts that do not fit the subject in our printable files,” says Thier. Books are outsourced through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
An error in the printer is suspected
The text “Muslim Women and the Hijab Veil” is also online on Amazon, but the publisher suspects that it will be printed at the same printer. He does not assume “malicious intent on the part of the printing company, but a one-off error”. He hopes it remains an isolated case. “I’ve never experienced anything like it,” says Thier. They contact Amazon support and replace the book for the injured customer.
The 27-page tract on the headscarf was published by The Sincere Seeker, a publishing house officially committed to the mission for Islam. He himself publishes children’s books, and the covers also feature pictures of young girls wearing headscarves. A book in the series “Islam for children” is called “My Big Sister’s Hijab”.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
