Photograph shows a Houston store closed on September 11 to honor one of the 9/11 hijackers

I only go to Harwin Drive to buy rhinestones when I don't have time to order in from my wholesale source. Today I went to the Harwin Central Mall to pick up some crystals.

The very first store that you come to when you walk from the lobby of the building into the shopping area had this sign posted on their door. I couldn't stay in the building it made me so sick.

Origins:   The above-displayed sign on a Perfume Planet store at the Harwin Central Mart in Houston, Texas, caused a great deal of consternation (and outrage) among Americans in mid-September 2009, the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Many viewers took the sign's statement that the store would be closed on September 11 "to commemorate to the martyrdom of the Imam Ali" as a mean-spirited insult, interpreting it to mean that the proprietors were shutting down to honor one of the terrorists killed in the perpetration of the 9/11 attacks.

Although the sign was real, its common interpretation was erroneous: None of the 9/11 hijackers was named "Ali," and the word "Imam" is not a name but rather a title (akin to "rabbi" or "minister") that refers to a Muslim religious leader. The Imam Ali was not a modern day terrorist; he was a 7th century religious figure, the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, whom Shi'a Muslims regard as the first Imam. (Disagreement over Ali's role in Islamic theology led to the division of Muslims into the Sunni and Shi'a branches of Islam.)

Ali was attacked by an assassin while praying in a mosque on the 19th day of Ramadan and died two days later, so the 21st day of Ramadan is (among the Shi'a branch of Islam) a day of special significance, a day for honoring the martyrdom of the Imam Ali. Since the Islamic calendar is based on lunar months with years of 354 or 355 days, the months of the Islamic calendar move around from year to year with respect to the Gregorian calendar. In 2009, the month of Ramadan began on 21 August, and the 21st day of Ramadan therefore coincidentally fell on the date of September 11 by the Gregorian calendar that year.

The Perfume Planet's manager explained his reaction to the confusion caused by the controversial signage:

Several months later, the store's proprietors remained the targets of hostile criticism over the misunderstanding:

In 2012, the month of Ramadan fell between 20 July and 18 August on the Gregorian calendar and had no intersection with the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.