Malaysia KK Super Mart outlet attacked with Molotov cocktail as furore over ‘Allah socks’ spreads

Police said a shop in Pahang state’s Kuantan was hit by a Molotov cocktail, causing some storefront items to ignite

KK Super Mart’s founder and his wife were charged with hurting religious feelings for selling socks with the word ‘Allah’ printed on them

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A KK Super Mart store in Puchong, Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AP

Published: 2:32pm, 30 Mar 2024

A Molotov cocktail was thrown into a Malaysian convenience store on Saturday, police said, after the chain’s top executives were charged with hurting religious feelings for selling socks with the word “Allah” printed on them.

Photos of the socks on sale at a KK Super Mart store have sparked outrage on social media among Muslims who viewed the association of Allah – the Arabic word for God – with feet as offensive.

Religion is a sensitive issue in Malaysia, where mostly Muslim ethnic Malays account for two-thirds of its 34 million people, with large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

KK Super Mart founder and chairman Chai Kee Kan and his wife Loh Siew Mui, a company director, were charged on Tuesday with wounding religious feelings, along with three representatives of its supplier, state news agency Bernama reported. All pleaded not guilty.

On Saturday, a KK Super Mart outlet in Kuantan district in the eastern state of Pahang was hit by a Molotov cocktail just before dawn, Kuantan police chief Wan Mohamad Zahari Wan Busu said by phone.