Copyright
Why do we defend our copyright?
How do we defend our copyright?
How do we catch copyright violators?
What to do if you suspect one of our photographs or logos has been illegally taken?

Copyright

"Text, graphics, and HTML code are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission."

Whilst copyright was not an issue historically and was not therefore mentioned in the classical books of Islamic law (fiqh), contemporary Islamic scholars, like the world-renowned Mufti Taqi Usmani, have confirmed that copyright laws do have a place in Islam, and that it is not permissible to take advantage of the labors of others by appropriating their work without permission.

SHUKR, in accordance with Islamic law and US and international statute, therefore defends the copyright of all text, graphics and programming code on its website.

Ever since we found that someone actually took one of our pictures by copying it from a website of one of our resellers and then pasting it on their own website, we have taken copyright very seriously.

Why do we defend our copyright?

Firstly, because the person who took our picture was misleading his customers by displaying a picture of a garment that he wasn't selling. It may look similar (as he claimed) but it wasn’t the same, because all of our products are exclusively designed and produced by us.

Secondly, the customer recognizing our garment may have thought they were purchasing a SHUKR item. They would have been misled, as we work very hard to ensure that the quality of our products meet the very highest standards.

Thirdly, by taking our images without our permission, this person was acting contrary to Islamic law and it is our duty to stop a person from committing an act of disobedience. He was also acting contrary to US and International Law and could have been prosecuted for his action.

Finally, we work very hard to provide you with superior products and excellent service. We have a right to reap the rewards of our hard, lawful work. We have gone to a lot of trouble to produce quality Islamic clothing, superior photographic images, innovative icons, and well-researched articles and information for the benefit of our customers.

If somebody wishes to display good quality images, create icons, or write informative articles, then they should do so lawfully and not take that which doesn’t belong to them.

How do we defend our copyright?

We take all necessary measures to defend our copyright:

First Step

We request that the copyright violator remove our copyright material within 24 hours. We explain the above mentioned points in a nice, polite way, assuming that the person doesn’t realize the wrongdoing of their actions.

Second Step

If the material still hasn’t been removed, we write to the violator’s Internet Service Provider informing them that they are hosting a website that is displaying our copyright material without our permission. This can result in the ISP removing the violator’s account because the ISP also becomes liable for hosting copyright material.

Final Step

We take legal action against the violator. We have our own attorney and we take the necessary steps to defend our copyright. It’s a shame when it comes to this stage and SHUKR is extremely reluctant to take legal action against a fellow Muslim. But by this stage, the violator of our copyright has obviously shown little regard for our rights under Islamic law, and we have to take all appropriate steps to protect our business.

Everything on our website is legally copyright material according to US and International Law.

How do we catch copyright violators?

Actually, it’s quite easy. We simply do a search on the website every few weeks and then go through all the websites that sell similar clothing to us. Thankfully, we have only found one copyright violator to-date and we search thoroughly. It appears that this violator didn't realize the seriousness of copyright in Islam or in US and International Law. That is why we are now presenting this page so that everyone can be better informed.

What to do if you suspect one of our photographs, logos, or text has been illegally taken?

All of our authorized resellers display our products with the SHUKR brand. If you see one of our images, icons or articles on a website without the SHUKR brand accompanying it, then please submit a ticket using the “Other Questions” options. Thank you for your help.