The father of One Direction band member Zayn Malik has lashed out at a right wing American blogger who accused the 19-year-old Muslim of "enticing jihad" and "pimping Islam".
"Debbie the racist b----," Zayn's dad Yaser Malik tweeted. He later added, "Oh, so your [sic] the dumb b---- who's giving my son grief?!"
Self-described "investigative journalist" Debbie Schlussel targeted One Direction's half-Pakistani heartthrob for wearing a keffiyeh, a scarf worn by many celebrities, which she called the "official garb of Islamic terrorism."
"The scary thing is that millions of girls in America and around the world are infatuated with the members of One Direction, including Malik," Schlussel wrote.
"He knows the power he has over these mindless girls and is using that influence to preach the Islamic faith. It's dangerous."
Just in case that wasn't bizarre enough, Schlussel issued some defiant parting words to One Direction's teenage fans and their parents.
"Keep your daughters away from Zayn Malik's enticing jihad [sic]. With the boy band One Direction, it's all about pimping Islam amid the deceptive visage of angelic, effeminate boys in a band," she wrote.
"Yup, for them there is definitely One Direction: facing Mecca."
That spurred Zayn's dad to tweet his response to Schlussel's hate-mongering.
Schlussel hit back at Yaser's "obscenity-laden tweets" in a follow-up post, sarcastically calling Zayn's parents "classy". She claimed to have received death threats and anti-Semitic attacks from 1D's "low-class, young female fans who have sewers for mouths".
Zayn has not yet commented on Schlussel's attack. The 1D "bad-boy" had previously tweeted a common Muslim declaration, "La ila ha ill lalla ho muhammed door rasoolalah," which means, "There is no god but God and Mohammad is the prophet of God."
American Muslim campaigner Wajahat Ali came out in support of Zayn, saying it is "empowering" to have a Muslim in a popular boy band.
He added that even though conservative Muslims may disagree with Zayn's actions (tattoos, ear piercings, smoking), he can "really help open those minds".
