The petition demands that the design be taken off the market as soon as possible
Some Muslims have sharply criticized the superstar sportswear company Nike for selling a brand of sneakers with a design on its sole that resembles the Arabic word for “Allah”.
The sports giant is being asked to recall the sneakers, with people claiming Nike “insulted Islam,” the Jakarta Post reports.
The outrage began when Muslim client Saiga Noreen noticed what she believed to be the Arabic word for Allah on the shoe. Soon after, she launched an online petition, demanding that the company remove the popular shoe from its global market.
According to the Jakarta Post, Noreen accused Nike of having a disrespectful attitude towards Islam, saying in the description of the petition: “It is scandalous and appalling of Nike to allow the name of God on a shoe. It is disrespectful and extremely offensive to Muslims and insulting to Islam. “
“Nike produced the Nike Air Max 270 shoe with the script logo on the sole resembling the word Allah in Arabic, which will surely be trampled on, hit and smeared with mud or even dirt,†Noreen wrote. She urged all Muslims and anyone who agreed with her to sign the petition.
Currently, nearly 12,500 people have signed the petition, with a target of 15,000 signatures.
Other supporters have taken to Twitter to express their outrage over Nike’s allegedly blasphemous product.
That’s a shame! @Nike act #blasphemous in writing #Allah on “Air Max 270 Trainers”. You should #to delete all items stop and stop production. This world is for #love, do not fill it with #TO HATE. It’s not only #offensive To #Muslims rather offensive to the whole #humanity pic.twitter.com/kRJcKlfviP
– umar ishaque ass (@capisces) January 29, 2019
Nike has denied claims it intentionally insulted the Muslim community, saying the logo was a “stylized representation of Nike’s Air Max brand” and had no religious significance.
