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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Alahna Kindred

Bar has to say sorry for 'blasphemous' offer of free gin to all men named Muhammad

A bar in Indonesia came under fire after promising a bottle of Gordon's dry gin for men named Muhammad.

Holywings also offered a bottle of Gordon's pink gin for women named Maria as part of the promotion.

In order to claim the free bottles of liquor, patrons had to show their IDs at the venue.

However, the bar has since removed the promotion following backlash and six employees have been arrested

Many were outraged over the use of the name Muhammad for the promotion, the name of the last prophet in Islam and who revealed the word of God.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world with 231 million people practising.

Holywings has since apologised for including "elements of religion" in their promotion.

The apology, which was shared on Instagram, read: "We have taken action against the promotions team, who made the promo without the management’s prior knowledge, with heavy sanctions.

“It is not in our heart’s intent to associate elements of religion with our promo, so we express our deepest apology to all the people of Indonesia.”

The controversial promotion led to the arrest of six employees that management claimed acted independently in creating the deal, coconuts.co reports.

The chain bar shared a further apology explaining that the promotion was an act of six employees.

The post on Instagram reads: "We ask for prayers and support from the people of Indonesia so that this issue can be resolved in accordance with the law, for the continuity of more than 3,000 Holywings Indonesia employees and their families who depend on this company.

“Right now the six responsible individuals are in detention, and they are being processed legally in the hands of the police."

GP Ansor, the youth wing of the largest Indonesian Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has said the group plans to protest outside Holywings venues in Jakarta over the controversy.

He told CNN Indonesia : "And today we made a report at the Criminal Investigation Unit at the National Police Headquarters regarding an alleged violation of the first alleged violation of the blasphemy article and the ITE Law."

The group are also planning to file a blasphemy complaint against Holywings with the Jakarta Metro Police.

In Indonesia, religious blasphemy is punishable by up to five years in prison.

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