Online fashion retailer Shein has apologised after coming under heavy criticism for advertising Islamic prayer mats as home decor on its site.
The mats being sold were labelled as "frilled Greek carpets" and had pictures of the Kabaa on them.
The Kabaa is a building located in the heart of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. Mecca is considered to be Islam's most sacred site by Muslims around the world.
Picking up on Shein's controversial adverts, Khadija Rizvi, 24, a journalism graduate student at the University of Salford based in Manchester, England, posted on her lnstagram page about the prayer mats.
She wrote: "I am disgusted. I am livid. Shein is profiting off Muslim prayer mats (janemaz/sajadah) by selling them as 'fringe trim carpets' for people to use casually around the house.
"A few have the Ka’aba printed on them. THIS IS HIGHLY OFFENSIVE, not only is it disrespectful but they once again renamed and stole credit from a whole faith this time, by failing to label it as a Muslim prayer mat which allows people to use it casually as a decorative mat."
She added: "A prayer mat is an important piece of fabric, used by Muslims, placed between the ground and the worshipper during their five daily prayers. It is NOT a carpet and must be treated with respect and you don’t ever wear shoes on it.
"It’s important for us to acknowledge the disrespect that is committed here."
Rizvi's post quickly went viral, with beauty vlogger Nabela Noor among those who echoed her disgust. Noor also called for Shein to stop selling the the items.
Reacting to the furore, the brand on Monday apologised via a statement posted on Instagram to its more than 11m followers. It also removed the prayer mat items from its site.
"As a global brand, we vow to do a much better job in educating ourselves on different cultures, religions and traditions to ensure our diverse community is respected and honoured," it said.
"We offer our sincerest apology to all whom we have hurt and offended and hope we can earn your forgiveness."
