The Chinese clothing and accessories company, Shein, known for catering aesthetically pleasing products at cheap rates has come under the radar for selling Islamic prayer mats as regular use rugs and carpets on its UK website.
The application, which is part of the 59 companies banned in India, is still functioning well in other countries of the world. When one looks up to read reviews of the site on the internet, keywords like ‘fraud’, ‘fake’, ‘do not buy’ and ‘cheap quality’ often rise up. This doesn’t come as a surprise as the prices at which they offer these commodities is very less, ranging from Rs. 400 to Rs. 1000 for a good top for women, whereas, a similar product in high-end brands would be priced anywhere between Rs. 1000- Rs. 2500 and even more.
Moreover, their product tags do not include an environmental check as the company itself has never been transparent about the materials they use. Not much is known about the business yet has millions of customers due to its attractive price scale and products.
All was well until they started profiting off Islamic prayer mats, posing them as ‘fringe carpets’. These wouldn’t be much concern if the mats just had floral prints or any other embroidery. The fact that Muslim’s holy ‘Kaaba’ was showcased on the mat was what drove people towards raising an alarm. Other ‘designs’ of the ‘carpets’ also included the print of a ‘mihrab’. It signifies a niche in the wall of a mosque where the congregation of people faces to pray.
As soon as this massive fault was pointed out, users swarmed social media with accusations, demanding a pull-off of the products from the site and a proper apology to the millions of Muslims around the world.
The ‘fringe trim carpets’ being sold are the mats used by Muslims on which they offer their five times daily prayers.
Customers who bought the mats wrote reviews mentioning the way they were using the mats, including its utilization as a wipe for their pets.
“I got this as a Matt to use for my cats food and water. She absolutely adores it! She will even sleep on it. It’s super soft, thin material but soft. It was way better than I expected,” read one review on the website.
“So cute! Looks amazing on my coffee table”, “Perfect for my closet. Nice size,” read a few other reviews from the customers of the prayer mat.
Fashion expert and monitor, Diet Prada also spoke about this grave act of Shein in its Instagram post. It explained that ‘the massive Chinese e-tailer known for dirt cheap prices, came under fire on social media this weekend for selling Islamic prayer mats as decorative rugs,’ with screenshots of the mats and their listing names.
Angered users encouraged everyone to boycott the app and send mails to the company to stop the religious appropriation.
People took to social media to show their anguish and enlighten others about Shein’s act.
“I am disgusted. I am livid. @sheinofficial is also 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 Kaaba printed on them. THIS IS HIGHLY OFFENSIVE,” one Instagram user wrote, while another posted, “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.”
Since then, there were a number of petitions being filed on change.org for demanding the company to take down the products.
Shein took notice of it much later and through a comment,, said that it realized its mistake. However, a small comment for such a disastrous fault wasn’t appreciated by the users and they criticized them for serving no official apology. The company then posted an apology on its instagram page with a caption, “To our community. We’re sorry.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCRK5UPHgY0/
The post read, “To our community- we made a serious mistake recently by selling prayer mats as decorative rugs on our site. We understand this was a highly offensive oversight are truly sorry.”
“Since it was moved to our attention, we immediately removed the products from our site and asked our vendor to stop selling to others. We also formed a product review committee with staff from different cultures and religions so a mistake like this doesn’t happen again.”
“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 honored. We offer our sincerest apology to all whom we have hurt and offended, and hope we can earn your forgiveness.”
While the apology was appreciated, some users also highlighted that they could sell the prayer mats the way they are supposed to as that would be the more correct thing to do and would attract many customers as well.
