US musician and fashion designer Kanye West is being heavily criticised on social media after naming two of his new Yeezy trainers after Islamic angels.
Two models – the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Israfil and Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Asriel – were announced on Adidas Originals’ Twitter page:
YEEZY BOOST 350 V2 ISRAFIL. AVAILABLE AUGUST 22 IN ASIA PACIFIC, EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA AT https://t.co/SNOmpVaWg8, ON THE ADIDAS APP IN SELECT COUNTRIES, AND IN SELECT ADIDAS STORES. pic.twitter.com/TqUvKf2ion
— adidas Originals (@adidasoriginals) August 17, 2020
Israfil is the angel who blows into the trumpet to signal Qiyamah, while Asriel is the angel of death.
The news enraged fans as they thought that West was culturally appropriating Islam and that it was particularly disrespectful to name a shoe after angels.
https://twitter.com/Z_N_R_/status/1296834014494547969?s=20
Change the name
— Malik_Faizan (@MalikFa36824183) August 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/Rastab18/status/1297823106099118083?s=20
https://twitter.com/suhagulzar/status/1297929089739714560?s=20
Please change the name and stop disrespecting our religion! Stop using us for your business needs!
— nur'a (@starkzkenobi) August 24, 2020
Some people have even started a petition to boycott the line of sneakers.
“It has came to the attention of the Global Muslim community that Adidas has allowed the production of a shoe that is named after an archangel in Islam,” the petition reads.
“This is highly offensive to the Muslim community. Having the names of angels, which we revere highly, on a shoe which is used to walk on the street is a huge form of disrespect in all Muslims communities. We demand that Adiddas [sic] cease all production of this shoe immediately, issue a sincere apology to the Muslim community and consult with a representative of the Muslim community to bridge this learning curve so this doesn’t happen again in the future.
“We are a big demographic of sales and to turn a blind eye to the insensitivity of our pain is a poor business decision.”
Each pair costs around AUD $330 and the Israfil model has been sold out already.
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