Rihanna has responded to the controversy surrounding the use of an Islamic Hadith in her Savage X Fenty fashion show.
The singer and beauty mogul came under fire this week after many Muslims expressed shock and outrage that a song used in the show sampled words from the sacred religious text.
"I'd like to thank the Muslim community for pointing out a huge oversight that was unintentionally offensive in our savage x fenty show," Rihanna wrote on her Instagram Story today. "I would more importantly like to apologize to you for this honest, yet careless mistake."
Hadiths are highly revered records of the traditions or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and are sacred to Muslims.
The 32-year-old Bajan singer—full name Robyn Rihanna Fenty—has been praised for her commitment to inclusivity in her lingerie shows, but has been heavily criticized for this incident involving the music choices at the show.
In her apology, Rihanna urged her Muslim fans that she did not mean to disrespect their religion.
"We understand that we have hurt many of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and i'm incredibly disheartened by this!" she continued. "I do not play with any kind of disrespect toward God or any religion and therefore the use of this song in our project was completely irresponsible! Moving forward we will make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Thank you for your forgiveness and understanding, Rih."
Newsweek has reached out to Rihanna's representatives for comment.
The song in question is called "Doom" and was created by London producer named Coucou Chloe, who has taken to Twitter to herself apologies profusely.
"I want to deeply apologize for the offence caused by the vocal samples used in my song 'DOOM'," she tweeted. "The song was created using samples from Baile Funk tracks I found online. At the time, I was not aware that these samples used text from an Islamic Hadith."
The DJ added: "I take full responsibility for the fact I did not research these words properly and want to thank those of you who have taken the time to explain this to me. We have been in the process of having the song urgently removed from all streaming platforms."
I want to deeply apologize for the offence caused by the vocal samples used in my song ‘DOOM'. The song was created using samples from Baile Funk tracks I found online. At the time, I was not aware that these samples used text from an Islamic Hadith. 1/2
— COUCOU CHLOE (@coucou_chloe) October 5, 2020
One Twitter user explained why members of the Muslim community was so hurt by the song choice in a tweet that garnered more than 62,000 likes.
They wrote: "i can't let Rihanna have a pass w appropriating Islam like for her first show the models wore a scarf around their heads and it looked like HIJAB and her second show she used a track that remixed a HADITH....why is no one talking about this, my religion is not y'all's aesthetic."
i can’t let Rihanna have a pass w appropriating Islam like for her first show the models wore a scarf around their heads and it looked like HIJAB and her second show she used a track that remixed a HADITH....why is no one talking about this, my religion is not y’all’s aesthetic
— . (@reversecocunut) October 4, 2020
Volume Two of the Savage X Fenty show is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
