Questionable Amazon products for sale

By AbdulRaheem Alhusami

Muslims in Windsor feel offended by some Amazon products which include religious symbols.

 

Windsor Islamic Association members noticed the products a few days ago. Women wearing hijab and niqab were pictured on bathroom rugs and shower curtains. Indoor and outdoor rugs with a Quranic verse are also being sold on Amazon.

Mohamed Mahmoud, the imam of Windsor mosque gave a short speech on Monday after prayer, criticizing the products and encouraging Muslims to send emails to Amazon and report them.

“These products show disrespect to our Islamic values and symbols and to the verses of the Quran,” said Mahmoud. “Let’s advocate for our rights and we go all of us and write complaints. Email them, tweet them and your voice, I’m sure, will have a weight.”

Earlier this year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations complained to Amazon about bathroom and outdoor mats, which carried verses of the Quran and the word Allah in Islamic calligraphy. CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said the retailer assured him that the links to those products had been removed, according to the New York Post.

This incident has prompted individuals outside the Muslim community to express their unhappy feelings. Rebecca Mickle, a professor at Detroit Institute of Music Education thinks these type of products should not be sold.

“I think it is disrespectful and in bad taste. A bath mat is something when you’re getting out of the shower you’re drying your feet off on it, it’s so disrespectful to wipe your feet off on a woman and a shower curtain is just as bad too,” said Mickle.

According to Amazon, all sellers must follow Amazon’s selling guidelines and those who do not will be subject to action.