Update: Rihanna has apologized for using the hadith, details below.
World renowned singer Rihanna has been hailed for breaking barriers, treading uncharted territories and being an overall badass. She is one of the top selling music artists in the world and has recently also become fashion mogul with her beauty, skincare, clothing and lingerie brands. Her lingerie line, Savage x Fenty, is pretty famous for breaking barriers just like its creator. Sadly, now Rihanna and her lingerie line is getting dragged for hurting Muslim sentiments.
Rihanna recently premiered her wildly popular Savage x Fenty fashion show recently
Everyone was singing praises for Rihanna for championing diversity, showing models from all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, shapes, sizes and genders.
With top names like Bella Hadid, Paris Hilton, Lizzo, Demi Moore and Cara Delevingne among many other popular faces were part of the show.
Muslim fans of Rihanna, however, noticed something very odd about the Savage x Fenty show
As soon as the show premiered on October 2, on Amazon Prime, Muslim fans around the world began noticing that Rihanna had used what sounded like a hadith in her Savage x Fenty fashion show.
https://twitter.com/TAEHYUNGGOODBOI/status/1312869155759173632
Quickly, it was claimed that Rihanna had used a hadith narration by a Kuwaiti scholar in her fashion show. Many users on the internet also pointed out that the hadith was turned into a song, in a remix, by music producer Coucou Chloe. The hadith narration that people claimed was being used was one by a Kuwaiti preacher Mishary bin Rashid Alafasy.
Muslims around the world quickly began calling out Rihanna for using a hadith in her Savage x Fenty show and offending their religious sentiments
People were not happy with Rihanna for claiming to be someone who champions diversity and inclusion but then using something that millions of Muslims around the world hold sacred as background music for her lingerie show.
https://twitter.com/nelirv_/status/1312839228137631744
Using Islamic Hadith as a Background Music is Highly Discourteous. Rihanna and All Others who were Involved in this Shit can Fuck Off. And to All the Islamophobes, It's Abhorrent not Aesthetic. You don't Know Anything about Our Religion, so Stay Out of it.https://t.co/jW3mZiLlKF
— Fazie Shah (@fazieshah124) October 5, 2020
https://twitter.com/straowberrie/status/1312853915088683009
The song that the hadith was used in was called ‘Doom’ and the hadith also narrated signs for the end of times
https://twitter.com/IBCIG/status/1312902517030707200
After intense backlash, the music producer who turned the hadith into a song issued a statement apologizing for not knowing that a hadith was something sacred for Muslims
Coucou Chloe issued an apology, saying that the song was created using samples of another track found online and that there was no research done in order to confirm what the quote meant. It was also clarified that steps are being taken to have “the song urgently removed from all streaming platforms”.
https://twitter.com/coucou_chloe/status/1313137644226908162
Someone also pointed out that this wasn’t even the first time this offensive song was used in her fashion by Rihanna
Apparently, back in 2017 with the first Savage x Fenty show, Rihanna had used the same song in her show.
https://twitter.com/kkeyis/status/1312891551777947649
People also recalled that Rihanna is a repeat offender when it comes to hurting Muslim sentiments because back in 2013 she was kicked out of a mosque in Abu Dhabi for doing a photo shoot
Despite being covered in a hijab, Rihanna was asked to leave the mosque because the photos she was taking were deemed “inappropriate”.
There have been other celebrities, mind you, who have visited this mosque and not taken such posed photos therefore they have actually received a lot of love from fans. Like Camila Cabello, last year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/fqaqxXBM3v/?utm_source=ig_embed
As Muslims demanded an apology from Rihanna for hurting their religious sentiments, there were people who told them to stay calm
To these responses, Muslim fans rightfully called out the fact that it was their religion and only they could speak to their sentiments being hurt and demand an apology from Rihanna.
https://twitter.com/islaflow/status/1312854649486094337
https://twitter.com/ZARRYKISSY/status/1312869374399836160
This fan made a very detailed thread about why it was extremely offensive of Rihanna to use the hadith in her Savage x Fenty show and why Muslims were rightfully hurt
https://twitter.com/lvstberry/status/1312969871018385408
They specifically pointed to the fact that coming from Rihanna, it is particularly offensive because she has been hailed for her inclusive work and diversity.
https://twitter.com/lvstberry/status/1312972434828599297
After intense backlash, Rihanna has offered an apology to Muslims
In a statement issued on her Instagram stories, she apologized for using the hadith as a background song.