Nike Folded in Face of Muslim Outrage Once...Now They're Being Targeted over Small Mark in Shoe
Modern Islam has many problems to overcome.
It’s a religion racked by sectarian violence, human rights concerns, gender discrimination and far-reaching extremism. In the opening month of 2019 however, some in the religious community seem to have turned their outrage toward shoes.
Specifically, the Nike Air Max 270.
The outcry even spawned a Change.org petition two weeks ago, urging Nike to “recall this blasphemous and offensive shoe.”
The problem with the shoe, according to the petition, is that the sneaker comes emblazoned with designs that resemble “Allah” in Arabic script.
Closer inspection reveals the outrage may be misplaced, as nothing on the shoe even remotely resembles the Islamic holy name.
The Nike Air Max 270’s sole has Allah’s name written. Also some other Nike trainers are a insult of Islam. pic.twitter.com/kt3oeBTbEu
— Raehan Arian (@arian_raehan) January 29, 2019
While appearing innocent enough, the petition, posted by user “Saiqa Noreen,” reads like an aggressive demand for censorship.
“It is outrageous and appalling of Nike to allow the name of God on a shoe,” the petition states. “This is disrespectful and extremely offensive to Muslims and insulting to Islam. Islam teaches compassion, kindness and fairness towards all…
“We urge Nike to recall this blasphemous and offensive shoe and all products with the design logo resembling the word Allah from worldwide sales immediately. We also request stricter scrutiny of products before they enter the market.”
Noreen is not the only one who thinks this.
According to the “Today” show, the Council on American Islamic Relations is also reporting complaints about the footwear.
“A number of community members have reached out to us about the design,” CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper told the show.
Hooper said such instances have happened before, usually when a clothing or product designer likes the aesthetic look of a script in Arabic calligraphy that turns out to be a verse from the Quran.
“There’s the two categories, where it’s actual Islamic, religious text and then where it’s perceived to be a religious text. And this logo is more in that category,” he told “Today.”
He said CAIR is hoping to discuss the issue with Nike.
“Obviously, Muslims are concerned that references to God, which in Arabic is the word ‘Allah,’ would be on the sole of a shoe,” he said, according to “Today.”
“Now, there are widely varying opinions as to … what is actually seen in this particular design. But it’s something that Muslims are always concerned about, and we’ve reached out to Nike to discuss the issue.”
Nearly 14,000 people have signed the Change.org petition, and some have even left messages of support.
That might be a lot of signatures, but it’s a fairly small number compared to the $36 billion in revenue Nike reported in 2018.
Despite the disparity, there actually is some possibility Nike would recall the shoe.
In 1997, Nike kowtowed to pressure and pulled 38,000 shoes that were identified as bearing designs that resembled the name of Allah. According to a Washington Post article from the same year, the sportswear company was quick to apologize.
“Through this process, our understanding of Islamic concerns has been deepened and we apologize for any unintentional offense to the Islamic community,” a Nike spokesman told The Post.
As part of the apology, the company pledged to donate to an Islamic elementary school.
In a response to the current complaints, according to the U.K. Daily Mail, Nike said in a statement that the symbol in question was simply part of the brand’s trademark.
“Nike respects all religions and we take concerns of this nature seriously,” the statement said. “The AIR MAX logo was designed to be a stylized representation of Nike’s AIR MAX trademark. It is intended to reflect the AIR MAX brand only. Any other perceived meaning or representation is unintentional.”
That’s apparently not stopping some Muslim activists from making it a problem anyway.
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