Thousands of Muslim customers have demanded Nike recall their Air Max sneakers, claiming that the sports giant “insulted Islam” by spelling out the word ‘Allah’ in Arabic on the bottom of the shoe.
A Muslim buyer, Saiqa Noreen, who had noticed the writing which she found offensive, even launched an online petition asking the sports company to remove the popular trainer from the shelves.
Noreen discovered that the Air Max logo design depicted on the sole has similarities to the word ‘Allah’ in Arabic. The woman accused the company of having a disrespectful attitude to Islam, and said that it is “outrageous” to “allow the name of God on a shoe.”
“Nike has produced the Nike Air Max 270 shoe with the script logo on the sole resembling the word Allah in Arabic, which will surely be trampled, kicked and become soiled with mud or even filth,” Noreen wrote.
“This is disrespectful and extremely offensive to Muslim’s and insulting to Islam.”
The company refuted all allegations of intentionally insulting the Muslim community, saying the logo is a “stylised representation of Nike’s Air Max trademark” without any religious significance.
“Nike respects all religions and we take concerns of this nature seriously,” a Nike representative said.
“The Air Max logo was designed to be a stylised 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.”