Rihanna apologizes to Muslim community after lingerie show plays sacred Islamic text

Rihanna has apologized to the Muslim community, following an uproar against the inclusion of sacred Islamic textsat a lingerie show. Rihanna said the usage of those texts, which were part of a song played at her Amazon-prime streamed event, was an "honest yet careless mistake."

"The use of the song in our project was completely irresponsible!" the singer wrote in a statement that appeared in her Instagram Stories, adding that she would "make sure that nothing like this ever happens again."

Rihanna's Savage x Fenty show included a section in which lingerie models danced to the song Doomby Coucou Chloe. The 2017 track includes a passage from the Hadith, a sacred text to Muslims that is revered as a record of the ProphetMuhammad's sayings and actions.

"I'd like to thank the Muslim community for pointing out a huge oversight that was unintentionally offensive in our Savage x Fenty show," she wrote. "I would more importantly like to apologize to you for this honest yet careless mistake. We understand that we may have hurt many of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and I'm incredibly disheartened by this!

"I do not play with any kind of disrespect toward God or any religion," Rihanna continued, "and therefore the use of the song in our project was completely irresponsible! Moving forward we will make sure that nothing like this ever happens again. Thank you for your forgiveness and understanding," she wrote, signing off: "RiH."

Rihanna's last Instagram post, previewing the show, had become a target for comments about the controversy. Her only caption for the preview photo ironically included the words "not sorry."

In response to the show, some Instagram users expressed their displeasure. Wrote @nawalkimendhi: "I've always loved and looked up to you and appreciated your sense of diversity in all your branding. Now, Isee you put an IslamicHadith or prayer in your music for a lingerie show? That's beyond disrespectful and disappointing." Another post read: "Maybe don't use the Islamic religion on the soundtrack to one of your shows? It's kinda disrespectful."

Earlier, Coucou Chloe had tweeted an apology as well. "I want to deeply apologize for the offence caused by the vocal samples used in my song Doom," the tweet said. "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."