Indonesian comedian and TV host Rina Nose has being intensely discussed and gossipped about over the last few weeks over a decision that should be entirely private but has many Muslims up in arms.
Earlier this month, Rina, who previously wore the hijab, decided to eliminate the head veil from her daily wardrobe. While the reasons for her decision are only known by Rina, her family and close friends (as something this personal should be), she has had to fend off baseless accusations such as her having become an apostate from Islam.
Amid the controversy, Rabbani, an Indonesian Islamic wear fashion label, launched an incredibly shameless promotional campaign in what is hard not to see as a passive-aggressive attack against Rina.
The post begins with Rabbani telling Rina, “Not to meddle in your affairs…” before doing the exact opposite of that. Rabbani then speculated as to why Rina took off her hijab — are hijabs too expensive? Not comfortable enough? Not trendy enough? Well, Rabbani hijabs are totally the solution to those problems, y’all.
Rabbani then invited Rina to come to their store and pick out any hijab she wants for free. It was also written in the earlier version of this post (before it was edited) that anyone who has the name Rina can also enjoy half off of Rabbani hijabs, because once you’re capitalizing on someone else’s controversy, you might as well go all the way with your tastelessness, right?
Rabbani ended the post with the disclaimer that their offer is not an attention-seeking move and that, as Muslims, it’s their duty to remind and care for each other.
Well, at the very least, the post is littered with comments criticizing Rabbani’s not-so-thinly-veiled marketing faux pas.
“You thought that many would support you, huh? If your intentions are good, then talk (to Rina) privately. Don’t do it like this, bringing someone down like that,” Instagram user hiimaquarius wrote in the comments section.
“Do you think that Muslims’ duty to remind each other consists of publicizing people’s flaws? Let alone turning it into an ad! Where is your heart? You want to seem like you understand Islam fully, but you understand nothing,” another user, azr4321, wrote.
Neither Rina nor Rabbani has issued a statement (or an apology in the case of the latter) for the post.
