Amazon has pulled more than a dozen products off its website after receiving complaints that the items are offensive to Muslims.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, asked the online retailer last week to remove the products, which included doormats, bath mats and other items imprinted with Islamic calligraphy, references to the Prophet Muhammad and scripture.
The products, which were being sold by independent merchants on Amazon’s website, are deemed offensive because they “would be stepped-on or otherwise disrespected by customers,” CAIR said in a statement on Thursday.
The following day, CAIR issued another statement welcoming Amazon’s decision to remove the items from its website and conduct an audit to purge similarly offensive products.
“We thank Amazon for its swift action on this issue and hope it sends a message to manufacturers of such inappropriate and offensive items that they will not profit from Islamophobia or any other form of bigotry,” Masih Fouladi, executive director of CAIR’s Washington state chapter, said in the statement. Amazon is based in Seattle, Washington.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that the products are being removed.
“All sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who do not will be subject to action including potential removal of their account,” the spokesperson told CNN on Monday. “The products in question are being removed from our store.”
