Israfil and Asriel. These are the names of the two new models of Yeezy Boost 350 V2 shoes resulting from the collaboration between Kanye West and Adidas.
Names that did not please some Muslims , and for good reason: Israfil (Raphaël in French) and Asriel (Azrael) are two of the four archangels of Islam, the first representing the Last Judgment and the second the angel of death, specifies 20 Minutes .
While some cry blasphemy and denounce a lack of respect for the Muslim religion, others see it rather as a clumsy attempt to “capitalize on Muslim consumers” by choosing these names.
Horrible name choice for a shoe. Israfil is one of the four archangels in Islam. The one Muslims believe will blow into the trumpet to signal Qiyamah (the Day of Judgment), in Jerusalem.
.@adidas – you should have done your homework. Not too late to fix this. #ComeOnMan https://t.co/e0aRhyhWo5
— Abed A. Ayoub (@aayoub) August 18, 2020
“Horrible choice of name for a shoe. Israfil is one of the four archangels of Islam. The one who, for Muslims, will blow a trunk to announce the Last Judgment in Jerusalem. Adidas, you should have done your job. It is not too late to correct this. ”
Am I the only Muslim that actually take offense from the new Yeezy sneakers being called Israfil?
— Labeebah Khawaja (@labeebahkhawaja) August 19, 2020
I mean @kanyewest follows a religion so you’d kinda expect him to you know, maybe respect other religions and not name a SHOE after an ISLAMIC ANGEL??
— Labeebah Khawaja (@labeebahkhawaja) August 19, 2020
“Am I the only Muslim who is offended by the new Yeezy sneakers called Israfil? I mean, Kanye West is a believer so you would expect him to respect other religions and not use the name of an ANGEL OF ISLAM for SHOES ?? ”
Dear @adidas I am gonna STOP buying and using your products if those Kanye West’s newest shoes’ names aren’t changed because it IT DOES NOT RESPECT Islam. #ShameOnKanyeWest #ShameOnYeezy
— saymyname (@SeptianaTri3) August 23, 2020
A petition launched
Criticized on social networks, Kanye West is, like his wife Kim Kardashian at the launch of his underwear brand , accused of “cultural appropriation”, as the site of the British magazine NME explains.
Also, a petition , signed by more than 1300 people this Tuesday at midday, has already been launched to force the rapper and US presidential candidate to change the names of his shoes. One of them, the Israfil model, is already available for sale as of this Saturday, while the Asriel are scheduled for next month.
For now, neither Kanye West nor Adidas have reacted to the controversy.
