KUALA LUMPUR – The contentious floor mats purportedly featuring the Kaaba are actually mini prayer mats or sejadah, said AEON BiG (M) Sdn Bhd.
In a statement today, AEON BiG said its supplier – A&R Fashion Collection – had mislabelled the items as floor mats, which was immediately rectified.
“A&R has confirmed that the products are mini sejadah (prayer mats), where their patterns are in vertical format – a normal design pattern.
“A&R has used the product code in the system that was previously used for other products. As a result, the labels attached to the product show various descriptions, causing confusion,” it said.
The retailer confirmed the mats are now properly labelled as sejadah.
AEON BiG added that A&R is a fully Bumiputera- and Muslim-owned small and medium enterprise that sells shariah-compliant attire, as well as prayer mats and carpets.
A&R, which has been AEON BiG’s supplier since 2015, also provides products for other companies and has its own outlet.
At the same time, the two companies hope their clarification could shed some light on any confusion, while calling for a stop to “speculations that could affect the harmony of our multiracial society”.
They added that they would continue to cooperate with the Johor Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) and any authoritative body should further information be needed.
It was reported that JAINJ seized 11 floor mats with the image of the Kaaba being sold in a Johor supermarket on April 9, a day before Hari Raya Aidilfitri, after public complaints circulated on social media.
JAINJ chairman Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid also said the department summoned the supermarket’s management for an explanation while warning them to be careful with the products sold to consumers.
A TikTok clip depicted a green mat seemingly etched with the outline of the Kaaba – Islam’s holiest site at the Al-Haram mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and the direction in which Muslims pray – on top of a pile of other mats ostensibly inside a supermarket display bin.
Prior to the clarification, Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh said all political leaders must set aside their differences to strengthen the ummah (people), adding that it would be better to die than continue doing nothing when Islam is being insulted.
Meanwhile, PAS Youth chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden alluded to the fact that a “cartel” was deliberately inciting racial and religious issues in the nation. – April 13, 2024