Selena Gomez Exposed Her Ankles In A Mosque And Caused An Uproar In Abu Dhabi: What is wrong with it ?

Selena Gomez and a bunch of friends made their way to Abu Dhabi to celebrate the arrival of 2015 and she managed to cause a major controversy in the process. Selena and co. paid a visit to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and she very disrespectfully exposed her ankles inside the mosque for a photo opp that she shared on her official Instagram profile. While an exposed ankle may sound like a non-issue to us in the Western World, it is a major offense in the Muslim World.

Pop starlet Selena Gomez was so heavily criticized for posting pictures of herself flashing her ankle inside Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque on Instagram that she appears to have deleted the evidence altogether. A second picture, showing Gomez and fellow musicians Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Cody Simpson and Shay Mitchell smiling and striking poses has also been lambasted but remained on her Instagram Thursday. Mosque visiting rules strictly ban all ‘intimate behavior’ including holding hands and kissing, and states that all skirts must be ankle-length. Commenting on the picture, Alaa Almitwally said: ‘Disrecpectful! It’s a religion place not a place to have fun in, so disappointed.’ Meanwhile another user, Ayisha Elturk, said: ‘If their intent was to learn about Islam they wouldn’t be posing like they were standing outside and amusement park. The Grand Mosque has caused problems for celebrities in the past, with controversial star Rihanna thrown out after posing for pictures inside the compound. Staff ejected the Barbadian singer after complaining she did not have permission to carry out a photoshoot while dressed head-to-toe in a black jumpsuit. Justifying their decision, workers at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque said Rihanna’s actions had not been in keeping with the ‘sanctity’ of the site.

As much as I like Selena, this incident really does show how immature and ignorant she and her friends are. I, personally, find it horribly offensive when people act disrespectful in places around the world where decorum is expected. Not only religious sites but any public place where idiots (oftentimes Westerners, usually Americans) have no concept of respect and reverence. There are morons who climb up on outdoor sculpture to take photos, idiots who take smiling selfies in former concentration camp sites and fools who like to chatter and giggle at funeral sites for fallen war heroes … as only a few examples. It’s no wonder that Westerners and Americans in particular have a reputation for being jerks and disrespectful a-holes around the world. It’s nice to believe that Selena and her friends visited the Grand Mosque to experience some of the local culture but I’m guessing this trip was merely a reason for the friends to have fun and take photos for Instagram, no matter who they disrespected. This behavior is really annoying. But, sadly, it will continue from people of all ages. Young and old, disrespectful people will continue to flaunt their arrogant offensiveness no matter what anyone says, which is a huge shame.