US Cosmetic Companies Go Sharia — and It’s Not Pretty

The United States is allegedly home to approximately 3.3 million Muslims. Despite having such a small Muslim population, companies across the United States are making space in their business models to comply with Sharia law.

In recent years, Nike introduced their “Pro Hijab” line, and Whole Foods started advertising halal meat. There has been increased funding for Islamic-based tech startups and companies who need Sharia financing for their businesses.

2017 brought us the Women’s March. Millions of Americans watched in horror as convicted Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Yousef Odeh, who is responsible for killing two Jewish students who were grocery shopping, and Linda Sarsour, an American-born Muslim who was married off in an arranged marriage at 17 and said about female genital mutilation (FGM) survivor/Muslim apostate Aysan Hirsi Ali that she “wishes to take away [Ayaan’s] vagina,” were touted as American feminist icons.

The march was supported by a number of American companies, including Burton Snowboards and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. Burton’s CEO Donna Carpenter went so far as to fund employee trips for those who wanted to attend the march.

Only a few short months later, we have the latest confused social justice warrior attempt to amalgamate the identity politics of girl power and Islam. Last month, Orly nail polish teamed up with blogger “Muslim Girl” to market a halal-friendly nail polish line for Ramadan. The idea arose because Muslims are usually unable to wear regular nail polish (regular for purposes of this article meaning what is on the American market) since it creates a barrier between the nails/skin and water, which prevents Muslims from washing their entire bodies, as is required for prayer ablutions, according to PopSugar. The Fatwa Center of America stated that Muslim women are traditionally only allowed to wear regular nail polish during their monthly period, since they don’t need to pray during those days. But fear not: the company that brought us the French Manicure created a beauty space in the American market that is compliant with Sharia law. The initial announcement of the line stated:

“This collaboration with ORLY is a major way that we are making space for diversity in the beauty industry. There’s no reason why options shouldn’t be available for all women to practice beauty in the way that suits them and satisfies their needs.

We’re not defined by mainstream industries, we’re redefining them”

The halal nail polish line received mentions in Vogue, Elle, Refinery29 and other mainstream publications.

So who is Muslim Girl?

Muslimgirl.com is a group of Muslim adult women, known as the singular name Muslim Girl. They sometimes refer to themselves as simply “MG.” Information on the contributors is somewhat limited, but the page states that Amani Al-Khatahtbeh is editor-in chief. Similar to far-left darling Linda Sarsour, information on Al-Khatahtbeh is scant, even though she is a so-called influencer of pop culture. (Isn’t it ironic how the left will track down and threaten to dox a Reddit user who made a meme about CNN within hours, but they are totally fine with virtually no information available for their idol darlings?) Al-Khatahtbeh’s Wikipedia page does note that she grew up in New Jersey, but her family relocated to Jordan in 2005 to escape Islamophobia. She returned to attend Rutgers, where she graduated in 2014.

The website’s slogan is “Muslim Women Talk Back,” and it asserts that the Middle East is not a place centuries behind the rest of the world in human rights or overtaken by the Islamic State, but as “a region that has, in recent history, been ravaged by American wars, vilified in media depictions, and targeted by Western Islamophobia.” Political commentary on the website showcases a video segment titled “Presidential Candidate or the KKK?,” which falsely tells people on the street that President Trump said “black people are prone to laziness.” That allegation was never found to be true, however the website issued no retraction or correction. Another video promoted on the website is one entitled, “Muslim Women to Ayaan Hirsi Ali: You Don’t Speak for Us,” which scolds the former Muslim as an “Islamaphobe” who tarnishes the religion and helps white supremacy by telling of her experience as a FGM survivor. It is important to note that the video has no denunciation of FGM; only a denunciation of women who speak out about their own personal experience surviving it.

Other articles featured on MG ask “Should Muslim women feel lucky to live in the United States?,” (which concludes that white women are the biggest oppressors of Muslim women in the West) and an article claiming that American law is far worse than Sharia law would ever be, because refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding is basically analogous to gays being thrown off buildings in Muslim countries, right guys? My personal favorite is the entire section devoted to “Sh!t TSA Says,” which is dedicated to the claim that the Department of Homeland Security illegally profiles Muslims at the airport.  

The Muslim Girl instagram page posts standard meme formats that are tailored to Islamic issues, and seem to be aimed at a teenage demographic. The page maintains very few active followers (the page boasts 57,000 Instagram followers, but their posts garner as few as 336 likes). Despite this, Muslim Girl has somehow achieved cult status at a handful of mainstream beauty publications. Enough so that a world-renowned nail polish brand wanted to work with them.

Perhaps part of the Muslimgirl.com mainstream allure is that Linda Sarsour made a video plea to support crowdfunding the website. If you’re wondering what Ms. Sarsour has been up to this week, in a video unaffiliated with MG you can see her telling Muslims to wage jihad against the Trump administration and not assimilate. In another video that was brought to my attention this week but is apparently from May, you can watch here where she told a white, male Dartmouth student at a town hall that he did not have the right to ask her why she said that Ayaan Hirsi Ali should not have a vagina.

One has to ask themselves, is this simply poor corporate investigation and a lack of due diligence by company representatives, or do they know the individuals they support harbor these types of feelings and the companies simply do not care? If there was such a demand in American markets for halal nail polish, why was teaming up with Muslim Girl the best choice to accomplish that endeavor?

Orly has not yet responded to the inquiry whether they would be open to collaborating with a Jewish or Christian blogger to make a Hanukkah- or Christmas- themed collection.