SEVENTEEN’s The8 Faces Backlash Over Alleged Disrespect Toward Islam

SEVENTEEN’s The8 is facing backlash over his recent DJ set that included a sacred Islamic hymn turned into rave music.

The controversy began when The8 headlined the MIDOU Music Festival in Nanjing, China, closing the event with a DJ-style performance. Videos from the festival showed him playing a remix track that featured a sacred Islamic hymn, known as a Nasheed.

Fans quickly reacted online after spotting the remix of “Salu ‘ala al-Nabi wa Zidu Salatah,” a widely recognized religious hymn associated with Hajj and Islamic celebrations. Many Muslim netizens and SEVENTEEN fans expressed disappointment and offense at the use of this sacred song as party music.

“HELLO? ARE WE SERIOUS? does these idols have no sense of awareness about what they are doing?” — @lybtsv

“what the actual fuck…. seriously what the fuck” — @milfloey

“some of yall really dont understand how much Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) means to us. seeing religious audio associated with him used like that genuinely made me uncomfortable and upset and i rlly dont care about fandoms rn that just felt mad disrespectful to me as a muslim” — @yushiscigar

As the situation unfolded, fans discovered the song The8 played was “Where R U Going?” by Mat Weasel. This track originally included the Nasheed, but the artist did not credit the religious content or provide any indication of its sacred nature.

“We found the DJ playlist he used (linked below, credit as due) and the song here is called Where R U Going? by a Western artist Mat Weasel. Looking at his Spotify, there’s multiple remixes of nasheeds and other cultural/religious songs without credit. 2/?” — @saythname_kronk

“All this is to say, the artist whose song Minghao used DID NOT CREDIT the nasheed OR provide lyrics or give any indication that it was a religious song to start with. All I can say is that Minghao, while not blameless, cannot be held up to trial for blasphemy.” — @saythname_kronk

Despite these defenses, many are calling for The8 to address the controversy directly and issue a public apology. So far, the SEVENTEEN member has not responded to the backlash or the requests for clarification.