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Selena Gomez deletes mosque snap after online controversy

Written by . Published: January 03 2015

Pop star Selena Gomez has tweeted and deleted a photograph of herself baring her ankle during a visit to a mosque in the United Arab Emirates after sparking outrage online with the inappropriate snap.


The Come and Get It hitmaker jetted to the Middle East with a group of pals, including models Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, last weekend (27-28Dec14) for an end-of-year vacation.


She has been sharing snaps of her travels on her social networking blogs this week (begs29Dec14), showing off shots of the girls wearing modest black robes with traditional hijabs, as is the custom in the Muslim country, but one image, depicting Gomez and a male pal inside the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi with the singer's floor-length gown lifted slightly to reveal her lower calf and bare ankle, caused controversy amid allegations she was disrespecting the local religious culture.


Females are forbidden from displaying their legs inside Islamic places of worship.


The image prompted a barrage of criticism from fellow Twitter and Instagram users, leading Gomez to quietly delete the snap without commenting on the scandal.


Another photo of the whole group laughing as the pals posed on the grounds of the mosque has also been blasted as disrespectful as smiling and laughing at places of worship are also frowned upon in Islamic culture. However, that picture remains online.

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