Twitter users around the world have been posting sarcastic messages with the hashtag #MuslimApologies in a bid to counter negative portrayals of Islam.
The hashtag appeared on Tuesday and quickly gathered pace, with the BBC reporting that it has been used more than 30, 000 times over the past three days.
“Sorry for Algebra, cameras, universities, hospitals, oh and coffee too,” wrote one user.
“I’m so sorry for coffee, cheques, parachutes, chemistry, inoculations, soap, shampoo, cameras,” wrote another.
“I’m sorry it was a Muslim woman, Fatima Muhammad Al-Fihri, that established the world’s first university,” a third said.
The conversation is now growing in French with the equivalent hashtag – #LesMusulmansSexcusentPour – being touted. Some French speaking users apologized for the footballer Zinedine Zidane.
