Rihanna was asked to leave a mosque in Abu Dhabi over the weekend after posing for photos which officials said were distracting and violated the “status and sanctity of the mosque.”

The controversial singer posed for several shots at the popular tourist destination, and while she was covered in the traditional hijab and a black outfit that showed no skin, mosque officials said she arrived for a private tour at a gate that is not open to visitors and didn’t get the visit or photo shoot approved ahead of time, so she was asked to leave.

“She left without entering the mosque, after being asked to do so, due to the fact that she had taken some pictures that do not conform with the conditions and regulations put in place by the Centre’s management to regulate visits in a way that takes the status and sanctity of the mosque into consideration,” a representative for the mosque said in a statement.

Rihanna posted several pictures to her Instagram account which show her in provocative poses in front of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, and has received several comments from both supporters and detractors about the mosque visit.

“I understand this is a place of worship and that someone special rests there, she obviously didn’t know it was that intense,” wrote commenter mzlaydebee. “Christians take pictures in front of church all the time. Its not a big deal for our religion…everybody deserves a chance and she’s getting assaulted for something she clearly wasn’t completely educated on.”

“Was permission asked to do this? That would have made it really simple and this ruckus wouldn’t have been caused in the first place,” wrote mariezenaida.

Rihanna has had trouble arise from her Instagram account before; just last month, while on vacation in Thailand, the singer posed for a picture with two slow loris. The endangered animals were being shown to tourists by two young men, who were later arrested thanks to Rihanna’s photo.

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Images: Instagram