Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov slams Macron over Islam comments
- 31 Oct 2020
Sakeena Banday, Gulf Today
Former UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov slams President Emmanuel Macron following his comments surrounding Islam and the recent attacks in France in an Instagram post.
Khabib posted a picture of the French leader with a shoe print over Macron’s face, along with a caption.
The strongly-worded caption reads in Russian and Arabic, along with the verses from the Holy Quran.
He wrote: “May the Almighty disfigure the face of this creature and all its followers, who, under the slogan of freedom of speech, offend the feelings of more than one and a half billion Muslim believers. May the Almighty humiliate them in this life, and in the next. Allah is quick in calculation and you will see it.
“We are Muslims, we love our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) more than our mothers, fathers, children, wives and all other people close to our hearts. Believe me, these provocations will come back to them, the end is always for the God-fearing.”
Khabib added verse 33:57 from the Quran, which said: “Indeed, those who revile Allah and His Messenger, Allah cursed in this world and in the Hereafter and prepared for them humiliating torments.”
Khabib garnered over 3,177,917 likes within a couple of hours.
The champion has a huge fan following, with over 25 million followers on Instagram.
The former UFC champion’s outburst comes after Macron gave a speech before the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, who was attacked close to his school earlier this month after shocking cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to his students.
Eighteen-year-old Abdullakh Anzorov was shot dead by police after the attack, and seven people were detained in the days since the killing.
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Speaking the day before the attack, Macron said: "Islam is a religion which is experiencing a crisis today, all over the world."
He added that there was a need to "free Islam in France from foreign influences", which has sparked protests against the French president in Asian countries in recent days.
Macron said, "Our challenge is to struggle against the downward slide of some in the name of religion, by ensuring that those who want to believe in Islam and are full citizens of our Republic are not targeted."
In a defence of France’s freedom of expression, "We will not give up caricatures and drawings, even if others back away,” he added.
"Our citizens are waiting for us to act. Dozens of operations have been launched against associations, and also individuals who support a plan of radical Islamism, in other words an ideology to destroy the (French) Republic."
