One of the world’s most popular Muslim athletes and newly retired mixed martial arts champion Khabib Nurmagomedov lambasted French President Emmanuel Macron for his defence of caricatures of Prophet Mohammed based on the right of freedom of expression and recent anti-Islam remarks. The 32-year-old legendary fighter shared a picture of a boot print on Macron’s face with strongly-worded statement against him which immediately went viral and grabbed over 3.1 million likes instantly.
Taking to his Instagram handle, the Russian star shared the picture and wrote, “May the Almighty disfigure the face of this creature and all his 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 (sic).”
He added, “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 out sideways for them, the end is always for the God-fearing (sic).”
While pictures of the French leader were burnt by protesters who had gathered outside the French embassy in Moscow on Friday, Nurmagomedov shared Surah Al-Ahzab verse 57 from the holy Quran that read, “Surely the ones who hurt Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in the present (life) and the Hereafter, and He has prepared for them a degrading torment.”
{{/usCountry}}While pictures of the French leader were burnt by protesters who had gathered outside the French embassy in Moscow on Friday, Nurmagomedov shared Surah Al-Ahzab verse 57 from the holy Quran that read, “Surely the ones who hurt Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in the present (life) and the Hereafter, and He has prepared for them a degrading torment.”
{{/usCountry}}Macron’s stance on Islam, the controversies around the burqa, Islamic hijab and Sikh turbans and the recent spike in hate crimes after cartoons of Prophet Muhammad surfaced in France have invited sharp criticism from Muslim-majority countries and triggered boycotts of French products in Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Sudan, Palestine and Morocco, Turkey, Pakistan and others.
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