Left to Right: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin, and ?
Yesterday was a big day for Russian Muslims: the new Cathedral Mosque opened in Moscow, just before the start of the Muslim holiday of Kurban Bayrami (Eid al Adha – the “Feast of the Sacrifice”) which in 2015 occurs on September 22-23.
I saw this piece in Life News with the sensationalistic headline: “Vladimir Putin quoted the Koran while opening the new Mechet in Moscow.”
For more information, which is already in English, about the new giant Mosque and the dignitaries who attended the opening, you can read this piece by the ineffable Paul Goble.
To the facts related by Goble, LifeNews adds the tidbit that Putin quoted the Koran in his speech to the gathering of dignitaries:
Putin:
“I am confident, that the Cathedral Mosque will help to unite the efforts, not only of Muslims, but people of other faiths as well, in the name of good deeds for all. As the Koran says: ‘Strive to out-do each other in committing good deeds.’ ”
[yalensis: Not being a Koranic scholar, I was not able to fact-check this quote, but if anyone out there knows which verse this is?]
Awful Avalanche 
The verse may be 5:48 from Chapter 5 sūrat l-māidah (The Table spread with Food).
Sahih International: And We have revealed to you, [O Muúammad], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations away from what has come to you of the truth. To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ.
Pickthall: And unto thee have We revealed the Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and a watcher over it. So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed, and follow not their desires away from the truth which hath come unto thee. For each We have appointed a divine law and a traced-out way. Had Allah willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you (He hath made you as ye are). So vie one with another in good works. Unto Allah ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ.
Yusuf Ali: To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute;
Shakir: And We have revealed to you the Book with the truth, verifying what is before it of the Book and a guardian over it, therefore judge between them by what Allah has revealed, and do not follow their low desires (to turn away) from the truth that has come to you; for every one of you did We appoint a law and a way, and if Allah had pleased He would have made you (all) a single people, but that He might try you in what He gave you, therefore strive with one another to hasten to virtuous deeds ; to Allah is your return, of all (of you), so He will let you know that in which you differed;
Muhammad Sarwar: We have revealed the Book to you (Muhammad) in all Truth. It confirms the (original) Bible and has the authority to preserve or abrogate what the Bible contains. Judge among them by what God has revealed to you and do not follow their desires instead of the Truth which has come to you. We have given a law and a way of life to each of you. Had God wanted, He could have made you into one nation, but He wanted to see who are the more pious ones among you. Compete with each other in righteousness. All of you will return to God who will tell you the truth in the matter of your differences.
Mohsin Khan: And We have sent down to you (O Muhammad SAW) the Book (this Quran) in truth, confirming the Scripture that came before it and Mohayminan (trustworthy in highness and a witness) over it (old Scriptures). So judge between them by what Allah has revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging away from the truth that has come to you. To each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear way. If Allah willed, He would have made you one nation, but that (He) may test you in what He has given you; so strive as in a race in good deeds. The return of you (all) is to Allah; then He will inform you about that in which you used to differ.
http://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=5&verse=48
I luuurve Google!
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Yes, I think that must be the passage, like Mohsin Khan saying, “strive as a race in good deeds”, I think by “race”, he means like a competitive race. Or like that guy Pickthall (whoever he is) says: “Vie with one another in good works.”
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Sorry to take your post off-topic, but turnabout is fair play!
Take a quick look, if you have the time, at this post in the Unz Review (first time I’ve visited there, as it happens).
http://www.unz.com/pcockburn/a-sense-of-despair-is-sweeping-through-iraq-this-email-from-my-driver-in-baghdad-proves-it/
It’s quite a good piece on its own merits, and deserves a read. The conclusions fit very well with those in Farnaz Fassihi’s “Waiting For an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq”; she was there for several years, first as a reporter for some podunk paper whose name I don’t remember, and later for The Wall Street Journal. She was in Iraq from just before the American invasion until well after things had started to go pear-shaped. There seems little doubt that America’s failure to plan for…well, anything after the inevitable military victory is almost certainly the root cause of the implosion of Iraq and its descent into secular warfare.
But it was the comments I found interesting. Check out those attributed to the commenter who calls himself “Deduction”. Sound familiar?
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Dear Mark:
Tee hee – yes, this “Deduction” fellow sounds quite familiar. How many aliases does this “cuckservative” homeboy own? -ROFL
Although…. In truth, everybody on Unz looks and sounds the same to me. I can’t tell these white crackers apart. Maybe that’s racist, I dunno.
Okay, I’ll say it again:
I strongly believe that anybody on the Internet blathering about IQ should be forced, by International Law, to submit their own test scores via Facebook for peer review and all-around general ridicule!
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Yes, I have to agree there is a strong anti-immigrant bias there, at least that’s what I noticed in my limited observation. And “Deduction” seems to take strength from having a sympathetic ear – he’s much more scathing and mocking and a lot less polite than he was at KS. Anyway, that seems to account for why he disappeared. He has found a new venue where he’s much happier.
And, as usual, it’s all about preservation of the precious while race.
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Is El Creepo really gone?
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I saw those comments. The fellow really is a pathetic troll looking for an audience. He will find one there but if he tries out his usual practice of flooding the comments forums with his idiocy, how long will Ron Unz stand for that?
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Dear Jen:
His natural home and habitat is not even Unz, but actually those blogs where they worship William Luther Pierce. I imagine the “young bucks” sit around and listen to Pierce’s radio broadcasts and then grunt their approving comments on the forums.
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Are the “young bucks ” not the stock on the plantation?
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Normally they are, but in this case, they are the “eager breeders” of HBD theories!
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Isn’t this all the wrong way around?
Imagine the reaction if President Obama attended the opening of a gigantic new mosque in NY or Washington and then proceeded to quote the Koran…
In a supposed democratic and pluralistic country, you would expect something like this to happen with commendations from the commentariat (aka the Pork Pie News Networks – PPNN), but it isn’t happening there. It’s happening in a very large christian majority country that just happens not to be (apparently) ‘western’.
I always like it how the PPNN is ready to bring up Chechnya but glide over the fact that 20 million Russian citizens are moslem. As is usual for the PPNN, any element that does not segue with their astonishingly close line they follow to their governments, simply does not get reported. Free dumb of speech!
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In a pluralistic society, Putin has to please everybody. He greeted the Jews on their New Year; he congratulated the Muslims on their Holiday; he lit a candle in an Orthodox Church on Easter, eventually he will have to preside over some shaman ceremony…
Life is a lot simpler when one is an atheist, that’s what I keep trying to tell people!
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