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Salam,
This made me sad that he had to suffer and made me happy he found god.
Alexander Litvinenko Conversion to Islam 2 days before his death
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Alexander Litvinenko Conversion to Islam 2 days before his death
Litvinenko worked for the Russian Secret Service in the KGB and in the FSB. He exposed many of the lies of the Kremlin and of Putin. He campained on behalf of the Chechen Muslims who had been persecuted for many years by the Russians. He also showed how the FSB and Putin was responsible for the Moscow Apartment bombings and many other terrorist activities.
He fled to Britain with his family. He died aged 43 in University College Hospital, London. He was found to have been poisoned with radioactive polonium-210. Alexander blamed the Russian authorities for his poisoning.
What is not so well known, is that Alexander Litvinenko became Muslim 2 days before his death.
Reported in some newspapers including the well known Times newspaper. At the end of the Times Online article.
Quote:
Litvinenko's father, Walter, said in an interview published today that his son - who was born an Orthodox Christian but had close links to Islamist rebels in Chechnya - had requested to be buried according to Muslim tradition after converting to Islam on his deathbed.
"He said ’I want to be buried according to Muslim tradition’," Mr Litvinenko told Moscow's Kommersant daily.
"I said, ’Well son, as you wish. We already have one Muslim in our family - my daughter is married to a Muslim. The important thing is to believe in the Almighty. God is one.’"
The date of Litvinenko's funeral has also not been disclosed. Friends say the casket will be sealed to prevent the spread of radiation. He is to be buried in a Muslim cemetry in London.
Litvinenko's father today told RFE/RL's Russian Service that his son told him shortly before his death that had converted to Islam, and wished to be buried according to Muslim tradition.
"He told me about his decision two days before he died. He said, 'Papa, I have to talk to you about something serious. I've become a Muslim,'" Valter Litvinenko said.
"I said, 'Sasha, it's your decision. As long as you don't become a communist or a satanist, that's the main thing. I'm a Christian myself, but I have a granddaughter whose father is Kabardin -- my daughter's husband, he's Muslim as well," he continued. "We haven't lost God; we believe in God. But how to believe in God, how to pray -- everyone should do that in the way they consider best."
Valter Litvinenko said his son had grown disenchanted with what he described as the "hierarchy" of the Russian Orthodox Church, and had sought a change.
Akhmed Zakayev, the London-exiled Chechen separatist envoy, told RFE/RL that Litvinenko asked him about the possibility of converting in the early days of his illness. "I told him it was a purely personal question, that it isn't important to which god we pray as long as we aren't doing ignoble acts. And I sort of dropped it. But he over and over again returned to the subject."
Zakayev added that Litvinenko went on to pronounce the shahadah, the fundamental Muslim statement of faith.
"Any student of Islam will tell you that there are no particular rituals for converting to Islam. All you have to do is say one sura" -- a verse or chapter from the Koran -- "and from that moment if the person who pronounces this sura, this shahadah, has sincere intentions, from that moment he is considered a Muslim," he said.
Zakayev also described the day before Litvinenko died: "On November 22, at his request, I, with his wife's approval, brought an imam to him. He read over him a sura from the Koran, the one that is read over a dying Muslim," he said. "Of course, according to Muslim rituals, they pray over the body before burial. Now, unfortunately, that part of the process which Aleksandr requested cannot be fulfilled because of the exceptional circumstances of the radiation in his body and the fact that the coffin that will contain his body cannot be opened for 6 1/2 years."
Litvinenko, who defected to Britain in 2000, had previously been active in uncovering corruption in Russia and was involved in investigations into the murder of Anna Politkivskaya, the Russian journalist and anti-Chechen campaigner killed in Moscow last month.
Radio station Echo Moskvy reported Friday Litvinenko had converted to Islam shortly before his death.
Litvinenko, it said, had been read the Yasin surah, or prayer, and given Islamic death rites by an imam invited to his hospital bedside.
Ekho, a prominent liberal broadcaster funded by state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom, said Litvinenko would be buried in a Muslim cemetery in London.
Goldfarb, a close associate of Litvinenko in London, said no arrangements for a funeral had been made as post-mortem examinations were continuing.
Wasalam
This made me sad that he had to suffer and made me happy he found god.
Alexander Litvinenko Conversion to Islam 2 days before his death
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexander Litvinenko Conversion to Islam 2 days before his death
Litvinenko worked for the Russian Secret Service in the KGB and in the FSB. He exposed many of the lies of the Kremlin and of Putin. He campained on behalf of the Chechen Muslims who had been persecuted for many years by the Russians. He also showed how the FSB and Putin was responsible for the Moscow Apartment bombings and many other terrorist activities.
He fled to Britain with his family. He died aged 43 in University College Hospital, London. He was found to have been poisoned with radioactive polonium-210. Alexander blamed the Russian authorities for his poisoning.
What is not so well known, is that Alexander Litvinenko became Muslim 2 days before his death.
Reported in some newspapers including the well known Times newspaper. At the end of the Times Online article.
Quote:
Litvinenko's father, Walter, said in an interview published today that his son - who was born an Orthodox Christian but had close links to Islamist rebels in Chechnya - had requested to be buried according to Muslim tradition after converting to Islam on his deathbed.
"He said ’I want to be buried according to Muslim tradition’," Mr Litvinenko told Moscow's Kommersant daily.
"I said, ’Well son, as you wish. We already have one Muslim in our family - my daughter is married to a Muslim. The important thing is to believe in the Almighty. God is one.’"
The date of Litvinenko's funeral has also not been disclosed. Friends say the casket will be sealed to prevent the spread of radiation. He is to be buried in a Muslim cemetry in London.
Litvinenko's father today told RFE/RL's Russian Service that his son told him shortly before his death that had converted to Islam, and wished to be buried according to Muslim tradition.
"He told me about his decision two days before he died. He said, 'Papa, I have to talk to you about something serious. I've become a Muslim,'" Valter Litvinenko said.
"I said, 'Sasha, it's your decision. As long as you don't become a communist or a satanist, that's the main thing. I'm a Christian myself, but I have a granddaughter whose father is Kabardin -- my daughter's husband, he's Muslim as well," he continued. "We haven't lost God; we believe in God. But how to believe in God, how to pray -- everyone should do that in the way they consider best."
Valter Litvinenko said his son had grown disenchanted with what he described as the "hierarchy" of the Russian Orthodox Church, and had sought a change.
Akhmed Zakayev, the London-exiled Chechen separatist envoy, told RFE/RL that Litvinenko asked him about the possibility of converting in the early days of his illness. "I told him it was a purely personal question, that it isn't important to which god we pray as long as we aren't doing ignoble acts. And I sort of dropped it. But he over and over again returned to the subject."
Zakayev added that Litvinenko went on to pronounce the shahadah, the fundamental Muslim statement of faith.
"Any student of Islam will tell you that there are no particular rituals for converting to Islam. All you have to do is say one sura" -- a verse or chapter from the Koran -- "and from that moment if the person who pronounces this sura, this shahadah, has sincere intentions, from that moment he is considered a Muslim," he said.
Zakayev also described the day before Litvinenko died: "On November 22, at his request, I, with his wife's approval, brought an imam to him. He read over him a sura from the Koran, the one that is read over a dying Muslim," he said. "Of course, according to Muslim rituals, they pray over the body before burial. Now, unfortunately, that part of the process which Aleksandr requested cannot be fulfilled because of the exceptional circumstances of the radiation in his body and the fact that the coffin that will contain his body cannot be opened for 6 1/2 years."
Litvinenko, who defected to Britain in 2000, had previously been active in uncovering corruption in Russia and was involved in investigations into the murder of Anna Politkivskaya, the Russian journalist and anti-Chechen campaigner killed in Moscow last month.
Radio station Echo Moskvy reported Friday Litvinenko had converted to Islam shortly before his death.
Litvinenko, it said, had been read the Yasin surah, or prayer, and given Islamic death rites by an imam invited to his hospital bedside.
Ekho, a prominent liberal broadcaster funded by state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom, said Litvinenko would be buried in a Muslim cemetery in London.
Goldfarb, a close associate of Litvinenko in London, said no arrangements for a funeral had been made as post-mortem examinations were continuing.
Wasalam
