Footage of Russian President Vladimir Putin kissing the Holy Quran during his visit to a mosque in Chechnya this week has spread like wildfire over social networks.
According to the Daily Express, the Holy Quran that is inlaid with gold was a gift to the 71-year-old Russian president from the “Prophet Jesus” mosque in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, during the first presidential visit in 13 years.
Putin also met with the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and together they visited the newly built mosque in the capital.
Putin is seen in the video kissing the holy Quran right after receiving it as a sign of respect for the Islamic faith.
The video also shows him posing for pictures with Kadyrov while holding the Holy Quran. However, this is not the first time that Putin has been given a holy Quran as a gift.
Last year, during his visit to a historical mosque of Derbent in the Dagestan Autonomous Republic of the Russian Federation, the Russian leader met with Muslim representatives and received a copy of the Holy Quran as a gift in celebration of Eid-ul-Adha.
He said at that time that whereas the desecration of the Holy Quran is not a criminal offense in some countries, it is in Russia. “It’s a crime both under our Constitution and penal code,” he said.
His remarks came after Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee seeking to ban the Holy Quran in Sweden, desecrated the holy book of Muslims repeatedly outside the Stockholm Central Mosque, as Muslims in Stockholm celebrated Eid ul Adha.
