Chapter 43
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
With ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
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Tanakh, Micah 6:7
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Earth - March 26, 2003
Imam Ali Mosque, Najaf, Iraq
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The Imam Ali Mosque was the Muslim world's third most holy shrine, built around the tomb of Ali-ibn-Ali Talib, the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law—and the man whose murder had split Islam into still-warring Sunni and Shi'a sects. Its golden dome reflected the sunlight from 7,777 gold-plated bricks, while five times a day; an imam would climb one of the thirty meter tall minarets and sing a call to prayer.
A voice screeched out over the loudspeakers, not a call to the faithful, but a call for the mosque's defenders to
