갓 태어난 아이의 얼굴에 '알라(이슬람교의 신)'라는 단어가 새겨져 있다면?

이슬람교의 경전인 꾸란의 구절들이 피부에 새겨진 아기가 태어나 눈길을 끌고 있다.

19일 외신들에 따르면 러시아 남부에 위치한 체첸의 수도 다게스탄에 사는 알리 야쿠보프(9개월)의 몸에 코란의 글귀가 주기적으로 나타난다.

야쿠보프는 태어난 지 얼마 되지 않아 얼굴에 '알라'라는 단어가 선명히 나타났고, 이후 야쿠보프의 등과 두 팔, 두 다리, 배에는 아랍어 글귀 수십 개가 나타났다.

놀라운 점은 2주일에 한 번씩 옛 글귀들이 사라지고 새로운 글귀가 아기의 몸에 새겨진다는 사실.

현지 의사들도 아기 몸에서 벌어지고 있는 이런 신비로운 현상에 대해 과학적으로 도저히 설명할 수 없다면서도 결코 누군가가 일부러 글을 새겨넣은 것은 아니라는 견해다.

야쿠보프의 부모는 아이가 태어나기 전까지 이슬람교를 믿지 않았지만, 이런 현상이 벌어진 이후 독실한 신자가 됐다.

야쿠보프의 어머니인 마디나는 "아이 몸에 글귀가 나타나기 시작한 뒤 신의 존재를 믿게 됐다"면서 "글이 몸에 나타날 때마다 (아이는) 기분이 좋지 않은지 울기 시작하며 체온도 많이 올라간다"고 전했다.

19th October 2009

A baby is sparking a wave of speculation in Russia after phrases from the Koran allegedly began appearing on his skin.

Sayings from the Muslim holy book are said to appear on nine-month-old Ali Yakubov's back, arms, legs and stomach - before apparently fading away and being replaced with new sayings.

Russian medics claimed they are puzzled over the cause of the marks on a baby's skin, which started when the word Allah apparently appeared on his chin within weeks of his birth.

Medics deny that the marks are from someone writing on the child's skin.

His mother, Madina, said that she and her husband were not religious until the writings started appearing on his skin.

Initially they did not show anyone the unexplained writings, she said, until revealing them to their doctor and the imam in their village of Red October which is in a strongly Muslim region.

Now the boy has become a focus of Muslim homage in his troubled home province of Dagestan, close to war-ravaged Chechnya in the south of Russia.

Local MP Akhmedpasha Amiralaev said: 'This boy is a pure sign of God. Allah sent him to Dagestan in order to stop revolts and tension in our republic.'

The boy's mother claimed: 'Normally those signs appear twice a week - on Mondays and on the nights between Thursdays and Fridays.

'Ali always feels bad when it is happening. He cries and his temperature goes up. It's impossible to hold him when it's happening, his body is actively moving, so we put him into his cradle. It's so hard to watch him suffering.'

The phrases regularly replace each other on the baby's skin, she said.

Local imam Abdulla has told locals that the Koran forecasts that before the end of the world, there may be people with its sayings on their bodies.

He said that one sign read: 'Don't hide these signs from the people.'

The story has attracted considerable attention from the Russian media and online.

Russian video report: