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Premature to assume Zakir Naik encouraged terrorism, deputy minister says

21:53:00
Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, who oversees Islamic affairs, said any Muslim preacher would know that acts of violence and harm are against the principles of Islam. ― Picture taken from Facebook

PUTRAJAYA, July 6 ― A deputy minister today cast doubt on reports that controversial Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik had asked Muslims to be terrorists, saying that such a claim should first be verified.
Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, who oversees Islamic affairs, said any Muslim preacher would know that acts of violence and harm are against the principles of Islam.
As such, he said it would be “premature to assume” that a scholar of considerable repute like Dr Zakir would advocate terrorism.
“Definitely it is against the principle of Islam. Islam would not condone any violence under the pretext of religion because ends does not justify means in Islam,” the deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department told reporters here.
“So it would be absurd for such a very knowledgeable and reputable scholar to say and (be) quoted saying such words.
“That's why I said you have to verify the statement. I don't think it comes from such a reputable scholar,” he added.
He was asked to comment on Bangladesh’s English-language newspaper The Daily Star's Monday report that one of the Dhaka killers, Rohan Imtiaz, posted on Facebook last year quoting Dr Zakir ― who did a tour in Malaysia last April and received an award from Putrajaya two years ago ― as “urging all Muslims to be terrorists”.
Rohan and another militant who had been involved in the killing of 20 hostages in Dhaka, Bangladesh, had reportedly been social media followers of controversial Zakir and two suspected recruiters of the Islamic State (IS).
Indian and Hindu groups in Malaysia had opposed the visit by Dr Zakir, who expressed support for Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in 2006 and said in a lecture that “every Muslim should be a terrorist”.
However, Putrajaya, Islamist opposition party PAS and some clerics had defended the Mumbai-based televangelist, with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi describing Dr Zakir as a “very wise man”.
Today, Asyraf Wajdi said the recent attack on Medina — one of the holy sites for Muslims — showed that terrorism knows no religion.
“When religion is misinterpreted and used by parties which have a desire to do something outside the limits of humanity, that’s what happened in Medina,” he said.
Noting that the IS is a movement that employs unconventional methods such as social media, the deputy minister said the group could easily influence others to act beyond religious and humane limits by using religion itself.
Malaysians should help share the responsibility to be watchful and work with the authorities in light of the IS threat instead of merely relying on the police to ensure security, he said.
“That’s why I said awareness about security has to be present at all levels of society. They have to know what is going on with their neighbours, their children.
“Don’t think that when children are given gadgets, we leave them alone without us guiding them. Our neighbours, anything that happens around us, if something is wrong, we have to report to the authorities. This is the only way for us to defend ourselves and our country for the sake of peace and harmony,” he added.


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