On-the-run Zakir Naik to give Friday sermon in Perlis

Fugitive televangelist Dr Zakir Naik will be delivering a Friday sermon in Perlis on February 10, according to a poster shared by the state’s mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin yesterday.

29 January 2017

File photo of Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik at a talk titled ‘The Importance of Unity Among the Muslim Ummah’ at the Gong Badak stadium, in Kuala Nerus April 10, 2016. — Bernama picKUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 — Fugitive televangelist Dr Zakir Naik will be delivering a Friday sermon in Perlis on February 10, according to a poster shared by the state’s mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin yesterday.

The poster indicated that the sermon is jointly organised by the Perlis Islamic Religious Affairs Department, the Islamic and Perlis Islamic Affairs and Malay Customs Council, and the office of the Perlis mufti.

The sermon will be delivered at the state mosque in Arau.

In the poster, Dr Zakir is described as a “researcher and caller to Islam”.

Last month, Dr Zakir visited a private Islamic-centric university in Shah Alam, Selangor, which is also under investigation for radical teachings after two students were arrested on suspicion of being Islamic State recruits planning a terror attack locally.

Although a fugitive in India, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the controversial Islamic preacher is free to travel in Malaysia because he is not on the terror list here.

He has been reported by several Indian newspapers to be on the run to avoid prosecution in India.

The Salafist preacher has also been banned from several countries like Bangladesh, Canada and the UK.

In November last year, Times of India reported the Indian government has imposed a five-year ban on Dr Zakir’s NGO, the Islamic Research Foundation.

The daily reported that India’s authorities are also mulling terror charges against Dr Zakir, reportedly based on testimonies of about 50 terror suspects and convicts recorded from various jails, with those caught citing the medical doctor as their motivation and source of inspiration.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/on-the-run-zakir-naik-to-give-friday-sermon-in-perlis

Dhaka militants followed Zakir Naik, alleged IS recruiters

Two of the militants who killed 20 hostages in Dhaka, Bangladesh, had been social media followers of controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik and two suspected recruiters of the Islamic State (IS).



5 July 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 ― Two of the militants who killed 20 hostages in Dhaka, Bangladesh, had been social media followers of controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik and two suspected recruiters of the Islamic State (IS).

Bangladesh’s English-language newspaper The Daily Star reported yesterday that one of the 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”.

Another militant in the attack on a cafe in Dhaka, Nibras Islam, reportedly used to follow IS suspected recruiters ― Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness ― on Twitter in 2014.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed yesterday that two people involved in the Dhaka attack previously studied at Monash University here, but said police were unable to verify if the duo were the attackers or victims.

UK broadcaster BBC News reported that six attackers were killed when authorities stormed the Holey Artisan cafe in Dhaka, while a seventh man was arrested and questioned.

The militants, who were said to have come from affluent families, had killed 20 hostages ― including Italians and Japanese ― most of whom had been hacked to death. Rohan was the son of a politician from Bangladesh's ruling party Awami League.

A man places a sign as others light candles during a vigil in Kolkata, India, to show solidarity with the victims of the attack at Holey Artisan restaurant, a upscale cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh July 2, 2016. — Reuters pic

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 who speaks on the Peace TV broadcaster, with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi describing Dr Zakir as a “very wise man”.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/dhaka-militants-followed-zakir-naik-alleged-is-recruiters