Saifuddin Shoots Down Claim Zakir Naik Granted Malaysian Citizenship

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Preacher Dr Zakir Naik was previously banned from speaking in Malaysia after he made controversial statements about Hindus and Chinese in 2019. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has rubbished claims on social media that controversial preacher Dr Zakir Naik has been granted Malaysian citizenship.
“It is a fake post which was made more than six years ago,” Saifuddin told FMT.
The minister was referring to a photograph of Zakir receiving the “Pahlawan Perkasa” award from then Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali.
When contacted, Ibrahim explained that the photograph was taken in 2017 when Perkasa honoured Zakir for his contributions to Islam – and had nothing to do with claims that the preacher was granted Malaysian citizenship.

“This is absolute fitnah (slander) and is aimed at misleading Malaysians and provoking them for political reasons,” said Ibrahim, who founded Malay rights group Perkasa in 2008.
“As we all know, Zakir is a permanent resident. He told me he does not want citizenship here, and he is waiting for the right time for everything to be settled before he returns to India,” he told FMT.
The Mumbai-born preacher has been sought by Indian authorities since 2016 for alleged money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speech.
Last August, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he was not willing to consider extraditing Naik to India as long as the preacher did not cause any trouble.
Zakir was granted permanent residency in Malaysia by the Barisan Nasional government in 2015.
In 2017, Indian media reported that Zakir was seeking Malaysian citizenship after being granted permanent residency here.
Citing sources from India’s National Investigation Agency, The Times of India also reported that a decision had yet to be made about his Malaysian citizenship application.
Zakir was previously banned from speaking in Malaysia after he made controversial statements about Hindus and Chinese in the country during a speech in Kota Bharu in 2019.
However, on Feb 20, Saifuddin said there are currently no orders preventing the controversial preacher from giving public speeches. - FMT

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