KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 — Controversial televangelist Dr Zakir Naik dared his critics to take legal action against him if they have proof that he is insulting other religions, in his sole lecture in the capital here last night.
The Mumbai-based preacher also claimed that any party who would dare to sue him in court might as well “sue” Quran as his speeches are allegedly based on the Muslim holy book, referring to complaints lodged against him in his last visit in 2012.
“If you want to file a case against me in Malaysia, you have to file a case against the Quran,” Dr Zakir told the tens of thousands in the Bukit Jalil Hockey Stadium, claiming that he was only repeating the word of God in his speeches.
“I’m a preacher, I have to talk about Allah. Am I insulting someone? If you have proof that I'm insulting, I'm ready for the punishment,” he added later in his speech, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd.
Dr Zakir’s one-week tour here organised by the Terengganu state government has received opposition from several Hindu and Indian groups, who claimed that the preacher regularly insults Hinduism in his lectures.
MIC Youth and Malaysian Indian Progressive Association have both lodged police reports against Dr Zakir, while Malaysian Hindu Sangam has urged authorities to deport the Muslim evangelist.
MIC Youth leader C Sivarraajh also said last week that its legal bureau was considering a court injunction against Dr Zakir’s appearance in the country.
In his lecture last night, Dr Zakir lamented that there are people trying to stop him from preaching the oneness of God even in a Muslim-majority country like Malaysia.
“Can you believe, in a Muslim country? If it happens in India, no problem. In a Muslim country someone is saying, ‘don't say God is one.’
“I'm not here to insult any religion … (but) how can I stop saying this – He is one?” Dr Zakir asked in his lecture titled “Is Quran the word of God?”
The speaker also cited scriptures from Judaism, Christianity, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism to make his point to non-Muslims, that even their religion allegedly back the argument that there is only one God.
“I tell people ‘simple, let us agree that there is only one book which is the word of God.’ I have a simple solution, let us agree on what is common in the scriptures.
“Let’s agree to what's common, I'm not trying to create divisions, I'm trying to get the Hindus and Christians and the Muslims together,” Dr Zakir explained.
The Bukit Jalil lecture last night was part of Dr Zakir’s one-week tour organised by the Terengganu state government, and his last lecture in Malacca today will be on the topic of “Islam — Problems and solutions to humanity.”
Among those in the audience were Minister in the Prime Minister Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, both of whom have publicly lent support to Dr Zakir in the past week.
The six-hour lecture which stretched into the early morning also saw four individuals converting into Islam during the question-and-answer session.
