KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — PAS leader Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz has denigrated non-Muslims who want fugitive televangelist Dr Zakir Naik to be deported over his alleged inflammatory remarks as “enemies” today.

He also claimed that the Muslims who agree that Dr Zakir be deported are “hypocrites and sinners”.

“No Muslim is happy and agree that Dr Zakir Naik be kicked out of this country, except for hypocrites and major sinners,” he said in a Facebook post here.

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“No non-Muslims try to kick Dr Zakir Naik out of this country except for enemies of Islam. Whoever support the actions of these enemis of Islam towards his own community, he is a traitor.”

The son of the late PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat claimed that it is “haram”, or forbidden for Muslims to be cruel towards other fellow Muslims, or to allow others harm the latter.

Today, PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has vowed that “more than one million” members of the Islamist party will not allow fugitive preacher Dr Zakir Naik from being harmed, amid calls to deport him over alleged inflammatory remarks.

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He claimed that it is an obligation for Muslims to defend their religion and their preachers when threatened, labelling the issue as “a red traffic light” that every sane Muslim in the country should not cross.

The police said today India-born preacher Dr Zakir is under investigation under Section 504 of the Penal Code for intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

In May, the televangelist demanded written guarantees from India that he would not be detained prior to any conviction in order for him to stand trial there.

Dr Zakir has been evading Indian authorities since 2016, when files were opened against him for allegedly making hate speeches and laundering money after five militants launched an attack on a bakery in Dhaka, Bangladesh that ended with 29 dead.