KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — Controversial Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik today said he does not own any Twitter account after being linked to a viral social media post advising Muslim Malaysians against celebrating or even offering Christmas greetings.
“I’ve got no Twitter account at all,” he told Malaysiakini at the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 here.
The news portal reported him as declining to speak further.
Dr Zakir has been attending the three-day gathering to discuss Muslim world problems since its launch yesterday but refused to speak to the media when approached.
The Mumbai-born Malaysian permanent resident is no stranger to controversy. The latest firestorm was triggered last week, after a tweet attributed to the account @DrZakirNaikFC purportedly asked Muslims not to wish Christians “Merry Christmas”, claiming it to be a “worse evil, worse than fornication or murder” and not to celebrate the event as it is a “very big sin”.
The Twitter account has since been suspended, but the message continues to circulate on Malaysian social media.
The preacher who is wanted in India for money laundering has been banned from preaching in Malaysia following remarks about the Indian and Chinese community that led to police reports against him.
Earlier this year, he claimed the local Hindu community was more loyal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi instead of to Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and that the Chinese should go back to China.
