In a video published by Malaysiakini, Muslim preacher Zakir Naik is heard saying: “If you join hands with non-Muslims, you create a bigger problem.”
He is also heard saying: “Then the non-Muslims will come to power.”
He was queried by members of an audience who wanted his views on the local political situation in Malaysia during a dialogue organised by Malay rights pressure group Perkasa.
He is heard saying: “When the party leader is corrupt and he breaks from the party and he creates another party and he joins with non-Muslims, right” before looking at the audience in an apparent disapproval of that particular leader.
To which the audience is heard in reply to Zakir: “Both parties joined hands with the non-Muslims!”
In the video he is seen turning his head away from the audience – with an irate expression – when a voice is heard telling him both coalitions in Malaysia have non-Muslim parties in their groupings.
The replies seems to irritate Zakir who was not happy being cut in the middle of his explanations.
The video starts with Zakir speaking to the audience, but the voice of a woman can be heard in the background, probably replying to his assertions on a specific political party, though it is not clear which party it is.
It is apparent he was speaking of the Malaysian opposition parties, whether it is the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) or Mahathir’s party the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
Later on, when pressed by the audience to give a clear answer on which party to vote since they both have non-Muslim allies but one of the party has a leader who is corrupt but was not replaced by the party (which clearly refers to the ruling coalition), Zakir uses the Quran to confuse the crowd.
In that case he said, the people should chose the party that is the lesser evil.
It is also clear from the video recording that Zakir had an uneasy time attempting to get the audience on board with him on the support for the ruling coalition.
He clearly took sides, saying if one of the coalition had 20% support from the non-Muslims and the other had 5% support from the non-Muslims, then vote for the party that has the 5% support, and forget about the party with the 20% support.