The Malaysian Islamic preacher, whose disparaging remarks against non-Muslims prompted thousands of police reports, said that his comments were taken out of context.
Preacher Syakir Nasoha defended himself on YouTube yesterday, days after more than 3,000 police reports were made against him for blaming Buddhists, Hindus and Indigenous tribes over the killings of Muslims around the world. Syakir said that people had misquoted his 2017 sermon, insisting that he was not referring to non-Muslims in Malaysia but those abroad.
“The Hindus here are not the ones I talked about,” he said. “I talked about the Hindus who are anti-Islam. I, too, have Hindu friends.”
He reiterated his statement for Buddhists and the Indigenous communities.
The offensive sermon was filmed at the mosque in Sungai Petani, Kedah and parts of it have gone viral online. He has since deactivated his Facebook account.
“Who bombs mosques? Is it America or Israel? No, it’s the Buddhists. Who is killing Muslims in Pakistan and India? It’s the Hindus. Remember, these two religions also exist in Malaysia,” he was heard saying in one of them.
In another part of the video, Syakir said: “Who killed the Muslims in Papua New Guinea? The Dayaks… At the end of time, heathens will be scrambling to kill Muslims.”
In yesterday’s 22-minute clip titled Ustaz Syakir Nasoha – Explanation About A Video That Went Viral Recently, he said that his 2017 statements formed “a reminder for Muslims to be wary of non-Muslims during the end times.”
It is not clear whether the former apprentice of fellow preacher Sidek Noor was officially licensed to preach in Malaysia, although the engineering graduate has been known to give sermons in mosques around Perak and Kedah over the past five years.
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