PETALING JAYA: Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says preacher Syeikh Zainul Asri Romli has admitted that it was a mistake to claim that God would defend PAS-led Kedah from “enemies of Allah” at a recent gathering.
Saifuddin said the preacher had been called in by the police and a statement was taken.
“In his first meeting with police, he admitted to his mistake and said he got too excited when he saw a huge crowd,” he told a press conference.
He added that police will continue investigating the preacher as a report had been made.
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“If religious people touch on 3R, it has huge consequences. This is why it should be avoided,” he said, adding that political parties should focus on policy when campaigning in the impending state elections.
Pakatan Harapan filed a police report, via Muhammad Yahaya, against the preacher yesterday, claiming that the remark was seditious.
Muhammad claimed that Zainul had in his speech said he hoped “Allah would defend Kedah from being conquered by His enemies” and that Islam would emerge victorious.
He also claimed that Zainul’s remarks were aimed at PH, although Zainul has since denied the claim.
Zainul is an independent preacher and was formerly deputy chief of the Kedah PAS ulama council.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin said the country was short of reaching its target of recruiting 500,000 foreign workers by the end of June. He said the country was still waiting for 100,000 workers.
He said this situation came about because employers were not able to take on foreign workers “at one go”.
“These workers can only be employed in stages. For instance, when they request for 1,000 foreign workers, they can only take in about 300 at each stage.”
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