AT the end of the month, an Indian court will issue a warrant of arrest for controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik if he fails to appear in person to face a money-laundering charge.

But safe in Malaysia, the warrant is far from Zakir’s mind as he prepares for a round of preaching in Kelantan early next month.

Mumbai-born Zakir, who has had permanent residency in Malaysia since 2012, will address different groups of Muslims in a three-day convention in Kelantan from August 7 to 10.

On August 7, he will speak to academics and university students at the Kelantan Trade Centre.

The next day, he will hold discussions with state government officials and civil servants.

On August 9, he will hold a separate address for women and later, close his three-day programme in the PAS-led state with a rally at Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV on the topic of Islamophobia.

Despite the controversy he draws in India, Zakir has a following in Malaysia and is a familiar personality here since 2012, when he held a series of ceramah in Johor Baru, Kuantan and at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

In 2013, he was given the prestigious Tokoh Maal Hijrah national award by the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah for his services to Islam.

But the evangelist gained notoriety among non-Muslims when he compared Hinduism with Islam soon after the 2016 terror attacks in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in July that year.

Five militants took hostages and opened fire in a bakery, killing 29 people.

Zakir has denied claims that his speeches incited the terrorists to action and fled India. He has lived in either Malaysia or Saudi Arabia since then.

He had already found favour in Saudi Arabia, where in 2014 he received the King Faisal International Prize for his services to Islam.

Now living in Malaysia, Zakir is a regular figure performing Friday prayers at the Putrajaya mosque.

The founder of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), owner of the satellite TV channel, Peace TV, which is banned in India, is allowed to live here “because he has not broken any laws”.

India has continued its attempts to bring him back, first in December 2017 with a diplomatic note by foreign minister Gen (rtd) V.K. Singh, who asked Malaysia to extradite Zakir.

In January 2018, India sent an official extradition request to Malaysia.

In the meantime, India’s attempts to have Zakir listed on Interpol’s red notice had not materialised.

In July 2018, then inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun denied news reports in the Indian media that Zakir was about to deported.

Zakir even thanked Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Malaysian government publicly for not deporting him and for allowing him to stay.

In May this year, India pressed formal charges against the preacher, accusing him of money-laundering and amassing US$28 million (RM114.5 million) worth of criminal assets.

Zakir has denied the charges.

India again submitted an extradition request, confirmed by Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah on June 28.

But Zakir appears safe yet again, with Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin stating on July 11 that Putrajaya will not extradite the preacher despite India’s request.

Muhyiddin said there are reasons for this, for one, Zakir’s name is still not on the Interpol red list and neither is he named as a terror suspect in the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR).

Muhyiddin also said Malaysia had the right not to deport Zakir under its extradition treaty with India which has a provision allowing the restriction on return of fugitive criminals if the charges are “political, religious or racist in nature” and if the person charges is in danger of being punished. – July 19, 2019.