The tension between Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Dr Mahathir Mohamad has taken a divine twist with both making references to Prophet Muhammad.

And now their respective supporters have entered the ring.

In a Facebook post, Mahathir’s lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla launched a salvo against Rizal Mansor, the aide to the prime minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor.

Haniff accused Rizal of slander regarding the claim that Mahathir belittled Prophet Muhammad during his speech at the DAP convention over the weekend.

The lawyer also claimed Rizal lacked the intelligence to comprehend Mahathir’s remarks, or had deliberately twisted the matter.

Recalling Mahathir’s speech, Haniff said the former premier had noted how Najib purportedly compared himself to Prophet Muhammad.

“But the prophet of Islam as you know did not have 1MDB... He did not have RM2.6 billion in his account, that is why we look up to him ... but Najib, he should be placed in a court of law to answer for all the things that he has done...,” Mahathir had added.

Based on this, Haniff said it is clear Mahathir never insulted the prophet, and urged Malaysians to view the video recording of the speech.