“People who change their religion should face the death penalty.”
- Zakir Naik

COMMENT | Why is Muhammad Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu, a follower of Zakir Naik, and member of Angkatan Skuad Mubaligh Malaysia, known as an “independent” preacher? What does this mean? JAIS had hooked up with Kalimuthu (in 2017) to give courses on the Tamil language to increase productivity when it comes to proselytizing in a multilingual milieu.

What this course was supposed to do, was make it easier for Muslim preachers (state sanctioned) attempting to convert Indians, using the Tamil language as an entry point into their lives.

The idea that Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin puts forward that Kalimuthu was only testifying when it came to his personal experience with the Hindu faith, is bunkum. What Kalimuthu was doing as a professional proselytizer was creating a narrative for Muslims to use to convert Hindus in the course of his professional duties.

So there is nothing “independent” about Kalimuthu...