Several people have come to the defense of Bersatu's Maszlee Malik, after yesterday's announcement of his appointment as education minister caused a stir among netizens, some of whom have labelled him an “Islamist” and claimed that he supports controversial preacher Zakir Naik.

Fellow academic Faisal Hazis urged the public to judge Maszlee on his policy goals, rather than his religious or ethnic background.

"We condemn people who question Lim Guan Eng's ethnicity when he was appointed minister of finance but we allow people to question Maszlee's religiosity....