Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar has expressed his anger towards Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Salahuddin Ayub, who allegedly gave a ceramah at a mosque in Johor Bahru yesterday.
"All mosques in Johor are areas where anything with political elements has been barred. This is the tradition of Johor.
"This is a place of worship and to unite the ummah. Any political elements will only divide the congregants and defile the sanctity of the mosque and the community's harmony," he said in a post on his official Facebook page today.
The statement was titled, “Sultan Ibrahim is wrathful over a minister’s speech in a mosque”.
Sultan Ibrahim's comments come after a video of Salahuddin speaking in a mosque spread on social media.
The sultan has demanded that Salahuddin seek an audience with him, and to write an apology letter and pledge not to repeat the mistake.
He also urged all mosque committees to ensure that such incidents would not occur again.
"This is a final warning... I hope the leader realises his mistake and immediately apologises," Sultan Ibrahim added.
Meanwhile, Salahuddin told the New Straits Times (NST) that he did not make any political remarks during his speech at Masjid Kolam Air.
Malaysiakini understands that Salahuddin's comments to NST were made prior to Sultan Ibrahim's royal rebuke.
"I reached there about 1pm, and 20 minutes before azan (call to prayer), the imam called on me to give a sermon to the congregation.
“I spoke for about 10 minutes and called on everyone to do good on one another. I did not touch on politics at all. I also did not stop anyone from giving the Friday sermon as was alleged on social media.
"I have been actively involved in politics for the past 35 years and am not that stupid to give a political talk in a mosque,” he was quoted as saying.