Zakir Abdul Karim Naik, an Indian Islamic televangelist and preacher, founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation and Peace TV has lavished praises on former Gambian ruler, Yahya Jammeh.
Dr Naik who had visited the Gambia in October 2014 and held a series of Islamic meetings and lectures, described Mr Jammeh as a practising Muslim who implemented a lot of his Islamic teachings and advice.
In an online video posted to millions of his followers around the world, he said Mr Jammeh who lost the election in December 2016 and is now living in exile in Equatorial Guinea was pushed out by Western and non-Muslim leaders for trying to bring Islamic changes in the Gambia.
“Alhamdulillah by Allah’s grace, I have met several heads of state, several presidents and prime ministers of various countries in many of the Muslim countries and some are less close and some are more close. And the previous president of the Gambia or rather the Islamic Republic of the Gambia it was called at that time, he is one of the few heads of state who were very close to me.
“And whenever I meet a head of state, I try to give them advise so that they can come closer to the Quran to take them closer to Allah SWT and our messenger Muhammad (SAW). And amongst the heads of state, the person who has followed maximum Islamic advice I gave is the previous president of Gambia Dr Alhaji Yahya Jammeh.
“And Alhamdullilah, may Allah SWT bless him and may He grant him Jannah. And because he was close to me, many of the Western world were against him and I feel because he followed some of the advice that I gave him, he was forced to leave his position.”
Dr Naik said during the last elections, all the non-Muslim countries like the US got together and pressured Jammeh into vacating the presidency even though he was popular and had won previous elections.
He added: “They have done that not only in the Gambia but many Islamic countries. If they know the person on the chair is more Islamic than the other and, then the support the opposition and try and remove him. And if with all their strategy fail and the person who is Islamic wins, they then they do a coup. This is very common. And we know a few of those examples like in Turkey.
“When they find someone who wants to bring Islamic changes to their country, these western countries would get together and attack economically, socially and the media. And that’s what they are doing today.”
Dr Naik said Jammeh like any other human being has got his faults but compared to other world leaders, he was a practising Muslim.
“There were faults in him and I guided him and gave him so many advice and Alhamdulillah by Allah’s grace he followed and maybe that was one of the reason why he couldn’t stay in power in that country,” he said.
He called on Muslim countries to unite and form a United Muslim Organisation UMO on the basis of Quran and Hadith so that they can be a strong force and not allow non-Muslim countries to put pressure on them and force them to implement what is haram in their countries.
“There are so many Muslims who will willingly agree with them and do haram activities in their countries and are willing to sell their country just to stay in power,” he said.
