Called out for being insensitive and opportunistic, Ahmad Dusuki Abdul Rani sees nothing wrong with his recent social media remark linking the Sunda Strait tsunami to vice.
Rather, the deputy chief of the Selangor PAS Ulama wing insists he was merely reminding people not to indulge in immoral activities as “it courts Allah’s wrath”.
“What I wanted to say was, don’t indulge in vice. When you do maksiat, it courts Allah’s wrath.
“The reason the tsunami came was because of that reason,” he told the Malay Mail when contacted yesterday.
The Islamic preacher with over 1.3 million followers on Facebook drew thousands of views and hundreds of criticisms accusing him of insensitive proselytisation when he posted a video of Indonesian band Seventeen’s performance in Carita on Christmas Eve when a giant wave ripped through the stage and washed some of the members and audience away.
But when asked to clarify if he meant the December 24 tsunami that hit the Indonesian archipelago was due to vice activities there, Ahmad Dusuki gave a firm “no”.
“Meaning, when you are indulging in vice activities, suddenly Allah takes away your life. It is a reminder to all of us to not be involved in vice activities.
“When you indulge in vice activities, Allah is angered. When Allah is angry, that is what causes things like this [tsunami] to come.”
But Ahmad Dusuki strongly believes that the earlier tsunami that hit Palu on the central Sulawesi island of Indonesia, east of Kalimantan on September 29 was because of what he terms “vice”, though he was not specific about the activities there.
However, he listed the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) culture as a general example of vice that would invite God’s wrath.
“Like the LGBT, like in Palu. The issue that happened in Palu, it’s the same. Let us not be brave in doing it.
“In Palu, there are vice activities. I was present at that place,” he said.
Ahmad Dusuki was also pilloried for including a link asking for donations to his tahfiz school in the same tsunami posting.
Asked why he included it, he said that the donations collected would be channelled to the Indonesian tsunami victims.
“Yes, yes, yes. We want to give to the tsunami victims,” he told the Malay Mail when asked to confirm if he was using three bank accounts listed on his Facebook page to collect funds for the tsunami victims.
The tsunami that swept over popular beaches on southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java and inundated tourist hotels and coastal settlements in the area, was triggered by the eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano, setting off undersea landslides.
The death toll has crossed 400. An estimated 150 are still missing and 16,000 have been displaced. – MMO