Political actors in Muslim countries tend to differentiate between religion and politics. In contrast, religion, particularly Islam, is the way of life that covers all life aspects including politics.

In an press conference on Monday (3/4) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), an Indian Muslim scholar Dr. Zakir Naikstated that Islam is the way of life for the believers. “In Islam, we are taught dos and don’ts. Thus, in politics, we have to practice what Islam has taught us,” Dr. Zakir Naik declared.

He regretted that many Muslim politicians and leaders separate Islam and politics as they are afraid of losing their position. “The problem is that we do not have a leader implementing Islamic teaching as mentioned on Al-Qur’an and sunnah. Leaders nowadays, despites Muslims, are terrified of losing their position. In fact, they forget that holding onto Al-Qur’an and sunnah will lead them to have good position in akhirat (the hereafter). They are more afraid of losing their position in the world than in the beyond,” Dr. Zakir maintained.

He added that no leaders in the world are better than Prophet Muhammad Peace Be upon Him. “Only Prophet Muhammad ran the politics as Islamic teaching. His leadership is the best leadership example. Politics nowadays is dirty, and none is similar to the politics in the era of Prophet Muhammad,” emphasized Dr. Zakir Naik.

In the press conference, Dr. Zakir Naik explained a lot of Muslim issues in Indonesia. For instance, Indonesian Muslim liberals consider that Al-Qur’an is mythology.  Dr. Zakir Naik rebutted the statement by providing an analogy. “The people are lack of knowledge. If the group of people believes that Al-Qur’an is mythology, they believe that 2+2=5,” analogized Dr. Zakir Naik.