I did not plan on speaking in mosque, clarifies Najib

Former premier Najib Abdul Razak said he did not plan on holding a talk in Masjid Ar-Rahman near Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

He was responding to Malaysiakini's report on the mosque's committee lodging a police report over a poster which claimed Najib would be going to the mosque to speak to students.

"I'm not sure who produced the graphic (poster) claiming that I would be giving a talk at the mosque," he said in a Facebook post.

Najib said he did plan to perform his Friday prayers at the mosque but denied there would be a talk.

"All this while, we have never given a ceramah or talk in a mosque as we respect the house of Allah and do not want them to be misused," he added.

Following the controversy, Najib said he would perform his Friday prayers at Masjid Ar-Rahah in Kampung Kerinchi instead to avoid "complications" for the Masjid Ar-Rahman management.

The former premier aid after Friday prayers, he would hold his talk at Restoran Amjal, opposite of Universiti Malaya.

Politicians are generally discouraged from holding talks in mosques and in certain states, an outright ban has been implemented.