Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim joins the crowd at last night's 'Rakyat Hakim Negara' gathering in Seberang Jaya. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, October 23, 2014.Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said there are bigger problems in the country than the recent "I want to touch a dog" event which he said has been turned into "a national issue that threatens the nation".
"There are Muslims who are involved in gambling firms and beer companies. A minister's family member has a multi-million ringgit security labelling contract for liquor and beer.
"Have the ustazs said anything about this and about big shots who consume alcohol?" he said at a "Rakyat Hakim Negara" gathering in Seberang Jaya last night.
The "I want to touch a dog" event in Bandar Utama last Sunday drew more than 1,000 people, including Muslims, but its organiser, Syed Azmi Al-Habshi, has since become a victim of abuse online and even received death threats.
The event, which was aimed at helping people to overcome their fear of dogs and to understand canines better, infuriated religious authorities, with some Muslims condemning it as an attempt to insult the ulama (clerics).
Anwar said he was asked on Twitter if he supported the act of Muslims touching dogs, which were regarded as 'unclean' animals.
"I said no. If (a Muslim) wants the touch a dog, just 'samak' (cleanse) after that. What is the big problem?
"A national issue that threatens the country is now young people (Muslims) wanting to touch dogs?"
Anwar joked if Muslims would also have trouble touching money previously in the hands of the Chinese who eat pork.
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