“Cheap Publicity”: Man Beaten Up & Arrested For Video Disparaging Islam & Insulting Prophet Muhammad

By Lara Kramer  •  18 Jul 2022 in News

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Of late, insults and jokes of religious nature seem to be growing in notoriety, with more and more people fearlessly uploading offensive videos mocking religion on social media, deliberately arousing the anger of many.

A recent case came to light when celebrity preacher PU Syed or Ummah Trigger Syed Bakri Al-Yahya reposted a video yesterday of a man, known as Muzil Juling, insulting Prophet Muhammad and Islam as a whole.

 

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A post shared by SYED MOHD BAKRI SYED ISHAK (@pusyed_official)

In the clip, the man clad in a black t-shirt was seen asking questions to the Muslim community, presumed to be an attempt to challenge and insult the religion. He also equates the Prophet Muhammad to a scapegoat, and Allah to a pig.

A rough translation of the man’s statement would read, “To you Malay-Muslim pigs, your Prophet Muhammad is actually a scapegoat, and your Allah is a pig too. Islam is wretched. I challenge you to respond to this.”

He also noted that he was willing to be killed over his opinion.

The thirty-six-second video featuring multiple profanities quickly earned the attention of angered netizens. While the rationale behind his remarks is unclear, many presumed that the man was simply seeking cheap publicity by disparaging his own faith.

Chairman of the Semboyan Association Yusuf Azmi also expressed disappointment and dissatisfaction towards him arbitrarily insulting the Prophet.

 

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A post shared by Yusuf Azmi (@yusufazmi_s1m)

Some netizens even tagged the profiles of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) below the video, in hopes that authorities would take serious action against such cases of insult, which did eventually lead to the man’s arrest- however, not before he was beaten by a group of individuals who were said to have been infuriated by his actions.

 

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A post shared by SYED MOHD BAKRI SYED ISHAK (@pusyed_official)

Shortly after, preacher PU Syed posted a follow-up video on Instagram where Muzil Juling was seen bleeding from his face with angry voices in the background warning him not to repeat the act and asking him to go to the police station and make a confession.

The man then admitted in another video clip, with blood still dripping down his face, that he should not have committed the offence and hoped that the ‘teaching’ he had received would suffice in the eyes of the society.

 

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A post shared by SYED MOHD BAKRI SYED ISHAK (@pusyed_official)

“I don’t blame those who hit me. I understand and I actually wanted to show people the consequences of the act so they know it shouldn’t be done,” he said.

Muzil’s apology video received various reactions among netizens whereby many refused to forgive him and continued to urge the authorities to come forward to impose legal action.

As a result, he was arrested at a house at Batu 8 at Bukit Kuchai, Puchong yesterday (July 17) around 12.30 p.m.

Serdang OCPD Asst Comm A. A. Anbalagan told the Star that the Bukit Aman CID Special Investigations Unit is currently looking into the case and implored the community not to take matters into their own hands, and instead to let the authorities undertake their investigations.

He also clarified that the situation would either be categorised as provoking disharmony, discord, and sentiments of enmity, hatefulness and ill will, or attempting to influence the maintenance of harmony or unity on religious grounds, as well as misusing network facilities.

The first is a violation of Penal Code Section 298A, while the second goes against the Communications and Multimedia Act (Section 233).