REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, Jakarta -- Vice President Jusuf Kalla has vowed to help ease renowned Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Abdul Karim Naik's visa application process for a trip to Indonesia to speak on Islam, a Muslim scholar stated here, Thursday.

"Our vice president is ready to help Naik's visa process, so that he will not face any difficulty," Prof. Dr Amal Fathullah Zarkasyi, rector of the Darussalam University in Gontor, Ponorogo District, East Java, stated here.

Speaking to journalists shortly after meeting Vice President Kalla, Zarkasyi remarked that Dr Naik was expected to visit Indonesia in April, but he was given the freedom to choose the most appropriate and convenient time to undertake his trip to the country.

Naik was invited by Gontor Islamic boarding school, but his trip to Indonesia was supported by Muhammadiyah University in Yogyakarta, Hamka University in Jakarta, Darussalam University (Gontor), and Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) in Surabaya, he noted.

Darussalam University was able to mobilize five thousand people to attend Dr Naik's preaching, while Hamka University could facilitate him for speaking at the Senayan Sports Complex.

"Naik is good at speaking on Islam and comparative religion," he affirmed.

Born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Dr Naik studied medicine and obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Mumbai. He is popular among Muslims around the world, thanks to his lectures and debates, widely recorded in English and circulated on some cable networks.

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