Dakwah Corner Bookstore managing director Farid Abu Ahmed said this had been the case with all previous talks and forums featuring Zimbabwe’s grand mufti.
His comments followed news on Oct 30 that the Singapore government had banned Ismail and Malaysian preacher Haslin Baharim from entering the city-state to participate in a religiously-themed cruise.
The decision to ban them was made in consultation with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, Singapore Tourism Board and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the republic’s home ministry said.
It added that Ismail had been known to preach “segregationist and divisive teachings”, such as calling it a sin and crime for a Muslim to wish a non-Muslim “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Deepavali”.
Haslin meanwhile was said to have described non-Muslims as “deviant”.
The two preachers are also barred from giving lectures in Johor.
However, Farid said Singapore’s allegations against Ismail were a misunderstanding which had arisen due to the short video clip of his speech which was shown in the city-state.
He added that the message Ismail had tried to deliver would have appeared different if the audience had viewed the full video.
“In the short clip, Ismail said that as Muslims, we cannot greet non-Muslims with ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy Deepavali’.
“But if you watch the entire lecture, he did say we can greet them with seasonal or holiday greetings, but that we might as well use other words such as ‘Happy Holidays’.
“He also said that we can still meet, talk and eat with non-Muslims. No problem at all. He even said that we are all brothers in humanity.
“He is a very positive and friendly speaker, as he can get along with anyone, not only Muslims,” Farid told FMT.
Dakwah Corner Bookstore have organised several events featuring Ismail before this, including talks and book-signing sessions.
The Straight Path Convention, which is under Dakwah Corner Bookstore, had also invited him to events from as early as 2012.