Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, who filed the suit in September, said Zamihan had labelled him as an “international terrorism supporter”.
In his statement of claim, Philips said Zamihan had been making posts since November last year, which also displayed a photograph of him and a label saying he was a supporter of international terrorism.
He said the latest posting had been made ahead of a religious event to be held in Perlis next month, at which the Canadian was slated to speak.
Philips said the words used to describe him were false, defamatory and baseless, as he strove to promote peace and rejected terrorism carried out in the name of Islam.
He said the defendant’s allegation implied he was engaged in terrorism and violence, and that his lectures were designed to achieve that objective.
Philips said there were 119 Facebook shares of the post when the suit was filed, and that Zamihan had made further remarks on the original post on his page.
The renowned preacher, who converted to Islam in the 1970s, has written some 50 books on Islam, and has been invited to various Islamic TV programmes such as “Peace TV”, “Huda TV” and “The Deen Show, Chicago”.
Philips, dubbed one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world this year, is seeking RM1 million in general damages as well as aggravated and exemplary damages deemed fit by the court.
He is also seeking a restraining order and an injunction to stop Zamihan from repeating those words, and demanding that Zamihan make a public apology in a newspaper of the plaintiff’s choice.
In his defence filed on Oct 19, Zamihan said the statement on Philip’s involvement in terrorist-linked activities was sourced from news reports that appeared in the National Post and The Guardian, as well as from the police.
Zamihan alleged the plaintiff was banned from entering several countries like Germany, Britain, Denmark and Kenya.
Lawyer Meor Amir Meor Omar Baki, who represented Philips, during a case management today said Zamihan had applied for the plaintiff to place some money in court as security for costs.
Such a demand is made when the plaintiff is a foreigner and the defendant cannot obtain costs if the suit is dismissed.
Another case management has been fixed for Nov 30.