Malaysian Leader Says World’s Muslims Should Not ‘Lose to the Jews’

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BANGKOK — A protest in Malaysia against President Trump’s decision to designate Jerusalem the capital of Israel brought together political foes on Friday, illustrating how solidarity with Palestinians has united disparate forces in the Muslim world.

Prime Minister Najib Razak headlined a rally of more than 1,000 people in the Putra Mosque compound in Putrajaya, the country’s administrative capital.

Also in attendance were former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the 92-year-old opposition leader, who has led a campaign to oust the scandal-plagued Mr. Najib, his former protégé, and Khalil Abdul Hadi, the head of the youth wing of the country’s main Islamic party. Mr. Mahathir joined a prayer service at the Putra Mosque, along with other politicians.

“Today, regardless of our political beliefs, we gather to show that as Muslims in Malaysia we are united in opposing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” Mr. Najib said Friday.

Like many at the rally, Mr. Najib wore a white shirt and black trousers, mimicking the colors of the Palestinian checkered scarf. It was the third such rally in Malaysia in three weeks; days before, tens of thousands marched in Indonesia also to protest Mr. Trump’s Jerusalem declaration.

“There are 1.6 billion Muslims,” Mr. Najib said at the Malaysian rally, to vigorous applause. “There are only 13 million Jews. It does not make sense if 1.6 billion lose to the Jews. If we don’t unite, we will be looked down upon.”

The protest in Malaysia came one day after the United Nations General Assembly voted 128 to 9, with 38 abstentions, for a nonbinding resolution demanding that the United States revoke its Dec. 6 decision to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

At an emergency meeting last week, members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation gathered in Istanbul to declare East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine. Mr. Najib and President Joko Widodo of Indonesia were among the 30 leaders who attended.

“Malaysia is known to be a moderate Islamic nation,” said Khairul Azwan Harun, the deputy head of the youth wing of Malaysia’s governing United Malays National Organization, or UMNO. “Yet we are stern in our belief in Palestinian freedom from an oppressive state.”

While Israel considers Jerusalem its capital, supporters of Palestinian statehood believe that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future independent state.

In Indonesia last Sunday, more than 80,000 people, many clad in white to denote Islamic purity, marched in Jakarta, chanting, “Free Palestine.”

“Our protest was for all Indonesians, not only for Indonesian Muslims, but also for people from different religions and different groups,” said Ma’ruf Amin, head of the Indonesian Ulema Council, the nation’s top Muslim body.

While Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, it also boasts sizable populations that adhere to Christianity and other faiths. The nation’s Constitution is secular.

Indonesians have compared Jerusalem’s status as a city holy for Christians, Jews and Muslims to Indonesia’s own diverse religious heritage.

“Our constitution states that colonialism should be eliminated and that independence is the right of every country,” Mr. Amin said. “But here we can see that America is supporting Israel and not acknowledging Palestine as a country. We are really upset about seeing our fellow Muslims being oppressed.”

History also plays its part. When Indonesia declared independence from the Netherlands in 1945, prominent Palestinians were among the first to recognize the existence of the new nation.

“We have this closeness with Palestine,” said Sinta Santi Usmadin, a university lecturer who heads the preaching department at Salimah, a Muslim sisterhood organization. “We want to send to the Palestinian people moral support, spirit and motivation for them to keep fighting for their sovereignty and independence.”

In both Indonesia and Malaysia, the Palestine issue has given politicians the opportunity to score easy popularity points. Mr. Najib, the Malaysian prime minister, has been embroiled in a corruption scandal involving billions of dollars missing from the government’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, or 1MDB, which he headed.

Malaysia is to hold a general election next year. Mr. Najib’s party, UMNO, which has governed the country since independence, suffered its worst showing ever in 2013 when the governing coalition lost the majority vote for the first time. Mr. Najib has tried to burnish his reputation by reaching out to the Muslim Malay base. The country is also composed of sizable ethnic Chinese and Indian populations.

While the United States Treasury Department maintains that 1MDB’s coffers were the source of hundreds of millions of dollars that ended up in Mr. Najib’s bank account, the Malaysian prime minister has developed a close relationship with Mr. Trump. The two have played golf. In September, Mr. Najib visited the White House, and he stayed at the Trump International Hotel while in Washington.

With the 1MDB case hanging over him, Mr. Najib has expressed gratitude for the support from Mr. Trump, who has shown little distaste for consorting with controversial world leaders.

But at Friday’s rally, Mr. Najib said his personal ties with Mr. Trump did not change his support for Palestine.

“Yes, I was well received at the White House, and Trump is my friend,” he said. “However, when it comes to my principles, I will not sacrifice them, no matter what. It is our duty as Muslims to uphold the first Shariah principle, which is to defend Islam.”