Muslim leaders unite against Zakir

In a significant development, several NGOs, Muslim leaders and intellectuals on Wednesday voiced their protest against Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik.

Uniting under the banner Muslims for Democracy and Secularism, they said Naik is not a messenger of peace and is instead spreading Saudi-promoted Wahhabism and Salafism.

Zakir is also the founder of Islamic Research Foundation and Peace TV channel.

“Whether the televangelist is guilty of complicity in terror activities or not will only be established through an unbiased and fair investigation. But there’s no doubt about one thing. Zakir is no messenger of peace. Far from peace, his TV channel promotes contempt, if not hatred, towards other religions and its followers,” secularist-activist Javed Anand said at a news conference.

They also played a 15-minute audio with nine clips, in which Zakir is clearly seen speaking against Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism while not making his stand clear on slain terrorist Osama bin Laden.

“He has a very narrow understanding of Islam,” said activist Feroze Mithiborwala, adding that Muslim youth need to be warned of Zakir’s toxic theology.

Anand said Zakir’s understanding of Islam is contrary to what has been preached for centuries in the sub-continent by numerous Sufi saints, including Baba Farid, Hazrat Nizamuddin and Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.