dr Zakir Abdul Karim Naik
Zakir Abdul Karim
Naik (born October 18th,
1965) is an Indian public speaker and writer on the subject of Islam and comparative
religion. Zakir Naik was born in Mumbai, Maharastra, India. He studied at St
Peter's High School and Kishinchand Chellaram College. Later, he trained as a medical
doctor at the Karnataka Lingayat Education Society's J. N. Medical College,
Belgaum, Karnataka.
In 1991 he stopped work as a medical medist and started working in the
field of Dawah, and
founded the IRF. Naik says he was inspired by Ahmed Deedat, an Islamic
preacher, having met him in 1987. Naik says that his goal is to
"concentrate on the educated Muslim youth who have become apologetic about
their own religion and have started to feel the religion is outdated". He
considers it a duty of every Muslim to remove perceived misconceptions about
Islam and to counter what he views as the Western media's anti-Islamic bias in
the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
He is the founder of the Islamic International School in Mumbai and United Islamic Aid, which provides scholarship to poor and destitute Muslim youth.
Naik has held many debates and lectures around the world.
Anthropologist Thomas Blom Hansen has written that Naik's style of memorising
the Quran and Hadith literature in various languages, and his related
missionary activity, has made him extremely popular in Muslim circles. Many of
his debates are recorded and widely distributed in video and DVD media and
online. His talks are usually recorded in English and broadcast on weekends on
several cable networks in Mumbai's Muslim neighbourhoods, and on the Peace TV channel,
which he co-produces. Topics he speaks on include: "Islam and Modern Science", "Islam and Christianity", and "Islam and secularism".
One of Naik's most-cited debates was with William Campbell in Chicago in
April 2000, on the topic of "The Qur'an and the Bible: In the Light of
Science". On 21 January 2006 Naik held an inter-religious dialogue
with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bangalore about the concept of God in Islam and Hinduism. In February 2011 Naik addressed the Oxford Union via video link from India. Every year since November 2007 Naik
has led a 10-day Peace Conference at Somaiya Ground, Sion, Mumbai. Lectures on Islam have been presented by Naik and twenty other Islamic
speakers.
Naik argues that scientific theories were prophesised by the Quran. For
example, he says certain verses of the Quran accurately describe embryological development.
His view
Naik claims to offer a rational understanding of Islam. Various aspects of
Islamic law, Shari'ah, he says, may seem illogical to
non-Muslims, or non-practicing Muslims; Naik claims these rules are sensible.
Islam, in his view, is the best way of life because its teachings constitute
practical solutions for the problems of mankind.
1.
Idol
Worship in Islam
Naik was once asked: "Muslims go on a pilgrimage
to Mecca and worship the Kaba'h by circumabulating it and kissing the black
stone. Is that not idol worship?" Naik replied:
"It is not idol worship. The Kaba'h represents a common direction for
prayer and by circling it, Muslims feel that there is one God in the center.
Muslims kiss the Kaba'h only because Muhammad kissed it."
Naik goes on to say:
"Which Hindu will stand on the idol of their deity? But Muhammad stood
on the Kaba'h during the call for prayer during early times of Islam. This is
the best proof that there is no idol worship in Islam but present in
Hinduism."
2.
Hijab
Naik supports the practice of hijab, or Islamic modesty for both men and women. He writes that in Islam, a
woman is required to cover herself entirely except for her face and hands up to
her wrists. He claims that Islam thus protects women from the
lust of men. For men, he prescribes looking away from women if immodest
thoughts enter their minds.
Naik goes on to say:
"Suppose there are twin sisters. While walking down the street, one of
them is wearing a mini-skirt, while the other is wearing the hijab with
everything covered with loose clothes except the hands up to the wrist. If
there is a hooligan who is waiting to tease a girl, which girl will he tease?
He will tease the girl wearing the mini-skirt."
3.
Polygamy
Naik argues that polygyny, or the Muslim
practice of taking up to four wives is justified as it is in the best interest
of both women and men. He claims it protects the modesty of women, while
keeping men from going astray. He writes in his website that human males are
polygamous by nature and that a man is less likely to cheat if he has more than
one wife. He also believes that there are more marriageable women than men in
the world and claims:
"If every woman got married to only one man, there would be over
thirty million females in U.S.A, four million females in Great Britain, 5
million females in Germany and nine million females in Russia who would not
find a husband. Thus the only two options before a woman who cannot find a
husband is to marry a married man or to become public property."
The numbers he cites seem outdated, stemming from the time many men had
died recently in world war II. Nowadays, there are more males born than
females, from a purely arithmetic point of view, it would be no problem to
match every woman with a male.
Naik points to Qur'an 4:3 to explain the Muslim position on polygyny. This verse explains that
a man can take more than one wife only if he is able to treat them equally. If
he cannot do this, he should have a relationship with only one wife and/or
"what your right hands possess" (i.e. female slaves and concubines).
4.
Islamic
Dietary Laws
Observant Muslims do not eat pork. Naik argues that pork is forbidden
because the swine is a dirty animal by nature, and that its flesh is the source
of many diseases:
"The pig is one of the filthiest animals on earth. It lives and thrives
on muck, faeces and dirt. It is the best scavenger that I know that God has
produced."
Naik also believes that diet has
psychological/ethical consequences and one is what one eats :
"The pig is the most shameless animal on the face of the earth. It is
the only animal that invites its friends to have sex with its mate. In America,
most people consume pork. Many times after dance parties, they have swapping of
wives; many say 'you sleep with my wife and I will sleep with your wife.' If
you eat pigs then you behave like pigs"
He also says:
"Eating of pork can cause no less than seventy different types of
diseases. A person can have various helminthes like roundworm, pinworm,
hookworm, etc."
Reception, Awards, Titles and Honors
Naik was ranked 89 on The Indian Express's list of the "100 Most
Powerful Indians in 2010". He
was ranked 82 in the 2009 edition. According to Praveen Swami, Naik is
"perhaps the most influential Salafi ideologue
in India". He is also listed in the book "The 500 Most Influential
Muslims" under honourable mention, in the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013/2014 editions. In July 2013, Naik was named as the
Islamic Personality of the Year, announced by the 17th Dubai International Holy Quran Award(DIHQA).
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Year of award
or honour
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Name of award
or honour
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Awarding
organisation or government
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2013
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Islamic Personality of 2013
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2013
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Distinguished International Personality Award
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2013
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Sharjah Award for Voluntary Work
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2014
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Insignia of the Commander of the National Order
of the Republic of The Gambia
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2014
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2015
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