On Monday (30th September), controversial hate preacher Zakir Naik, landed in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Naik has been invited by the Pakistan government for a lecture series in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, he will also have public interactions across the country. Naik is accompanied by his son, Fariq Naik, who is also an Islamic ‘scholar’ and will tour the country with him for the lectures.
Zakir Naik is a fugitive Islamic orator who focuses on theological debates. His controversial speeches have been inspiring many radical organizations and individuals. Naik is currently a wanted figure in India, where, in 2016, the authorities charged Naik for money laundering. Evading investigation Naik opted not return to India and became a permanent resident of Malaysia instead. The Indian authorities have been mounting pressure on the Malaysian authorities to extradite him to India, to face the legal consequences of his cases.
What is Zakir Naik doing in Pakistan?
The radical preacher reached Islamabad on Monday to begin his lecture series which will take place in several major cities in the country including the capital, Karachi and Lahore. Upon reaching, Naik was received by senior government officials including the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith and Parliamentary Secretary for Religious Affairs.
According to official sources, Naik’s month-long tour will include meetings with senior government officials and he will also participate in various public events. As per reports, Naik will lead and address Friday prayer congregations in the cities he will visit.
The Controversies of Zakir Naik
Naik is considered by many as a magnet for figures linked to terror organizations, while his message has inspired violent radicals. In 2008, an Islamic scholar in Lucknow, Shahar Qazi Mufti Abul Irfan Mian Firangi Mahali, issued a fatwa against Naik, claiming that he supported Osama bin Laden, and that his teachings were un-Islamic.
The investigations of the Dhaka attack in July 2016 revealed that a terrorist involved in the brutal killings followed Zakir Naik’s page on Facebook and was influenced by Naik’s speeches. The terrorist had even posted sermons of Zakir Naik on social media. When the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Mohammad Ibrahim Yazdani, the head of Islamic State’s Hyderabad module in India. Upon interrogation, it was revealed that the operatives were influenced by Zakir Naik’s sermons and wanted to establish Shariah law as in Islamic state.
There have been media reports of Intelligence Agencies probing the alleged links between terror group Jamaat-ud–Dawa (JuD), and Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). A worker from Naik’s IRF had been involved in the 2006 Mumbai blasts while his sermons were seen as an inspiration by the mastermind of the Sri Lanka Easter bombings.
Naik also runs a controversial channel by the name PeaceTV, which is banned in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka due to its radical content while Naik has also been denied entry into Canada and the United Kingdom because of it.
Impact On Pakistan
Pakistan is already home to some of the biggest UN-designated terrorists and terror organizations in the world. It is notorious for intensifying a new wave of radicalization where blasphemy murders are becoming a daily occurrence. Mob lynchings aside, now even the Pakistan police are doing encounters of citizens accused of wrong speech or social media posts.
While violent protests have also erupted across Pakistan following the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, leading to clashes between demonstrators and police. Protesters, incensed by the killing, attempted to even breach the U.S. consulate in Karachi.
With such hate filled mobs and organizations running rampant across the country, adding hate preacher Zakir Naik to the mix will further fan the flames to burn the region.
