He is comical to look at and listen to, but that image hides a deeply reactionary and enclosed mind. That he was chosen as a mainstream voice to speak to British Muslims is depressing. One of the lectures on that page is 'A message to non Muslims'. I wonder what that will be.
Here is a recent article that is worth your time, by the journalist and writer Sadanand Dhume. If only those ostriches at the BBC had read it.
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'The moderate Dr. Zakir Naik?Buried in a New York Times story about the alleged Afghan-American terrorist Najibullah Zazi is an intriguing detail about his online viewing habits. Apparently Mr. Zazi is a fan of the well-known Mumbai-based preacher and televangelist Dr. Zakir Naik.Friends said that Najib later came to love videos on YouTube that featured Zakir Naik, a physician in India and a prominent speaker on Islam. Dr. Naik has been a controversial figure among Muslims and has been criticized for endorsing polygamy and Islamic criminal law, wherein the hands of a thief are chopped off, calling it ?the most practical.?
To Mr. Zazi, ?he was his inspiration,? his friend Mr. Zaraei said. ?He just loved him.?Dr. Naik, a doctor by training, has used a gentle demeanor and a prodigious memory for scripture to earn himself a global following. Muslims around the world watch his sermons on Peace TV. A search for his name on Youtube throws up nearly 24,000 hits; on Google it?s more than half a million.
For me, though, he?s most interesting as someone who cuts to the heart of the ongoing debate about moderate versus radical Islam.On the face of it, the good doctor appears reasonable enough. He wears a suit and tie and preaches in English. His speech can be impassioned at times, but it?s rarely shrill. He quotes from the Bible and Bhagavad Gita as fluently as from the Koran and the hadith. Confronted by this apparent ecumenicism, even a hard boiled journalist like Shekhar Gupta of the Indian Express can sound like a gushy schoolgirl. Mr. Gupta calls Dr. Naik a ?rock star of televangelism? who teaches ?modern Islam? and ?his own interpretation of all the faiths around the world.?
But how modern or ecumenical is Dr. Naik?
He supports the death penalty for apostasy from Islam. He defends the Saudi ban on the propagation of other faiths in the kingdom on the grounds that their falseness is self-evident. (He likens it to preventing a math teacher from telling children that 2+2=3, or that 2+2=6.)
He recommends a severe form of hijab?in which a woman reveal only her face and hands?as a preventative against molestation and rape. Polygamy will apparently solve the Western ?problem? of ?the surplus of women.? According to Dr. Naik, Jews ?control America? and are the ?strongest in enmity to Muslims.?In short, take away the suit and replace the English with Arabic or Urdu and Dr. Naik would not be out of place in the most benighted part of Saudi Arabia, Sudan or Pakistan. The packaging, and the medium, merely make it easier for him to get his message across to the likes of Mr. Zazi.
http://trueslant.com/sadananddhume/2009/09/26/is-zakir-naik-a-moderate-muslim/
Topic: Zakir Naik has managed to infiltrate the BBC!