advertisement
TV evangelist and Islamic preacher Zakir Naik found himself in the middle of a brewing controversy after reports of Dhaka attack gunmen getting “inspired” by him did the rounds.
Media narrative has since then focused extensively on whether he has been responsible for radicalising the young militants and if at all, he is propagating violence and terror under the garb of Islam.
Refuting all these allegations, Naik in an interview with CNN News 18 on Wednesday, asserted that he has been “misquoted” in most cases.
Naik repeatedly referred to the Quran and said that the killing of a human is wrong. “Quran says so too. If anyone kills any innocent human being, it is as though he has killed all of humanity,” he said.
Naik had, in one of his videos, said that he “would not criticise Osama” and that “If Osama Bin Laden is terrorising the enemies of Islam, I am with him.”
Questioned on these comments, Naik said that his statements have been misunderstood.
Naik goes on to assert that there are several speakers who have been misguiding “innocent Muslims” in the name of Islam, and that he is not one of them.
He also made an ambiguous statement about being in touch with the intelligence heads of several countries and when prodded on the same said that he is open to intelligence agencies conducting an “unbiased probe” on him and his speeches.
He also refuted media reports that he is banned in Canada and Malaysia.
Naik was also questioned on his controversial statements about suicide bombing. In one of his speeches, he allegedly justified the act.
In the interview, however, Naik said that he has been misquoted again.
Reiterating his views on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Naik says that we should start calling it “A-ISIS” to imply an “anti- Islamic State of Iraq and Syria”.
He said the concept of ISIS is against Islam.
In the middle of the interview, the anchor dialled in Hasanul Haq, the Bangladeshi Information and Broadcasting (I&B) minister.
Haq said that the country is looking into the terror strike from all angles, including the gunmen taking inspiration from Naik. He further added that Naik’s interpretations of the Quran could be unacceptable to many people, hinting at a slight disdain towards his speeches.
He also mentioned that some clerics in Bangladesh have registered a complaint against Naik and in retaliation, Naik, said that it’s because they are threatened by him.
Watch CNN News 18’s full report here.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)