Zakir Naik, a famous Islamic preacher, was born on October 18, 1965 in Mumbai, India. He studied comparative religion, and Sheikh Ahmed Deedat called him "Deedat the Great." He is the founder and director of the Peace Television Network.
Nike has millions of followers and opponents at the same time. He visited many countries and took to the public platforms, where he was exposed to many thorny questions and malicious pitfalls. He succeeded in overcoming many of them, and fell into some of their traps.
Birth and upbringing
Zakir Abdul Karim Naik was born on October 18, 1965 in Mumbai, India, into a Muslim medical family. His father, Abdul Karim Muhammad Naik, was a surgeon and social activist.
His mother is Roshan Abdul Karim Naik. She was from a poor family. She obtained a Bachelor's degree in Arts and a Master's degree in Islamic Culture from Bombay University. She also obtained a Diploma in Physical Education from the Bombay State Ministry of Education.
In his school days, Nike was an intelligent student, surpassing his peers with his iron memory and hyper-intelligence, and Mrs. Roshan dreamed of her son becoming a heart surgeon like Dr. Christian Bernard, the first person to successfully perform a human heart transplant in 1967.
While studying for his MBBS, Naik asked his mother, "Do you want me to be like Sheikh Ahmed Deedat or Dr. Christian Bernard?"
She answered wisely: "Both."
Zakir is married to Mrs. Farhat Naik, who holds a master’s degree in commerce from Pune University, India and a former lecturer at the same university, as well as a former principal of the International Islamic School in Mumbai, and nowadays she is busy in Islamic advocacy activities like her husband.
Rizk Naik and his wife Farhat have 3 children: Fariq, Zikra, and Rushdi.
Study and scientific training
He studied medicine at the request of his parents, and graduated from the College of Medicine at the University of Mumbai, but soon left this profession and devoted himself to studying the Islamic religion, and the methods of preaching it and advocating it and defending it.
One of the requirements of this was the study of other religions, including memorizing their texts and references, comparing them with Islam and their points of convergence with it and their separation from it.
After Dr. Zakir Naik began giving public lectures on Islam, he asked his mother the same question again, "Do you want me to be like Sheikh Ahmed Deedat or Dr. Christian Bernard?"
She replied: I can sacrifice a thousand Dr. Christian Bernard for the sake of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat.
Intellectual and practical experience
Dr. Naik is considered an outstanding student at the International Contemporary Islamic Dawah School, whose first lines were drawn by the South African preacher of Indian origin, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat.
First, Naik mastered memorizing the principles of his Islamic religion from the Noble Qur’an and the Prophetic hadiths, and secondly, he mastered the methods of logical argument, mental debate, and calm sober rhetoric.
Then he devoted himself to the books of other religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism, and the sayings of their owners and theorists, so he memorized them all, and used their contradictory texts to debunk his opponents, and to clarify the validity of the rulings of Islam in the issues raised, and the necessary mastery of several languages to serve his goals.
The purpose of all this was to win the supporters and not to defeat the opponents - as he put it in more than one place - which has been achieved a lot, and there is almost no sermon or debate from individuals who publicize their Islam in his hands.
Its presence extended to include various social media platforms, with millions of followers from dozens of countries, and its television channels gained hundreds of millions of views. In the past 25 years, Nike has delivered more than 2,000 public conversations, according to its official website.
red arrest warrant
These successes provoked political, religious and sectarian pressure forces, whether in India or in the countries in which these groups are active, and brought him a set of broad, malicious charges, such as "inciting terrorism" and "spreading hate speech."
India has officially asked Interpol to issue a red arrest warrant against him, claiming that he is an "international fugitive from justice who must be arrested anywhere and anytime and handed over to India."
The Indian authorities based their request on a group of charges, including “money laundering and illicit gain through his institution and satellite channels, in addition to terrorism and incitement, and spreading a culture of hatred.” This was preceded by an Indian decision to prevent the “Islamic Research Foundation”, which was founded by Naik, from carrying out its work under the pretext of protecting National Security.
Many countries also followed India's lead. The United States and Canada prevented him from entering their territories, and other countries restricted his institutions and channels.
In June 2010, the British government - which he had previously visited dozens of times - prevented Nike from entering its territory to give lectures, accusing him of "promoting terrorist ideology", and the Sunday Times described him as "an advocate of hatred and calls for terrorism, and does not respect women because he sees That their makeup is one of the reasons for the phenomenon of rape.”
In July 2016, while Naik was on a visit to Saudi Arabia, the Bangladeshi government accused him of instigating an attack that took place in the capital, Dhaka, on the third of the same month, and resulted in the killing of 22 diplomats, most of them from Japan and Italy, and said that one of the perpetrators of the attack was following Naik on the communication sites. social.
In turn, the Indian government said that it would arrest Naik upon his return from Saudi Arabia "because of his hate speech, which motivated the terrorists in the Dhaka attack," and decided to monitor his home and inspect his institutions, and these measures and accusations - which he denies altogether - to stay outside India. , Shiite and Hindu groups also allocated financial rewards for those who kill him.
Functions and Responsibilities
With his orientation to the field of da'wah, he founded in 1991 the non-profit "Islamic Research Foundation" specialized in training preachers, and affiliated to the "International Islamic School" in Bombay. He is also the founder of the "Al-Hedaya" electronic platform, to introduce the religion of Islam through the Qur'an and the Prophet's hadith.
He is the founder and director of Peace TV Network, which is one of the world's largest religious networks and broadcasts in English, Urdu, Bengali and Chinese.
In January 2006, he launched the channel's English language version (Peace TV English), which reached more than 100 million viewers, 25% of whom were non-Muslims, and in June 2009, he launched the Urdu version (Peace TV Urdu). In April 2011, he launched the Bengali version (Peace TV Bangla), and the Chinese version (Peace TV Chinese) in December 2015. Nike dreams of completing the broadcast in the 10 most popular international languages.
Achievements and writings
Nike increased his Sheikh Ahmed Deedat with his debates with Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist scholars. In 1994, Deedat himself called him "Deedat the Great." .
Naik interviewed a large number of atheists whose persuasion with the Islamic religion is easier than convincing others, because, according to his saying, "they do not believe in the existence of a god at all, and therefore they believe in half of the word of monotheism, which is the negation of the gods of polytheism, and because they often believe in scientific proofs, I am able to argue with them to prove the half." The other is the existence of God Almighty, focusing on established scientific facts, not theories that are subject to change.
Naik engaged in dozens of debates with Christian and Jewish scholars and clergy, the most famous of which was held in April 2000 with the missionary and biologist Dr. William Campbell in Chicago, USA, under the title "The Qur'an and the Bible in the Light of Science".
Thousands embraced Islam around the world directly or by watching his audio and video tapes and television programs on many channels in the world, and he realized through his experience that “Africans are the easiest people to respond to the truth and the call of Islam, followed by the Chinese and Japanese, then the Western peoples. As for the most difficult response, they are the Indians. Because of the plurality of their religions and the social discrimination they practice against those who leave their religion.
Nike was ranked No. 82 in the list of "100 Most Influential People in India" published by the Indian Express in 2009, and No. 89 in 2010.
He was ranked among the top 70 people in the "500 Most Influential Muslim Personalities in the World" list, published by Georgetown University in the last 10 editions (2011-2020).
His public speech in the Kishangani region of Bihar in India, in 2012, is considered one of the largest human gatherings that gathered for one preacher, and more than a million listeners attended on that day on one level.
A collection of books, including:
Terrorism and Jihad from an Islamic Perspective.
Answers for non-Muslims to common questions about Islam.
The concept of God in the major religions.
"Similarities between Hinduism and Islam".
He has delivered a wide range of lectures and debates on Islam and comparative religions, delivered in a number of countries around the world. He also participated in many international conferences on Islam and peace.
Awards and Honors
Zakir Naik has received several awards and honors, most notably:
Dubai International Holy Quran Award.
The title of "The Prestigious Islamic Personality" for the year 2013.
The King of Malaysia, Abdul Halim Moazzam Shah, awarded him the "International Distinguished Personality Award" for the year 2013, which is Malaysia's highest award.
Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, awarded him the "Sharjah Award for Voluntary Work" for the year 2013.
He was awarded the Commander's Badge of the National Medal of the Republic of The Gambia.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (Honours) from the Board of Directors of the University of The Gambia in 2014.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud presented him with the “King Faisal International Prize” for “Service to Islam” for the year 2015.