Muslims for Secularism and Democracy (MSD) on Wednesday demanded Zakir Naik be prosecuted for “promoting enmity between religious groups”, calling his ideology similar to that of terrorist group ISIS and other extremist outfits.
Citing excerpts from his speeches in which he called terrorist Osama Bin Laden a “fighter of enemies of Islam,” and called for every Muslim to be a terrorist “for anti-social elements,” MSD said that his interpretation of the religion is toxic for young Indians and Muslims all over the world.
Group member Javed Anand told The Hindu that Dr. Naik uses his television channel Peace TV to propagate his contempt for other religions: “Gullible young Muslims get drawn to him believing that he knows a lot about various religions, and to the way he manufactures his ideas to people; dressed well, with ostentatious display in his television programme. It attracts them and I call it peddling a gateway drug to a highway of terror.”
Firoze Mithiborwala, another secular activist who is a part of MSD said, “He belongs to the Wahabi, Salafi, Ahl-E-Hadees school of thought; these inherently have extremist beliefs. So according to him, other sects within Islam are sinners and infidels.” The group believes Dr. Naik’s and his benefactors’ agenda is to replace the traditions of Islam with ‘puritanical’ extremist theologies.
