Zakir Naik

Zakir Abdul Karim Naik (born 18 October 1965) is an Indian Islamic preacher, and the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). He is also the founder of the "comparative religion" Peace TV channel through which he reaches a reported 100 million viewers. He has been called an "authority on comparative religion", "perhaps the most influential Salafi ideologue in India", "the rock star of tele-evangelism and a proponent of modern Islam" and "the world's leading Salafi evangelist". Unlike many Islamic preachers, his lectures are colloquial, given in English, not Urdu or Arabic, and he wears a suit and tie.

Before becoming a public speaker, he trained as a physician. He has published booklet versions of lectures on Islam and comparative religion. Although he has publicly disclaimed sectarianism in Islam, he is regarded as an exponent of the Salafi ideology, and as a radical Islamic televangelist propagating Wahhabism. His preaching is currently banned in India, Bangladesh, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Zakir Naik was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He attended Kishinchand Chellaram College and studied medicine at Topiwala National Medical College & BYL Nair Charitable Hospital and later the University of Mumbai, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS).

In 1991 he started working in the field of Dawah, and founded the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). Naik's wife, Farhat Naik, works for the women's section of the Islamic Research foundation (IRF).

Naik said in 2006, that he was inspired by Ahmed Deedat, an Islamic preacher whom he met in 1987. (Naik is sometimes referred to as "Deedat plus", a label given to him by Deedat.)

Naik founded the Islamic International School in Mumbai. and United Islamic Aid, which provides scholarship to poor and destitute Muslim youth. He is also a board member and adviser of iERA.

The Islamic Research Foundation website describes Naik as "the ideologue and driving force behind Peace TV Network". Naik's channel is to promote "Truth, Justice, Morality, Harmony and Wisdom for the whole of humankind", mentions its website. The Indian government banned the Peace TV channel in 2012; According to The New York Times in 2015, quoting an anonymous Indian journalist, the Mumbai police have barred him from holding conferences "because he stirs controversy", and Indian satellite providers have refused to broadcast his television channel, Peace TV.

In 2016, during a press conference Naik claimed himself as a Non-resident Indian (NRI).

Naik has held many debates and lectures and is said to "have delivered over 2000/4000 lectures around the world". Anthropologist Thomas Blom Hansen has written that Naik's style of memorising the Quran and Hadith literature in various languages, and his related missionary activity, has made him extremely popular in Muslim circles. Many of his debates are recorded and widely distributed in video and DVD media and online. His talks have been recorded in English and broadcast on weekends on several cable networks in Mumbai's Muslim neighbourhoods, and on the Peace TV channel, which he co-produces. Topics he speaks on include: "Islam and Modern Science", "Islam and Christianity", and "Islam and secularism".

His first debate was in 1994, a debate on the views of writer Taslima Nasreen on Islam in her book Lajja, organised at the "Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh", entitled "Is Religious Fundamentalism a Stumbling block to Freedom of Expression?". With the presence of four journalists, the debate went on for hours. In April 2000, Naik debated with William Campbell in Chicago on the topic of "The Qur'an and the Bible: In the Light of Science", one of his most-cited debates. On 21 January 2006 Naik held an inter-religious dialogue with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bangalore about the concept of God in Islam and Hinduism. In February 2011 Naik addressed the Oxford Union via video link from India. Every year since November 2007 Naik has led a 10-day Peace Conference at Somaiya Ground, Sion, Mumbai. Lectures on Islam have been presented by Naik and twenty other Islamic speakers.

Australia 2004 and Wales 2006

In 2004 Naik, at the invitation of the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia, made an appearance at the University of Melbourne, where he argued that only Islam gave women true equality. He said the more "revealing Western dress" makes women more susceptible to rape. Sushi Das of The Age commented that "Naik extolled the moral and spiritual superiority of Islam and lampooned other faiths and the West in general", further criticising that Naik's words "fostered a spirit of separateness and reinforced prejudice".

In August 2006 Naik's visit and conference in Cardiff caused controversy when Welsh MP David Davies called for his appearance to be cancelled. He said Naik was a "hate-monger", and that his views did not deserve a public platform; Muslims from Cardiff, however, defended Naik's right to speak in the city. Saleem Kidwai, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales, disagreed with Davies, stating that "people who know about him [Naik] know that he is one of the most uncontroversial persons you could find. He talks about the similarities between religions, and how should we work on the common ground between them", whilst also inviting Davies to discuss further with Naik personally in the conference. The conference went ahead, after the Cardiff council stated it was satisfied that he would not be preaching extremist views.

UK and Canada denied entry, 2010

Naik was denied entry into the United Kingdom and Canada in June 2010. Naik was forbidden to enter Canada after Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, warned MPs of Naik's views. He was banned from entering the UK by the then Home Secretary Theresa May after arranging to give talks in London and Sheffield. May said of the exclusion order, "Numerous comments made by Dr Naik are evidence to me of his unacceptable behaviour". Naik argued that the Home Secretary was making a political decision, not a legal one, and his lawyer said the decision was "barbaric and inhuman". He also claimed that his comments were taken out of context. Film producer Mahesh Bhatt supported Naik, saying the ban constituted an attack on freedom of speech. It was reported that Naik would attempt to challenge the ruling in the High Court. His application for judicial review was dismissed on 5 November 2010.

Gambia 2014

In 2014, Naik visited Gambia being invited by the president Yahya Jammeh to attend in the grand celebration of Gambian revolution's 20th anniversary. There he delivered four lectures between 11–22 October. The lectures took place in University of the Gambia, Pancha Mi Hall of Paradise Suites Hotel, presidents home village Kanilai, Foni Kansala and Kairaba Beach Hotel, Kololi. The Cabinet ministers of Gambia, religious leaders, students and thousands of people attended his lectures on the subjects including "Terrorism and Jihad: an Islamic perspective", "religion in the right perspective", "Dawah or destruction?" and "the misconceptions about Islam". Meanwhile, he also met with the president Yahya Jammeh along with Gambia Supreme Islamic Council and held an Islamic conference with the Imams of Gambia.

Malaysia 2012 and 2016

Naik delivered four lectures in Malaysia during 2012. The lectures took place in Johor Bahru, Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam, Kuantan and Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur. The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, prominent figures and several thousand people attended the lectures at different places despite protest by the members of HINDRAF. The organisers of Naik's speeches said their purpose was to promote harmony among people of various religions.

Naik delivered another six lectures in April 2016. Two of his lectures in Malaysia entitled "Similarities between Hinduism and Islam" and "Is the Quran God's word?" were objected by HINDRAF, along with some other native NGO's, citing that these lectures may provoke inter-racial tensions; but as for the initial support of the Government authority, the event went ahead as planned.

Naik says that his goal is to "concentrate on the educated Muslim youth who have become apologetic about their own religion and have started to feel the religion is outdated". He considers it a duty of every Muslim to remove perceived misconceptions about Islam and to counter what he views as the Western media's anti-Islamic bias in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Naik has said that "despite the strident anti-Islam campaign, 34,000 Americans have embraced Islam from September 2001 to July 2002". According to Naik, Islam is a religion of reason and logic, and that the Quran contains 1000 verses relating to science, which he says explains the number of Western converts. Some of his articles are published in magazines such as Islamic Voice.

Islamic Supremacy

Zakir Naik profess Islam is the best religion because "the Quran says it. No other religious text or scripture claims this fact." He added that, "Islam is also labelled as intolerant, and it is indeed, but towards corruption, discrimination, injustice, adultery, alcoholism, and all evils. Islam is the most tolerant religion as far as promoting the human values is concerned."

Music

Naik equated music with alcohol and had said that both are intoxicating in nature. He is known to have condemned dancing and singing because they're prohibited in Islam.

Punishment for stealing

Zakir Naik said that any person guilty is deserving of punishment. He justifies chopping hands off for stealing. He has also advised US to implement this in order to reduce criminal cases in the country.

Women rights controversy

Naik is known to have spoken in support of beating one's wife "gently". He argued that "as far as the family is concerned, a man is the leader. So, he has the right" but he should beat his wife "lightly". He also said that Muslims have the right to sex with their female slaves where he referred to slaves as "prisoners of war".

Homosexuality

Naik referred to LGBT community as "patients suffering from a sinful mental problems" and "It's because they watch pornographic movies. The TV channels are to be blamed". "According to Quran and Sunnah", he recommends "death penalty" for homosexuals.

Biological evolution

Dismissing the Darwin's Theory of Evolution, Naik said that the theory of evolution is "only a hypothesis, and an unproven conjecture at best". According to Naik, most scientists "support the theory, because it went against the Bible – not because it was true." Naik argues that scientific theories were prophesised by the Quran. For example, he has stated in 2010 that certain verses of the Quran accurately describe embryological development.

Naik argues, "What Darwin said was only a theory. There is no book saying 'the Fact of Evolution' – All the books say Theory of Evolution." He further added, "There is not a single statement in the Qur'an, which Science has proved wrong yet. Hypothesis go against the Qur'an – theories go against the Qur'an. There is not a single scientific fact, which is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an which goes against established science – It may go against theory."

Criticism of media

Zakir defined media as "the most important tool rather the most dangerous weapon in the world, which converts black into white and a villain into a hero". He suggested that, "We should use the same media to remove the misconceptions, misquotations, misinterpretations, and misrepresentations about Islam." He claimed, western powers and media play a double-standard strategy, who describe Muslims as extremists and fundamentalists to defame Islam. He said, "The maximum damage done to the image of Islam today is by the international media which is bombarding misconceptions about it day and night using an array of strategies. International media, be it print, audio, video, or online, use a number of strategies to malign Islam by first picking up the black sheep of the Muslim community, and portraying them as though they are exemplary Muslims." Naik also claimed the "third and fourth" strategy by international media is "to pick a word from Quran or sunnah and mistranslate it" and "to malign Islam by saying something that does not belong to it".

Naik also said, "If a Muslim woman wears hijab or veil it is labeled as women subjugation, but if a nun does to the same it turns into a sign of respect and modesty. A 50-year-old Muslim marrying a 16-year-old girl (willingly) is a headline, but a 50-year-old non-Muslim raping a six-year-old girl appears as brief news or filler. They say Islam does not give rights to women, and is an illogical religion. They portray Islam as the problem of humanity though it is the solution to all man's problems. The same applies to the misinterpreted words 'fundamentalist' and 'extremist' which are basically western words. A true Muslim must be an extremist in the correct direction, by being extremely kind, loving, tolerant, honest and just. While Indians were fighting for their freedom, the British government was labelling them as terrorists; same activity, same people, but two different labels. The same happened with Muslims who are labelled as terrorists in media, so we should look into backgrounds and reasons for an activity before labelling people."

He criticized the portrayal of Muslims in films saying, "Hundreds of movies were made in Hollywood to malign the image of Islam that a non-Muslim gets scared when he heard a Muslim saying 'Allah Akbar', thinking that he is going to kill him. If anyone really wants to know how good Islam is, he or she has to study its authentic sources; the glorious Quran and Hadith rather than looking to its followers (Muslims) as is the case with a motorist whose reckless driving should be blamed for an accident rather than the latest Mercedes car he was driving. The best exemplary Muslim is the last and final messenger prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him." He also criticized media for "pick(ing) up Muslims who criticised Islam like Salman Rushdie, and giv(ing) them awards", saying, "If a Muslim does something great, they may give him credit but ignore his religion or change his Muslim name like the Aristotle of the East Avicenna whose real name was "Ali Ibn Sina"."

Other religions

Apostasy

Naik has said that Muslims who convert from Islam should not necessarily receive death sentences, but that under Islamic law those who leave Islam and then "propagate the non-Islamic faith and speak against Islam" should be put to death. Another source states that according to Naik, "There is no death penalty for apostates in Islam ... until, the apostate starts to preach his new religion: then he can be put to death."

Propagation of other faiths in Islamic states

While he appreciates that people of other religions allow Muslims to freely propagate Islam in their country, Naik preaches that the dissemination of other religions within an Islamic state must be forbidden because (he believes) other faiths are incorrect, so their propagation is as wrong as it would be for an arithmetic teacher to teach that 2+2=3 or 6 instead of 2+2=4.

Likewise, Naik argues, "regarding building of churches or temples, how can we (musilms) allow this when their religion is wrong and when their worshiping is wrong?"

Naik criticised the activities of the Christian missionaries in Muslim world saying, "the missionaries write verses of the bible in Arabic calligraphy, such as 'God is love' to catch fish with the Muslims. We in Peace TV, for example, do not use such deceit."

Jihad

In a lecture given in University of the Gambia, Zakir strongly condemned the atrocities around the world in the name of Jihad, where innocent people lost their lives, saying “Jihad is misunderstood by both Muslims and non-Muslims, Jihad means to strive and struggle to make society better, the best form of Jihad is to strive and struggle against non-Muslims, using the teachings of the Quran; to the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him and the Almighty Allah, Islam means peace.” According to Naik, the killing of any innocent person, either Muslim or not is prohibited by Islam, while condemning the double-standard, played by the western powers and media who describes Muslims as extremists and fundamentalists. He said in unequivocal term that, even in Islamic Jihad, there are laid down rules and regulations as when and how to kill a person, which he noted, totally contradicts what is currently being happening around the world, by some groups who claim to fight for Jihad.

In another lecture given in Al-Khawaneej, Dubai, Naik stated that, the most mistranslated and misunderstood word about Islam by non-Muslims and even some Muslims is 'Jihad' which has nothing to do with 'holy war' that is never used in the Quran or sunnah and was first used by the crusaders who killed millions in the name of Christianity. He rather explained that, the word 'Jihad' actually means to strive or struggle against one's own evil inclinations, to make the society better, in self-defense in battle field, and against oppression.

September 11 attacks and Osama bin Laden

In a lecture delivered on 31 July 2008 on Peace TV, Naik commented on the attacks of 11 September: "it is a blatant, open secret that this attack on the Twin Towers was done by George Bush himself".

He has also attracted much publicity for declaring that "even a fool will know" that the 9/11 attacks were "an inside job" orchestrated by US President George W. Bush. But his expressed opinions on 9/11 have been denounced by the United States and he has been denied entry into the United Kingdom and Canada for speaking engagements.

His views and statements on terrorism have been often criticised in the media. Speaking of Osama bin Laden, when Naik was asked whether the former was a terrorist, he stated that he did not have an opinion since had not met him, nor interrogated him, and is neither a friend nor an enemy. He believes in checking up information before passing it on to another person. However, Naik went on to say "If he is fighting enemies of Islam, I am for him. I don’t know him personally. If he is terrorizing America, the biggest terrorist, I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist. The thing is that if he is terrorizing a terrorist, he is following Islam."

Terrorism, killings and suicide bombing

Later in 2010, Naik defended himself that he had been quoted out of context regarding the remarks on terrorism. "As far as terrorist is concerned", he said, "I tell the Muslims that every Muslim should be a terrorist.... What is the meaning of the word terrorist? Terrorist by definition means a person who terrorises. So in this context every Muslim should be a terrorist to each and every anti-social element. I'm aware that terrorist is more commonly used for a person who terrorises innocent human beings. So in this context no Muslim should ever terrorise a single innocent human being."

Naik explained Hitler as "who was not a Muslim, is the biggest terrorist in the world as he incinerated 6 million Jews."

When asked about his views on killings, Naik said "the Quran says so - if anyone kills an innocent human being, Muslim or non-Muslim, it is as though he has killed the whole humanity, So how can any Muslim kill innocent human being?". However, he legitimizes killing a person "unless he has killed someone else…or created corruption in the land." He also criticized media for "picking up verses of the Quran or hadiths and quoting them out of context to mislabel Islam as a religion that promotes violence and killing". He argued that, "critics of Islam quotes Verse 5/9 which reads: 'Wherever you find a non-Muslim, kill him' out of context to malign Islam though it was an order in a battlefield, and Islam always promotes peace as better option during war."

In a press conference via skype, when Zakir Naik was asked his opinion on suicide bombings he replied affirmatively saying it was permitted in Islam and said "it is haram if innocent people are being killed. But, if suicide bombing is used as a tactic of war, then it may be permitted. For example, in World War II, Japan used suicide bombing as a tactic of war."

Najibullah Zazi

Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan-American linked to Al-Qaeda who was found guilty in the 2009 New York City Subway and United Kingdom plot was an "admirer" of Naik's sermons. When Time hinted that his preachings could have inspired Najibullah Zazi's terrorist activities, Naik insisted: "I have always condemned terrorism, because according to the glorious Koran, if you kill one innocent person, then you have killed the whole of humanity."

ISIS

Naik called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria the "anti-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" and said that, the enemies of Islam are promoting ISIS. He also added that, "the Quran says so - if anyone kills an innocent human being, Muslim or non-Muslim, it is as though he has killed the whole humanity. So how can any Muslim kill innocent human being? .. We should not say ISIS, we should say AISIS. Because they are anti-Islamic. I request all the muslims of the world, as well as the muslim media, please don't help the enemies of Islam in attacking Islam." He further added that, "If you verify you will know that I am totally against terrorism. I am totally against killing innocent human being." He expressed his view on the move by the United States government to launch an attack on the ISIS in Syria and Iraq that, he strongly condemns the act by the Islamic State group, but he is also not equally supporting the move by the Americans to launch the attack. In another lecture in Dubai, he stated, It is, therefore not correct to say ISIS or Islamic State has killed Syrian or Iraqi innocents. He said, "We should say anti-Islamic state kills them as Quran affirms that whoever kills an innocent person is as if he kills all humanity, and he who saves a single person - disregard his religion, is like saving all humanity."

Orlando shooting

Zakir criticized international media for "linking Islam" with the Orlando attack. He accused the media of promoting the terrorist with a "double-standard strategy" saying, "the same (double-standard strategy) is happening with a man related by nothing to Islam but by his name who killed over 50 gays in Orlando."

Naik was ranked 89 on The Indian Express's list of the "100 Most Powerful Indians in 2010". He was ranked 82 in the 2009 edition. According to Praveen Swami, Naik is "perhaps the most influential Salafi ideologue in India". Sanjiv Buttoo says he is acknowledged as an authority on Islam, but is known for making negative remarks about other religions. Sadanand Dhume writes that Naik has a "carefully crafted image of moderation", because of his gentle demeanour, his wearing of a suit and tie, and his quoting of scriptures of other religions. He is also listed in the book The 500 Most Influential Muslims under honourable mention, in the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013/2014editions.

• In July 2013, Naik was named as the Islamic Personality of the Year, announced by the 17th Dubai International Holy Quran Award (DIHQA). The award was presented by Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry of the United Arab Emirates.
• On 5 November 2013, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia conferred a Ma'al Hijrah Distinguished Personality award to Naik. In a ceremony at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre, the award was presented by Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Malaysia's head of state.
• On 2 February 2015, he was awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam.
• He was listed in the book The 500 Most Influential Muslims under honourable mention, in the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013/2014 editions.

Several researchers have investigated the link between Naik and terrorism. Author Praveen Swami considers Naik to be a part of the ideological infrastructure created to feed "Tempered Jihad", which he defines as Jihad calibrated to advance Islamist political objectives. Swami argued that some of Naik's teachings are similar to those of organizations advocating violence, although Naik himself emphatically rejects terrorism. According to Swami, Naik's IRF has proved to be a "magnet" for figures linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, while his message has mesmerised violent Islamists, and his works "help make sense of the motivations of Indian recruits to the jihad". New York City based Gatestone Institute also had stated that Naik "is not directly involved in terrorism," but "he has reportedly inspired many to take to terrorism through his preachings.

The Times of India published a profile of Naik entitled "The controversial preacher" after he was banned from the United Kingdom. According to The Times, "the fact is that barring the band of Muslims whose bruised egos Naik suitably massages through his Islam supremacist talks, most rational Muslims and non-Muslims find his brand of Islam a travesty of the faith". The Times also claimed that "the Wahabi-Salafist brand of Islam, bankrolled by petro-rich Saudi Arabia and propagated by preachers like Naik, does not appreciate the idea of pluralism." The article quotes Muslim scholar Wahiduddin Khan: "Dawah, which Naik also claims to be engaged in, is to make people aware of the creation plan of God, not to peddle some provocative, dubious ideas as Naik does." He adds: "The wave of Islamophobia in the aftermath of 9/11 and the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan have only added to the Muslims' sense of injury. In such a situation, when a debater like Zakir Naik, in eloquent English, takes on preachers of other faiths and defeats them during debates, the Muslims' chests puff with pride. A community nursing a huge sense of betrayal and injustice naturally lionises anyone who gives it a sense of pride. Never mind if it's false pride."

In The Wall Street Journal, Sadanand Dhume criticised Naik for recommending the death penalty for homosexuals and for apostasy from the faith. He also criticised him for calling for India to be ruled by Shariah law. He added that, according to Naik, Jews "control America" and are the "strongest in enmity to Muslims." He maintained that Naik supports a ban on the construction of non-Muslim places of worship in Muslim lands as well as the Taliban's bombing of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Dhume argues that people reportedly drawn to Naik's message include Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan-American arrested for planning suicide attacks on the New York subway; Rahil Sheikh, accused of involvement in a series of train bombings in Mumbai in 2006; and Kafeel Ahmed, the Bangalore man fatally injured in a failed suicide attack on Glasgow airport in 2007. He also stated that "unless Indians find the ability to criticise such a radical Islamic preacher as robustly as they would a Hindu equivalent, the ideal of Indian secularism would remain deeply flawed."

Indian journalist Khushwant Singh says he "disagree[s] with almost everything [Naik] has to say about misconceptions about Islam". Singh argues that Naik's pronouncements are "juvenile", and said "they seldom rise above the level of undergraduate college debates, where contestants vie with each other to score brownie points." Singh also says Naik's audiences "listen to him with rapt attention and often explode in enthusiastic applause when he rubbishes other religious texts".

Torkel Brekke, a professor of religious history in Norway, calls Naik a "very controversial figure" because of his rhetorical attack on other religions and other varieties of Islam. He writes that Naik is "strongly disliked" by many members of the Indian ulema for ignoring their authority and stating that anybody can interpret the Quran. Conservative Deobandi mullahs have accused Naik of "destroying Islam" by driving Muslims away from the correct religious authorities.

Pakistani analyst Khaled Ahmed criticised Naik for "indirectly support[ing]" al-Qaeda by referring to Osama bin Laden as a "soldier of Islam". In 2008, an Islamic scholar in Lucknow, shahar qazi Mufti Abul Irfan Mian Firangi Mahali, issued a fatwa against Naik, saying that he supported Osama bin Laden, and that his teachings were un-Islamic. Naik claims his speeches were being taken out of context.

Indian Journalist Shoaib Daniyal disagrees with Naik's belief that "Americans swap wives at will because they eat pigs which also swap their wives". He also points out that Naik's statement that Islam allows a man to marry multiple women because "in the USA, there are more women than men", is inconsistent with US demographic statistics.

In 2007, reports claimed that Darul Uloom considered him a self-styled preacher unattached to any of the four orthodox Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence (fiqh) and therefore has issued many fatwas against Zakir Naik, rejecting him as being amongst the ghair muqallidin (a term used in Islam to describe someone who does not relate with the four madhabs viz. Hanafi, Hanbali, Sha’afi and Maliki) thereby appealing towards Muslims to avoid listening to his sermons. In 2016, a Darul Uloom spokesman clarified reports that although a few fatwas had being issued by Darul Uloom against Naik on legal matters, these were being "deliberately highlighted" by the media. The deputy vice chancellor of Darul Uloom, Abdul Khaliq Madrasi, came out in his support, saying: "We have bad differences of opinion with Zakir Naik. But he is recognized as an Islamic scholar the world over. We don't believe that he could be connected with terrorism in any way."

After revealing the investigations of the Dhaka Terror Attack in July 2016 published by The Daily Star 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 posted sermons of Zakir Naik on social media where Naik urged "all Muslims to be terrorists" Indian Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said, "Zakir Naik's speech is a matter of concern for us. Our agencies are working on this." He was then termed a controversial as well as a popular figure by the media. After 2 days in investigation, the Maharashtra State Intelligence Department|Maharashtra State Intelligence Department (SID) gave a clean chit to Zakir Naik and said that Naik would not and cannot be arrested on his return to India as the probe ordered by the Maharashtra government did not find any other strong evidence to link Naik to terror-related activities. The Daily Star apologized to Naik over the Dhaka Terror Attack controversy and stated that they never blamed him for the attack. The newspaper quoted that it only reported how youth were misinterpreting his speeches. However, soon thereafter the Bangladesh Government banned the broadcast of Naik's Peace TV channel. Hasanul Haq Inu, the Information Minister, and well known leftist politician, reasoned that "Peace TV is not consistent with Muslim society, the Quran, Sunnah, Hadith, Bangladesh's Constitution, our culture, customs and rituals"

When the National Investigation Agency 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 IRF. The JuD website is said to be referring to Zakir Naik's sermons & preachings.

In 2016, he admitted that Rahil Sheikh, involved in 2006 Mumbai train bombings was working as a volunteer for his organization Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) but he did not know Rahil personally. However, Naik also claimed that Rahil was removed from his office. Nearly 200 people lost their lives in the bombing attack and investigation revealed the bombers were influenced by Naik's preachings.

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen described Naik as “dangerous” because he “promotes 7th century Quranic texts on sex slaves, polygamy and wife beating in 21st century”. She said in a series of tweets that, “I listened to Zakir Naik's speeches. He cites Quranic texts and tries to justify. He's dangerous because it's dangerous to spread 7th century texts in the 21st century,”. Referring to the deadly attacks in Bangladesh by terrorists, she said that “Many Bangladeshi would-be-terrorists are inspired by Zakir Naik. He is not having machetes in hands. But his followers are having machetes in hands". She added that, "I'm not against Zakir Naik's free speech but I am against him for inciting violence. Fatwabaz should be banned from issuing,”.

Sudhanva D. Shetty, editor and columnist at The Logical Indian wrote a piece titled "Why Dangerous Ideologues Like Zakir Naik Deserve Our Loudest Condemnation" in Huffington Post where she criticized Zakir Naik as:

He is a bully who thrives on misinformation and sectarianism and represents everything that is wrong with blind religiosity. He is an able manipulator and a serial liar whose popularity amongst some people relies heavily on his recitation of the holy texts and their own hapless unintelligence... He is famed for his knowledge of the Quran and even other religious texts, often quoting holy verses from memory. But when it comes to making rational arguments, one needs more than religious knowledge. One also needs unbiased evidence and a great deal of logic. Any neutral observer of Naik can easily conclude that he lacks both of them.

In Firstpost, reporter Sreemoy Talukdar wrote,

"The smooth-talking televangelist's regressive and problematic teachings, throughly dissected and discussed threadbare, strike at the pluralist cultural component of our existence and promotes a version of Islam that is dreary and incompatible with the modern world."

Death threats

On 13 July 2016, Vishva Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi announced a reward of ₹50 lakh (US$77,000) to anyone willing to behead Zakir Naik. This came a day after a Shia group styling itself the "Hussaini Tigers" placed a ₹15 lakh (US$23,000) bounty on his head.