One first heard about Dr Zakir Naik nearly ten years ago, back in Bangalore. A friend of mine and an ardent admirer of his had invited me to one of his marathon lecture-and-Q&A sessions in the Silicon Valley of India. Back then, I didn’t know who he was and why just about everyone was looking forward to seeing him in action.
And then I saw his posters all over the city that has always been so close to my heart. I couldn’t believe what I saw: A maulvi (mullah?) in a smart, well-cut suit, with a strikingly colourful tie and regulation Muslim skullcap and a scrubby beard. He looked rather funny. My friend told me Dr Naik was good at giving “speeches in English” on Islam.
I opted to pass that meeting, deciding it must be one of those boring community events that we do all the time. However, Dr Zakir Naik and his face remained etched on my memory. It was not just his appearance. There was something about the man that you couldn’t quite place yet found hard to ignore.
Today, the rather ordinary looking ‘mullah in suit’ has come a long way. He has grown into a legend, a true phenomenon and has millions of followers in India and around the world. His Peace TV, with its headquarters in Mumbai and a staff of nearly 200 young and committed professionals, is the world’s first global television network that is dedicated to presenting the real face of Islam and its original, liberating teachings before the world.
http://newageislam.com/dr-zakir-naik--one-man,-one-mission/islamic-personalities/d/1733
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2:46 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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