Question about Zakir Naik

[fadi]

Akhi Osama, Assalamo Alaikum,

I got to know Zakir Naik through your website. I read a couple of articles in his website peace. Later, I saw his picture receiving award from Saudi Arabia Ruler Salman.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/world/middleeast/saudi-award-goes-to-dr-zakir-naik-a-muslim-televangelist-who-harshly-criticizes-us.html?_r=0
I researched further about Zakir and found on Wikipedia “He is regarded by some as an exponent of the Salafi ideology, and, by some, as a radical Islamic televangelist propagating Wahhabism”

Let me remind you what our beloved Prophet Mohammad (ﷺ) told us:

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى، عَنْ وَهْبِ بْنِ مُنَبِّهٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏"‏ مَنْ سَكَنَ الْبَادِيَةَ جَفَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ الصَّيْدَ غَفَلَ وَمَنْ أَتَى أَبْوَابَ السَّلاَطِينِ افْتُتِنَ‏
It was narrated from Ibn 'Abbas, that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: Whoever resides in the deserts, he becomes ignorant, whoever follows game, he becomes heedless, and whoever comes to the door of the Sultan, he will suffer a Fitnah (perverted).

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عِيسَى، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُبَيْدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ الْحَكَمِ النَّخَعِيُّ، عَنْ عَدِيِّ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ، عَنْ شَيْخٍ، مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِمَعْنَى مُسَدَّدٍ قَالَ ‏"‏ وَمَنْ لَزِمَ السُّلْطَانَ افْتُتِنَ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ زَادَ ‏"‏ وَمَا ازْدَادَ عَبْدٌ مِنَ السُّلْطَانِ دُنُوًّا إِلاَّ ازْدَادَ مِنَ اللَّهِ بُعْدًا ‏"‏ ‏.
Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: He said: He who sticks to a king is perverted. This version adds: The nearer a servant (of Allah) goes to a king, the farther he keeps away from Allah.

قول النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: إياكم وأبواب السلطان، فإنه قد أصبح صعبا هبوطا. رواه الطبراني والديلمي، وصححه الألباني
the Prophet , peace be upon him , said: Beware of the doors of the Sultan, it may become difficult downs

قال علي بن ابي طالب: إذا رأيت العلماء عند باب الملوك فبئس الملوك وبئس العلماء واذا رأيت الملوك عند باب العلماء فنعم الملوك ونعم العلماء
Ali ibn Abi Taleb said: if you see the scholars at the doors of the kings, then the kings and the scholars are evil, and if you see the kings at the door of the scholars, then the kings and the scholars are righteous.

I am really confused. Can you please explain to me???

[AhmadFarooq]

If I'm not mistaken, just because Zakir Naik got an award from a Saudi ruler, you derived that he serves the Saudi king. If this is true, you took a huge fallacious leap.

From what I've seen, Zakir Naik, because of his position, has been a target of several misrepresentations (probably the reason for statements such as "exponent of the Salafi ideology, and, by some, as a radical Islamic televangelist propagating Wahhabism”).

The one  obvious evidence that I can give which shows his distance from "Wahhabism" or "Salafism" or blindly serving Saudis, is his denial of the Hadd punishment for apostasy. He used to believe in it once but has given up that understanding since a long time ago.

[QuranSearchCom]

As'salamu Alaikum dear brothers,

Jazakum Allah Khayr for the clarifications, and also akhi Fadi for the beautiful Hadiths that you gave.  Indeed, the closer we bring ourselves to the rulers, the more corrupt we become.  I hope our corrupt scholars of today understand these Hadiths.  Thank you akhi Fadi for these amazing Hadiths.  They're quite powerful.

As to Dr. Zakir Naik, I am not sure where he stands now, but I did see some of his debates with Salafies before.  Brother Ahmad mentioned one example about apostates.  Another one is niqab.  Is it obligatory upon Muslim women to cover their faces?  He of course doesn't believe it is mandatory.

As to the reward that he received from the Saudi king, I am not sure how that effected him.  I myself have made it clear to all of the readers that may donate to my website is that there are no strings attached, and no influence upon me or upon this site in anyway:

"All donations and identities will remain confidential.  No one will know how much you donated, insha'Allah.  This I promise you!  And no special thank yous will be posted either.  This is not a politically-driven website.  No donation, regardless of how big it is, will ever impose any condition or favoritism or agenda on me or on this website.  I post the Truth as I genuinely best see it, and I am always humbly open to corrections.  You donate to Allah Almighty Alone, and not to me.  And don't expect anything back in return from me.  I might even get too busy to send you a thank you email.  I am always swamped and busy.  But thank you very much in advance, and may Allah Almighty bless you, my dear brother or sister in Islam!  Ameen."

So as far as I am concerned, if Dr. Zakir Naik accepted the prize, then all good for him and his organization, insha'Allah, as long as it didn't cause him to fundamentally compromise himself and change any message or belief that he otherwise wouldn't have changed.

I hope this helps, insha'Allah.

Take care,
Osama Abdallah

[fadi]

Assalamo Alaikum,

Thanks for the update.

Akhi Ahmed: I would never accept to greet “shake hand” with rulers who turned 1.2 billion Muslims on earth to slaves. So I was stunned to see Zakir receiving a reward from this ruler and at the same time in Osama’s website. Therefore, I decided to remind you of what our Prophet told us, and also to ask for the reasons of why he met with this ruler in order to avoid unjust doubts.

It was narrated from Safiyyah bint Huyai, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ), that she came to visit the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when he was in I’tikaf during the last ten days of the month of Ramadan. She spoke with him for a while during the evening, then she stood up to go back. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) got up to take her home. When she reached the door of the mosque that was by the home of Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ), two men from among the Ansar passed by them. They greeted the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) with peace, then went away. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“Take it easy, she is Safiyyah bint Huyai.” They said: “Glorious is Allah, O Messenger of Allah!” And they were very upset by that (i.e., that he thought they may have some doubts). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “The Satan flows through the son of Adam like blood, and I was afraid that he might cast some doubt into your hearts.”

Akhi Osama: Quote from your website “Here is a list of links that I highly recommend:” I think you may need to add few words to it!

If anyone could reach brother Zakir, please forward for him a copy of my comments. Again, we all are brothers and sisters and our goal is to keep the word of Allah is supreme, not our word.

[QuranSearchCom]

Wa Alaikum As'salam my dear brother Fadi,

What a courageous brother you are, akhi .  May Allah Almighty keep you this way and protect you.  Ameen.

In regards to Dr. Zakir Naik, brother I wholeheartedly believe he is genuine.  When we virtually did not exist on the internet, when this website was still in its diapers, Dr. Zakir Naik was out there clobbering serious infidels' rear ends.  He and the late Sheikh Ahmed Deedat are very precious to our Ummah.  And both met Muslim presidents and dictators and spoke with them, dear brother.  I even remember Sheikh Ahmed Deedat in one of his speeches in the UAE, he said that he would like to go to Israel and debate the Jews in Israel.

People who reach out to corrupt rulers akhi may not be sell outs.  They may still be genuine.  But I get you, akhi.  I fully understand everything you say, and this is why my tongue is a sharp sword on the corrupt Muslims.  But I can't fault brother Zakir Naik for simply shaking hands with the ruler of Saudi Arabia, even though I dislike Salafies and all other Islamic cults very much:

www.answering-christianity.com/ac11.htm#links

If you're suggesting that I post a warning message under Dr. Zakir Naik's photo and link, then wouldn't you think that's a bit harsh on him, akhi?  I mean, the brother hasn't gone bad and became a shoe in the feet of corrupt rulers.  All he did was take their money and still remained as he is.  May be because he was so powerful that the rulers of Saudi overlooked his differences with them and still rewarded him the prize.

What do you think, akhi Fadi?

Take care,
Osama Abdallah

[fadi]

Assalamo Alaikum,

I have no problem visiting corrupted Muslims countries rulers to warn them of the punishment of Allah. But, children all over the Muslims countries in Palestine, Somalia, etc are dying every day from aggression, hunger, etc and the stones and the rocks are crying for these children while these rulers didn’t even cough. Therefore, I don’t believe that those rulers will accept to meet with anyone who will disturb them and remind them of Allah’s punishment. Allah knows best!

As for Ahmed deedat, I have no problem with him debating with Israel to explain to them Islam and by the way, this is our responsibility before Allah, but my concern is meeting with rulers who work 365 days per year to disunite, weaken, corrupt, etc their own people. I am also willing to go to the White House or Israel to explain to them Islam, but for the Muslims countries rulers, I’ll supplicate to Allah as Prophet Mosa did: Our Lord! Destroy their wealth, and harden their hearts, so that they will not believe until they see the painful torment.

After telling me that Brother Zakir is a very dedicated and active Muslim, I began thinking that this ruler did this on purpose to damage his reputation. Again, Prophet Mohammad said “whoever comes to the door of the Sultan, he will suffer a Fitnah (perverted).” Therefore, someone should inform Zakir.

I am glad that I asked. Thank you so much for updating me.