Ban the Qur’an, not Zakir Naik
The only difference is Muslim preachers such as Ahmed Deedat and Zakir Naik honestly reveal what the Quran says while Christians do not. Christians hide the ‘bad parts’ of the Bible and just talk about the ‘good parts’. So they present Christianity as the direct opposite of Islam — whereas Islam and Christianity are exactly the same, save for the issues regarding the Crucifixion, Resurrection, Trinity and Muhammad.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
The latest controversy in Malaysia is regarding Zakir Naik. There are some who want him to be banned or to be declared a terrorist because one of his fans has been declared a terrorist. Zakir Naik has tens of millions of fans (some estimates put his fan base at more than 100 million just in Bangladesh alone). But then one of these millions has gone rogue and they want to blame Zakir Naik for it.
Zakir Naik is a student or disciple of Ahmed Deedat. If you have ever seen Ahmed Deedat lecture then you can see that Zakir Naik is almost a carbon copy of his mentor.
Ahmad Deedat started lecturing in the 1940s and saw international prominence in the 1980s. In 1986, Ahmed Deedat received the King Faisal Award for his services to Islam in the field of Dakwah (Islamic missionary activity).
Ahmed Deedat was as controversial as Zakir Naik is today and problems arose when in 1987 he published his book, From Hinduism to Islam, which is a critique of Hindu beliefs and practices.
Ahmed Deedat attracted further controversy when he criticised South African Hindus for praying to so many Gods and for being so easily moved to convert to Christianity. In spite of wide condemnation, Ahmed Deedat’s popularity continued to grow and his fan base grew even larger.
Ahmed Deedat suffered a stroke in 1996 and that was more or less when Zakir Naik took over — and some people label him as Ahmad Deedat Version 2.0. The fact that Zakir Naik lectures the same style as Ahmed Deedat’s helped until where he is estimated to now have no less than 100 million followers.
Most Muslims consider Zakir Naik (and Ahmed Deedat before him) as being just the messenger. They are the postmen delivering a message. And the message is the Qur’an. Hence, if you do not like the message you do not shoot the messenger, you burn the message.
The question is: is Zakir Naik (and Ahmed Deedat before him) lying about what the Qur’an says? Or are these two quite ignorant and do not speak Arabic and hence do not understand the message of the Qur’an? Or is it that the message of the Qur’an is dangerous and hence the Qur’an should be banned?
It has to be either one or the other: either the message is bad or the messenger is bad. If the message is bad then the messenger is just honestly telling the truth. But if the message is good then the messenger is either lying or ignorant.
Maybe the learned people and scholars can come out and tell us. This is because videos, VCDs, DVDs, books, etc., of lectures by Ahmed Deedat and Zakir Naik are being freely sold and distributed all over Malaysia. They are even accessible online. So if Ahmed Deedat and Zakir Naik are spreading lies then the government must do something about it — although what it is that the government can do is not quite clear.
So this is the fundamental question. Are Ahmed Deedat and Zakir Naik frauds? Or are they just the messengers? If they are just the messengers and that message is the Qur’an then where do we go from here?
The problem, however, does not just lie with the Qur’an. If you were to read (and understand what you read) the Bible, you can see that quite a lot of what is in the Qur’an is also in the Bible. And that is why some accuse Muhammad of plagiarising the Bible and dispute the story that the Qur’an was inspired by God.
The only difference is Muslim preachers such as Ahmed Deedat and Zakir Naik honestly reveal what the Quran says while Christians do not. Christians hide the ‘bad parts’ of the Bible and just talk about the ‘good parts’. So they present Christianity as the direct opposite of Islam — whereas Islam and Christianity are exactly the same, save for the issues regarding the Crucifixion, Resurrection, Trinity and Muhammad.
If the Christians were to tell you what is really in the Bible, you will be shocked. The fact that they do not talk about it or do not practice what the Bible demands does not make Christianity a different religion. It just makes Christians bad Christians.
The thing is Christians are better at marketing. They tell you only the good things about their product and the bad things about their competitor’s product. They do not reveal that in reality both products are exactly the same except for one or two knobs and dials.
So, the bottom line is, if you want to solve the ‘problem’, then ban truthful preachers. Allow only preachers who will lie and hide the truth. Or, to be really safe, ban all forms of holy books totally. That would avoid all sorts of problems such as those we are facing now.
