Zakir Naik’s meeting with Khabib Nurmagomedov raises eyebrows

India

oi-Deepak Tiwari

It doesn’t seem to be a mere accidental meeting. There’s more than meets the eye as the former UFC lightweight champion has of late been showing his leaning towards Islam.

New Delhi, Dec 20: Merchant of hate speech and soft seller of Islamic fundamentalism Zakir Naik is news again. This time not for his speech but for his meeting with Khabib Nurmagomedov, a former UFC lightweight champion. Naik, one of the most wanted criminals in India, was spotted interacting with the boxer during the recently held FIFA World Cup.

The meeting may not have received popular attention but there is definitely something there to read between the lines. It does not seem to be a mere accidental meeting of the fugitive hate preacher with the boxer. Although Zakir Naik is against all the modern science and technologies, he does not fail to utilize social media. This time too he took to social media to post pictures of his meeting with the former lightweight champion.

Meeting of ‘like-minded’ people?

There are no doubts that Zakir Naik is a ‘hate preacher’ but quite recently even Khabib has been quite popular among a group of people who think ‘Islamism’ is the only true faith. According to this group, Khabib represents them when he uses terms like “Alhamdulillah”, “inshallah”, etc in his speeches. Not just that he uses Islamic salutations but most of the time he has been shown giving credit for his success to ‘Allah’.

Qatar had reportedly invited the hate preacher and all of a sudden the spotlight was on him. However, Qatar later dragged its feet after protests and sought to clarify that it had not invited Naik officially.

Naik’s misdemeanours

Naik is accused of money laundering and inciting communal hatred not only in India but he has also been banned in several countries. He does not leave any opportunity to inspire and recruit Muslim youngsters to join his fundamentalist ideology where there is no space for non-Muslims.

During the UPA government Zakir Naik was often a guest in various programs, sharing dais even with ministers. All this while, he inspired and recruited Muslim youth to extremism and when in November 2016, the Indian counter-terrorism agency took on his agenda and activities, he fled to Malaysia.

There is evidence of his participation in unlawful activities and spreading religious intolerance. Earlier this year, the Union Home Ministry declared his organization ‘Islamic Research Foundation (IRF)’ an unlawful group and made it illegal for 5 years. The hate preacher has since been dodging the Indian intelligence agencies. India has requested the Malaysian government for his extradition, which is still pending.