Dr Zakir Naik's Peace TV

The Peace TV channel, set up by the Islamic Research Foundation headed by Dr Zakir Naik, a Mumbai medical doctor-turned Islamic scholar and evangelist, had disappeared from the Karol Bagh cable network(Punjab Vision), following the I&B Ministry directive that unregistered channels like the Peace TV should not be shown. Hence, I was surprised to notice that Dr Naik's channel has suddenly made a comeback; and occupying the number one slot. Has it got registered as required under the rules? Or, is it still continuing to function without the official registration? My reservations about this channel relate to its star preacher's orthodox and fundamentalist interpretations of the Quran which, in this day and age, seem totally obscurantist and provocatively parochial, hence, unacceptable.

In its earlier incarnation, Dr Zakir Naik's main emphasis was on the supremacy of Islam in comparison to other faiths. It was the Allah's own divine dispensation for the emancipation of humanity. To cover up his Islamic zealotry, he invited spiritual leaders of other faiths like Shri Ravi Ravi Shankar to his congregations where his followers would ask loaded questions on Hinduism. Once, I heard Shri Shankar ticking the questioners off, telling them to respect other faiths in equal measure. The basic motive of Dr Naik seemed to find fault in the approach of leaders of other faiths vis-a-vis his interpretation of Islam and to belittle them. 

I still cannot get over the shock of his strong opposition to mixed marriages:Momins(Islamic believers) marrying non-Muslims(non-believers) when he was asked about it in a question-answer programme. The logic used by him to reject mixed marraiges was most ridiculous and bizarre. First, he said how can a two-wheeler run smoothly if one wheel is from a bicycle and another from a truck. Although he did not clearly spell out the ownership of the wheels, it was clear that the truck wheel-being superior belonged to the momin and the bicycle one to the non-Muslim. Another negative argument given by him: The momin partner will go to heaven after death, whereas the non-momin partner will to hell.

In his current appearance, I watched Dr Naik reiterate his unambiguous disapproval of Muslim marrying non-Muslim as "haraam"(illegal). He quoted the Quran in support of his thesis. In his August 1 night session, he performed another most offensive and provocative act: He presented a number of men and women who, announcing their Hindu names and surnames, declared  that they have converted to Islam. Is this legally permissible and religiously, socially acceptable to project conversions on TV channels? Will Indian Muslims accept it if Hindu religious channels follow the example of Dr Naik's channel and show Muslims embracing Hinduism? Is Dr Naik not playing with fire and fuelling inter-community conflict? Should he not be disowned by his co-religionists?