KUALA LUMPUR – Controversial Islamic preacher and Indian fugitive Zakir Naik, who is accused of delivering hate speech and money laundering, has been invited to Qatar to give religious sermons at the FIFA World Cup.
The news was shared on social media by Qatar state-owned sports channel Alkass presenter Faisal Alhajri, who wrote on Twitter, “Preacher Zakir Naik is in Qatar and will give many religious lectures throughout the World Cup.”
الداعيه الشيخ ذاكر نايك يتواجد في قطر خلال فترة كأس العالم وسيقدم العديد من المحاضرات الدينية طوال المونديال ??#ذاكر_نايك pic.twitter.com/Tz9gnU6c4N
— فيصل الهاجري (@Faisal_Alhajri0) November 19, 2022
The 57-year-old was banned in India in 2016 and faces charges of propagating hate speech and inciting terrorism.
Radical Islamic terrorists involved in the Dhaka blast, which killed 22 people, have admitted that they were influenced by Zakir’s preaches. India outlawed his Islamic Research Foundation in late 2016.
Since then, Zakir has been living in exile in Malaysia after then-prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir denied India’s request for extradition as he is wanted in the country for cases involving money laundering.
Zakir was banned from giving religious speeches in Malaysia in 2019 after the preacher made racist remarks towards Hindus and Chinese Malaysians.
He is also banned in the United Kingdom after praising Osama bin Laden, saying that “all Muslims should be terrorists”. – The Vibes, November 21, 2022.
