Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik boycotted a group of girls at an orphanage in Pakistan where he was invited as a guest to give away awards on Wednesday. Pakistanis are now schooling him on his “misogynistic behaviour.” Naik said these girls were ‘na-mahram’ to him and hence he won’t interact with them.
In Islam, the term na-mahram is used to refer to an unmarried woman who is without a male guardian. Naik said, “You cannot touch them or call them your daughters.”
In a viral video, Naik can be seen walking off stage when the girls walk up to him at the event hosted by the Pakistan Sweet Home Foundation, which supports orphaned girls. When the announcer referred to the girls as his ‘daughters’, Naik deemed it inappropriate and said, “You cannot touch them or call them your daughters,” adding that these girls are considered “non-mahrams”. Pakistanis call it “peak misogyny”.
“Dr. Zakir Naik is a religious scholar and guest in Pakistan but I find this act of his so abominable – peak misogyny and sanctimony on display. How embarrassing and rather disturbing it must have been for these poor little girls!”, lawyer Saria Benazir wrote on X.
Noted economist Yousuf Nazar chose to be even more direct.
“Pakistan doesn’t need more fundos like Zakir Naik, it already has too many”, he wrote.
Journalist Abbas Nasir even blamed the government for inviting him and called PMLN a “write off”.
“I was wondering how Zakir Naik came to Pakistan. Turns out he was invited by the PMLN government; received by Rana Mashood. He will pollute minds for four weeks. This is what a government thrashing about for legitimacy does. PMLN is a write-off,” he wrote on X.
Social media users were not so kind. One X user said, “alright boys in episode 3 of this zakir naik’s pakistan tour we have him embarrassing one of the most hardworking NGO owners in this country because the orphans were ‘non mahrams’ and can’t be touched, and weren’t his daughters? (all this incel had to do was give them a shield). Another user called mindsets like Naik’s “the biggest barrier to girl’s progress”.
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More controversies
But it did not end there. The preacher kept courting controversies throughout the day and the Internet left no opportunities to call his actions out. First his invite to Pakistan has been heavily criticised in the country, then in another video, he said that “dressing modestly prevents sexual harassment”.
While enraged social media users called Naik’s sermon a “rape apologia”, one user had a simple advice for him: “Dr. Sahib, go back.”
This marks Naik’s first visit to Pakistan in thirty years; his last trip was in 1992, when he met religious scholar Dr Israr Ahmed in Lahore before returning to India. Although originally from India, the preacher now resides in Malaysia due to legal issues in his home country, which has pursued his extradition in several cases.
Upon arriving at the Islamabad International Airport, Naik was welcomed by officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and PM Shehbaz Sharif’s aide Rana Mashhood. During his visit, Naik is set to address public gatherings, starting in Karachi on 5 October, followed by speeches in Lahore on 12 October and in Islamabad on 19 October. He is visiting Pakistan at the government’s invitation and will be provided with comprehensive security throughout his month-long stay, Dawn reported.
Amid all of this, Shehzad Shaikh, the host of the podcast Pakistan Experience perhaps captured the mood of the nation with his post on X: “India mai Coldplay tour kar raha hay aur Pakistan mai Zakir Naik (India gets a Coldplay tour while Pakistan gets a Zakir Naik tour)”.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)