Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's ideology extremely dangerous says Expert

Security expert Alok Bansal on Thursday said that Islamic preacher Zakir Naik has been propounding Wahabi ideology which is becoming a breeding ground for terrorism and addied that his narrative is similar to that of the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.

Wahabism is a religious part of Sunni Islam named after Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a 18th century scholar, which has been described by many as a 'fundamentalist' ideology.

Bansal told ANI that extremism can only by countered by creating an alternate narrative and not by bombs and bullets.

"We must understand that this is an ideological battle and it cannot be won by bombs or bullets; it has to be won by creating an alternative narrative and people like Zakir Naik have created narrative that actually helps organizations like Al-Qaeda or Islamic State to thrive because their narrative is very close to his narrative, though he keeps saying that he talks of peace but his narrative convinces people to go and follow Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State."

He stated that global community must ensure that his channel must be banned to prevent him from accessing the influential minds of the youth.

"Zakir Naik has been propounding an extremist worldview his ideology, his channel, propagates a Wahabi ideology. This is dangerous because this is what actually drives terrorists. I think global community should take steps to prevent from propagating his views and ensure that people like Zakir Naik don't have unbridled access to impressionable minds," he said.

According to a Bangladesh newspaper, militant Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader and one of the perpetrators of last week Dhaka's diplomatic zone terror attack quoted the controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.

Naik, during his lecture on Peace TV, reportedly urged all Muslims to become terrorists.

Naik, a popular but controversial Islamic orator and founder of the Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, is banned in UK and Canada for his hate speeches.

He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia.