New Delhi (The Hawk): Many Indians were upset when Qatar invited controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik to deliver religious talks during the FIFA World Cup being held in Doha.
Naik, who has been living in exile in Malaysia since 2017, is accused of using hate speech, fomenting animosity among groups, and money laundering in India.
"They both practise his hateful, violent brand of Islam, and such perverts degrade their own faiths. The Qatari government made a terrible choice by holding the FIFA World Cup rather than a "Ijtima" where Zakir Naik might be requested to speak. He shouldn't even be invited there, "Ifran Habib, a renowned historian, tweeted.
"The official visitor of Qatar at the FIFA World Cup is the hate preacher Zakir Naik, a follower of Al-Qaeda who is wanted in India for involvement in terrorism. How can you permit a terrorist sympathiser who openly preaches for jihad or violence against non-Muslims to use the biggest sporting stage in the world?" Former athlete Major Surendra Poonia tweeted.
The host of Qatar's state-run sports network Alkass, Faisal Alhajri, tweeted about Naik's presence in the country.
According to Al Arabiya News, Faisal Alhajri posted on Twitter on Saturday, "Preacher Sheikh Zakir Naik is currently in Qatar during the World Cup and will offer many religious lectures during the tournament."
On Sunday, @KawuGarba, a well-known Twitter user, shared a video of Naik evangelising on stage. In the video, he could be seen instructing the recent converts to repeat the "Kalma."
"They travelled there to view the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. They accepted Islam when they heeded Allah's call. Almighty God! "Tweeted the user.
The Naik-founded Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) was deemed an unlawful group and given a five-year ban by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in March of this year.
According to the MHA notification, Naik's speeches were unacceptable since he was endorsing known terrorists.
Additionally, the notification stated that the IRF founder had advocated for the forced conversion of youth to Islam, supported suicide bombings, and published offensive remarks about Hindus, Hindu deities, and other religions.
(Inputs from Agencies)
