Tag: apostate

UK: Indian Muslim Cleric Invited to UK; Promotes Views to Deny Religious Freedom

British media are reporting on the activities of Indian Muslim cleric Zakir Naik who has been permitted to enter the United Kingdom for evangelist activities on his interpretation of Islam.

Religious extremist Zakir Naik has repeatedly called for denying human beings their universal human rights of freedom of conscience, calling those who leave Islam as “traitors.”  The London Times has quoted Zakir Naik as stating that “People who change their religion should face the death penalty.”  On May 30, 2010, Zakir Naik was speaking at a Maldives event where a man publicly renounced Islam in the form of a question to Zakir Naik, and Zakir Naik again called for the death penalty for those Muslims who leave Islam and who propagate another faith.  The man asking Zakir Naik the question was taken into custody in the Maldives and is expected to be prosecuted.

In a widely broadcast video, Zakir Naik has called for the death penalty for those who leave Islam and promote another religion as “apostates.”  In the broadcast, Zakir Naik states “if a Muslim becomes a non-Muslim and propagates his/her new religion, then it is as good as treason.  There is a ‘death penalty’ in Islam for such a person.  In many countries, the punishment for treason is also death. If an army general discloses his army’s secrets to another country, then there is a ‘death penalty’ or life imprisonment for such a person according to the laws of most of the countries.  In the broadcast, Zakir Naik also states that the death penalty for leaving Islam (“apostasy”) should also apply to “non-Muslim countries.”  Zakir Naik also challenges other “Islamic scholars” who believe in such death penalty for “apostates” to extend such defiance of religious freedom not just to Muslim majority nations, but to the entire world. Zakir Naik states “If these scholars are really righteous people then they must welcome their own principle (of death for apostates) in the non-Muslim countries as well.”

Zakir Naik has also reportedly stated that women must cover themselves, and reject “revealing Western dress,” or they are “susceptible to rape.”

Zakir Naik is infamously known for his defense of Osama Bin Laden and stating that “every Muslim should be a terrorist.”

Zakir Naik (Photo: London Times)
Zakir Naik (Photo: London Times)

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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) promotes freedom of religion and freedom of conscience as our unqualified, universal human rights. We challenge those who deny such universal human rights, including the right to change one’s religion as defined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Media Reports:

Daily Star: “Extremist Zakir Naik to start tour preaching hate”
— Daily Star: “The 44-year-old also claims Western women make themselves ‘more susceptible to rape’ because they refuse to cover up.”

Daily Mail: Allowed into UK, the preacher who backs Bin Laden

London Times: “Muslim preacher of hate is let into Britain” — Zakir Naik
— London Times: “Zakir Naik, an Indian televangelist described as a ‘hate-monger’ by moderate Muslims and one Tory MP, says western women make themselves ‘more susceptible to rape’ by wearing revealing clothing.”
— “Naik, who proselytises on Peace TV, a satellite television channel, is reported to have called for the execution of Muslims who change their faith, described Americans as ‘pigs’ and said that ‘every Muslim should be a terrorist‘”
— “In a recent lecture, he said he was ‘with’ Osama Bin Laden over the attacks on ‘terrorist America’, adding that the 9/11 hijackings were an inside job by President George W Bush.”
— quotes Zakir Naik: “Beware of Muslims saying Osama Bin Laden is right or wrong. I reject them … we don’t know. But if you ask my view, if given the truth, if he is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him. I don’t know what he’s doing. I’m not in touch with him. I don’t know him personally. If he is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist … I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”
— quotes Zakir Naik: “People who change their religion should face the death penalty”

Daily Express: “‘Terror Backer’ can enter UK… despite Tories’ ban pledge”

Background:

YouTube: Death Penalty for Apostates! (Dr. Zakir Naik) — alternative video link

YouTube: Every Muslim Should be a Terrorist – Mullah Zakir Naik

YouTube: “Spreading Hatred.. Dr Zakir Naik on loose”

Muslim Rebuttals to Zakir Naik
— Zakir Naik

October 10, 2008 – MEMRI: “Indian Muslim Cleric Zakir Naik: 9/11 Was Carried Out by George Bush Himself”

Chicago: Hizb ut-Tahrir Distributes Flier Calling for “Death Penalty” for Those Who Leave Islam

 

At the July 19, 2009 Hizb ut-Tahrir America (HTA) conference in Oak Lawn, Illinois at the Oak Lawn Hilton, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) ’s Jeffrey Imm attended the end of the final session “The Rise of Islam” prior to Question and Answer period.  When going into the conference, each participant received a package from HTA which included:  HTA Conference Agenda, HT glossy pamphlet ” ‘Islamic Reformation’ – Exposing the Battle for Hearts and Minds,” HT flier, and CDs “An Outcry to the Islamic Ummah – For How Much Longer?!” and “The Shield – Islamic Commentary on the State of the Muslims.”

The glossy pamphlet ” ‘Islamic Reformation’ – Exposing the Battle for Hearts and Minds” distributed by the HTA at the Oak Lawn, IL conference was designed to reject the concept of any type of “Islamic reformation” demanding instead the creation of an extremist caliphate.  The HTA pamphlet mocked the efforts by Islamic reformer Irshad Manji (page 6), claimed that challenging the Taliban’s rejection of human rights was merely a ploy “to attack Islam” (page 16), mocks “The Fallacy of Western Universalism” (page 21), mocks “allegedly universal values of secularism, freedom, democracy, Human Rights, pluralism, and the rule of law” (page 23), calls for “Shari’ah rule,” demanded separate laws for men and women, and defends the death penalty for “apostates” – who leave Islam (pages 62 and 67).

Regarding the killing of those who seek freedom of religion and choose to leave Islam, the HTA-distributed pamphlet states:  “Apostasy is a question of what kind of person would openly and publicly abandon Islam with full knowledge that they will be killed for it, rather than either keeping it to themselves or leave the Khalifah. Hence, the death penalty only applies on those who in Khalifah openly leave Islam, and choose to remain in the state despite knowing the law; this is considered an open attack on the basis of the state which is Islam, essentially it is viewed as treason and a political attack on the Khalifah in order to undermine it.”

Another Hizb ut-Tahrir web site promoting the July 19, 2009 event in Chicago also promotes an online copy of this same pamphlet (page 62) that supports killing those individuals who leave Islam as guilty of “treason and a political attack on the Khilafah”… deserving the “death penalty.”

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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) rejects these views, and supports our universal human rights for all, including freedom of religion.  We know that many, many other Muslims in America and around the world also reject such calls for violence and intolerance.

We reject calls for violence against those who seek such freedom, and we reject those who would deny such freedoms.

We urge all to Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.