Dr. Zakir Abdul Karim Naik

Zakir Abdul Karim Naik (born 18 October 1965) is an Indian public speaker on the subject of Islam and comparative religion. He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF),a non-profit organization that owns the Peace TV channel based in Mumbai, India. He is sometimes referred to as a televangelist. Before becoming a public speaker, he trained as a doctor.He has written books on Islam and comparative religion.

Naik has held many debates and lectures around the world. One of Naik's most-cited debates was with William Campbell in Chicago in April 2000 on the topic of "The Qur'an and the Bible: In the Light of Science".[13]

Naik has said that "despite the strident anti-Islam campaign, 34,000 Americans have embraced Islam from September 2001 to July 2002." He says Islam is a religion of reason and logic, and that the Quran contains 1000 verses relating to science, which he says explains the number of Western converts.[14] A popular theme of Naik's is to demonstrate how scientific theories were prophesised by the Quran. For example, he says certain verses of the Quran accurately describe embryological development.[15]

On 21 January 2006 Naik held an inter-religious debate with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bangalore. The event was about the concept of God in Islam and Hinduism, the aim being to promote understanding between the two major religions of India, and to point out the commonalities between them.[16]

In 2008 an Islamic scholar in Lucknow issued a fatwa against Naik, saying that he supported Osama bin Laden, and that his teachings were un-Islamic.[17]

In February 2011 Naik addressed the Oxford Union via video link from India.[18]

Peace Conference

Every year since November 2007 Naik has led a 10-day Peace Conference at Somaiya Ground, Sion, Mumbai. Lectures on Islam have been presented by Naik and twenty other Islamic scholars.[19]

During one of the lectures at the 2007 Peace Conference, Naik provoked anger between members...