Dr Zakir Naik’s videos outreached to more than 2 billion people globally. A large number of non-muslims and atheists reverted to Islam after watching his lectures on Satellite Tv and on Social media. Explore 20 Surprising and Unknown Facts about Dr Zakir Naik, the Reviver of Islam in the 21st Century.
1: He Is Not A Scholar
Most people still don’t know who Dr Zakir Naik really is. He is not a scholar but a top orator/ public speaker on Islam, science and comparative religions, who wrote 12 books.
At first, he used to host lectures and international conferences in India, followed by a question answer session where audience would ask him questions. Now, he gives lectures in Malaysia and comes live on his official YouTube channel
2: He Has No Formal Islamic Education
Dr Zakir Naik never went to any Islamic University all his life. He has no degree in Islamic Studies yet he spread the Quranic View globally by self learning Islam and other religions.
This shows that you don’t necessarily need a formal education in Islamic studies to teach Islam.
Know about Dr Zakir Naik’s Teachers!
3: He Is A Self-Taught Intellectual
Dr Zakir Naik had no personal research; hence the first eight years of his dawah, he preached what he learned from his first teacher ‘Shaikh Ahmed Deedat’ and presented his research to the Public of India.
He adopted the ancient method of learning, where he met some great Islamic scholars of the world and learnt Arabic, Hadith Sciences, Islamic Jurisprudence, Islamic Literature, Logic, and other necessary subjects from them.
4: He Initiated Dawah at 23 years
It’s far amazing that Dr Zakir Naik was just 23 years old when he began his dawah work in his small circle of friends and some accessible people. He invited Hindu Pandits and Christen Missionaries towards Islam through a decent knowledge exchange, which he learnt from Sheikh Ahmed Deedat’s 50 cassettes.
5: He Gave His First Public Speech When He Was 26
At the age of 26, Dr Zakir Naik gave his first public speech in the room of 25 people, held in the Islamic research centre.
Before that, he never spoke in front of this much people as he was shy and used to stammer. His first speech was as accidentally planned by Allah Almighty, where he had to take place of one of the speakers urgently, and his stammer went.
6: In Student Life, He Opened A Small Research Foundation
When Dr Zakir Naik was a medical student, he opened a non-profit ‘Islamic research foundation’ in a small 9 square fit area with a low budget of 67 dollars. It tells us how passionate he was about revealing the truth of Islam to everyone around him. This research foundation had all cassettes and books of sheikh Ahmed Deedat. Dr Zaik Naik used to host small sessions of public speakers in it.
7: He Was A Stammerer
Dr Zakir Naik was born as a stammerer. He couldn’t even think of Public speaking. But, when he started giving dawah in the Indian land, Allah removed his stammer, and he could easily give public talks. It was a real-life miracle.
8: He Left Medical Field After Meeting Dr Israr Ahmed
Many people know from his lectures that Dr Zakir Naik is a doctor. He completed his MBBS in 1990 from Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai.
But very few people know that he actually completed his house job and practised medicine for 7 years until he met a Pakistani Religious Scholar Dr Israr Ahmed, who was also a former MBBS doctor after that Dr Zakir Naik left his medical practice and focused entirely on Dawah.
Here’s What Dr Israr Ahmed Said To Dr Zakir Naik Which Changed His Life Forever !
9: He Married Farhat Riyasat Khan
Dr Zakir Naik married Farhat Riyasat Khan on 16th May 1993. Mrs Farhat Naik was also a Daee (Someone, who invites people towards Islam) and a University professor.
10: Dr Zakir Naik has 3 Children
He has two daughters and one son namely; Zikra Naik, Rushda Naik and Fariq Naik. His two daughters passed Bachelor in Islamic Studies and His son has done Masters in Islamic Jurisprudence. Thrice of them are Hafiz e Quran.
11: He started Peace TV in 2006
After 16 years of his debut as an Orator, Dr Zakir Naik launched Peace Tv – A first HD Religious Satellite Tv that expanded its reach in all 195 countries free of cost.
It got banned from India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, but people loved its content, and it still was accessed through an Online Peace Tv App. The network got more than 200 Million viewership by 2016 and has channels in 5 different languages, including English, Urdu and Chinese.
12: Dr Zakir Naik Established a Unique School
Dr Zakir Naik opened Islamic International School in India, which is unique because it gives both Islamic and scientific knowledge to its students. The passed-out students become knowledgeable enough to either go for Islamic or Scientific fields. Fariq Naik, the son of Dr Zakir Naik, also studied at Islamic International School.
13: All His Dawah Work (Cassettes, Videos, Books) are Copyright Free
Yes! Dr Zakir Naik’s lifetime work is copyright-free. He never charged a single penny on his Dawah activities, and all his books, videos, and materials are royalty-free. Anyone can use excerpts of his book in their lectures, publish them or upload his videos on Youtube and will never get a copyright strike in return. According to him, his reward will only keep on increasing if people use his work for any goodness, Masha’Allah.
14: Indian Government Couldn’t Prove its Allegations Against Dr Zakir Naik
In 2017, the Indian government requested INTERPOL (An Organization that handles International Crimes) to charge Dr Zakir Naik with terrorism, but it straightway rejected the charges. Then in 2018, it requested INTERPOL to charge him for Hate-speech but again the organization discarded the charges. Finally, in 2020, the Indian government again requested INTERPOL to charge Dr Zakir Naik for money laundering, but in 2021 the organization stated that it couldn’t find any single proof against him.
15: No Court Ever Convicted Him
Everybody was thinking about why Dr Zakir Naik went wanted in India. There were sure some arrest warrants against him because he didn’t attend court, but no court til the date convicted him. Instead, all those charges were discarded. These are some proof of his innocence.
16: Dr Zakir Naik Listed Among The Muslim 500
Despite the propaganda, Dr Zakir Naik kept on rising high and changed the lives of millions of people globally. He has been listed in the Muslim 500 for the last 10 years consecutively.
17: He Delivered 2000 Public Talks
Dr Zakir Naik gave more than 2000 Public talks in 31 years of his life. His lectures have helped so many confused minds to understand Islam.
18: He Received King Faisal Award
The Muslim world’s most reputed award, “King Faisal Award”, was given to Dr Zakir Naik in 2015 for his positive contributions. He received a $200,000 prize along the award, which he donated to Peace Tv Network, so it keeps its operations running to spread the true face of Islam.
19: Dr Zakir Naik is also a Businessman
We often think about how this great Daee manages his finances when he never charges for his dawah activities (including travel, accommodation, ticket, lectures etc), and while all of his work is free of cost.
Dr Zakir Naik revealed in his recent autobiography that he runs a few businesses like Real Estate, Islamic Stocks etc. He made Allah the biggest shareholder in them, so He always blesses his work. Masha’Allah.
20: He Permanently Moved to Malaysia
According to Dr Zakir Naik, he made a permanent Hijrah from India to Malaysia and followed the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). When the new Indian government started persecuting him, he flew to Malaysia to lead a safe and non-troublesome life.
Source of Information:
- DR ZAKIR NAIK : MY LIFE AND MY STORY (via) Dr Zakir Naik Official YouTube Channel
So, how many facts about Dr Zakir Naik did you already know? Comment below. We’d love to hear from you.