Islamist preacher Zakir Naik, who has been on the run from Indian law enforcement authorities, is not new to controversies. On Sunday (December 25), he took to Facebook to claim that modern-day Christians do not believe in the ‘virgin birth’ of Jesus Christ.
Coinciding with the occasion of Christmas, Naik posted a 12-second video on the social media platform to suggest that Muslims believe in the story of the birth of Jesus Christ more than Christians.
“Muslims believe that Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) was born miraculously without any male intervention, which many Christians today do not believe,” the caption of the video read.
Saying ‘Merry Christmas’ to your Christian friends is Haram: Zakir Naik
However, this bizarre assertion is nothing compared to his earlier statements on Christmas and Christians in general. In a video from April 2019, Zakir Naik was seen admonishing a Muslim boy named Adel Ahmed for committing ‘sin’ by wishing ‘Merry Christmas’ to his friends.
This is despite the fact that Ahmed was a resident of England, a Christian-majority country, and greeting people at festivals is a common practice throughout the globe.
“To reach your goals, you cannot use the wrong means brother. What is Haram to them is also Haram to you. When you are wishing Merry Christmas to them, you are agreeing that he is the son of God and that is Shirk (sin),” Zakir Naik was heard as saying.
“Because they (Christians) believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Irrespective of whether they are practising Christians or not, they celebrate the day because of His birthday,” he emphasised.
Zakir Naik is of the belief that Allah is the supreme creator of the world and thus the worship of Jesus Christ, aka anyone other than Allah, is, therefore, a sin.
The Islamic scholar informed that he invites (Dawah) Christians on December 25, only to dismiss their belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God by coercing them to cite verses from the Bible as proof.
“Is saying Merry Christmas wrong? I am telling you it is wrong. It is 100% wrong according to me,” he reiterated. Naik further added, “If you don’t know what Christmas stands for and happen to wish someone on that day, Allah may forgive you. If you drink alcohol, mistaking it for Pepsi, Allah may forgive you.”
He concluded, “But if you are doing it to build a relationship after knowing what Christmas stands for, you are building your place in Jahannam (Hell). Therefore, for reaching good means, you never have to follow bad means. You have to follow the guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah.”
Christians bound for Hell even if they are ‘good’ like Mother Teresa, claims hate preacher
In March last year, Zakir Naik announced that even Christians such as Mother Teresa would go to Hell by virtue of being non-Muslim.
On being asked whether ‘righteous’ and ‘good’ non-Muslims such as Mother Teresa would still go to Hell, he replied, “There are four ways of going to Jannah (paradise).”
He explained, “By the token of time, a man is in a state of loss except those who have Faith, those who are righteous, those who do Dawah and those who exhort people to do patience and perseverance. Minimum four criteria are required to go to Jannah.”
Zakir Naik then proceeded to compare the ‘four steps to Jannah’ to the subjects that he studied in 10th Std. He emphasised that even if someone got 99 marks in 5 subjects and managed to secure 10 marks in just one subject, then, it would imply that the student has failed.
While continuing with his irrational argument, Naik claimed that Jannah could only be achieved on the successful completion of all four steps.
“For the sake of argument, let’s assume that Mother Teresa was righteous. In Islam, righteous includes a lot of things, which I believe that Mother Teresa did not have. What about Imaan (Faith in Islam)? If she does Shirk (follow any religion other than Islam and thus prohibited)…” he said.
Naik alleged that committing ‘shirk’ is a crime according to Islam and Christianity. In his usual style, he quoted the Book of Deuteronomy, Book of Exodus and Surah Al Ma’idah.
The hate preacher claimed that ‘Allah’ will make paradise ‘haram’ (prohibited) for all those who consider Jesus Christ (the son of Mary) as God. “Fire (Hell) shall his dwelling place be and he shall have no help hereafter,” Zakir Naik cited the Islamic religious text.
He thus suggested that Mother Teresa will be condemned to Hell for mistaking Jesus Christ as God and putting Him at par with ‘Allah’. Zakir Naik concluded, “So, according to Jesus Christ, Quran and the Bible, if anybody does Shirk, be it Mother Teresa or anyone else, they shall not enter Jannah.”
