Zakir Naik's Views on Women: Part I

Pre-script: This post, and Zakir Naik's personality and "scholarship," should explain to many Muslims why I am a feminist and why I'm worried about Muslim women, especially those who follow Zakir Naik and his likes like he's a prophet or something. I'm truly sorry for all such women ... although knowing that men, too, follow him doesn't help 'cause those men, after listening to Naik, go home only to put women in a lower position! For instance, a husband might tell his wife, "You can't work anymore because Zakir Naik said the woman shouldn't work." Or "I have the right to beat you up because verse 4:34 tells me I can." Like, yo, what's this guy doing to the future generations?! And, mind you, he often gets his Quranic verse numbers wrong . . . Yep. Of course, I verify him each time he mentions a surah/verse number, and he's wrong many times. I just wonder why no Muslims actually notice that. Does anyone ever, EVER bother to verify the information he spoonfeeds them? Wake up, folks!!! Oh, and ... not that anyone should be surprised, but he also makes up names of all these random nobel-prize winning "scientists" (such as those who don't believe in evolution... 'cause, oh you know, that is proof that evolution indeed is not true!). It's adorable, really. Oh ... this is still the pre-script. Sorry, I'll continue to the actual post now. 

Zakir Naik, giving a lecture on women's "rights" in Islam

So, as many of my readers know, I'm writing my honors thesis on Zakir Naik and his views on women. I've written a chapter of it so far (it was for my Gender and Sexuality in Islam course), and I'm learning that as I write more, more and more ideas come to me about how to interpret his talks/lectures! In this one chapter, I argue that his views subtly put women in an inferior position, despite his insistence that "women and men are EQUAL in the eyes of God." More on this later but for now ... 

Needless to say, it's complete torture -- TORTURE, folks, TORTURE!!! -- to hear and listen to Naik's lectures and analyze them and critique them. ~cries desperately~ Imagine hearing Quranic verse 4:34 as the ONLY reason for virtually everything -- from why you can't work unless you are absolutely *required* to, why God never send female prophets, why you can't have certain jobs (or any jobs, rather, because the responsibility is solely the husband's), to why you have to sit in the back of his lectures, why your husband has the right to beat you up or discipline you (yes, he's comparing women to children, you see, children who need to be beaten and disciplined by their parents. Clearly, women aren't intelligent or wise enough and therefore NEED men to discipline them. Sickness, I tell you!), and oh yes why YOU don't have the right to initiate a divorce and your husband can divorce you any time HE feels like it. It's disparaging to say the least! I don't know what kind of a woman accepts such stuff as "authentic" or "Islamic." Sure, we know how things SHOULD be in the ideal Muslim world, but he doesn't at all address those situations in which things are not what they're supposed to be. But I'll give you examples of this in future posts. Patience. For now, lemme just complain about what all I have to go through listening to someone many Muslims see as a "scholar"!

Often, I have to listen to each one like 50 times 'cause each time I listen to him, I hear him differently, and a new interpretation of his seemingly feminist ideas come to my mind. And, of course, Qrratugai has GOT to respond to those! The one thing that pushes me to keep going is that ... if I don't introduce him to the academia, no one will. This is my way of reminding Muslims that there are more than one way to read what he's feeding you, and there are miserable consequences for the sorta information he forces down your throat without your realizing it. I plan to distribute this paper if it's accepted by the department.

So, I'm reading his book titled Women's Rights in Islam: Modern or Outdated? As one would expect, it's nothing more than an attack on the west. No, wait - it's not an attack on the west; it's an attack on America alone. At these random times, he'll say things about America and American women and their treatment to make it seem like women are just so, oh so degraded in America but so, oh so respected in "Muslim" countries! Sure, it goes both ways. But who looks at that?

Lemme introduce the guy first. Zakir Naik is a 40-year-old Indian televangelist / preacher deemed a "scholar" by many Muslims, especially Muslims of South Asian background. It's disturbing, folks, it's disturbing. You can look him up. He's all over the net. And you can even follow him on Facebook, like I do, and check his status and try so OH SO hard to control yourself from responding to his comments (status messages) because you know that your message/comment will be hidden within minutes.

The reason I chose to write my thesis on him and not anyone else (e.g., Ahmed Deedat) is as follows.

When I first heard of Zakir Naik in 2006, I was impressed with his “logic” and teachings. I remained his acolyte for approximately two years, until I began to note contradictions and double standards in his explanations to questions asked of him. I therefore empathize with those who support him and deem him an authority on Islam. He continues to influence many of my Muslim friends, particularly those from a South Asian background, to such an extent that when I mention that I am pursuing Islamic Studies, the first thing I am asked is, “What do you think of Zakir Naik?” as though my opinion of him will determine whether or not I am studying the “right” Islam: If I do not think highly of him, I am being taught the “western” and “modern” Islam against which Zakir Naik preaches; if I think well of him, I am on the “right” path.

I'd have to have a long, long blog post for each comment he makes, but here's what you may expect: His views on female prophets, women leading their families (he says that if a woman is forbidden in Islam to lead her own FAMILy, then how can she lead an entire nation? I'm convinced!), women in politics, women on the battlefield (he says Islamic history tells us that women healed the wounds, serving as nurses, so Muslim women are ALLOWED to be on the battlefield -- but they're forbidden to fight in the war, unless there are absolutely no men around), and his views on non-Muslims' right to practice and preach their religion in a Muslim land.

I like the last one first, even though it doesn't have anything to do with women. It's just to introduce you to him so you know what to expect from his views on women, so you know what sort of "logic" he uses, so you understand why I felt the utter need to write on him in the academic world (while Ahmed Deedat is written on constantly, Zakir Naik is absolutely unheard of in the scholarly world).

Enjoy the video I'm about to share! Much more to come later.You might also want to take a look at this video: Zakir Naik and Women's Rights in Islam.