Dr Zakir Abdul Naik is an Islamic preacher and the founder of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). Unlike many Islamic preachers, his lectures are conversational and delivered in English rather than Urdu or Arabic. However, his talks have been allegedly found to contain radical elements matching those of terror outfits such as Isalamic State or Taliban. This has led to his talks being banned in India, Bangladesh, Canada and the UK.
His general ideology revolves around removing the perceived misconceptions around Islam which are being propagated by western media post the 9/11 attacks. Naik has openly professed Islamic supremacy over all religions and has condemned music and dance comparing it with alcohol, calling it intoxicating in nature. He has also controversially spoken about beating one's wife "gently" claiming the man is the leader of the house and has every right to do so.
Recently, one of the terrorists involved in the July 2016 Dhaka Terror attacks was claimed to have been influenced by the speeches of Zakir Naik which led to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file an FIR against Naik. NIA also raided several locations associated with the IRF.
