Commission addresses concerns over banned Islamic conference speaker4

Governance | Niki May Young | 30 Jun 2010

The Charity Commission has initiated an assessment of concerns that a charity invited a speaker, who was banned from the UK, to talk at a conference in Birmingham.

Indian national Dr Zakir Naik was due to speak at the Freedom of Expression event hosted by the UK charity Islamic Dawah Centre International (IDCI) on 27 June but could not attend due to an exclusion order placed on him by Theresa May earlier in the month.

In placing the exclusion order May advised that : "Numerous comments made by Dr Naik are evidence to me of his unacceptable behavior," an example of which is a statement he allegedly made that "all muslims should be terrorists". But her decision has proved controversial with Naik being a popular and largely respected Islamic speaker and founder of the not-for-profit Islamic Research foundation, which also owns Peace TV.

While the IDCI event did not go ahead as planned it has been postponed rather than cancelled, awaiting the exclusion order being lifted, said IDCI chairman Mohammed Zameer.

The charity was set up in 2000 with its purpose to convey the “message of Islam to masses in Britain and overseas” and to “counter the ever increasing misunderstanding and misconceptions about Islam.”

The Charity Commission advised Civil Society that after being made aware of the conference it is currently assessing the situation:

"Concerns have been raised with the Charity Commission regarding the charity Islamic Dawah Centre International (registered charity no.1092139)," said a Charity Commission spokesperson. "We are currently assessing these concerns in order to establish what, if any, regulatory role the Commission may have."

However, according to IDCI's chair the Commission has not yet been in touch. Zameer said: "They are not in touch with us, no...Obviously if the Charity Commission think there is reason they will be in touch."

Directory: Charity Commission

Place a comment

Taz
1 Jul 2010

I am totally shocked at how a sentence that is taken out of context and one that means exactly the opposite his whole statement says is still portrayed by the media and the government.
He was saying as Muslims we should strive to do good and fight crime and injustice. It is in this sense he said that a Muslim should strike terror into those who commit crimes (robbers etc).

He has made this clear, so why can people not stop this propoganda?

[Reply]

Mahbub
30 Jun 2010

He is a great Man!

[Reply]

Asif
30 Jun 2010

Its not the test of Zakir Naik, its the test of so called civilized westerns "values", if west pride themselfs that they are more civilized and intelligent how can an Islamic mullah can change anyone's view ? Is the west so insecure that a Mullah will change the mind of so called most civilised and intellegent people ?

[Reply]

Kamal
30 Jun 2010

It is very contradictory, the same Zakir Naik praises the shariyah system of Saudi Arabia, where there is no freedom of any kind. He praises terrorists, and inspires fundamentalists.
He says Music is the evil and his associate Bilal Phillips says democracy is the most corrupt system and he is against secularism.
With these deadly point of views, coming from the dangerous Wahhabi cult, how can they ask for freedom of speech?
They are capable of creating social unrest, in India Zakir Naik has already divided Barelvi, Sufi Shia and Wahhabi community by his fundamentalist speeches.
Later he wrote n apology and submitted in the police station but the damage is already done, his videos are being circulated to divide communities.
How can one allow such self proclaimed mullas?

[Reply]

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.