Zakir Naik is the world's most popular preacher by far. His channel, PeaceTV, has over 200 million viewers across the world. But the content of his speeches has drawn controversy, with terrorists from both the 2016 Dhaka attacks and 2019 Sri Lanka attacks citing him as an inspiration.
After India issued an arrest warrant for him in 2016, he moved to Malaysia where he is now a permanent resident. In his first interview since his exile, he speaks to THE WEEK's special correspondent Namrata Biji Ahuja on his many controversies.
You can find the interview and its related stories in THE WEEK's May 19 issue.
The exclusive interview is up here: https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2019/05/10/zakir-naik-exclusive-interview-wont-come-back-to-india-if-bjp-is-in-power.html
THE WEEK's cover story on Zakir Naik can be found here: https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2019/05/10/world-exclusive-how-zakir-naik-became-a-man-of-contradictions.html
For a look at how Zakir Naik uses rhetoric to skirt controversy, read this piece: https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/05/10/the-fifth-imam-understanding-the-real-zakir-naik.html
Namrata's interview with Zakir's wife, Farhat Naik, can be found here: https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2019/05/10/i-worry-about-our-family-back-home-zakir-naik-wife.html
Zakir's statements on Bush: https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/05/14/zakir-naik-george-bush-did-9-11-bin-laden-neither-a-terrorist-nor-a-saint.html
Zakir's view on Modi and Google search results: https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/05/14/zakir-naik-google-lists-modi-as-top-criminal-but-not-me-as-top-terrorist.html