Assumption is the root of all evil

I was reading bro Rizhan's blog entry about this topic and decided to share something.

Remember recently that a certain Muslim organisation tried to bring Dr Zakir Naik to Singapore but he was not granted a permit?

To be honest, I was disappointed that it didn't happen. Dr Zakir Naik is one of the better da'ies in the Muslim world, who's recognised worldwide and his talks are somewhat very inspirational, beneficial and even extraordinary, Masya Allaah.

Knowing this just added to the disappointment. Guess what was the first thing that came to mind? Maybe the government decided to do this because of this, maybe a certain Muslim body did that because of something else. However, they are all just maybes coming from me and and they remain as such.

Thankfully, I kept an open mind and decided not to make any conclusion on the matter until I get some facts about what really happened. And alhamdulillaah, I managed to get answers recently at an iftar-cum-open talk session between a main Muslim body and the Singapore Students of Al-Haramain Asy-Syarifain.

During the open dicussion, I decided to ask, why Dr Zakir Naik's talk was not approved to be held in Singapore and we all know the benefits he brings to Islam and the general public as a whole, while on the other hand, a certain 'Grand' Sheikh was allowed to come to Singapore and some of the things he does are not beneficial at all to the general Muslim community and some of the rituals he introduced to them are not even Islamic.

Firstly, about the Sheikh, we were told that he has been advised about certain things that he did for example, spreading his own opinions about Wahhabism to the general public which would only create division, hatred and confusion. And the reason he was allowed to come to Singapore, which in recent times, seems quite often, is due to the fact that it was a closed session and not opened to the public.

And we were told that even the controversial Ameenah Wadud, had came to Singapore recently and given a talk albeit in a closed session.

For Dr Zakir Naik, however, the organisers wanted it to be in public. For any talks to be held public, it will have to go through some bodies of the government and they will always be very strict, especially if the talk touched on topics such as different religious or racial issues. And of course with his speeches available on YouTube, I'm sure those government bodies have made a thorough research on the speaker. And we know how Singapore works especially on these sensitive issues.

Thus, this was why he was not granted permit to give a talk here. From what I understand, generally, the organisers had acted independantly and didn't seek advice from the main Muslim body. They didn't know about the government's stringent assesment before allowing talks like these to be held in public. What should have been done was for the talk to be held in a closed session as that would have definitely allow him to give a talk here.

This was the answer given to my query, being told to us from someone who holds quite a high post in the Muslim body, whom I respect and trust. Now that the Muslim organisation have known about it and have been advised about how to go about bringing personalities like Dr Zakir Naik here, I hope that they will invite him here again in the near future, insya Allaah.

{"O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion; indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allaah. Verily, Allaah is the One Who forgives and accepts repentance, Most Merciful."} (Suurah Al-Hujuraat 49:12)

And Allaah Almighty knows best.