NEW DELHI: Dr. Zakir Naik, who is currently based in Malaysia joins Twitter debate after the star of the Bollywood movie Dangal Zaira Wasim being trolled for quoting from the Quran while talking about locust attacks.
Dr. Naik, who has been in exile in Malaysia since 2016 uploaded a video on on his Facebook handle on Sunday extending his support for Zaira Wasim.
The video is titled We Support Zaira Wasim’s Decision to Quit Bollywood and Spread the Message of Islam on Social Media—Dr Zakir Naik. Naik talks about Zaira Wasim in response to a question from a viewer.
Naik argues that “most of the part of Bollywood is not appropriate for a practising Muslim” and adds “It takes a lot of courage and sacrifice for a person famous in Bollywood to quit Bollywood.”
Naik said that Allah will reward Zaira multiple times more than “the sin she was doing”.
Zaira, in the Twitter and Instagram handles which is briefly deactivated wrote, “So We sent upon them the flood and locusts and lice and frogs and blood: Signs openly self-explained: but they were steeped in arrogance—a people given to sin -Qur’an 7:133 (sic).”
Soon, she started receiving hateful comments from netizens who interpreted her post as a justification of the locust attacks. They felt that Wasim was suggesting that the incident is God’s way of expressing wrath.
In June last year, the Srinagar-born former actress said goodbye to her film career as she held that “relationship with her religion was threatened”.
In a detailed post on her Facebook page, the 19-year-old had cited religious reasons for her decision to quit her promising career in the Bollywood.