Pakistan: Zakir Naik Sparks Outrage Over 'Bazaari Aurat' Remarks Against Unmarried Women During Speech At Governor House In Karachi; Watch VIDEO

Mumbai: Dr Zakir Naik, the Islamic preacher from Mumbai, is causing enormous embarrassment to the Pakistani government at whose invitation he is currently touring that country. He has been making one controversial statement after another in the name of Islam much to the anger of the Pakistani population, specially the educated ones.

The 59-year-old Deobandi scholar, who is wanted on terror finance charges by the Indian government, fled to Malaysia and now he is visiting Pakistan addressing large gatherings in Karachi and other cities.

Zakir Naik: There is no way an unmarried woman can be respected, if there are no single men available, she either has to marry an already married man to be respected or else she is public property.

Congratulations Pakistan- You deserve him pic.twitter.com/CTt0taGiKZ

— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) October 8, 2024

His latest statement made at the Governor House in Karachi on October 3 that unmarried women are "prostitutes" and "public property" has evoked sharp reactions in the local media. He said every unmarried woman should get married as soon as possible and if she does not find an unmarried man she should wed a married man else she risks becoming "bazaari aurat" or public property.

Influencers like Ali Abbas, Shafaat Ali, Absa Komal etc have slammed him for the highly insensitive remark about unmarried women. What is making matters worse is that he has been projected as an Islamic "scholar." Some of the commentators have called him "nalayak" (incompetent) and said he was doing a huge disservice to Islam by issuing such statements. Some of them said after Dr Naik's statements life would become hell for single women in Pakistan.

“Islam is so beyond and eper than regressive ideologies and banter around such stuff,” said RJ and host Anoushey Ashraf in reaction to a statement made by public orator and religious preacher Dr Zakir Naik in which he said single women have two choices in life — marry an already married man or become a ‘bazaari aurat’, a term he translated as ‘public property’.

According to Pakistani newspapers Dawn and Express Tribune, Dr Naik "argued that there are many more women than men, therefore even if every man married once, there would be many women left with no one to marry. So what option do they have left? They have two options — the first is that they marry a man who already has a wife. Or they become a ‘bazaari aurat’. ‘Bazaari aurat’, such a strong word! In English, I would say ‘public property’. People complain about it but I say I don’t have a better word for it."

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Ashraf said, “First we say, Allah makes pairs and one’s wedding happens when God wills it. Then we say ‘you’ve got to be someone’s second wife or a bazaari aurat’ if you’re not married in time? How can I be married if Allah hasn’t willed it yet?”

The Dawn newspaper further reported that Actor Nadia Hussain also shared a post on Instagram on Wednesday in which she said, “Unmarried women, you are not bazaari, you are not public property. Married or not married, children or no children you are respectable members of society. Please do not let anyone think of you otherwise.”

Here’s something we all need to understand: Women; whether they choose not to marry, struggle to find a suitable partner, or become widows, are NOT public property.

This mindset is neither Islamic, humane, nor rational.

No matter who says it, it’s offensively stupid!

— Shafaat Ali (@iamshafaatali) October 8, 2024

“Here’s something we all need to understand: women, whether they choose not to marry, struggle to find a suitable partner, or become widows, are NOT public property,” comedian Shafaat Ali wrote in a post shared to X. He said this mindset was neither humane nor rational.

Dr Naik, who started the controversial Islamic Research Centre in a bylane of Dongri in central Mumbai some years ago became popular as a televangelist with foreign funds. He has his own TV channel which has now been banned by the Indian government.

He had recently walked out of a public function in Pakistan because he was asked to present shields to young girls. In the past, he had called for the razing of dargarhs and pucca graves claiming that they were unIslamic. He had even made a highly controversial statement about Prophet Mohammed, but no one protested.

Observers said the Pakistani establishment was using Dr Naik to deflect public attention from highly controversial statements made by another Deobandi Islamic scholar Tariq Jameel of Pakistan during a visit to Canada. Jameel had called Prophet Mohammed "unpad" (illiterate) and alleged that the Koran had several grammatical mistakes. A huge controversy broke out in Pakistan over these remarks and there was even a demand to behead Jameel despite a public apology from him. Dr Naik's tour has come in handy to the Pakistani establishment to take the heat off Jameel.