The Internet Muslim Community has been buzzing with reports of Dr Zakir Naik being denied entry into the UK.

Dr Zakir Naik was scheduled to host his Famous Peace Conference in the UK this year but was denied a visa on the accusation of him being a supporter of terrorism.

The controversy continued when several other Islamic orators were denied entry as well. Areeb Islam, a convert and preacher from South Africa, was also denied a Visa, while Dr Bilal Philips who was scheduled to speak at a conference on Sunday was denied entry at the airport and sent back to Qatar.  Dr Bilal posted the following on Facebook on Monday:

Well, the inevitable finally happened. At least the British Home Secretary called Dr Naik in Mumbai prior to his trip and told him not to come. I arrived to London this Saturday morning, 19 June, at 8am only to denied entry and put back on a plane at 11am back to Doha!!! So, I was unable to attend the Qur’aan conference on the 20th as planned!!!

When asked to comment on the situation, Dr Bilal told me the following:

They are only shooting themselves in their own feet as it is we who are enlightening Muslims to the true teachings of Islam to warn them away from extremism and terrorism in the name of Islam. When they ban us, they leave a vacuum which the extremists will fill using what has happened to us as proof of their evil intent. It’s all good in the end  for Allah will complete His guidance despite their hatred of it.

I attended the first ever Peace Conference in Mumbai 2007 and I can tell firsthand that the entire conference was a promotion of peace, tolerance and truth.

Neither Dr Zakir nor Dr Bilal nor any other speaker at the conference preached anything hateful and violent. Rather there were many lectures aimed at denouncing terrorism and religious violence. You can read more  about my experience at the conference here.

Dr Zakir Naik wanted to host the exact same conference in the UK and I cannot understand how anyone can see such a conference as a security threat. If the UK wants peaceful Muslims, this conference and these speakers will produce that.

As of this moment, there are many initiatives online to protest against the ban of these orators.

May Allah bring only good out of this situation and use it as a means to increase awareness of the true teachings of Islam. Expect this incident to lead to Zakir Naik and Peace Conference being two of the highest searched phrases on Google this month.