Dr. Zakir Naik said that historic records proved that a large number of terrorist acts in the 20th and 21st century were committed by non-Muslims. The so-called global phenomenon of "Islamic terrorism/militant Islam" was a creation of the western governments and their media outlets, he said. "Politics lies at the heart of labeling Muslims across the globe as perpetrators of terror acts, " he added. Dr. Zakir, who is one of the Muslim world's leading and most prolific speakers, quoted from the scriptures of other religions and proved that associating killing with Islam is incorrect. "It says in the Book of Numbers that whoever worships other than God should be killed, " he said, referring to the Bible, yet such militant verses were conveniently ignored by the Western media. "In every religion there are black sheep and the media keep putting these people forward. This is a media conspiracy and a way of pushing people away from Islam." he added. Dr. Zakir Naik said, "No religion encourages terrorist acts or violence. The word 'Islam' itself means 'Peace, obtained by submitting yourself to the Almighty'. Anyone, be it Muslim or non-Muslim, who kills an innocent Muslim or a non-Muslim, kills the entire humanity. However, Islam goes a step further to say that if one saves innocent lives, the whole of humanity is saved. Injustice is the root cause of terrorism..." He continued, "Palestinians are called terrorists just because they are fighting to get their land back." By citing examples of LTTE (in Sri Lanka), IRA (in UK), Lord's Salvation Army, which trains the young children to conduct terrorist attacks, and many other non-Muslim terrorist outfits he further said that, the lives claimed by these outfits are more than the ones by the Muslim terrorists. Dr. Zakir said Naxalites/Maoists across India and the LTTE in Sri Lanka were non- Muslim terror organisations, which had had developed pan regional bases beyond national boundaries. Other such non-Muslim terror outfits included the United Liberation Front of Asom, National Democratic Front of Bodoland and All Tripura Tiger Force in the Northeast, Naik noted. Drawing on international examples, Dr. Zakir said that the Japanese Red Army, Lord's Salvation Army and the ETA in Spain were also non-Islamic in character and composition. "So nothing is more removed from truth as to suggest that Muslims have monopolized terrorism, " said Dr. Naik. He said the Irish Republican Army, which was considered to be terrorist group, has a history of 100 years of violence against the British, but the British government doesn't seem to be scared about them as they are about radical Islamic groups. Besides, he also mentioned, "Even a single killing by a Muslim is condemned by Islam, whatsoever the reasons." On the Media, Judiciary and Politicians Dr. Zakir appreciated the Indian media for being unbiased and upright while reporting the communal riots. He further expressed that it is the plot of the Western media to destroy Muslims. He also said that the media controlled by the political authorities is biased and does not portray the truth or reality. He stated, "Islam does not justify using wrong means to reach the right goals. People should not take the law in their hands." "India has seen maximum number of communal riots in recent years. Politicians have been using the 'Divide and Rule Policy' to secure their vote banks. However, the masses should not get instigated by them. Terrorism is a monopoly of politicians. People, regardless of their religion, wish to live harmonious lives, but politicians feed the feeling of hatred amongst them, " he opined while speaking about the role of politicians in the society today. We should learn how to turn the tables and convey the real meaning, " said Dr. Zakir, while calling on Muslims to dispel the media's vilifying of Muslims and the importance of having Muslim television channels and newspapers. Took place in Mumbai in front of a jam packed crowd, at the Shanmukhananda auditorium on 11th Sept 2006. ____________ Like DigitalMimbar on Facebook: www.fb.com/TheMimbar Follow DigitalMimbar on Twitter: twitter.com/DigitalMimbar

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