Zakir Naik gets schooled by Malala's father for defending Taliban on girls' education

Zakir Naik said that claims around Afghan women being denied higher education were "wrong and a misinformation".NEW DELHI: Fugitive Islamic preacher Zakir Naik was criticised for defending access to education for women under Afghanistan's Taliban regime, which has notoriously restricted the equal rights of Afghan women.Naik, booked under India's stringent UAPA for terror-linked activities, said: "Everything that comes in the media is not true. The spokesperson of the Taliban said the situation there (in Afghanistan) is not very safe for women."The fugitive preacher said a Taliban ambassador assured him lesser restrictions when "safety is secured"."As far as I checked with the ambassador of the Taliban, they have women's education at all levels till Standard 6. So primary education is there for all females. Only higher education, because the environment is not safe, they are waiting until safety is secured," he said.Zakir Naik said that claims around Afghan women being denied higher education were "wrong and a misinformation"."All the other aspects of Islamic education, whether it be Quran or Sharia or PhD, they even have Sharia teachers. They may not have certain higher education of the Western world. To say that they don't have higher education is wrong. It's misinformation," he said."It is deeply troubling and disappointing to see an Islamic scholar of such global prominence as Dr. Zakir Naik rationalise the Taliban’s systematic exclusion of girls from education. Presenting an indefinite ban as a mere “postponement” and invoking a shortage of female teachers without explaining how that shortage can be addressed is not a credible defence. Such arguments risk legitimising the Taliban’s gender apartheid and lending religious credibility to a grave injustice," said Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala Yousafzai.Mariam Solaimankhil, member of Afghanistan’s parliament in exile, said Zakir Naik should be ashamed, saying "some scholars suddenly lose their ability to reason"."According to Zakir Naik, Afghan girls aren’t banned from education. They’re just waiting for female teachers. The same female teachers the Taliban banned from working? Brilliant logic, Doctor! Apparently, when misogyny wears a turban, some scholars suddenly lose their ability to reason. Zakir Naik you should be ashamed," Solaimankhil said.Who's Zakir NaikZakir Naik, 58, is the founder of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). A doctor by profession, he is known for delivering inflammatory lectures in English, unlike many other Islamic preachers who use Urdu or Arabic. He was born on October 18, 1965, to Abdul Karim Naik and Roshan Naik in Mumbai.He attended Kishinchand Chellaram College and then studied medicine at the Topiwala National Medical College, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS). Naik attended South African Islamic preacher Ahmed Deedat's lecture in the late 1980s.