Zakir Naik was one of five recipients of the King Faisal International Prize from King Salman for being one of the most renowned non-Arabic speaking promoters of Islam.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz presenting Zakir Naik with the 2015 King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam in Riyadh. — AFP
Riyadh – Indian scholar Zakir Naik received one of Saudi Arabia’s most prestigious prizes on Sunday, for service to Islam.
Naik, president of the Islamic Research Foundation in India, was one of five recipients of the King Faisal International Prize from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, during a ceremony in Riyadh.
The annual prizes are a project of the King Faisal Foundation, established in 1976 by the children of King Faisal bin Abdulaziz who died in 1975. Naik was honoured for being one of the most renowned non-Arabic speaking promoters of Islam. He founded the Peace TV channel, billed as the world’s only channel specialising in comparative religion.
It has an estimated English-language audience exceeding 100 million, according to his award citation. “Islam is the only religion that can bring peace to the whole of humanity,” he said in a video biography aired at the ceremony.
Naik told Sunday’s ceremony that he would donate all of his $200,000 prize money to Peace TV. The other prize winners were: — In Islamic studies, Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Kaki for his research on the cultural heritage of the holy city of Madinah
— In medicine, Jeffrey Ivan Gordon of the United States, whose research has enhanced understanding of diseases such as obesity, which is a growing problem in Saudi Arabia
— In science: Michael Gratzel of Switzerland for his development of solar cells, and co-winner Omar Mwannes Yaghi of the United States for his work in the new field of metal organic frameworks.
Source: AFP
