How to fight with intellect

The recent statement by renowned scholar Dr. Zakir Naik has raised a big controversy in the Muslim community. In India, he was asked a question on the event of Karbala and on Yazid, and his reply was,

"To understand any religion, don't look at the followers. To understand Islam don't look at what the followers did. If you want to look at the followers, the best example is the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon him. As far as my understanding about the world of Karbala, you said that Yazid, May Allah( S.W.T) be pleased with him, was ferocious and a villain. There was a difference of opinion. I don't want to discuss history and neither do I want to create a difference in the Muslim ummah, what we say is that there was a difference of opinion between the sahaba's, that's history, what we have learnt about following Islam, is the Quran and the authentic sayings of the Holy Prophet(S.A.W). There was a political war that was fought"

How ironic it is that he says Peace be upon the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and then asks Allah (S.W.T) to be pleased with the very killer of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) !! His reply has enraged muslims all over the world and many have responded to his statement. Unfortunately majority of the muslims have resorted to sending curses and trying to defame Dr. Naik. In 2006, a Canadian journalist, was asked about his opinion when the magazine he works for published the cartoons that portrayed the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) as a terrorist and his reply was,

"We know nothing about the Prophet or about Islam, we just published the cartoon as a news story, but the way the Muslims reacted confirmed our suspicions"

After the publication of these cartoons, many muslims took to the streets chanting slogans of 'Freedom, Go to Hell!'. One man had a poster that read ' EUROPE, YOU WILL PAY, YOUR 3/11 IS ON ITS WAY'. (3/11 is in reference to the Madrid train bombings). How sad it is, that Muslims use death threats to retort the accusation of their Prophet being called a war-loving, terrorist. The reaction of a community to a crisis is what defines them. We can fight fire with fire, but we have to fight an ideology with intellect. Simply telling our children, family and friends that Dr. Naik is a bad man is not helping the cause of Islam. We have to educate ourselves on how to combat any threat that tries to stop the message of Imam Hussain (A.S). Sayed Ammar Nakshawani, an Iraqi born scholar and lecturer, currently residing in London has replied to the Zakir Naik issue in his lecture on the 10th Muharram 1429 in Sydney, Australia. The following are some of the points that he has addressed :

1. Who is Dr. Zakir Naik and what position has he achieved in Islam ?
2. Is this a Shia-Sunni issue or is it a clash of principles ?
3. Who was Yazid ? How did he become the Caliph of the Muslims ? Who was his mother and what effect did she have on him?
4. What is the opinion of the Sunni Ulema on Yazid ?
5. Did Yazid kill Imam Hussein ? If yes, how is it so if Yazid was in Syria and Imam Hussein was in Karbala ?
6. What is the meaning of 'Raziyallah Anh' ( May Allah (S.W.T) be pleased with him) ?
7. Who was Mukhtar Athaqafi ? And how did he avenge the death of Imam Hussein ?
The points that he chosen are very interesting and informative. In his lecture, he also analyzes Yazid's rule after the tragedy of Karbala, something that we rarely hear about. I recommend that all brothers and sisters listen to the lecture (link attached below) and circulate this message to all their family and friends. 'Every day is Ashura, Every land is Karbala'
Upon pondering on this statement, we realize that it warns us that every day we are faced with a Yazid and every day we have to save Islam. Please take part in the fight against all the Yazids' of our time.

Link to Dr Zakir Naik reply
Sayed Ammar Nakshawani reply

"It is Hussain's (AS) sacrifice that has kept Islam alive or else in this world there would be no one left to take Islam's name."
Swami Shankaracharya