Irrfan Khan criticized by religious fundamentalists for voicing views on Islam during Newshour debate

Irrfan Khan is reportedly facing flak from religious fundamentalists for speaking his mind on faith and religion on a talk show yesterday.

Khan had appeared on ‘The Newshour’ debate with Arnab Goswami, where he was debating with a maulana on religious beliefs. The ‘Madaari’ actor’s answers, however, did not go down well with many religious heads, who criticized him for his statements and asked him to ‘stick to acting’ instead.

While talking the subject of faith, the actor tried to present his views by taking a reference from his Oscar-winning film ‘Life of Pi’ and said, “A dialogue from the film says, ‘Faith is a house with many rooms.’ The other person asks him, ‘Is there no room for doubt?’ he says, ‘Plenty, on every floor. Doubt is a useful thing, it keeps your faith alive. Until and unless you test, your faith is not alive.’ That is what I do. I test. I test my teachings and I experience myself, that’s how you work on your soul.”

Later, Khan said that he did not need mediators to establish a connection between him and God, to which the maulana replied saying that intermediation was necessary. The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Irrfan: To understand it (faith) I do not need anyone in the middle

Maulana: You need the Quran

Irrfan: That I will understand. One man comes and he imparts his understanding of the holy Quran, a second man comes and he can give a different understanding, and the third man can give a third understanding. Take translation, for example, the same thing is interpreted in various ways, and that sometimes sends people down the wrong path.

After the debate, Khan’s social media account has been flooded with messages criticizing him for his religious views. Meanwhile, a few have also supported the actor for standing up and voicing his beliefs.

Earlier Khan had also courted controversy when he had said, “Rather than fasting during Ramzan, people should self-introspect. Animals are being slaughtered on the name of qurbaani during Muharram. We, Muslims, have made a mockery of Muharram. It is meant for mourning and what we do? Take out (tajiya) processions.”

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