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Ahmed Deedat

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Ahmed Deedat
File:Deedat.jpg
Born(1918-07-01)July 1, 1918
Surat-British India
DiedAugust 8 2005
OccupationIslamic Da'wah
NationalitySouth African

Sheikh Ahmed Hussein Deedat (1918 - 2005), was a Muslim scholar of Comparative religion, an author, lecturer, and an orator. He was best known for witty inter-religious public debates.

What differentiated Deedat's approach from his contemporaries, apart from eloquence in English language, was that he would not only use references from the Qur'an and the Hadith, but also use his intensive knowledge of the Bible.

Early life

Ahmed Deedat was born in the Surat, British India in 1918. His father had emigrated to South Africa shortly after the birth of Ahmed Deedat. At the age of 9, Deedat went to join his father in what is now known as Kwazulu-Natal. His mother died few months after Deedat left for South Africa. Applying himself with diligence to his studies, Deedat was able to overcome the language barrier and excel in school, getting promotions until he completed standard 6. But had to start working at the age of 16.

In 1936, while working as a furniture salesman Deedat came across missionaries at a Christian seminary on the Natal South Coast. In between the deep racial divides, the religious ideology was used by the authorities to numb and pacify the masses.[1] This is considered to be a major influence on Deedat's interest in comparative religions.

Another inspiration on his intellectual development came from the book "Truth Revealed" by Rahmatullah Kairanvi on the concept of holding inter-religious public debates.[2] The book was written especially in response to the missionary efforts of Reverend C.C.P Fonder, the head of the Christian Mission of India, in 1864.

Lectures and Debates

Deedat's first lecture, entitled "Muhammad: Messenger of Peace," was delivered in 1942 to an audience of 15 people at a Durban movie theater.[1] Within a short space of time, the numbers grew and people crossed the racial divides which were then prevalent in apartheid South Africa, to listen to him, and to participate in the questions and answers sessions which followed his lectures.

With the increased success, Deedat engaged into broader range of activities over the next three decades. He conducted classes on Bible studies and conducted numerous lectures. Da`wah (teaching Islam) became the dominant factor of his life, with the audiences at his lectures reaching forty thousand. In 1957, Deedat, together with two of his friends, founded the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) and remained its president until 1996.[3]

According to David Westerlund, Deedat's aimed at providing Muslims with theological tools for defending themselves against the intense missionary strivings of many Christian denominations. He used English instead of Arabic or any other language to get his message across to Muslim minorities in the western world. [4]

International coverage

Honours and awards

  • King Faisal International Award. 1986
  • President, Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) (1957-1996)

Criticisms

Given the status and level of his activities, Deedat's personality did not escape criticisms and controversies: In some circles, Deedat's debates and writings have been termed as an apologetical endeavour influenced largely by the marginal and exposed situation of the small minority of Muslims in the strongly Christian dominated South Africa.[4] Some also consider that in the post-11 September climate the socio-political context of Deedat's works cannot be applied to the contemporary discourse as for many of today's Western intelligentsia, the mere exposure of inconsistencies in the Bible proves nothing about the truth of Islam, as the secular mind is antagonistic to religion.[1] The IPCI, Grey Street Durban office was built on funds from many sources, including the Saudi Binladin Group, and was named as 'Bin Laden Centre' in the honour. However, the centre was renamed later.[6] In 2006, Ahmed Deedat's son circulated a DVD that denounced South African Hindus. The elder Deedat had previously circulated an anti-Hindu video in the 80's where he said that Indian Muslims were 'fortunate' that their Hindu forefathers 'saw the light' and converted to Islam when Muslim rulers dominated some areas of India. His video was widely criticized.[7].

Academics have been less than receptive to Deedat's writings. Lloyd V. J. Ridgeon, professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Glasgow writes:

Ahmed Deedat's pamphlets are being recycled to a brand new British Muslim constituency. Thus, a new generation is exposed to his malicious new disinformations. The reason for the popularity of such polemicists as Ahmed Deedat is varied:Muslim self-understandings as "the best of all communities" leads them to suppose that Islam prevails over all religions. Combined with the wounded pride of living in a post-colonial world within the continuing hegemony of western culture,some dignity can at least be preserved by claimimg moral and religious superiority.[8]

William Wagner, a theologist at the University of South Africa, writes that many Islamic organizations who disseminate Deedat's works, such as the prominent "Islamic Books Store", disseminate them with disclaimers qualifying his polemics as "militant" and "no holds-barred approach. Those apologetics of Muslims in Western countries would probably have a heart attack watching an Ahmed Deedat video"[9]

Africa correspondent for the London's Independent Karl Maier writes that Deedat's rhetoric has made him very popular "in the underground of Islamic radicalism"[10]

Death

On May 3 1996, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed from the neck down, and also meant that he could no longer speak or swallow. He was flown to a hospital in Riyadh, where he was taught to communicate through a series of eye-movements. He spent the last nine years of his life in a bed in his home in Verulam, South Africa, encouraging people to engage in da'wah. He continued to receive hundreds of letters of support from around the world. During these years, rumors spread throughout the Internet that he was already dead, and even some websites that contained his pamphlets mentioned as early as 2002 that he was dead.

On August 8 2005, Ahmed Deedat finally succumbed to his prolonged illness and died at his home in Trevennen Road, Verulam in the province of KwaZulu Natal.

Publications

Deedat published over 20 books and distributed millions of copies of pamphlets, many of which were translated into various languages:

  • The Choice - Between Islam and Christianity - Volume I
  • The Choice - Between Islam and Christianity - Volume II
  • Arab and Israel, War or Peace?
  • Can you stomach the best of Rushdie? "The Satanic Verses" [11]
  • Christ in Islam [12]
  • Combat Kit against Bible Thumpers. [13]
  • Crucifixion or Cruci-Fiction? [14]
  • Is Jesus Christ God?
  • Is the Bible God's Word? [15]
  • Muhummad PBUH the Greatest
  • Muhummad PBUH the Natural Successor to Christ. [16]
  • Qur'an the Miracle of Miracles
  • Resurrection or Resuscitation of Jesus [17]
  • The God that never was
  • The Muslim at Prayer
  • What is his Name? [18]
  • What the Bible say about Muhummad pbuh the Prophet of Islam? [19]
  • What the eminent intellects say about MUHUMMAD pbuh?
  • What was the Sign of Jonah? [20]
  • Who moved the Stone? [21]

References

  1. ^ a b c Demystifying Islam and Debating Christianity, Imran Garda, 2006
  2. ^ The Truth Revealed, Rahmatullah Kairanvi, 1864. (English translation)
  3. ^ Islamic Propagation Centre International
  4. ^ a b David Westerlund, Ahmed Deedat's Theology of Religion: Apologetics through Polemics. Journal of Religion in Africa, 33(3). 2003
  5. ^ Is the Bible God's Word?
  6. ^ The life of Shaikh Ahmed Deedat, Asim Khan, 21 January 2006. Al Jazeerah (English).
  7. ^ South African muslims reject anti-Hindu DVD,India Enews
  8. ^ Ridgeon, Lloyd V. J (2001). Islamic Interpretations of Christianity P 214. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-23854-1.
  9. ^ Wagner, William, How Islam plans to change the world,Kregel Publications, 2004 (P 142), ISBN:0825439655
  10. ^ Maier, Karl (2003). This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in crisis P164. Westview Press. ISBN 0813340454.
  11. ^ Refutation to The Satanic Verses
  12. ^ Christ in Islam
  13. ^ Combat Kit against Bible Thumpers
  14. ^ Crucifixion or Cruci-Fiction?
  15. ^ Is the Bible God's Word?
  16. ^ Muhummad PBUH the Natural Successor to Christ
  17. ^ Resurrection or Resuscitation of Jesus
  18. ^ What is his Name?
  19. ^ What the Bible say about Muhummad pbuh the Prophet of Islam?
  20. ^ What was the Sign of Jonah?
  21. ^ Who moved the Stone?

External sources

Further reading

See also

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