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Ahmed Deedat

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Ahmed Deedat
Born(1918-07-01)July 1, 1918
Surat-British India
DiedAugust 8, 2005(2005-08-08) (aged 87)
OccupationIslamic Da'wah. Scholar in comparitive religion. Muslim scholar of the christian bible.
NationalitySouth African

Sheikh Ahmed Hussein Deedat (July 1, 1918 - August 8, 2005) was a Muslim scholar of Comparative religion, an author, lecturer, and an orator. He was best known for witty inter-religious public debates. His writings have been criticized as fundamentalist[1], antisemitic[2] , anti-Christian and anti-Hindu[3], though his supporters deny this.

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 and Holy scriptures.

His pre-recorded programs are shown on Peace TV, which is a 24/7 Islamic channel that is based in Mumbai, India, and is being broadcasted to many countries around the globe.

Early life

Ahmed Deedat was born in Surat, 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, known as Adam's Mission Station, 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[4] 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 (inviting people towards 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.[6]

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. Ahmed Deedat's debates and lectures are available in English,Arabic, Italian, French and Turkish at http://english.truthway.tv [7]

Criticisms

Deedat's personality has not escaped criticisms and controversies. Deedat's debates and writings have been labelled a form of apologetics.[7] Some also consider that Deedat's emphasis on such matters as inconsistencies in the Bible does nothing to convince Westerners of the truth of Islam since Western culture is essentially secular.[4] The name of the IPCI's Grey Street Durban office, the 'Bin Laden Centre', has also come in for criticism. In fact this was built with funds from the Saudi Binladin Group, among others, and is not named after Osama bin Laden. However, the centre has since been renamed.[8]

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 in which 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.[9].

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.[1]

Karl Maier, former Africa correspondent for the London's Independent newspaper, writes that Deedat's rhetoric has made him very popular "in the underground of Islamic radicalism"[10] Still, Deedat's influence was certainly wider than confined to the underground. Islamic scholar Farid Esack has criticized Deedat, comparing him to such fundamentalists as Rabbi Meir Kahane and Jerry Falwell, and writing[3]:

Deedat's multitude of anti-Christian, anti-Jewish and anti-Hindu videotapes have told us all that there is to be told about the other, and we are comfortable with that. There are times, of course, when questions surface about the importance of correct dogma, about the importance of labels to a God whom we believe sees beyond labels and looks at the hearts of people. Instead of pursuing these questions, we hasten back and seek refuge in "the known." We order another of those Deedat tapes.[3]

Another prominent critic of Deedat is Joe Kauffmann, co-founder of "Americans Against Hate". Kauffmann criticizes Deedat as a "known bigot", a homophobe and an anti-Semite.[11] The "Stephen Roth institute for the study of contemporary antisemitism and racism" also accuses Deedat of being an anti-Semite[2]

In his book, "Arabs and Israel Conflict or Reconciliation", Deedat has frequently alleged "Jewish biases" in the western world and media, re-iterating traditional conspiracist allegations of "Jewish Lobby" control. He writes "Anti-Semite" is the magic word that cloaks every Jewish Crime"[12]. In his book, he also attacks Israel, and the US-Israel relationship in this book as part of a "Jewish Conspiracy". [12]

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 King Faisal Specialist 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.

He is buried at the Verulam cemetery in Kwa Zulu Natal province.

External sources

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b Ridgeon, Lloyd V. J (2001). Islamic Interpretations of Christianity P 214. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-23854-1.
  2. ^ a b Tel-Aviv University
  3. ^ a b c TO WHOM SHALL WE GIVE ACCESS TO OUR WATER HOLES?, by Farid Esack
  4. ^ a b c Demystifying Islam and Debating Christianity, Imran Garda, 2006
  5. ^ The Truth Revealed, Rahmatullah Kairanvi, 1864. (English translation)
  6. ^ Islamic Propagation Centre International
  7. ^ a b David Westerlund, Ahmed Deedat's Theology of Religion: Apologetics through Polemics. Journal of Religion in Africa, 33(3). 2003 "
  8. ^ The life of Shaikh Ahmed Deedat, Asim Khan, 21 January 2006. Al Jazeerah (English).
  9. ^ South African muslims reject anti-Hindu DVD,India Enews
  10. ^ Maier, Karl (2003). This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in crisis P164. Westview Press. ISBN 0813340454.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kauffmann was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b Deedat, Ahmed (1989). Arabs and Israel, Conflict or Reconciliation.

See also

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