Ahmed Deedat

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Ahmed Deedat
Born	July 1, 1918(1918-07-01) Surat, Gujarat, British India
Died	August 8, 2005 (aged 87) Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Occupation	Dawah, scholar in comparative religion, Bible scholar
Nationality	South African
Influenced Zakir Naik

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. In 1957, Deedat, together with two of his friends, founded the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) and remained its president until 1996.^[1]

Contents 1 Early Years 2 Lectures, Debates and Impacts 3 Criticisms 4 Death 5 References 6 See also 7 External sources

[edit] Early Years

Deedat credited his inspiration to be a book entitled Izharal-Haq, meaning Truth Revealed, which he claimed to have read while working at a Muslim owned store near a Christian seminary on the Natal Coast of South Africa. In particular the idea of holding debates had a profound effect on Deedat who then purchased his first Bible and began holding debates and discussions with trainee missionaries.

Deedat's first lecture, entitled "Muhammad: Messenger of Peace", was delivered in 1942 to an audience of fifteen people at a Durban movie theatre.^[2] Within a short space of time, the numbers grew and people crossed the racial divides^{[citation needed]} which were then prevalent in apartheid South Africa, to listen to him, and to participate in the question-and-answer sessions which followed his lectures.

[edit] Lectures, Debates and Impacts

With the increased success, Deedat engaged into a broader range of activities over the next three decades. He conducted classes on Biblical Theology 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. He later also went on to write a large number of books^[3] on varied topics such as Christianity^[4][5], Islam^[6][7], the Arab-Israeli Conflict^[8], conducted classes on Bible studies and also delivered numerous lectures on varied topics of Islam and Christianity to large numbers of audiences; of the most famous being a debate against a Christian missionary from Nazareth Dr. Anis Shorrosh titled Is Jesus God? and another being against the pioneer of Christian Televangelism Jimmy Swaggart titled Is The Bible the Word of God^[9] which was witnessed by about 8,000 people. Henry Hock Guan Teh, a well-known Christian writer described the debate against Jimmy Swaggart in his article The Law of Evidence^[10] as:

   The debate is on the reasonableness of their competing faiths which was held at Louisiana State University. 
   Great expectations were generated since both were experienced public speakers. Sadly, Swaggart merely relied 
   on TV showmanship to influence the crowd. When Deedat challenged him to prove the Bible as the Word of God, 
   Swaggart simply quoted John 3:16 and claimed that his life was changed by it. Even such a claim was shattered to 
   pieces when Swaggart’s personal sexual weaknesses were later exposed in the press[11]. 
   Although faith is necessary but without being thoughtfully presented its witness would not seem to be credible. 

His debates, such as the well-known ones versus Gary Miller,^{[12] [13]} and informal others, such as American Soldiers stationed in the Persian Gulf,^[14] had such an impact on observers or participants, that ex-minister Kenneth Jenkins (now Abdullah al-Faruq)^[15] and ex-missionary Gary Miller (now Abdul-Ahad Omar)^[16] embraced Islam.

According to David Westerlund, Deedat 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. ^[17]

In 1986, he was awarded the prestigious King Faisal Award for his sterling services to Islam in the field of Da'awah. Finland issued a postage stamp honoring Ahmed Deedat.

[edit] Criticisms

Deedat's writings have been criticized by many as fundamentalist^[18] and his best-selling videotapes are considered to display religious prejudice^[19]

Deedat's methods and opinions have not escaped criticism and controversy. Deedat's debates and writings have been labelled a form of apologetics.^[17] 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 many in the West are essentially secular.^[20]

The name of the IPCI's 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.^[21]

Deedat had circulated a video in the 1980s in which he said that Indian Muslims were "fortunate" that their Hindu forefathers "saw the light" and converted to Islam. The video caused some controversy, and was the subject of criticism by various religious organisations.

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 claiming moral and religious superiority.^[18]

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"^[22]

Islamic scholar, Farid Esack has compared Deedat to militants such as Meir Kahane and Jerry Falwell, writing^[19]:

Often our prejudices about the other are a way of holding on to what we perceive as "the known". Many Muslims feel that Deedat's multitude of anti-Christian, anti-Jewish and anti-Hindu videos 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.^[19]

The "Stephen Roth institute for the study of contemporary antisemitism and racism" calls Deedat "an anti-Jewish Sheikh". ^[23]

[edit] Death

On May 3, 1996, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat suffered a stroke which left him paralysed 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. On August 8, 2005, Ahmed Deedat died at his home on Trevennen Road in Verulam in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. He is buried at the Verulam cemetery.^{[citation needed]}

Some Hardline Zionist organisations, such as the one centered at Tel Aviv University called "The Stephen Roth Institute for the study of Anti-Semitism and Racism" have accused the South African Scholar of having an "anti-Israel" bent. Deedat denied the allegations and calls for the brother-hood and Unity that flourished between Arabs and Jews prior to rise of the European Zionist Movement and its claims to the Land of Palestine. Deedat says that the Zionist movement threw the peaceful relations between Arab and Jew into an imbalance.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

1. ^ Islamic Propagation Centre International
2. ^ Demystifying Islam and Debating Christianity, Imran Garda, 2006
3. ^ Islam And Christianity - A Comparative Analysis
4. ^ Christ (p.b.u.h.)
5. ^ The Bible
6. ^ The Qur'an
7. ^ Salah
8. ^ Israel
9. ^ YouTube - Bible God's Word? - Deedat vs Swaggart 1 of 23
10. ^ Legal Apologetics: Principles Of The Law Of Evidence As Applied In The Quest For The Veracity Of Religious Truth
11. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Swaggart#Sex_scandals
12. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Miller_%28disambiguation%29
13. ^ YouTube - Islam and Christianity -Ahmed Deedat and Gary Miller (1/18)
14. ^ YouTube - Sheikh Ahmed Deedat : Debate With American Soldiers (1/11)
15. ^ After Seeing Deedat-Swaggart Debate, Mr Kenneth L. Jenkins, a US Former Minister, Became Muslim
16. ^ The True Call - ISLAM - Dr. Gary Miller (Abdul-Ahad Omar)
17. ^ ^{a b} David Westerlund, Ahmed Deedat's Theology of Religion: Apologetics through Polemics. Journal of Religion in Africa, 33(3). 2003 "
18. ^ ^{a b} Ridgeon, Lloyd V. J (2001). Islamic Interpretations of Christianity P 214 (in English). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-23854-1. 
19. ^ ^{a b c} TO WHOM SHALL WE GIVE ACCESS TO OUR WATER HOLES?, by Farid Esack
20. ^ "Demystifying Islam and Debating Christianity", Imran Garda, 2006.
21. ^ The life of Shaikh Ahmed Deedat, Asim Khan, 21 January 2006. Al Jazeerah (English).
22. ^ Maier, Karl (2003). This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in crisis P164 (in English). Westview Press. ISBN 0813340454. 
23. ^ Tel-Aviv University

[edit] See also

• Dawah
• List of Da'ees

[edit] External sources

• Biography of Ahmed Deedat by the IPCI.
• Par Excellence www.parexcellence.co.za Official distributors of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat DVDs appointed by the Deedat family
• Biography of Ahmed Deedat A biography of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, by Islam inside
• Ahmad Deedat Videos
• - House Of Propagation
• Ahmed Deedat's Publications Online
• Lectures and Debates of Ahmed Deedat
• A comprehensive list of Deedat's online books
• Videos of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat
• Ahmad Deedat's personal website
• Islamic Propagation Center International
• Islamic Research Foundation
• Ahmad-deedat.co.uk - DVDs and VHS
• Easter a Muslim View Point - Ahmad Deedat