By Lamya Hamad

Sheikh Ahmed Hussein Deedat, an orator, lecturer, author, and a well-known Muslim scholar of comparative religion. His sense of humor and razor-sharp wit contribute to his charismatic presence. What distinguished him from other Muslim scholars was his extensive knowledge of the Bible and Holy Scriptures. Deedat’s knowledge of the Quran, Hadith and other Holy Scriptures made him well-known for his inter-religious debates.   

                                               Deedat’s Early Life

Ahmed Deedat was born in Surat, India in 1918 to Muslim parents. His father worked in agriculture in India, but later changed his career. Nine-year-old Deedat left India and immigrated to Kwazulu-Natal with his family, a province located on South Africa's eastern coast where his father began work as a tailor. His mother passed away a few months after they left India, and yet despite these circumstances, Deedat was able to overcome the language barrier and excel at his studies at an early age. He was brought up a Sunni Muslim and studied at the Islamic Center in Durban till sixth grade where his performance was stellar. Yet, seven years after landing on South African territory, Deedat was forced to leave school and began working to contribute to his family’s financial needs. At the ripe age of 16, he began work in retail eventually working in a furniture factory and spent twelve years of his life climbing the career ladder from driver, to salesperson, to factory manager.

While working, he came across many Christian missionaries eager to convert him to their religion. In his first encounters with these missionaries Deedat was not fully-capable of answering their questions about Islam nor counter their religious claims. Religious ideology in South Africa has long been used as an effort to pacify the masses, especially Calvinist Christian ideology, and although those who spread ‘the word’ were well-intentioned; Blacks, Colored, and Indian South Africans who accepted Christianity more willingly viewed themselves as ‘subordinate’ to their white brothers in faith. This, coupled with continuous interaction with missionaries, sparked Deedat’s interest in comparative religions and encouraged him to read more about Islam and Christianity.

Beginnings and Early Inspirations

Deedat’s interaction with missionaries was not the only factor that influenced him to leave the world of business and dedicate himself to a lifetime of da`wah (inviting people to the Islamic faith). On one of his business trips to Pakistan for the factory, he stumbled across what some consider as the most authoritative and objective studies on the Bible a book by Rahmatullah Kairanvi, “Truth Revealed” (Izhar-ul-Haq).  This book was one of the inspirations that advanced Deedat’s intellectual development at a time when he worked near a Christian Seminary on the Natal coast of South Africa. Kairanvi, a 19^th century Indian scholar, originally wrote the book in Arabic in 1864, which was later translated to Urdu then to English. This book was written in response to the missionary efforts of Reverend C.C.P Fonder, the head of the Christian Mission of India, who had made a subversive attack on Muslims with his book, “The Balance of Truth” (Meezanul Haq), which was meant to induce skepticism in the minds of Muslims about the authenticity of the Qur’an and Islam.

Kairanvi demonstrates the concept of holding inter-religious public debates and the book records the techniques and successful efforts of Muslims in India in counteracting the persistence of Christian missionaries during the British subjugation and rule of India.  The idea of holding debates intrigued Deedat and shortly afterwards, he had purchased his first Bible and began holding debates and discussions with trainee missionaries.

Birth of an Orator

A Durban movie theatre in 1942 witnessed Deedat’s first lecture, “Mohammed: Messenger of Peace”, which hosted an audience of 15 people. In a short space of time, the amount of people that flocked in to hear Deedat speak increased. Da`wah became a priority in Deedat’s life and audiences at his lectures soon reached forty thousand people.

In 1949 Deedat traveled to Pakistan to work in a clothes factory and make enough money for his family and to spend on da`wah. He lived for three years in Pakistan till he returned to South Africa as the manager of the same factory. In Durban, a convert to Islam by the name of Fairfax, suggested to Deedat that he attend his Bible class every Sunday where he teaches his students comparative religion and how to use holy scriptures for da`wah. Fairfax disappeared for a while after teaching his class for two months, and in the third week of his absence Deedat noticed the disappointment on the faces of the other students and decided to continue the lessons every Sunday himself. This experience taught him that the best way to learn, was by teaching others. By 1959, Deedat decided to devote himself to da`wah only and left his other jobs.

Deedat’s activities surpassed giving lectures. In 1957, he founded the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) with two of his friends and remained his president until 1996. This is considered one of the leading organizations in the field of da`wah internationally. He has also written numerous books on different topics such as, Christianity, Islam, the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

Deedat held many memorable debates with famous figures. Of these debates was one titled “Is Jesus God?” with Christian missionary Dr. Anis Shorrosh and another being against the pioneer of Christian Televangelism Jimmy Swaggart titled “Is The Bible the Word of God” which was watched by about 8,000 people. Although Swaggert attacked Islam's allowance of polygamy, he was later accused of many promiscuous acts.

Ex-minister Kenneth Jenkins (now Abdullah al-Faruq) and ex-missionary Gary Miller (now Abdul-Ahad Omar) embraced Islam after listening to Deedat’s debates, one of which was with Gary Miller himself.

Deedat used English to convey his message to Muslim minorities in the Western world, and according to David Westerlund, Deedat aimed at providing Muslims with theological tools for defending themselves against the intense missionary strivings of many Christian denominations. His effort and dedication to Islam gained him the prestigious King Faisal Award for his sterling services in the field of Da'awah in 1986. In this same year he also became known to the Arab world through a televised interview in Saudi Arabia. In addition to that, a postage stamp honoring Ahmed Deedat was issued in Finland.

Controversy

Deedat’s debates and methods have stirred controversy in the past. Some have labeled Deedat as an apologetic whereas others accuse him of being a fundamentalist. Especially since the IPCI’s office in Durban was built by funds from the Saudi Binladin group, among others. Although, at the beginning it was named ‘The Bin Laden Centre’, it was not named after Osama Bin Laden, and it has since been renamed.

Some believe that Deedat’s efforts to point inconsistencies found in the Bible is not enough to convince Westerners of the truth of Islam since most of them are essentially secular and do not believe in religion. 

Many have accused Deedat of being anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, and anti-Hindu. In the 1980s Deedat had issued a video saying that Indian Muslims were "fortunate" that their Hindu forefathers "saw the light" and converted to Islam. Although this received some criticism, there are others who are staunch critics of him, like Lloyd V. J. Ridgeon, professor of Islamic studies at the University of Glasgow and Karl Maier, former Africa correspondent for the London's Independent newspaper.

Sickness and Death

In 1996, Deedat suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed from the neck down, which left him unable to speak or swallow. This happened shortly after his trip to Australia where he had given a momentous talk on “Easter: A Muslim Viewpoint” to a great crowd. But even sickness could not deter him or damp his positive attitude, and in the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh he was taught to communicate through certain eye-movements. Even on his sickbed, he was welcome to visitors from around the world and never stopped encouraging others to engage in Da`wah. Many missionaries still visited Deedat on his sickbed to convince him to convert promising that if he did, Jesus would heal him, yet he never wavered and was still adamant to continue to serve his religion.

Deedat died on August 8, 2005, after living with his illness for nine years. He is buried at the Verulam cemetery in Kwa Zulu Natal province.

References

·         Wikipedia. Ahmed Deedat. Wikipedia. Accessed on 14 June 2008.

·         Garda, Imran. Demystifying Islam and Debating Christianity. IslamOnline.net. Accessed on 14 June 2008. 

·         Mahmoud, Arwa. From Whom Evil Walks Away. IslamOnline.net. Accessed on 14 June 2008.

·         About “Truth Revealed”. Accessed on 17 June 2008.

·         "A Translation of Ahmed Deedat". Ahmed-deedat.net. Accessed on 17 June 2008.

·         "The Charming and Charismatic Founder of the IPCI". Ahmeddeedat.co.za. Accessed on 17 June 2008.