Born in the Surat district, Bombay Presidency of British India in 1918, Ahmed Hoosen Deedat had no recollection of his father untill 1926. His father a tailor by profession had emigrated to South Africa shortly after the birth of Ahmed Deedat.| Years active | 1942–1996 |
|---|---|
| Known for | Comparative religion |
| Influenced | Zakir Naik |
| Religion | Islam |
| Awards | King Faisal International Prize (1986) |
Early Years 1918–1942
Deedat was born in the town of Tadkeshwar, Surat, Bombay Presidency, British India in 1918. His father had emigrated to South Africa shortly after the birth of Ahmed Deedat. At the age of 9, Deedat left India to join his father in what is now known as Kwazulu-Natal. His mother died only a few months after his departure. Arriving in South Africa, Deedat applied himself with diligence to his studies, overcoming the language barrier and excelling in school, even getting promoted until he completed standard 6. However, due to financial circumstances, he had to quit school and start working by the time he was the age of 16.
In 1936, while working as a furniture salesman, he met a group of missionaries at a Christian seminary on the Natal South Coast who, during their efforts to convert people of Muslim faith, often accused the Islamic Prophet Muhammad PBUH of having "used the sword" to bring people to Islam. Such accusations offended Deedat and created his interest in comparative religion.
Deedat took a more active interest in religious debate after he came across a book entitled "Izhar ul-Huqq" (Truth Revealed), written by Rahmatullah Kairanawi, while Deedat was rummaging for reading material in his employer's basement. This book chronicled the efforts of Christian missionaries in India a century earlier. The book had a profound effect on Deedat, who bought a Bible and held debates and discussions with trainee missionaries, whose questions he had previously been unable to answer.
He started attending Islamic study classes held by a local Muslim convert named Mr. Fairfax. Seeing the popularity of the classes, Mr. Fairfax offered to teach an extra session on the Bible and how to preach to Christians about Islam. Deedat and a few others were delighted at the opportunity. Shortly thereafter, Fairfax had to pull out and Deedat, by this point quite knowledgeable about the Bible, took over teaching the class, which he did for three years. He later credited this experience for expanding his horizons significantly towards missionary work.
Early missionary work 1942–1956
Deedat's first lecture, entitled "Muhammad PBUH Messenger of Peace", was delivered in 1942 to an audience of fifteen people at a Durban cinema named Avalon Cinema. Over time Deedat's popularity as a public speaker grew in Durban, to the point that he was invited to speak in other cities in South Africa. A decade later he was filling City halls with audiences numbering in the thousands in cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town.
A major vehicle of Deedat's early missionary activity was the 'Guided Tours' of the Jumma Mosque in Durban. The vast ornamental Jumma Mosque was a landmark site in the tourist-friendly city of Durban. A program of luncheons, speeches and free hand-outs was created to give an increasingly large number of international tourists what was often their first look at Islam. Deedat himself was one of the guides, hosting tourists and giving introductions to Islam and its relationship with Christianity.
IPCI and as-Salaam 1956–1986
By 1956, after frequent public speaking engagements and the popular guided tours of the Jumma Masjid, enquiries about Islam from the general public in South Africa were increasing. Deedat realised that working from the mosque office was inadequate for handling the demand for literature and the number of people with an interest in Islam.
Among Deedat's close friends were Goolam Hoosein Vanker and Taahir Rasool, whom many refer to as 'the unsung heroes of Deedat's career'.
In 1957, these three men founded the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) with the aim of printing a variety of books on Islam and offering classes to new Muslims converts.
In 1958, Deedat established an Islamic seminary called As-Salaam Educational Institute on a donated 75-acre (300,000 m2) piece of land located in Braemar in the south of Natal province. The experiment was not a success, however, because of the IPC’s lack of manpower and paucity of funds, and was taken over by the Muslim Youth Movement in 1973. Deedat then returned to Durban and expanded the IPC’s activities.
Deedat engaged in 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 audiences at his lectures often reaching in excess of forty thousand. He also wrote many booklets, distributing millions of copies of these and other free literature across the world.
International efforts 1985–1995
By the early 1980s Ahmed Deedat's work was beginning to be known outside his native South Africa. In 1985, for instance, he twice rented the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London to debate with Christian contemporaries in front of a packed audience. His international profile grew in 1986, when he received the King Faisal Award for his services to Islam in the field of Dawah (Islamic missionary activity). As a result, at age of 66, Deedat began a decade of international speaking tours around the world. His tours included:
- Saudi Arabia and Egypt (on several occasions)
- United Kingdom (on several occasions between 1985 and 1988, as well as Switzerland in 1987)
- Pakistan, where Deedat met Zia al-Haq
- UAE and Maldives Islands (Nov–Dec 1987), where Deedat was honoured by President Gayhoom
- The US (late 1986 featuring debates with Swaggart, Robert Douglas and several lectures including two in Arizona)
- Sweden and Denmark (late 1991, featuring three debates)
- US and Canada (1994, tour featuring debates in Canada and lectures in Chicago)
- Australia (his last tour in early 1996, just before his stroke)
Illness and death 1996–2005
On 3 May 1996, Ahmed Deedat suffered a stroke which left him paralysed from the neck down because of a cerebral vascular accident affecting the brain stem, leaving him unable to speak or swallow. He was flown to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, where he was reported to be fully alert. He learned to communicate through a series of eye-movements via a chart whereby he would form words and sentences by acknowledging letters read to him.
He spent the last nine years of his life in a bed in his home in South Africa, looked after by his wife, Hawa Deedat, encouraging people to engage in Da'wah (Islam propagation). He received hundreds of letters of support from around the world, and local and international visitors continued to visit him and thank him for his work.
On 8 August 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. Hawa Deedat died on Monday 28 August 2006 at the age of 85, one year after her husband, at Deedat’s home.
Debates
Deedat's first well-known debate took place in August 1981, when he debated well-known Christian preacher Josh McDowell in Durban, South Africa. Many of his debates have later been broadcast online on Youtube, among other sites.
Debates with Anis Shorrosh
Deedat's disagreements with Palestinian-American Christian missionary Anis Shorrosh first came to public attention when Shorrosh appeared among the audience during the questions and answers sessions on two separate occasions during Deedat's summer 1985 tour of the UK (where he debated Floyd E. Clark in what is now considered another one of his early international works). Deedat and Shorrosh later held two highly contentious debates. The first, entitled Is Jesus God? took place in December 1985 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The second debate was organised with much fanfare and held in Birmingham, UK on 7 August 1988, entitled The Quran or the Bible: Which is God's Word. This debate lasted four hours, including the questions and answers session.
Famous Books by Shaikh Ahmed Hoosen Deedat:
- The Choice - Between Islam and Christianity - Volume I
- The Choice - Between Islam and Christianity - Volume II
- Is the Bible God’s Word?
- Al Qur’an the Miracle of Miracles
- What is His Name?
- Christ (pbuh) in Islam
- What was the sign of Jonah (pbuh)?
- What the Bible says about Muhammad (pbuh)?
- Resurrection or Resuscitation?
- Arabs and Israel – Conflict or Conciliation?
- Crucifixion or Cruci-Fiction?