Sheikh Ahmad Deedat Dies at 87
Deedat was considered by many as more a scholar of the Bible than the Qur'an.
CAIRO, August 8, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) Famed Muslim preacher and debater Sheikh Ahmed Deedat died Monday, August 8, at 87, leaving behind a legacy of propagating Islam and defending it against missionaries.
Founder of the Islamic Propagation Center International (IPCI) in Durban, South Africa, Deedat distributed more than twenty million copies of his books and audio tapes free of charge for the purpose of da`wah.
In South Africa where he lived, hundreds of people have entered Islam Including a large number of missionaries.
He delivered lectures all over the world and successfully engaged Christian Evangelists in public debates.
One of his most famous debates was Was Christ Crucified? when he impressively debated Bishop Josh McDowell in Durban in 1981.
Famous books by Deedat included "The Choice - Between Islam and Christianity; "Is the Bible Gods Word?"; "Al Quran the Miracle of Miracles" ; "What the Bible says about Muhammad (PBUH)?"; and "Crucifixion or Cruci-Fiction?"
Deedat, who was born in 1918 in the Indian district of Surat, has been bedridden since 1996 when he suffered a serious stroke.
Excellent Debater
In 1986, Sheikh Deedat was awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Service of Islam.
Sheikh Deedat did not have much formal schooling, but he was self-taught through experience and had a penchant for reading, debating, discussion, and a profound sense of commitment to a mission and goal, according to his Web site.
He was driven and goal oriented. He was focused and never let up until the job was done. He was sharp, perceptive, forthright, fiery, and daring in his challenge of those whom he debated particularly against those who equal his missionary zeal and sense of audacity, the Web site added.
"Formal schooling did not destroy his creative prowess, his tenacity, ambition, drive, and sheer daring to swim upstream."
Sheikh Deedat was considered by many as more a scholar of the Bible than the Qur'an and was more familiar and adroit with its teachings.
He had an insight and perspective of the Bible which made many Christians he came into contact with rethink and re-examine their faith, particularly those aspects of the Bible and the Qur'an that deal with the divine mission and life of Prophet Jesus, the Web site says.
In 1986, the King Faisal Foundation awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Service of Islam to Deedat. He shared the prize with prominent French Muslim intellectual and philosopher Roger Garaudy.
When he suffered a stroke, he lost his speech, his most potent gift that he used so effectively in his debates to propagate Islam.
He delivered his last lecture in Sydney, Australia, in 1996 just before his chronic illness. The lecture was considered to be one of his most passionate talks.
Muslims Mourn Late Sheikh Deedat
|
|
|
Deedat was a self-educated caller to Islam. |
By Fatima Asmal, IOL Correspondent
Sheikh Deedat, 87, passed away at his home in
His son Yusuf told IOL that the cause of his death was heart failure.
The family was not in a state of shock, said Yusuf. As Muslims we believe that every soul shall taste death.
He added that the last moments of his fathers life were peaceful, and coincided with the commencement of a recitation of "Surah Yaseen" on an Islamic radio station.
Channel Islam had just introduced and begun to play Surah Yaseen when the throes of death began, he explained. My father just looked at us and then passed away.
Funeral
Sheikh Deedat will be buried in the Verulam cemetery after Salaatul-Maghrib (
Hundreds of people from around the country are expected to participate in his funeral prayer, and his family says that people from across the world, such as
His death comes as a shock to us, Maulana Ahmed Kathrada, of the Jamiatul Ulama (Scholars' Group), a local theological body, told IOL.
He added that Sheikh Deedat had served not only South Africans, but the Muslim Ummah at large, for many years.
We pray that Allah Grants him a lofty position in Jannah (
Dedicated Wife
|
|
|
He was bed-ridden for almost a decade. |
Mrs Hawa Deedat, who had spent the last nine years nursing her husband and administering his daily injections, was present at her husbands side at the time of his death, and she is well, said Yusuf.
She is the wife of a soldier, and can therefore only be a soldier herself."
Several other religious leaders and political figures expressed their sadness at the news of Sheikh Deedats death.
Mr. Ashwin Trikamjee, president of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha, said that Sheikh Deedat would be missed by Muslims worldwide and the greater South African Muslim community.
I think that the Islamic community has lost a great man, who was totally committed to the cause of Islam, he said.
Mr. Trikamjee said that Sheikh Deedat had made a huge impact on constructive religious debate.
Mr Riaz Jamal, a director of the Al-Ansaar Foundation in
Sheikh Ahmed Deedat was a global caller to Islam, he said.
"I dont think any other Muslim wrote to the Pope, inviting him to Islam, but Sheikh Deedat did. Its our responsibility to continue in propagating his message.
Sheikh Deedats health had been steadily deteriorating in the last few months after he had suffered various complications related to the lock in syndrome stroke which had left him paralysed and bed-ridden for almost a decade.
His death marks the end of an era of Dawah in which his name became synonymous with breaking down inter-faith barriers.
His Life
Born on July 1, 1918, Sheikh Deedat arrived in
Although he hadnt previously been exposed to the English language, he learnt it in six months, excelled at school and finished top of his class.
However, due to financial considerations, his father removed him from school during his early years of secondary schooling. He was sent to work in a store in a rural area, where his mission of Dawah began.
Students from a Christian missionary school would visit the store preaching their beliefs to him, and knowing little more than the shahadah (testifying that no god but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet), he found it difficult to defend his beliefs.
He then stumbled upon a book which carried a religious dialogue between a Muslim imam and a Christian priest, and this proved to be the first of many books which he would read on the subject.
He began researching both religions and recording his findings in a notebook, after which he started delivering lectures in
First Lecture
|
|
|
Deedat became famous for a debate with US Reverend Jimmy Swaggart, on the topic Is the Bible the Word of God. |
His first lecture was entitled Muhammad (peace be upon him): Messenger of Peace, at it was delivered in 1940, to 15 people at a cinema in his province.
Within a short space of time, the numbers grew and people crossed the racial divides which were then prevalent in apartheid
Although some Christians and Muslims felt that his style was blunt, many others reverted to Islam, and Dawah soon began to dominate his life, with the audiences at his lectures reaching forty thousand.
In 1957, Sheikh Deedat, together with two of his friends, founded the Islamic Propagation Center which printed a variety of books and offered classes to new Muslims.
In 1986, he visited
He then visited the
In the
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 a hospital in
He spent the last nine years of his life in a bed in his home in
He continued to receive hundreds of letters of support from around the world.
__________
Please feel free to contact News editor at: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
***************************************************************************
{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise.
If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
- Visit your group "islamcity" on the web.
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
