SHEIKH AHMED DEEDAT [1918 - 2005 A.D.]
Born in the Gujarat District of India in 1918, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat at the age of 9 migrated to South Africa in 1927 with his father. At the age of 16 he took on a job in a retail store. Here he encountered students from a nearby missionary school who tried to convert him to Christianity. At the store he found a book that enabled him to defend his beliefs. This was the first of many books he read on the subject of comparative religion.
In 1940 after acquiring extensive knowledge of both the Bible and the Qur’an, he took to the stage of a local cinema to deliver a lecture called "Muhammad (Peace be upon Him), the Messenger of Peace," to an audience of under fifteen.
Word about his knowledge and amazing ability to quote religious texts from memory spread and he was soon addressing audiences of up to 40 000 in other areas of the country. In 1957 he formed an organization called the Islamic Propagation Centre together with two of his friends.
He visited Saudi Arabia in 1976, and enthralled television audiences with his witty approach and dynamic personality. This opened the doors of financial assistance to him, and meant that his dream of printing and mass-distributing the Qur’an and other literature soon became a reality.
He later also went on to write a large number of books on varied topics such as Christianity, Islam, the Arab-Israeli Conflict, conducted classes on Bible studies and also delivered numerous lectures and held debates on varied topics of Islam, Christianity and Judaism to large numbers of audiences. In 1985, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat agreed to a debate with American missionary, Floyd E Clark, at London’s Royal Albert Hall. He proved to be an instant hit, and was soon visiting other parts of the world on lecture and debate tours. One 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?’ which was witnessed by about 8,000 people simply famously known as ‘The Great Debate’. Henry Hock Guan Teh, a well-known Christian writer described the debate against Jimmy Swaggart in his article The Law of Evidence 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. Although faith is necessary but without being thoughtfully presented its witness would not seem to be credible. ”
He was also awarded the prestigious King Faisal Award in 1986 for his sterling services to Islam in the field of Propagation. Sheikh Ahmed Deedat delivered his last lecture in Australia in 1996. Shortly thereafter he suffered from a stroke which left him paralyzed from his neck down and unable to speak. He was flown to Saudi Arabia on a medical jet, specially flown in by the Saudi Royal family, and received specialized treatment at the King Faisal hospital in Riyadh, where he was taught to communicate using a series of eye movements.He spent the last nine years of his life, confined to a bed in his home in Verulam, but was visited by many Muslims and non-Muslims from around the world. He continued to receive hundreds of letters of support from around the world, but was a target to many missionaries who tried to convert him to Christianity, to which he replied -via eye movements- with verses from the scriptures. When asked what his message for the Ummah was, he would usually respond with one statement: "Do Da’wah."
On the 8th of August 2005 / 2 Rajab 1426, Sheikh Ahmed Hoosen Deedat departed from this world to meet his creator.
May Almighty Allah bless his soul, accept his efforts for the cause of da’wah and grant him Jannah, Ameen.
(To those friends out there who still don't know who is Sheikh Ahmad Deedat, you can browse my blog list and watch the debates. You will be amazed)
