<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us"> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font size="4"><i><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ~ Shaikh Ahmad Deedat ~</b></i></font></p> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><font size="4"><i><b>&gt;&gt;&gt; A Legacy Of Daa'wah &lt;&lt;&lt;</b></i></font></p> <style><!--body{background: white url('http://img01.doobix.com/backgrounds/pictures/backgrounds_colordarkgrey_03.gif') fixed}--></style><br /><a href='http://www.doobix.com/' target='_blank' title='Myspace Codes'>Myspace Codes</a> <div style='position:absolute;top:0px;left:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;z-index:9'><a href='http://www.doobix.com/' title='Myspace Codes' target='_blank'> <img src='http://www.doobix.com/images/dbx_codes.gif' alt='Myspace Codes' border='0' width='130' height='170' /></a></div>I edited my profile at <a href='http://www.doobix.com/' title='Myspace Codes' target='_blank'>Doobix.com</a> <p>  </p> </body> </html>

Heritages: Other

Languages: Urdu

Job: Other

About Me:

Shaikh Ahmad Hussain Deedat (1918 - 2005), was a Muslim scholar of Comparative religion, an author, lecturer, and an orator. He was best known for witty inter - religious public debates.

What differentiated Deedat's approach from hi contemporaries, apart from eloquence in English language, was that he would not only use references from the Qur'an and the Hadith, but also use his intensive knowledge of the Bible.

Early Life

Ahmad Deedat was born in Surat, British India in 1918. His father had emigrated to South Africa shortly after the birth of Ahmad Deedat. At the age of 9, Deedat went to join his father in what is now known as Kwazulu-Natala. His mother died few moths after Deedat left for South Africa. Applying himself with diligence to his studies, Deedat was able to overcome the language barrier and excel in school, getting promotions until he completed standard 6. But had to start working at the age of 16.

In 1936, while working as a furniture salesman Deedat came across missionaries at a Christian seminary on the Natal South Coast. In between the deep racial divides, the religious ideology was used by the authorities to numb and pacify the masses. This is considered to be a major influence on Deedat' interest in comparative religions.

Another inspiration on his intellectual development came from the book "Truth Revealed" by Rahmatullah Kairnavi on the concept of holding inter-religious public debates. The book was written especially in response to the missionary efforts of Reverend C.C.P Fonder, the head of the Christian Mission of India, in 1864.

Lectures and Debates

Deedat's first lecture, entitled "Muhammad: Messenger of Peace", was delivered in 1942 to an audience of 15 people at a Durban movie theater. Within a short space of time, the numbers grew and people crossed the radical divides which were then prevalent in apartheid South Africa, to listen to him, and to participate in the questions and answers sessions which followed his lectures.

With the increased success, Deedat engaged into broader range of activities over the next three decades. He conducted classes on Bible studies and conducted numerous lectures. Da'wah became the dominant factor of his life, with the audiences at his lectures reaching forty thousand. In 1957, Deedat, together with two of his friends, founded the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) and remained its president until 1996. 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.

International Coverage

In 1986, he visited Saudi Arabia for a conference, and in his first television interview, became notable in the Arab world with his dynamic personality and knowledge of comparative religion.

He subsequently visited Australia, Denmark, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom on lecture and debating tours.

In the United States, he became famous for a debate with the American Reverend Jimmy Swaggart at the University of Louisiana.

Death

On May 3, 1996, Ahmad Deedat suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed from the neck down, and also meant that he could no longer speak or swallow. He was flown to a 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 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. During these years, rumors spread throughout the Internet that he was already dead, and even some websites that contained his pamphlets mentioned as early as 2002 that he was dead.

On August 8, 2005, Ahmad Deedat finally succumbed to his prolonged illness and died at his home in Trevennen Road, Verulam in the province of Kwazulu Natal.

Hobbies:

Honours and Awards

King Faisal International Award 1986

President, Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) ( 1957 - 1996)

Movies:

Books:

Publications

Deedat published over 20 books and distributed millions of copies of pamphlets, many of which were translated into various languages:

• The Choice - Between Islam And Christianity - Vol. 1
• The Choice - Between Islam And Christianity - Vol. 2
• Arab and Israel, War or Peace?
• 1989, Can you stomach the best of Rushdie?
• Christ in Islam
• Combat Kit against Bible Thumpers
• Crucifixion or Cruci - Fiction?
• Is Jesus Christ God?
• Is the Bible God's Word?
• Muhammad PBUH the Greatest
• Muhammad PBUH the Natural Successor to Christ.
• Qu'ran the Miracle of Miracles
• Resurrection or Resuscitation of Jesus.
• The God that never was
• The Muslim at Prayer
• What is his Name?
• What the Bible say about Muhammad PBUH the Prophet of Islam?
• What the eminent intellects say about Muhammad PBUH?
• What was the Sign of Jonah?
• Who moved the Stone?

Music:

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TV:
None

Interests:
None

Quotes:
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Other:
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