Ahmed Dedaat

Ahmed Hussein Deedat (July 1, 1918 – August 8, 2005) (Urdu: احمد حسين ديدات) was a Muslim scholar, writer and public speaker of Indian South African descent.^[1] He was best known for his numerous inter-religious public debates with evangelical Christians, as well as pioneering video lectures, most of which centered around Islam, Christianity and the Bible. He also established the IPCI, an international Islamic missionary organization, and wrote several booklets on Islam and Christianity which were widely distributed by the organization. He was awarded the prestigious King Faisal International Prize in 1986 for his 50 years of missionary work. One focus of his work was providing Muslims with theological tools for defending themselves against active proselytizing by Christian missionaries. He used English to get his message across to Muslims and non-Muslims in the western world.

ahmed Deedat was born in the town of, Tadkeshwar, Bombay Presidency, British India in 1918.^[3] 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 came across a group of missionaries at a Christian seminary on the Natal South Coast. The missionaries, in their efforts to convert people of Muslim faith, often accused the Islamic Prophet Muhammad of having "used the sword" to bring people to Islam. Such accusations offended Deedat, and were to form a major influence on his subsequent interest in comparative religion.^[4]

Deedat took a more active interest in religious debate after he came across a book entitled "Izhar ul-Huqq" (Truth Revealed), written byRahmatullah Kairanawi while he was rummaging for reading material in his employer's basement. This book chronicled the efforts of Christian missionaries in India from a century earlier. The book had a profound effect on Deedat, and led to the purchase of his first Bible and holding of debates and discussions with trainee missionaries, whose questions he had previously been unable to answer.^[4]

His foray into Bible Studies took a more serious turn when 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.^[4] Deedat and a few others were delighted at the opportunity. However, a few months into the project, Mr. Fairfax had to pull out of his engagement, and Deedat, who was by this point quite knowledgeable about the Bible, took over teaching the class, which he did for three years. He later crediting this experience for expanding his horizons significantly towards missionary work.

^{From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia}