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Muslims Mourn Late Sheikh Deedat
Deedat was a self-educated caller to Islam.
By Fatima Asmal, IOL Correspondent
DURBAN, South Africa, August 8, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) - Hundreds of people are expected to attend the funeral of South African caller to Islam Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, who passed away in the early hours Monday, August 8.
Sheikh Deedat, 87, passed away at his home in Trevennen Road, Verulam in the province of KwaZulu Natal at 7 a.m.
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 (Maghreb prayers) Monday.
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 India, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been calling to convey their condolences.
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 (Paradise), and that He Grants his family patience, especially his wife who has endured so much during the last few years.
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 Durban, South Africa, who had done a thesis on Sheikh Deedat as part of his Masters in Islamic Studies, said that there was a need for the Muslim and Christian worlds to continue to bring audiences together for religious debate and dialogue.
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 South Africa, from India, as a nine-year-old in August 1927.
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 South Africa.
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 South Africa, to listen to him, and to participate in the questions and answers sessions which followed his lectures.
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 Saudi Arabia for a conference, and in his first television interview, enthralled the Arab world with his dynamic personality and in depth knowledge of comparative religion.
He then visited the United Kingdom, Morocco, Kenya, Sweden, Australia and Denmark on lecture and debating tours.
In the United States, he became famous for a debate with the American Reverend Jimmy Swaggart, witnessed by 8,000 people on the topic Is the Bible the Word of God.
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 Riyadh, where he was taught to communicate through a series of eye-movements.
He spent the last nine years of his life in a bed in his home in Verulam, South Africa, encouraging people to engage in Dawah.
He continued to receive hundreds of letters of support from around the world.
Sheikh Ahmed 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
Deedat distributed more than twenty million copies of his books and audio tapes free of charge for the purpose of da`wah
Icon of the Muslim World Ustaad Sheikh Ahmed Deedat has passed away
A message on behalf of Trustees, Director and Staff of IPCI
Early this morning, 8 August 2005 / 2 Rajab 1426, Sheikh Ahmed Hoosen Deedat passed on to meet his Creator. This was after succumbing to a severe stroke that left him paralysed for more than nine years.Throughout this period, he gracefully persevered under the most difficult personal conditions; however, not forgetting his task as a daee (Islamic worker) and an ambassador of Islam, he continued to inspire, educate, challenge and inform people about the universal message of Islam.It is on this solemn occasion of his demise that we salute the courageous spirit and phenomenal work of this world-renowned personality, a hero of the Muslim World, nay, a true hero of believers all around the globe!
Brief Biography of Sheikh Deedat
Sheikh Ahmed Hoosen Deedat was Born on the 01 July 1918 in the Surat district of India in 1918. His father emigrated to South Africa in 1927 with him. Ahmed Deedat was a very bright student and excelled in school. Lack of finance interrupted his schooling and at an early age of 16 he took on the first of many jobs in retailing and short assistant.After reading a book called Izharul Haq The Truth revealed, a book about a debate with Christian Missionaries in the then British India, Sheikh Deedat was spurred on in the direction of Dawah Islamic Missionary Activity to halt the tide of the then Christian onslaught against Islam.
Over the next four decades, he immersed himself into a host of activities. Conducting Bible classes, lectures and debates the world over. He established the first Islamic Seminary in Southern Africa to train propagators at Assalaam educational Institute - Braemar.He is the founder of the largest Islamic Dawah Organization in the world, the Islamic Propagation Center International and became its president.
He has published more than 20 books and distributed millions of copies of FREE literature and pamphlets the world over. Many of Sheikh Deedats publications have been translated into the many different languages of the world : Russian, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali, Bangladeshi, French, Amharic, Chinese, Japanese, Mayalam, Indonesian,, Zulu , Afrikaans, Dutch, Norwegian amongst others.
He delivered thousands of lectures all over the world, crossing all the continents and successfully engaging some of the biggest names in Christian evangelists in public debates. Sheikh Deedats debates and lectures are available all over the world in the various languages in Video and DVD format.His career in the field of Comparative Religion took him across all five continents and dialogue with the heads of the Protestant world in America and the late Pope John Paul.
So fearless was his stand in defending the truth that Sheikh Deedat was refused entry into France and Nigeria on the pretext that he would cause a civil unrest.
Sheikh Deedat also received a personal phone call at the IPCI from former President Nelson Mandela who was in Saudi Arabia at the time, congratulating Deedat for his international icon status in the Muslim World.He was awarded the prestigious King Faisal Award in 1986 for his sterling services to Islam in the field of Propagation.
May Almighty Allah bless his soul, accept his efforts for the cause of dawah and grant gracious patience to his loved ones during this trying time.
His funeral will leave his house 49 Trevenen Road, Lotusville Verulam at 5 pm. Proceeding to the Wick Street Musjid and after Magrib Salah / Prayer , he will be laid to rest in the Verulam Muslim Cemetery.
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