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{{short description|South African writer and orator}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| name = Ahmed Deedat
| honorific prefix =
| image = AhmedDeedat(Image).jpg
| title =
| religion = [[Islam]]
| birth_name = Ahmed Hussain Deedat<ref name=orbit/>
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1918|07|01}}
| birth_place = [[Surat]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2005|8|8|1918|07|01}}
| death_place = [[Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal|Verulam]], [[KwaZulu-Natal]], [[South Africa]]
| resting_place = Verulam cemetery
| resting_place_coordinates =
| notable_works =
| alma_mater =
| profession = [[Missionary]]<br>Orator<br>Public speaker<br>Writer
| module = {{Infobox person|child=yes
|known_for = [[Comparative religion]]
|years_active = 1942–1996
}}
| awards = [[King Faisal International Prize]] (1986)
| denomination = [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]
| creed = 
| website = {{url|www.ahmed-deedat.net|Ahmed-Deedat.net}}
| footnotes =
}}

'''Ahmed Hoosen Deedat''' ({{lang-gu|અહમદ હુસેન દીદત}}; {{lang-ur| {{nq|احمد حسین دیدات}}}}; 1 July 1918 – 8 August 2005) was a South African writer and public speaker of [[South African Indians|Indian]] descent.<ref name="How it all began">[http://www.islamicvoice.com/September2005/Tribute/ Ahmed Deedat – How It All Began], by Fatima Asmal, ''Islamic Voice'', September 2005</ref><ref name=":0" /> He was best known as a [[Muslim]] [[missionary]], who held numerous inter-religious public [[debates]] with [[Evangelism|evangelical]] Christians, as well as video lectures on Islam, Christianity, and the Bible.

Deedat established the IPCI, an international Islamic missionary organisation, and wrote several widely distributed booklets on Islam and Christianity. He was awarded the [[King Faisal Foundation|King Faisal International Prize]] in 1986 for his fifty years of missionary work. He wrote and lectured in English.<ref name="dw" />

==Early years 1918–1942==

Deedat was born in the town of [[Tadkeshwar]], [[Surat]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] in 1918.<ref>[http://www.irf.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=164%3Abiodata-ahmed-deedat-&catid=57%3Aorators-international&Itemid=174 Ahmed Deedat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818204004/http://irf.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=164%3Abiodata-ahmed-deedat-&catid=57%3Aorators-international&Itemid=174 |date=18 August 2013 }} Islamic Research Foundation. Retrieved 29 July 2009.</ref> His father had emigrated to South Africa shortly after his birth. 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 at the age of 16.<ref name=aljazeera>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/archive/archive?ArchiveId=14235 |title=The life of Shaikh Ahmed Deedat |access-date=25 February 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225034746/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/archive/archive?ArchiveId=14235 |archive-date=25 February 2007 }} By Asim Khan, 21 January 2006, on [[Aljazeera.net]]</ref>

In 1936, while working as a furniture salesman, he met a group of [[missionaries]] at a Christian [[seminary]] on the Natal South Coast who, during their efforts to convert people of Muslim faith, often accused the [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic Prophet]] [[Muhammad]] of having "used the sword" to bring people to Islam. Such accusations offended Deedat and created his interest in comparative religion.<ref name=orbit>[http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/religion/documents/ARISA/2005_deedat.pdf Obituary] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20101225135049/http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/religion/documents/ARISA/2005_deedat.pdf Archive]):
Ahmed Hoosen Deedat (1918–2005): by Goolam Vahed, Department of History, [[University of KwaZulu Natal]]</ref>

Deedat took a more active interest in religious debate after he came across the book ''[[Izhar ul-Haqq]]'' (''Truth Revealed''),<ref>M.Rahmatullah Kairanvi (2003) ''Izhar-ul-haq (The Truth Revealed Part 1-2-3)'', TAHA {{ISBN|978-1-8420-0046-5}}</ref> written by [[Rahmatullah Kairanawi]], while he was rummaging for reading material in his employer's basement.<ref name=youtube>{{YouTube|EF_ERLIOjH4|Ahmed Deedat exposes lies of Shia scholar}}{{additional citation needed|date=August 2015}} Interview. Retrieved 18 March 2012.</ref> This book chronicled the efforts of Christian missionaries in India a century earlier. The book had a profound effect on Deedat, who bought a Bible and held debates and discussions with trainee missionaries, whose questions he had previously been unable to answer.<ref name=orbit/>

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.<ref name=orbit/> Shortly thereafter, Fairfax had to pull out and Deedat, by this point quite knowledgeable about the Bible, took over teaching the class, which he did for three years.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/400479|title=Ahmad Deedat: Man of mission|date=8 December 2011|work=Arab News|access-date=16 April 2018}}</ref> Deedat never formally trained as a Muslim scholar.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite web|url=https://barnard.edu/sites/default/files/inline/deedat.pdf|title=Ahmed Deedat and the Form of Islamic Evangelism|access-date=23 December 2015|author=Brian Larkin|publisher= [[Social Text]] 96, Fall 2008, p. 105}}</ref>

==Early missionary work 1942–1956==

Deedat's first lecture, entitled "Muhammad: Messenger of Peace", was delivered in 1942 to an audience of fifteen people at a [[Durban]] cinema named Avalon Cinema.<ref name="garda">[http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1156077788251&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs%2FMAELayout Demystifying Islam and Debating Christianity] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061122063935/http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1156077788251&pagename=Zone-English-Muslim_Affairs%2FMAELayout |date=22 November 2006 }}, Imran Garda, 2006</ref>

A major vehicle of Deedat's early missionary activity was the 'Guided Tours' of the [[Juma Masjid Mosque|Jumma Mosque in Durban]]. The vast ornamental Jumma Mosque was a landmark site in the tourist-friendly city of Durban. A program of luncheons, speeches and free hand-outs was created to give an increasingly large number of international tourists what was often their first look at Islam. Deedat himself was one of the guides, hosting tourists and giving introductions to Islam and its relationship with Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.professionaltravelguide.com/Destinations/Durban/See-and-Do/Sightseeing/Attractions/Religious-Sites/Jumma-Musjid-Mosque-p1853561/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517100125/http://www.professionaltravelguide.com/Destinations/Durban/See-and-Do/Sightseeing/Attractions/Religious-Sites/Jumma-Musjid-Mosque-p1853561/|url-status=dead|title=Durban See & Do Guide: Jumma Musjid Mosque|archive-date=17 May 2009}}</ref>

In 1949, Deedat moved to Pakistan with his family and lived in [[Karachi]] for three years near Pakistan Chowk.<ref name="PTV Interview">{{YouTube|id=ZqlVXUeP1Sg#t=26m59s|title=Ahmed Deedat On Pakistan Television (Interview)}}</ref> According to an interview on [[Pakistan Television]], he had been a strong proponent of the idea of an Islamic state.<ref name="PTV Interview"/>

==IPCI and as-Salaam 1956–1986==

Among Deedat's close friends were Goolam Hoosein Vanker and Taahir Rasool, whom many refer to as 'the unsung heroes of Deedat's career'.<ref name=aljazeera/>

In 1957, these three men founded the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) with the aim of printing a variety of books on Islam and offering classes to new Muslims converts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/frameset.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010910104735/http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/frameset.asp|url-status=dead|title=Islamic Propagation Centre International|archive-date=10 September 2001}}</ref> The next year Deedat established an Islamic [[seminary]] called As-Salaam Educational Institute on a donated {{convert|75|acre|ha|adj=on}} piece of land located in [[Braemar]] in the south of Natal province.<ref>[http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20050809071835687C750988 Islamic icon leaves behind a legacy], ''Independent Online'',South Africa 9 August 2005</ref> The experiment was not a success, however, because of the IPC's lack of manpower and paucity of funds, and was taken over by the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa in 1973. Deedat then returned to Durban and expanded the IPC's activities.<ref name=orbit/>

==International efforts 1985–1995==

By the early 1980s Ahmed Deedat's work was beginning to be known outside his native South Africa. His international profile grew in 1986, when he received the [[King Faisal Foundation|King Faisal Award]] for his services to Islam in the field of Dawah (Islamic missionary activity).<ref name=orbit/>
As a result, at age of 66, Deedat began a decade of international speaking tours around the world. His tours included:

* Saudi Arabia and Egypt (on several occasions)
* United Kingdom (on several occasions between 1985 and 1988, as well as Switzerland in 1987){{citation needed|date=August 2015}}
* Pakistan, where Deedat met [[Zia al-Haq]]<ref name=orbit/>
* [[UAE]] and [[Maldives]] Islands (Nov–Dec 1987), where Deedat was honoured by President [[Maumoon Abdul Gayoom]]<ref name=orbit/>
* The US (late 1986 featuring debates with Swaggart, Robert Douglas and several lectures including two in Arizona)
* [[Sweden]] and [[Denmark]] (late 1991, featuring three debates)
* US and Canada (1994, tour featuring debates in Canada and lectures in Chicago)
* Australia (his last tour in early 1996, just before his stroke)

On the other hand, Deedat received heavy criticism from liberal Muslim groups in South Africa which felt he inaccurately represented Islam and was intolerant of people of other religions, including Christians, Hindus, Jews and Jains. Several monthly editions of the Muslim Digest of South Africa (July, August, September, October) in 1986 were almost entirely devoted to criticising Deedat's stance and "his various dangerous activities".<ref>Muslim Digest, July–October 1986: 140</ref>

Problems arose after the publication of ''From Hinduism to Islam'' (1987), a critique of [[Hindu]] beliefs and practices.<ref name=orbit/> Among others, Deedat criticised South African Hindus for praying to their various deities and being easily moved to convert to Christianity.<ref name=enews/> Hindus and Christians had respected his oratory skills and arguments until then. But now, they rejected Deedat and united with other South African Muslim organisations in denouncing his attacks on other religions.<ref name=enews>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiaenews.com/africa/20060312/230.htm |title=South African Muslims reject anti-Hindu DVD |access-date=12 March 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312025002/http://www.indiaenews.com/africa/20060312/230.htm |archive-date=12 March 2007 }}, India E-news, Sunday, 12 March 2006</ref> Two years later, Jews joined the criticism after Deedat published ''Arab and Israel – Conflict or Conciliation?''<ref name=orbit/>

In 1988, following the publication of [[Salman Rushdie]]’s fictional work ''[[The Satanic Verses]]'', Deedat supported the fatwā of the Ayatollah [[Khomeini]] calling for Rushdie's death. He said that Rushdie "is a hypocrite and has blasphemed holy personalities. He should not be pardoned."<ref>Vahed, Goolam; Ahmed Deedat: The Man and his mission, 2013, Islamic, Page 207</ref>

In his last tour to Australia, the publicity resulting from the presence of Deedat caused [[Franca Arena]], member of the Legislative Council of the government of [[New South Wales]] to comment in her speech concerning racism:

{{cquote|Of course, other victims of racism are often Australians who are visibly different, especially women who wear Muslim attire. While I condemn such attacks, I also condemn attacks against Christians by Muslims who come to Australia to sow the seed of religious hatred. In this regard I refer to Islamic evangelist Sheik Ahmed Deedat, a South African who, on Good Friday, spoke about Easter, indulged in bible-bashing and incited racial hatred. I am all for freedom of speech, but our leaders should show some understanding and, above all, respect for the views and beliefs of others. Australia can do without people like Sheik Deedat. I do not know why he came to Australia or why he adopted such a confrontationist approach on Good Friday at a big public meeting at Sydney Town Hall when he disparaged the Christian faith. I certainly do not support such an approach.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LC19960530031 |title=Racism |publisher=[[Parliament of New South Wales]] |date=30 May 1996 |access-date=2013-11-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110195229/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LC19960530031 |archive-date=10 November 2013 |df=dmy }}</ref>}}

==Illness and death 1996–2005==

On 3 May 1996, Ahmed Deedat suffered a stroke which left him paralysed from the neck down because of a [[cerebral vascular accident]] affecting the [[brain stem]], leaving him unable to speak or swallow.<ref name=Committed>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/committed.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020112145849/http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/committed.asp|url-status=dead|title=Medical Report on Sheikh Ahmed Deedat|archive-date=12 January 2002}}</ref> He was flown to [[King Faisal Specialist Hospital]] in [[Riyadh]], where he was reported to be fully alert. He learned to communicate through a series of eye-movements via a chart whereby he would form words and sentences by acknowledging letters read to him.<ref name=Committed/>

He spent the last nine years of his life in a bed in his home in South Africa, looked after by his wife, Hawa Deedat, encouraging people to engage in [[Dawah|Da'wah]] (proselytizing Islam).<ref name=Committed/> He received hundreds of letters of support from around the world, and local and international visitors continued to visit him and thank him for his work.<ref name=orbit/>

On 8 August 2005, Ahmed Deedat died at his home on Trevennen Road in [[Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal|Verulam]] in the province of [[KwaZulu-Natal]]. He is buried at the Verulam cemetery.<ref name="Muslims Mourn Sheikh Ahmed Deedat">{{cite web|url=http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2005-08/08/article03.shtml|title=- ارشيف اسلام اونلاين|access-date=12 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913142855/http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2005-08/08/article03.shtml|archive-date=13 September 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Hawa Deedat died on Monday 28 August 2005 at the age of 85 at their home.<ref>[http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=11669 Wife of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat passes on...] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927213201/http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=11669 |date=27 September 2011 }} ''by Shahid Akmal'', The Muslim News, 7 September 2006</ref> His [[Salat al-Janazah|funeral prayer]] was led by [[Ismail ibn Musa Menk]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.qaindex.com/Content/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF-%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%89-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86?CtID=3&CID=1679&TId=20&PN=0&PS=0&Dir=0|title=الشيخ أحمد ديدات رائد دعوة النصارى إلى الإسلام في القرن العشرين|website=www.qaindex.com}}</ref>

==Writings and speeches==
[[File:choice deedat.jpg|right|thumb|Cover of Ahmed Deedat's book ''The Choice'']]
With funding from the Gulf states,<ref name="Larkin"/> Deedat published and mass-produced over one dozen palm-sized booklets focusing on the following major themes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jamaat.net/deedat.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214072506/http://jamaat.net/deedat.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 February 2009|title=ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY – A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS|date=14 February 2009|access-date=12 January 2017}}</ref> Most of Deedat's numerous lectures, as well as most of his debates in fact, focus on and around these same themes. Often the same theme has several video lectures to its credit, having been delivered at different times and different places.

* Is the Bible God's Word?<ref>[http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/Books/Books/bible.html Is the Bible God's Word?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517141850/http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/Books/Books/bible.html |date=17 May 2008 }}, by Ahmed Deedat</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Deedat|first=Ahmad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5HqrCAAAQBAJ|title=Is the Bible God's Word?|date=1981-06-01|publisher=Islamic Propagation Centre International|isbn=978-0-933511-04-0|language=en}}</ref>
* What The Bible Says About Muhammad.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Deedat|first=A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sj3zygAACAAJ|title=What The Bible Says About Muhammed?|publisher=Islamic Book Service|isbn=978-81-7231-020-2|language=en}}</ref>
*Combat Kit Against Bible Thumpers.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Deedat|first1=Ahmed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8SDDAAAQBAJ|title=Combat Kit for Muslim (Islam)|last2=Khan|first2=Naved Nasir|date=2016-06-25|publisher=Salaam - Salah Vision|language=en}}</ref>
* Crucifixion or Cruci-Fiction?<ref>[http://www.jamaat.net/crux/crucifixion.html Crucifixion or Cruci-fiction], by Ahmed Deedat</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Deedat|first=Ahmed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eoXOd414S4AC|title=Crucifixion or Cruci-Fiction|date=1984|publisher=Peace Vision|isbn=978-1-4716-3285-3|language=en}}</ref>
** several smaller spin-off titles on specific aspects of Crucifixion
* Muhammad: The Natural Successor to Christ.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Deedat|first=Ahmed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z26aFcmbxHUC|title=MUHAMMAD : THE NATURAL SUCCESSOR TO CHRIST|date=1992|publisher=Adam Publishers & Distributors|isbn=978-81-7435-511-9|language=en}}</ref>
* Christ in Islam<ref>[http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/Books/Books/christ.html Christ in Islam] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517214416/http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/Books/Books/christ.html |date=17 May 2008 }}, by Ahmed Deedat</ref>
* Muhammad The Greatest.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Didat|first=Ahmad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Of4CY1SphysC|title=Muhammad the Greatest|date=1992|publisher=Peace Vision|isbn=978-1-4716-0441-6|language=en}}</ref>
* Al-Qur'an the Miracle of Miracles<ref>[http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/Books/Books/quran.html Al-Qur'an the Miracle of Miracles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517214445/http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/Books/Books/quran.html |date=17 May 2008 }}, by Ahmed Deedat</ref>

Capitalizing on his popularity in the Middle East following his receipt of the King Faisal Award, Deedat secured a grant to print a collated volume of four of his popular booklets. 10,000 copies of this book titled ''The Choice: Islam and Christianity'' were initially printed in April 1993;<ref>[http://www.islamhouse.com/p/89151 The Choice: Islam and Christianity], by Ahmed Deedat</ref> this book was very popular in the 1990s, available for free at many missionary outlets across North America. Subsequently, several printing houses offered to print more, and within two years another 250,000 copies had been printed in several print runs across the Middle East.

Later, a second paperback volume entitled ''The Choice: Volume Two'' containing six more of Deedat's booklets was published. Deedat also widely promoted a South African printing of ''[[The Holy Qur'an: Translation and Commentary|The Holy Qur'an Translation]]'' by [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]] with commentary and a detailed index. This was widely sold at subsidised cost to the general public, and is often mentioned in Deedat's speeches.

Deedat also produced a booklet entitled "Al-Qur'an: the Ultimate Miracle" featuring the theory of 'the Number 19' that was popularised by Arizona-based Egyptian computer analyst Dr. [[Rashad Khalifa]]. However, this booklet was withdrawn after Dr. Khalifa disclosed some controversial beliefs, including his rejection of the entire [[Hadith]] literature of Islam.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.islamcalling.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226142810/http://islamcalling.com/islam/miracle/miracle1.htm|url-status=dead|title=islam calling -|archive-date=26 February 2012|website=islam calling}}</ref>

==Style==

According to one scholar, Brian Larkin, "Deedat's [[dawah|da’wa]] is of a particular kind. He has little to say about the errancy of [[Sufism]] or Shi’ism, for instance, and makes no particular demand for establishing an Islamic state (though he was supportive of these efforts in Nigeria). Rather his entire effort is directed at undermining and refuting Christian evangelism and arming Muslims against Christian attacks. His fame is thus based not on the mastery of Islamic sciences but on his thoroughgoing knowledge of the Bible. As one Nigerian characterized him, Deedat "opened the eyes of millions of Muslims in the fine art of inter-religious dialogue." His knowledge of English, his skill at debating, and his mastery of other scriptures "endeared him to the millions who have seen his videos or read his tracts, millions of which are sent free of charge all over the world. ... Deedat's source of authority, then, is an unusual one, drawing on the mastery of Christian rather than Muslim texts and his skill at English rather than Arabic."<ref name="Larkin"/>

==Criticism==
It was emerged that his dawah centre, IPCI, was financed by the [[Bin Laden family]] and that he had met [[Osama Bin Laden]], whom he described positively.<ref>Vahed, Goolam; Ahmed Deedat: The Man and his mission, 2013, Islamic, Page 215</ref>

Deedat's debates and writings have been labelled as a form of [[apologetics]]<ref name="dw">David Westerlund, Ahmed Deedat's Theology of Religion: Apologetics through Polemics. ''[[Journal of Religion in Africa]]'', 33(3). 2003</ref> by Lloyd V. J. Ridgeon, professor of Islamic Studies at the [[University of Glasgow]].

Muslim scholar [[Farid Esack]] has criticised Deedat, comparing him to such fundamentalists as [[Rabbi Meir Kahane]] and [[Jerry Falwell]], and writing:<ref name="Esack">[http://www.crosscurrents.org/Esack.htm To whom shall we give access to our water holes?], by Farid Esack</ref> <blockquote>
Deedat's multitude of [[anti-Christian]], [[anti-Jewish]] and [[anti-Hindu]] videotapes have told us all that there is to be told about the other, and we are comfortable with that. There are times, of course, when questions surface about the importance of correct dogma, about the importance of labels to a God whom we believe sees beyond labels and looks at the hearts of people. Instead of pursuing these questions, we hasten back and seek refuge in "the known." We order another of those Deedat tapes.<ref name="Esack" />
</blockquote>

The [[Stephen Roth Institute]] for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism calls Deedat "anti-Jewish" but does not elaborate.<ref name="Stephenroth">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw2000-1/australia.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807233043/http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw2000-1/australia.htm|url-status=dead|title=Support-Page|archive-date=7 August 2007}}</ref> In France sale and distribution of his books has been forbidden since 1994 as they are said to be violently anti-western, antisemitic and inciting to racial hate.<ref>Details for individual publications at [[Légifrance]]: [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000349036] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000349038] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000349035] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000714274] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000348883] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000166414] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000531536] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000714167] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000714275] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000531538] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000531539] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000531422] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000531423] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000166415] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000348884] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000714271] [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?dateTexte=&cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000714234]</ref>

His supporters, among them his son maintain that he was "a promoter of free speech and dialogue,"<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last1=Dziewanski|first1=Dariusz|title=Remembering the life of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/08/remembering-life-sheikh-ahmed-deedat-150803064519593.html|access-date=15 August 2015|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=8 August 2015}}</ref> while Abdulkader Tayob of [[University of Cape Town]] comments that he was only responding to [[Evangelism|Christian proselytization]] in a manner that was "not good or bad – but worth reflecting on."<ref name=":0" />

==See also==

* [[Dawah]]
* [[Islamic view of Jesus' death]]
* [[Swoon hypothesis]]
* [[Zakir Naik]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q332566|n=no|voy=no|species=no|mw=no|wikt=no|m=no|q=no|b=no|v=no|s=no}}
*{{commonscatinline}}
*{{Official website|http://www.ahmed-deedat.net/}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deedat, Ahmed}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:Mujaddid]]
[[Category:20th-century Muslim theologians]]
[[Category:Indian Sunni Muslims]]
[[Category:South African Muslims]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to South Africa]]
[[Category:Muslim apologists]]
[[Category:Muslim missionaries]]
[[Category:21st-century Muslims]]
[[Category:Critics of Christianity]]
[[Category:Critics of Ahmadiyya]]
[[Category:South African expatriates in Pakistan]]
[[Category:South African people of Gujarati descent]]
[[Category:People who memorized the Quran]]

Ahmed Deedat - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 21:31, 13 August 2023