Ahmed Deedat
| Ahmed Deedat | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Ahmed Hoosen Deedat 1 July 1918 Surat, Bombay Presidency, British India |
| Died | 8 August 2005 (aged 87) Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
| Resting place | Verulam cemetery |
| Occupation | Missionary, orator, public speaker, writer |
| Years active | 1942–1996 |
| Known for | Comparative religion |
| Spouse(s) | Hawa Deedat |
| Awards | King Faisal International Prize (1986) |
| Website | www |
Ahmed Hoosen Deedat (Gujarati: અહમદ હુસેન દીદત July 1918 – 8 August 2005) was a South African writer and public speaker of Indian descent. He was best known as a Muslim missionary, who held numerous inter-religious public debates with 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 International Prize in 1986 for his fifty years of missionary work. He wrote and lectured in English.
Deedat was born in the town of Tadkeshwar, Surat, Bombay Presidency, British India in 1918. 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 the age of 16.
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 Islamic Prophet Muhammad of having "used the sword" to bring people to Islam. Such accusations offended Deedat and created his interest in comparative religion.
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