ahmed’s deedat
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early years 1918-1942 ahmed deedat was born in tadkeshwar city, surat district, gujarat, india in 1918.[3] his father had emigrated to south africa shortly after ahmed deedat’s 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 for his early years 1918-1942 Ahmed Deedat was born in Tadkeshwar City, Surat District, Gujarat, India in 1918.[3] his father had emigrated to south africa shortly after ahmed deedat’s 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. Upon arriving in South Africa, Deedat diligently devoted himself to his studies, overcoming the language barrier and excelling in school, even being promoted to complete Standard 6. However, due to financial circumstances, he had to leave school and begin work at that time. he was 16 years old. In 1936, while working as a furniture salesman, he met a group of missionaries at a Christian seminary on the south coast of Natal. missionaries, in their efforts to convert people to the muslim faith, often accused the islamic prophet muhammad of having “used the sword” to lead people to islam. Such accusations seemed to offend Deedat and would form a great influence on Deedat’s later interest in comparative religion. [4] deedat took an active interest in religious debate after finding a book titled “izhar ul-huqq” (the truth revealed), written by rahmatullah kairanawi, found while searching for reading material in the basement of his employer. This book chronicles the efforts of Christian missionaries in India from a century earlier. The book had a profound effect on Deedat, leading him to purchase his first Bible and to hold debates and discussions with missionaries-in-training, whose questions he had been unable to answer earlier.[4]His foray into biblical studies took a serious turn when he began to attend islamic study classes taught by a local muslim convert named mr. fairfax. seeing the popularity of the classes, mr. fairfax offered to teach an additional session on the bible and how to preach to christians about islam.[4] deedat and a few others were delighted at the opportunity. however, just a few months into the project, mr. Fairfax had to back out of his engagement, and Deedat, who was quite knowledgeable about the Bible at the time, took over the class. which he did for a full three years thereafter and is later credited with significantly expanding his horizons into missionary work. The First Missionary Play 1942-1956 Deedat’s first lecture, titled “Muhammad: Messenger of Peace,” was delivered in 1942 to an audience of fifteen at a Durban cinema called the Avalon Cinema.[5] Over time, Deedat’s popularity as a public speaker grew in Durban, to the point that he was invited to speak in other South African cities. a decade later he was packing town halls with audiences of thousands in cities like johannesburg and cape town. An important vehicle for Deedat’s early missionary activity was the ‘guided tours’ of the Jumma Mosque in Durban. The vast ornate Jumma Mosque was a landmark site in the tourist city of Durban. A sophisticated program of free lunches, speeches and giveaways was created to give a growing number of international tourists, often their first glimpse of Islam. deedat himself introduced himself as one of the guides, hosting tourists and giving brief introductions to the islamic religion and the relationship between islam and christianity.[6]ipci and as-salaam 1956-1986in 1956, frequent missionary work public speaking engagements and the popular guided tours of the jumma masjid had begun to bear fruit. Inquiries about Islam from the general public in South Africa had begun to arrive at an increasing rate. It soon became clear that working from the mosque office was not going to be enough to handle the demand for literature and enable an increasing number of people to show more than just a tourist interest in Islam. among deedat’s close friends were goolam hoosein vanker and taahir rasool , whom many refer to as ‘the unsung heroes of
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