In defence of Shaykh Ahmed Deedat

(may Allaah have mercy on him)

I would like to put my mind at rest concerning the daa’iyah Ahmed Deedat (may Allaah have mercy on him), since there are those who accuse him of having been a follower of Ahmediyyah, whose headquarters are in Pakistan, and they quote as evidence the fact that in some of his debates the Shaykh quoted the theory which says that the Messiah was crucified but did not die on the cross, rather he only lost consciousness, but he died after that in an accident, and his soul was taken up to heaven. 

I would like to know what was the view of the well known daa’iyah Ahmed Deedat? Are these accusations true? I am one of those who love the Shaykh, may Allaah have mercy on him, and I follow all his debates and writings. Thank you very much.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

Shaykh Ahmed Hoosen Deedat was born in Sirat in India in 1918 CE, and his father migrated to South Africa shortly after he was born. When he was nine years old his mother died and he joined his father in South Africa, where he lived for the rest of his life.

In South Africa, Ahmed Deedat appeared in his first debate in 1977 CE, and later appeared in the Royal Albert Hall in Great Britain. He debated with some of the greatest Christian clerics such as Clark, Jimmy Swaggart, Anis Shuroush, and others. The Muslims benefited from that and affirmed their belief in Islam and the Qur’aan, and came to know the distortions and lies that exist in the distorted religions. Some Christians whom Allaah blessed with guidance also benefited from that.

On Monday August 8, 2005 CE, the daa’iyah Shaykh Ahmed Deedat passed away and met his Lord at the age of 87, in his home in Verulam in KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, after a lengthy struggle with illness.

Secondly:

With regard to Muslim belief concerning the Messiah (peace be upon him), it is based on the evidence of the Qur’aan and Sunnah. The Messiah ‘Eesa (Jesus) – (peace be upon him) – is one of the greatest Messengers. Muslims believe that ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) was taken up by Allaah into heaven alive, and that he was neither crucified nor killed. He will remain alive until the onset of the Hour approaches, then he will descend to earth and will kill the Dajjaal, break the cross and kill the pigs, and he will rule according to Islamic sharee’ah, then he will die – peace be upon him – like all other humans.

Imam Abu Muhammad ‘Abd al-Haqq ibn ‘Atiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

The ummah is unanimously agreed on what is stated in the mutawaatir hadeeth that ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) is alive in heaven, and he will descend at the end of time and will kill the pigs, break the cross and kill the Dajjaal; justice will prevail and he will support this nation – the nation of Muhammad – and it will prevail as a result, and he will perform pilgrimage to the Ka’bah, doing Hajj and ‘Umrah, then Allaah will cause him to die.

Al-Muharrar al-Wajeez (3/143(

Al-Safaareeni (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

The ummah is unanimously agreed that he will descend and none of those who follow sharee’ah disagreed with that. Rather it was denied by the philosophers and heretics whose dissent is of no importance. There is consensus among the ummah that he will descend and will rule according to the sharee’ah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). No new law will be revealed when he descends from heaven.

Lawaami’ al-Anwaar al-Bahiyyah (2/94, 95)

Thirdly:

The Qadianis or Ahmadis are a movement that began in 1900 CE as the result of a plot by the British colonialists in India, the aim of which was to distance the Muslims from their religion and from the duty of jihad in particular.

The Qadianis believe that Prophethood did not end with Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), rather it is ongoing and Allaah sends messengers according to need. They believe that Ghulam Ahmed – the founder of Qadianiyyah who was born in 1839 CE and died in 1908 CE – was the best of all the Prophets.

They believe that Jibreel used to come down to Ghulam Ahmed and that he received revelation and that his dreams are like the Qur’aan.

For more details on their beliefs and why they are kufr, please see the answer to question no. 4060.

Fourthly:

The view of the Ahmedis (Qadianis) concerning the Messiah (peace be upon him) is that he was crucified but did not die on the cross, rather he lost consciousness and was buried, then he fled from his grave to Kashmir, where he died a natural death, and his grave is to be found there.

They interpret his being raised up to heaven as metaphorical not literal, i.e., he was raised in status, not in a physical sense.

This belief of theirs is mentioned in two essays of theirs, the first of which is entitled “The Christian Messiah in India” which was written by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed himself. The second is entitled “The death of the Messiah the son of Maryam and what is meant by his descent”. This is published by the “World Ahmediyyah Muslim Community”, and they put on the cover a picture of the supposed grave of ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) in Sari Naghar in Kashmir, India.

They say on page 2 that “the Messiah (peace be upon him) was not taken up alive, and no one else was caused to resemble him. Rather he was hung on the cross for a few hours, and when he was taken down he was so deeply unconscious that they thought he was dead. Then after the crucifixion he migrated from Palestine to eastern lands: Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Kashmir and India, and he lived for one hundred and twenty years.”

Mirza Ghulam Ahmed al-Qadiani claimed falsely that Allaah had revealed this information to him, but it is something that was said by some Christians before him, and it seems that he stole the idea from them.

The purpose of the Qadianis in spreading this belief about the Messiah (peace be upon him) is to make it easier to claim that the ahaadeeth which were revealed about the descent of the Messiah and the appearance of the Mahdi at the end of time refer to the emergence of the liar Mirza Ghulam Ahmed al-Qadiani.

The essay referred to clearly states that on page 6 where it says:

“What is meant by the descent of the Messiah the son of Maryam is the sending of another man from the ummah of al-Mustafa (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who will resemble ‘Eesa ibn Maryam in his attributes and deeds. This promised man appeared in Qadian, India, with the name of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, a guided imam whom Allah made like the Messiah ‘Eesa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him). He was the promised messiah, al-imam al-mahdi for the ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) promised would be sent when he said: ‘There is no Mahdi except ‘Eesa.’ (Ibn Maajah, Kitaab al-Fitan).” End quote.

According to Islamic belief, ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) is a Prophet who was sent, and the Mahdi is a righteous Muslim, not a Prophet or Messenger. The emergence of the Mahdi is one of the lesser signs of the Hour, and the descent of ‘Eesa (peace be upon him) is one of the greater signs of the Hour, and there is a difference between them, as is obvious.

The hadeeth which they quote as evidence, “There is no Mahdi except ‘Eesa” is not saheeh, rather it is a munkar hadeeth which was judged as such by a number of imams, such as al-Nasaa’i, al-Dhahabi and al-Albaani, and it was classed as da’eef by al-Haakim, al-Bayhaqi, al-Qurtubi and Ibn Taymiyah, and al-San’aani classed it as mawdoo’ (fabricated).

See: Minhaaj al-Sunnah (8/256); al-Sawaa’iq al-Muhriqah by al-Haytami (2/476); al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah (77).