By Fatima Asmal, IOL Correspondent
DURBAN, October 3, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – As I entered the large room, I was overcome by awe. I could not believe that I was standing in the same place where hundreds of people received the message of Islam from the enigmatic icon who used to sit behind the very desk I was facing.
This was the office in which late Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, armed with little more than a plate of bhajias (Indian chilli-bites) and samoosas, smilingly piloted many an indignant visitor to a state of total submission to Islam.
Today the office, situated on the fourth floor of the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI), in the heart of the South African city of Durban, has been transformed into something of a small time museum, paying tribute to the life’s work of Sheikh Deedat, who passed away in the early hours Monday, August 8.
Discoloured posters advertising his famous lectures and debates cover the walls, whilst the desk is overflowing with his publications, which have been translated into several languages and printed across the globe.
Sheikh Deedat had spent many hours within the confines of these walls, formulating intricate da`wah strategies and taking giant steps towards that which he hoped would serve as a means of guidance for the many people who had not yet been touched by Islam.
His aspirations included but didn’t end at publishing books and debating Christian evangelists.
His vision was much greater than that, and is perhaps well reflected in the sights which are distinctly visible from his office windows.
A building across the street carries an enormous sign, the making and placing of which he had commissioned. Strategically placed, it bears a simple but clear message – "Read Al-Qur’an – the Last Testament".
A few hundred metres away the Jumma Masjid, South Africa’s largest mosque, which was central to Sheikh Deedat’s mission, towers above the colourful hustle and bustle of traffic, trade and tourists, its glittering domes and magnificent minarets casting their reflections on the gold façade which covers the windows of the IPCI building, bringing one of his many dreams to life.
Mosque Tour
In an office close to Sheikh Deedat’s, Mahomed Khan, IPCI liaison officer, and Rafeek Hassen, its director, are actively trying to ensure that his other dreams too, are being realized on an ongoing basis.
They are awaiting the arrival of a group of school children from Swaziland, who has booked a ‘Mosque Tour’ – a concept introduced by Sheikh Deedat in the 1960’s and still going strong today.
"Sheikh Deedat’s philosophy was that everyone knows Islam, it’s the way you market it which makes all the difference," explains Khan, as he produces a statistics sheet which reveals that 660 people have been on the Mosque Tour in 2005 alone.
This includes people from Norway, Japan, Belgium and various other parts of the world, notes Hassen, and the concept is in high demand particularly amongst tourists, church and school groups.
"You’ll be surprised how many of these people have never entered a mosque before," says Khan, who has worked for the IPCI for the past sixteen years.
The tours take place at the Jumma Masjid, and, before entering the mosque, each individual is given a book entitled "The Muslim At Prayer," which shows the similarity between Muslim acts of worship and the prayer of Prophets mentioned in the Christian scriptures, he explains.
"The fact that these people come means that they are open-minded," says Hassen.
"We use this as a starting point to show them that Islam is not a new religion but merely a continuation of the teachings of previous prophets."
He said they quote verses from the Bible.
"When we make wudu’ (ablution) we say, ‘Aaron and Moses washed their hands and their feet as it was in the Bible,’ when we make sujood (prostration), we say, ‘In the Book of Matthew, Jesus prostrated and prayed, Abraham prostrated and prayed,’ and we show them that we are praying as they did," Hassen explains, saying that the tours are extremely effective.
"They go back completely astounded."
For school children the mosque tour ends with a movie about Islam and a question and answer session at the Abdul Aziz Auditorium, a state of the art 500-seat cinema, situated in a nearby building which a Saudi Arabian businessman had bought for Sheikh Deedat.