SHEIKH AHMED DEEDAT

• Born in the Surat district of India in 1918, Ahmed Hoosen Deedat had no recollection of his father untill 1926. His father a tailor by profession had emigrated to South Africa shortly after the birth of Ahmed Deedat.
• With no formal education and fighting off the extreme pangs of poverty, he went to South Africa in 1927 to be with his father. His farewell to his mother in India in 1927 was the last time he saw her alive for she passed away a few months later.
• In a foreign land, a boy of nine with no formal schooling and command of the English language began preparing for the role he was to play decades later without realizing it.
• Applying himself with diligence to his studies, the little boy not only was able to overcome the language barrier but excelled in school. His avid passion for reading helped him gain promotions until he completed standard 6. Lack of finance interrupted his schooling and at the early age of about 16 he took on the first of many jobs in retailing.
• The most significant of these was in 1936 where he worked at a Muslim owned store near a Christian seminary on the Natal South Coast. The incessant insults of the trainee missionaries hurled against Islam during their brief visits to the store infused a stubborn flame of desire within the young man to counteract their false propaganda.
• As fate would have it, Ahmad Deedat discovered by pure chance a book entitled Izharal-Haq, meaning the Truth revealed. This book recorded the techniques and enormous success of the efforts of Muslims in India in turning the tables against Christian missionary harassment during the British subjugation and rule of India. In particular the idea of holding debates had a profound effect on Ahmed Deedat.
• Armed with this new found zeal, Ahmed Deedat purchased his first Bible and began holding debates and discussions with the trainee missionaries. When they beat a hasty retreat in the face of his incisive counter arguments, he personally called on their teachers and even priests in the surrounding areas.
• These successes spurred Ahmed Deedat in the dirrection of Da’wah. Not even his marriage, birth of Children and a 3 year sohourn to Pakistan after its independence dampened his enthusiasm or dulled his desire to defend Islam from the deceitful distortions of the Christian missionaries.
• With missionary zeal to project the Truth and beauty of Islam, Ahmed Deedat immersed hiself into a host of activities over the next three decades. He conducted classes on Bible studies and gave numerous lectures. He established the As-Salaam, an institute to train propagators of Islam. He, together with his family, almost single-handedly erected the buildings including the masjid which is still a landmark today.
• He was a founder member of the Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) and became its President, a position he still holds today. He has published over 20 books and distributed milions of copies free of charge. He has delivered thousand of lectures all over the world and successfully engaged Christian Evangelists in public debates. Several thousand people have come into the fold of Islam as a result of these efforts.
• In a fitting tribute to this monumental achievement, he was awarded the King Faisal International award in 1986, a prestigious recognition of enormous value in the world of Islam.
• No number of awards and honours can truly capture the man’s essence and zeal for Islam. This anthology of books is no exception. It demonstrates Sheikh Deedat’s analytical compilations drawn from personal encounters and experiences against Christian distortions.
• In 1996 Shaikh Ahmed Deedat suffered from a serious stroke and remained paralysed and bedridden for 9 years. On 8th August, 2005 he passed away. May Allah (swt) bless his soul with Jannatul Firdous for his path-breaking and excellent efforts for Daw’ah of Islam worldwide as well as reigniting the spirit of self-esteem and renaissance amongst millions of Muslims the world over.
• Books by Shaikh Ahmed Deedat: The Choice – Between Islam and Christianity – Volume I The Choice – Between Islam and Christianity – Volume II Is the Bible God’s Word? Al Qur’an the Miracle of Miracles What is His Name? Christ in Islam What was the sign of Jonah? What the Bible says about Muhammed (pbuh)? Resurrection or Resuscitation? Arabs and Israel – Conflict or Conciliation? Crucifixion or Cruci-Fiction?
• 49, Trevenneri Road, Verulam 4340, Republic of South Africa. Tel (Res.): 331790
• Postal Address : 49, Trevenneri Road, Verulam 4340, Republic of South Africa. Tel (Res.): 331790
DR. ZAKIR NAIK
A medical doctor by professional training, Dr. Zakir Naik is renowed as a dynamic international orator on Islam and Comparative Religion. Dr. Zakir Naik clarifies Islamic viewpoints and clears misconceptions about Islam, using the Qur’an, authentic Hadith and other religious Scriptures as a basis, in conjunction with reason, logic and scientific facts. He is 37 years old. Dr. Zakir is popular for his critical analysis and convincing answers to challenging questions posed by audiences after his public talks. In the last 6 years (by the year 2002), Dr. Zakir Naik has delivered more than 600 public talks in the U.S.A., Canada, U.K., Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., Kuwait, Singapore, Hongkong, Thailand, Guyana (South America) and many other countries, in addition to numerous public talks in India.
He has successfully participated in several symposia and dialogues with prominent personalities of other faiths. His public dialogue with Dr. William Campbell (of USA), on the topic, “The Qur’an and the Bible in the light of Science” held in city of Chicago, U.S.A., on April 1, 2000 was a resounding success.
Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, the world famous orator on Islam and Comparative Religion, who had called Dr. Zakir, “Deedat plus” in 1994, presented a plaque in May 2000 awarded to Dr. Zakir Abdul-Karim Naik for his achievement in the field of Da’wah and the study of Comparative Religion with the engraving “Son what you have done in 4 years had taken me 40 years to accomplish, Alhamdullilah.”
Dr. Zakir Naik appears regularly on many international T.V. Channels in more than 100 countries of the world. He is regularly invited for T.V. and Radio interviews. More than a hundred of his talks, dialogues, debates and symposia are available on video cassettes, video CDs and audio cassettes. He has authored books on Islam and Comparative Religion.
DR. ABU AMEENAH BILAL PHILLIPS
• Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips was born in Jamaica, but grew up in Canada where he accepted Islam in 1972.
• He completed a diploma in Arabic and a B.A. from the College of Islamic Disciplines (Usool ad-Deen) at the Islamic University of Madeenah in 1979.
• At the University of Riyadh, College of Education, he completed a M.A. in Islamic Theology in 1985 and in the department of Islamic Studies at the University of Wales, U.K. he also completed a Ph.D. in Islamic Theology in 1994.
• He taught Islamic Education and Arabic in private schools in Riyadh for over ten years and for the past three year he has been lecturing M.Ed. students in the Islamic Studies department of Shariff Kabunsuan Islamic University in Cotabato City, Mindanao, Philippines.
• Since 1994 he has founded and directed The Islamic Information Center in Dubai, U.A.E. and the Department of Foreign Languages at Dar al Fatah Islamic Press in Sharjah, U.A.E.
• Among the author’s published works are translations of “Ibn Tayameeyah’s Essay on the Jinn”, “The Devil’s Deception” and Arabic Calligraphy in Manuscripts,
• He has also co-authored “Polygamy in Islam”, and authored “Evolution of Islamic Law”, “Through Repentance”, “Islamic Studies”, “Hajj and Umrah According to Qur’aan & Sunnah”, “Islamic Rules on Menstruation”, “Arabic Reading & Writing Made Easy”, “Arabic Grammar Made Easy” and “The Purpose of Creation”.
• Author’s published works are translations of “Ibn Taymeeyah’s Essay on the Jinn”, and Arabic Calligraphy in Manuscripts.
• He has also co-authored “Polygamy in Islam” and authored “The Qur’aan’s Numerical Miracle – Hoax and Heresy”, “Evolution of Fiqh”, “Islamic law and The Madh-habs”, “Tafseer Soorah al-Hujuraat”, “The Ansar Cult”, “The Fundamentals of Tawheed”, “Hajj and ‘ Umrah According to Qur’aan and Sunnah”, “Islamic Studies (Book:1)”, and “Salvation Through Repentance”.
• Postal Address : P. O. Box 23424, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Tel (Res.): 339864 Tel (Off.): 445779 Fax: 323724 Pager: 91946608 Mobile No. 0097150-6264139 e-mail: alftah@emirates.net.ae; bilal17@bilalphilips.com
ABDUR RAHIM GREEN

SHEIKH HUSSAIN YE

Shaikh Hussain Ye is the President of Al Khadim Organization in Malaysia. He is a Malaysian national of Chinese descent. Although born into a Buddhist family, he embraced Islam at the age of 18 in 1968.
He pursued further studies at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia majoring in Hadith. After graduating in 1978, he joined the Muslim Welfare Organization, ‘Perkin’, in Malaysia, which focuses on the well being of the new converts to Islam. Later he seconded as director of Islamic centre in Hong Kong. With his vast experience in Islamic Social Welfare and Da’wah work, he founded Al Khadim with a group of volunteers in 1984.
He also studied under one of the great scholars on Hadith of his time, Shaikh Muhammad Nasiruddin Al Albani. Today, Ustaz Muhammad Hussain Ye is a well-known personality in the Islamic world. He gives regular lectures in the Asia Pacific region and conducts a lot of summer camps in UK and Europe by the invitation of local and international organizations.
Dr. Jamal Badawi

• Dr. Jamal Badawi is the director of the Islamic Information Foundation, Halifax, Canada. Dr. Badawi is a professor of Management at Saint Mary University in Halifax.
• He has authored several books and articles on Islam and designed and participated in the production of nearly 350 half-hour segments of a TV series on Islam.
• He has lectured extensively in North America and abroad, and is an excellent speaker on a variety of topics including Islam & Christianity.
• He is expert in Christian-Muslim Dialogues.
• Dr. Badawi is also a member of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Fiqh Council.
• Dr. Jamal Badawi is a Professor from St. Mary’s University, Canada. An Egyptian by birth, he obtained his Ph.D. in business Administration.
• Active in journalism and broadcasting he has had a series of programs concerning Islamic belief and practices shown on Canadian television throughout the world.
• President of the Islamic Information Foundation. Canada he is the author of a number of books and articles on Islam.
• Postal Address : Department of Management, Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotia, Halifax B3H 3CE, Canada. Tel (Res.): 902-4452494 Tel (Off.): 902-4205776 Fax: 902-4205119
ABDULLAH HAKIM QUICK
• Abdullah Hakim Quick graduated with honors in Da’wah and Islamic sciences at the Islamic University of Madeenah. He has also studied at the University of Toronto where he achieved a Ph.D. (Philosophy) in West African History and an MA (Philosophy) in African History.
• He has been a consultant on African and Islamic exhibits for the Ontario Science Centre’s project, “A Question of Truth”
• He has appeared as a guest lecturer at York University (University of Toronto), and McGill University for the Departments of History, Women’s Studies, Geography, and Middle-East Islamic Studies.
• He was a regular columnist in the Life Section of Canada’s Largest newspaper, the Toronto Star.
• He has developed and facilitated workshops and training sessions for diverse organizations such as Children Aids Society, Family Service Association, The Canadian Churches Forum for Global Ministries, etc.
• Postal Address : President / Imam / Counsellor Islamic Social Servies & Resources Association (ISSRA)
2375 St. Clair Avenue West,
Toronto, Ontario, M6N 1K9, Canada.
Tel: 7679358 / 7671531 Fax: 7670328
YASIR FAZAGA
•Yassir Fazaga is an inspiring, multi-lingual speaker sought-after from USA through Canada to the Middle and Far East. He was born in Eritrea in Northeast Africa and moved to the United States at the age of 15. He has a Bachelors Degree in Islamic Studies from Imam Saud University, Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in Virginia in addition to his Masters Degree in Psychotherapy from the California State University of Long Beach. At present, Shaikh Yassir is undertaking his Masters in Theology at Loyola Marymount University.
He serves as the Imam (Religious Leader) of the Orange County Islamic Foundation (OCIF) in Mission Viejo, California. He is involved as a therapist at FACES, where he helps families with different challenges in life which include: domestic violence issues, communication problems, marital matters, generational gap, difficult teens, some mental and personality disorders, divorce, grief, and single parenting among others.
Yassir Fazaga has taught the Arabic language and Islamic Sciences for the past eight years and has taught Islamic courses on Scriptural Exegesis, and Islamic financial contracts for American Open University.
Shaikh Yassir Fazaga has done numerous interviews about Islam on television news stations and radio stations around the globe. He speaks on Islam and related topics for conferences, churches, high schools, colleges and universities. He also participates on behalf of foundation in many outreach and interfaith events.
Shaikh Yassir Fazaga has this charismatic ability to instantly connect with audiences, through his lucid wit and profound wisdom, his timely humor and the warmth that his presence exudes.
Email:
yassirf@hotmail.com
IMAM SIRAJ WAHAJ
• Imaam Siraj Wahhaj is one of the most admired Muslim leaders and speakers in America.
• Once a minister for the Nation of Islam (NOI) in the early 70s, the Imam left upon discovering NOI’s differences from mainstream Islam.
• He is an accomplished Muslim activist MashaAllah, once leading a community-based anti-drug campaign in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, in which he staked out drug houses in the cold of winter for 40 days and nights, forcing the closure of 15 drug houses.
• In 1991 Imam Siraj Wahhaj offered an invocation (opening prayer) to the United States House of Representatives. He was the first Muslims to do so.
• He is the founder and Imaam of Masjid At Taqwa in Brooklyn, New York, and is currently serving as the elected leader of the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA).
• He was the vice president of the Majlis as-Shura of New York. He has also served on the executive board of the Islamic Society of North America.
• Postal Address : Masjid At-Taqwa 1266 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11216, United States of America.
Tel (Res.): 622 0800 Fax: 857 8984
YUSUF ISLAM
He was born Steven Demetre Georgiou, in London, 21st July 1948. His mother was Swedish and his father was a Greek Cypriot restaurant owner, they lived in the centre of London and Steven went to Roman Catholic Primary School.
IMAM MOKHTAR MAGRAOUI
• Imam Mokhtar received his doctorate in Physics from Syracuse University. He received his Islamic education in Algeria before coming to the U.S
• He has been an Imam in the state of New York and is a Central Shura Member of the Islamic Circle of North America.
• Dr. Maghraoui is counted among the well respected Muslim scholars in North America.
Email:
anazem@msn.com
SHABBIR ALI
• Brother Shabir Ally is currently the President of the Islamic Information and Da’wah Centre International, Toronto, Canada.
• He is a former student of Dr. Jamal Badawi, professor of economics at St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, Canada, who is considered the prominent Muslim debater dealing in Christianity. Like Dr. Jamal Badawi, Brother Shabir Ally is also an accomplished and experienced debater for Islam.
• He is presently pursuing a degree in Religious Studies in the area of comparative religion.
• He is the author of numerous booklets and articles on Islam and comparative religion.
• He has held debates with figures such as Tony Costa, Robert Morey, Sam Shamoun, Dr. Peter Atkins, Prof. Kenneth Howkins, Rev. Bill Musk and many more.
• He frequently delivers talks on Islam and comparative religion across Canada, United States and the United Kingdom.
• email : shabir.ally@afi.org.uk
website:http://www.members.home.net/shabirally/index.htm
http://www.islaminfo.com
• Postal Address : President Islamic Information and Da’wah Centre International 957 Dovercourt Road, Toronto, Ontario M6H 2X6, Canada.
Tel (Res.): 536 8433 Fax: 516 1543
e-mail: islaminfo@inforamp.net
YUSUF ESTES
• He was raised as a strong Protestant Christian, born in Ohio, raised and educated in Texas and was a successful marketing entrepreneur and preacher of Christianity.
• At present he is the National Muslim Chaplain for American Muslims, sponsored by a number of organizations in Washington, DC and delegate to the United Nations Peace Summit for Religious Leaders.
• He has travelled around the entire world lecturing and sharing the message of the Christ of the Quran in Islam.
• He hold dialogs and discussion groups with all faiths and enjoy the opportunity to work alongside of rabbis, ministers, preachers and priests everywhere. Most of the work is in the institutional area, military, universities and prisons.
• Primarily his goal is to educate and communicate the correct message of Islam and who the Muslims really are.
• Although Islam has grown now to tie Christianity as the largest of religions on earth, he see many of those who claim Islam as Muslims, that do not correctly understand nor properly represent the message of “Peace, Surrender and Obedience to God” (Arabic = ‘Islam’).
• Chaplain Estes is well known around the Muslim world for his efforts in bringing many new people to Islam. His articles on Islam in modern times, along with his work online with other Internet websites.
• Yusuf Estes sheikyusuf@aol.com; sheikyusuf@yahoo.com; islamtoday@usa.com; Yusuf@99islam.com.
National Chaplain for
Today Islam Project visit them at: http://www.TodayIslam.com/
& WAMY [World Assembly of Muslim Youth]
Visit WAMY at: http://www.wamy.org/
GARY MILLER
• Brother Gary R. Miller (ABDUL AHAD OMAR) is a mathematician and a theologian. Born in a Christian family, he was active in Christian missionary work in his youth. Later he discovered many inconsistencies in the Bible.
• In 1978, he happened to read the Qur’an expecting that it, too, would contain a mixture of truth and falsehood. To his surprise, the Qur’an did not contain any falsehood nor any discrepancy. Brother Gary Miller embraced Islam and became a Muslim.
• Brother Gary Miller (Abdul-Ahad Omar) has given several public presentations and radio and television appearances on Islam. He has also the authored several articles and publications on Islam.
• Postal Address : King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals
P. O. Box 192, Dhahran 31261,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Tel (Res.): 8606915
Tel (Off.): 8602810
Fax: 8602340
e-mail: gmiller@dpc.kfupm.edu.sa
AHMAD VON DENFFER
• Ahmad Von Denffer was born in Germany in 1949.
• He completed his education on Islam & Social Anthropology from the University of Mainz.
• He is the honorary Vice-President of U.K. based International Council for Islamic Information.
• He is also the founding member of International Islamic Charitable Organization, Kuwait.
• Some of his published works include:
a) A Day with the Prophet
b) German Translation of “Nawawi’s Forty Hadith”
c) Islam for Children
d) Christians in the Qur’an and the Sunnah
e) Ulum Al-Qur’an: An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’an
f) Research in Islam: Basics, Principles & Practical Suggestions.
Dr. SHUAIB SAYYAD
• Though a medical practitioner by education, training and profession with over seven years of successful medical practice, Dr. Shuaib Sayyad joined the IRF in February 1997 and is the Manager (Research, Comparative Religion) and an Islamic orator at IRF.
• He had also been involved with the activities at IRF as an active and responsible volunteer since its inception.
• Dr Shuaib Sayyad handles the question and answer sessions at the weekly programmes at IRF in the absence of Dr. Zakir Naik. He has been a very active Da’wah worker since his college days.
• In the past couple of years, Dr. Shuaib Sayyad has been invited by several organizations in India and around the world to speak at public talks organized by them. These have been appreciated by audiences.
• He has delivered public talks in Bangalore, Surat, Pune, Calicut, Trichur, Cannanore, Jalgaon, Bijapur, Mangalore, and Amravati as well as in Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Mauritius, and Botswana.
• He has addressed a Christian Conference of over hundred and fifty pastors on the subjects, ’ Concept of Sin and Salvation in Islam’ and ’ Islam and Christianity’.
• He has had debates with Christian Missionaries in Bijapur and in Mumbai.
• Dr Shuaib has imparted Da’wah training to young Muslim students in Mumbai and Bangalore.
• He assisted Dr Zakir Naik as a co-faculty for the international Da’wah Training Programme conducted by IRF in July & August 1999.
• Email : questions@irf.net