The Word of God in the Thought of Ahmed Deedat

Ahmed Deedat has been one of the most prominent contemporary Muslim polemists that focus on Jesus, the Bible & Christianity. This work from the Theology Faculty of the University of Helsinki uses a systematic analysis to assess the key theological concepts: the genealogy of his ideas; a textual analysis; an analysis of his argumentation; how he conceives the 'Word of God'; how he reasons; who his intended audience is; & what is his expected goal. Deedat engages with rational speculative works from the quest for the historical Jesus & on this basis, he tries to create an Islamic speculated Jesus i.e. an Islamic prophet & a jihadist. He develops a swoon theory account of the crucifixion. This account makes Jesus a sinner, deceiver, conjurer & facilitator of a crucifixion conspiracy. Deedat's attempts at trying to reform the Judeo-Christian Scriptures to make them compatible with the Qur'an, so that they make a continuity to the Qur'an, has highlighted one of the dilemmas for Islam: its discontinuity. This is especially apparent in his treatment of the Holy Spirit.