DURBAN, South Africa, August 9, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Hundreds of people, from across South Africa, have participated in the funeral of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, who breathed his last in the early hours of Monday after a stroke that kept him bedridden for almost a decade.

They came from near and far to pay their last respects to the man who had made them proud, a man who at a time when the Asian community had everything going against it, raised the morale of Muslims, a man whose voice of courage and truth served as a beacon of light amidst the shadow of oppression, injustice and prejudice, says IOL Correspondent.

The body of the late Sheikh Ahmed Deedat left his home in Verulam, South Africa at about 5 p.m. Monday, in a coffin, covered in a green cloth.

A sombre atmosphere prevailed at the Deedat household, as the coffin was passed from man to man, until it reached the hearse which carried it to the Main Street Mosque, where the funeral prayer was performed by about a thousand men, led by well-known Zambian Muslim Scholar Mufti Ismail Menk.

Earlier, Sheikh Deedat’s body was laid in the living room of his house, his 84-year-old wife, clad in a white burqa and jilbab, sitting at his side, embracing the many women who came to express their condolences, assuring them that her husband had experienced a quick, beautiful and painless death.

Those in attendance expressed the sheer sense of loss they felt at the passing of a man whose name had elevated the status of the South African Muslim community in various parts of the Islamic world.

“He was an icon,” said Suleiman Vahed, who had shared a working relationship with Sheikh Deedat. “I can’t think of anyone who can replace him.”

Rehana Badat, a former neighbor and regular visitor to the Deedat household, said that his death, though expected, was extremely difficult to come to terms with.

She described him as having exemplary character, and paid tribute to his humility. “He was a very well-known man, and he could have driven a fancy car or lived in a fancy house if he so wished. But he retained his humility and simplicity throughout his life.”

She added that Muslims of his caliber were especially needed in present times when the Ummah (nation) faces many trials and tribulations.

Many paid tribute to Sheikh Deedat’s wife, speaking of her patience and strength. “She was Pappa’s strength,” said daughter-in-law Yasmin Deedat.

“She is a really positive person, and remained positive throughout his illness, never complaining about his condition.”

Yasmin said that the phone had been consistently ringing, with people from all over the world calling to confirm Sheikh Deedat’s death and express their condolences.

She tearfully related the story of Muhammad, a young Deedat fan from Saudi Arabia, who is presently in South Africa, studying English.

“He would spend day after day with Pappa, and had even visited him last night. When we told him that he had passed away, he refused to believe us, and came in today, heading straight for his room, wanting to spend time with him.”

Muhammad entered Sheikh Deedat’s room to find that he wasn’t there, but was instead laid, shrouded in his funeral cloth, on the living room floor.

“He just broke down and was hysterical, and has been quiet ever since.”

Sheikh Deedat was buried at the Verulam Muslim Cemetery after the Maghrib Prayers Monday.

The legacy he left behind wasn’t solely for his family, but was for the entire Muslim Ummah, said Yasmin.

On May 3, 1996, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, born in 1918, suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed from the neck down, and also meant that he could no longer speak or swallow.

He was flown to a hospital in Riyadh, where he was taught to communicate through a series of eye-movements.

He spent the last nine years of his life in a bed in his home in Verulam, South Africa, encouraging people to engage in da`wah.