Son of noted late Muslim preacher shot in South Africa

Johannesburg. — A South African activist and son of a deceased prominent Muslim preacher passed away in a hospital on Friday afternoon after he was fighting for his life being shot outside a court in the coastal city of Durban on Wednesday.

Police colonel Thembeka Mbele said 65-year-old Yousuf Deedat — son of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat — was shot in the head as he walked towards the Verulam family court on the outskirts of Durban with his wife, Anadolu Agency reports.

Mbele said an unknown suspect opened fire, wounding Deedat in the head. He was later rushed to a hospital for medical attention, while the suspect fled in a motor vehicle in an unknown direction.

His son Raees said in a statement that Deedat died at St Anne's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg on Friday afternoon.

• "His family and friends were at his bedside when he passed away peacefully," read the statement, quoted by DispatchLive

Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, who died in 2005, was a prominent South African Muslim missionary who held several interfaith public debates with evangelical Christians.

He was known across the world as a respected public speaker and writer who published several widely-distributed booklets on Islam and Christianity.

He was the founder of the Islamic Propagation Centre International, which aims for Islam to be heard and understood across the world.

The late Deedat was awarded the King Faisal International Prize in 1986 for his 50 years of missionary work.

His son Yousuf was a famous community activist and Muslim scholar in Durban. Police said they were still investigating the reason behind his shooting.