Debates—Am I willing to Debate for Islam?
A question I get asked frequently is am I willing to debate other Christian apologetics and preachers about Islam or in favor of Islam? The answer is YES—I am willing to participate in a formal debate. But I am only willing to debate two topics with Christians. And they are:
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Was Jesus Crucified?
Was Jesus Crucified? -Is Jesus God?
Is Jesus God? That’s it. And I’ll get to why I only do those two topics in a moment. I have very specific rules about debating. I have strict requirements that must be met. Thos requirements are:
1.) There must be an unbiased moderator. This means someone who has not taken either Muslim or Christian sides, or is a Muslim or Christian but has a confirmed reputation for balance and fairness. A moderator must be strict in enforcing the time limits, the agreed format, and basic rules of decorum and fairness. My opponent and I must both approve of the moderator (I must know him before—either by email or phone)
2.) The Topic Must be chosen. And that’s that. After the topic is chosen, the topic can’t be switched in the last minute. For example if a Christian wants to debate me on Was Jesus Crucified and one day before the debate he changes his mind and says “No I want to do Is Jesus God?” I won’t do so. I will either stick to the original topic or call off the debate.
3.) You must organize the event. This means you must find a church that is willing to host. And it has to be prepared for the debate—with water, speaker systems, etc. I don’t do online debates.
4.) You must be respectful of Islam, Prophet Muhammad and the Quran. This means that no insults against Prophet Muhammad or anything hateful in regards to Islam should be thrown by my Christian opponent. I will not tolerate this, it’s immature and unscholarly. I don’t do this—I don’t insult or ridicule Christianity or the Bible and either should my opponent do so for Islam or the Quran. If this does happen, I will call off the debate.
5.) You Must be respectful. I believe both Christians and Muslims can be respectful of both faiths without name calling, insulting either the Bible or the Quran, or either debaters. In the past things have gotten ugly between Muslim and Christian debaters. I don't want my debates to go there, I feel things can be done in a respectufl and scholarly way.
So why I am I only willing to debate those two topics? Because I feel they are the most important. I feel that what Islam has to say about Jesus is correct and can be proven using both the Bible and Early Christian history. I am not willing to debate topics like Is Muhammad a True Prophet of God because that topic is way too big. There are many sub topics that relate to this topic like:
-Are there scientific errors in the Quran
Are there scientific errors in the Quran -Is What Islam says about Jesus correct?
Is What Islam says about Jesus correct? -Are Arabs really Ishmaelite?
Are Arabs really Ishmaelite? -Did Prophet Muhammad perform miracles
Did Prophet Muhammad perform miracles -The Satanic verses story
The Satanic verses story -Ibn Ishaq stories
Ibn Ishaq stories -Raiding of Caravans
Raiding of Caravans -Prophet Muhamamd’s polygamy
Prophet Muhamamd’s polygamy -How do we determine a true or false Prophet according to the Bible
How do we determine a true or false Prophet according to the Bible-Can we trust the New Testament?
Can we trust the New Testament?-Is the Quran miraculous?
Is the Quran miraculous? -Etc, etc, etc.
Etc, etc, etc. As you can see the topic Is Muhammad a True Prophet of God is way too big. Now is there evidence for Muhammad being a Prophet? Yes. Should I debate it? No. I don’t see a reason why. First my goal is to prove to Christians that what Islam has to say about Jesus is correct—then hopefully by Allah’s grace they will join Islam. There are other Muslim apologetics that are willing to debate this topic such as Nadir Ahmed (who’s a good debater), Jalal Abdulrub, Osama Abdullah, Sami Zarrati, etc. I’ll let them handle that topic since they are more experienced with it than me. Moreover Is Muhammad a Prophet of God has the same old arguments over and over and over. That’s not really interesting to me.
Atheist Critics of Islam—Am I willing to debate them?
Yes. I will only participate in public debates with atheists if they meet the same requirements I stated above. I'm willing to participate in formal debates with respectful and scholarly atheists such as Richard Carrier, Dennis Gerion. I am willing to debate on certain topics such as Is the Quran scientific, Is there evidence for Islam, Did Prophet Muhamamd perform Miracles, etc? I feel these are important topics that must be addressed.
I am not interested in debating anonymous unscholarly loser atheists on the internet that attack Islam like Atheist Hate Monger, Ali Sina. Ali Sina and his Hate Monger cheerleaders have already been taken care of by Nadir Ahmed of Examinethetruth.com. I just don’t feel it’s a productive use of time since their material is mostly polemical and has already been refuted.
If you are willing to meet these requirements, email me at Ehteshaam7@yahoo.com. I feel that we can be respectful of each other faiths whether you’re an atheists or Christian and that I can convince you of the truth--- and that is the truth of Islam.
