Talking to Jews and Christians

Both Jews and Christians believe in that part of the Bible which Christians call the Old Testament. The Old Testament contains references to the prophet Muhammad, on whom be peace and blessings. That Book declared him to be a true prophet. So it is necessary for the Jew and Christian to believe that Islam is true. You therefore do not need to argue over the details of Islam with a Jew or Christian. If he thinks Islam is wrong on any point he has to answer for himself why his Bible recommends Muhammad if he taught a false religion. If he wants to reject the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) then he has to also reject his Bible. But then if he rejects his Bible he is no longer a Jew or a Christian and you have won the debate.

Please refer to the christianity and Judaism sections for more.

Now what remains is for us to specify where in the Bible to find mention of our prophet. In the Old Testament there are many references. Now the Jew or Christian may feel backed into a corner and attempt to escape by throwing you this punch. They may say that if you refer to the Bible you should believe in everything it says. You should reply that you do not believe in everything the Bible says. And that is alright for you because you never claimed that the Bible is, in its present form, entirely the word of God. On the other hand both the Christian and the Jew say that the Old Testament is the word of God. How can they refuse what it says?

The important distinction is as follows. You are asking them to recognise the man whom their Bible speaks about not because you believe in their Bible but because they do. You are simply using a valid form of argument to establish a proof. What they accept as their authority is proof against them, not against you. You are simply turning their proof back on them. What they say is the Word of God is telling them to believe in Muhammad (pbuh). How can they escape this belief?

In sum, no matter what objection they raise against Islam, remember that in reply you can always argue as follows. If there is something wrong with Islam why does the Bible recommend the prophet who taught us this religion? If they cannot answer this then you also do not need to answer their objection.

If all this seems too easy it is just because the truth is on your side. It wins with flying colours. God says in the Quran that when the truth is hurled against falsehood it smashes its core.

Talking to Hindus

Hindus believe in many gods. These gods are described as having human form. Often they are couples, a male god and his female consort. Hindus make visual representations, images, and idols of these gods and worship before these. When you understand this you immediately realise that no Hindu should raise objections to Islam. If they feel that one of the minor items of Islam is wrong you should concentrate on showing them that at the fundamental level Hinduism is wrong.

All you have to do is remind them in a polite way about the nature of the gods they worship. Tell them that the problem they see or the objection they have against Islam is really only about one of the branches of Islam. The main trunk is the idea of God. So discussions about religion need to begin with the main trunk. First, we should discuss whether or not God exists. If we agree that God exists we must ask who is He, whether he is one or many, and whether he has wives and sons.

Once they agree to this reasonable framework for discussion, proceed to state your belief in the one unseen creator of the heavens and the earth. Then ask the Hindu to tell you about his gods. If he is not fully aware you can help him to understand a few facts about his gods. Then the choice of God should become clear. Once you understand what Hindus believe about their gods you will see that the only reasonable choice for a rational Hindu is to accept Allah alone.

Here are a few quick facts about the Hindu gods. They believe that there are three principal gods: Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. Brahma creates; Shiva destroys; and Vishnu preserves. One makes, another breaks, and another keeps.

Each of these three have consorts. Brahma's wife is Saraswati. Shiva's wife is Parbatti. And Vishnu's wife is Lakshmi. As is already obvious, these gods are described as having very human characteristics. How can one of these or the three together create, govern and preserve the universe?

These gods also have human limitations and needs. For example, Shiva is known for his attachment to his wife. The religious books of the Hindus describe how Shiva was once busy with his wife when a saint came to see him. He did not pay proper respect to the saint, since he was occupied with his wife. The saint therefore put a curse on him with the result that today Shiva is worshipped in a representation as a male phallic symbol, called the lingam. His wife Parbatti is likewise worshipped in the representation of a female sexual part, called the yoni. Hindus look for stones that resemble these shapes and set them up for worship. They also deliberately carve such shapes to bow down before them. In some temples of Shiva you will find in the courtyard the two shapes together, one inserted in the other.

Just open up this subject with any Hindu who objects to anything in Islam. Remember to be polite. Your aim is never to offend anyone. You simply need to deflect the objection by reminding the Hindu about his own religion. Being polite works even better.

Talking to Atheists

The key in talking to Atheists is to bring them back always to the fundamental questions. If they ask questions to raise objections to the details of Islam you can spend all day arguing and end up nowhere. What you need to do is to remind them of the hopeless position of an Atheist.

The Atheist position is indeed hopeless. The believer has hope. If there is a God and there is life after death then the believer wins. If there is no God or no life after death the believer loses nothing. On the other hand, the Atheist loses badly if he wakes up to discover himself in the afterlife. In sum, if there is no afterlife both the believer and the Atheist are safe. But if there is an afterlife then the Atheist loses. The only one who can possibly lose is the Atheist.

Now the Atheist can argue that if there is no afterlife then the believer has wasted his life in false hope. We can reply that Islam gives our lives order, meaning, balance, purpose, and direction. We have hope founded on clear facts and dependable revelation from Allah.

On the other hand, it is the Atheist who is wasting his life. His life has no purpose but temporary enjoyment. But such enjoyment is always tempered by nagging doubts about whether or not life is heading in the right direction. It is the believer who lives in quiet confidence that God's promise is true.

The key, then, is to remind the Atheist that he is the only one who stands to lose. Sure he may have questions, doubts, and objections to some of the details of Islam. But rather than waste a lot of time trying to answer for the details, bring the discussion back to the fundamentals. Is there a God? Is there an afterlife? Is the Atheist secure?

Even if the Atheist has doubts it is still reasonable for him to embrace Islam. To illustrate this fact, consider this situation. You are told that there is a speed-trap set by police to catch speeders on a certain road. Even if you doubt the information you must still act as though you believe it. You will slow down just to be on the safe side. You feel no need to start arguing that the police would never do a thing like that, or that you drove there before and never got caught speeding. In a similar sense the Atheist can simply submit in Islam although he still has doubts. Rather than argue about what he doubts he should first get on the safe side and then investigate further.

The reasonable thing, then, is for the Atheist to accept Islam right away. If he will not take this reasonable position, then why should you argue with an unreasonable person? Just remind him that even if Islam is wrong you are still safe. But if Islam is right he is in deep trouble. To use an expression, the Atheist may well be up the creek without a paddle.