Friday, October 3, 2008

An Open Debate Challenge to Shabir Ally, Jamal Badawi, and Zakir Naik

Arabic Christian Perspective has just started a site for future debates. The first article is a challenge directed to Shabir Ally, Jamal Badawi, and Zakir Naik. The challenge just went up, and ACP will be sending the link to our Muslim friends. Here's the text:

An Open Debate Challenge to Shabir Ally, Jamal Badawi, and Zakir Naik

Arabic Christian Perspective has hosted a number of debates between Christians and Muslims. However, Muslims have often criticized ACP for not arranging debates with Islam’s top debaters: Shabir Ally, Jamal Badawi, and Zakir Naik. Though we at ACP have attempted to set up debates with some of Islam’s strongest proponents, we’ve found that they are extremely reluctant to debate topics that will place Islam under scrutiny. Hence, it is now time to make our challenge public.

Arabic Christian Perspective hereby challenges Shabir Ally, Jamal Badawi, and Zakir Naik to a series of ten debates to take place next September against Christian debaters James White, David Wood, and Sam Shamoun. The topics (subject to modification pending input from our Muslim guests) will include:

(1) “Did Jesus Die by Crucifixion?”

(2) “Was Muhammad a Prophet of God?”

(3) “Has the Qur’an Been Perfectly Preserved?”

(4) “Did Christians Corrupt the Gospel?”

(5) “Can We Trust Paul?”

(6) “Does Science Show that Islam Is True?”

(7) “Does the Bible Teach that Jesus Is God?”

(8) “Does the Bible Tell Us about Muhammad?”

(9) “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?”

(10) “Is Christianity a Religion of Peace?”

We issue this challenge nearly a year in advance, so that there is plenty of time to schedule and coordinate the events. We invite Muslims to encourage Shabir Ally, Jamal Badawi, and Zakir Naik to join us for a series that will shed light on the major issues of both faiths, and help the world to see where the evidence points. Since James White, David Wood, and Sam Shamoun have already agreed to the series, we await the response of Islam’s top debaters.

James White has added some commentary here.

34 comments:

Jay44 said...

Awesome!! This is great. I hope this challenge gets answered, although I'm a bit skeptical about it.

While Shabir Ally is certainly the cream of the crop among these debaters (in terms of speaking ability and arguments) I would very much want to see Zakir Naik finally engage in a debate where the Christian side actually can put up a decent fight. For too long Naik has debated nobodies, or at least Christians who aren't experienced in apologetics or Islamic issues, which has therefore resulted easily in a victory for him. I hope Naik will finally have the courage to face some tougher opponents. But honestly it's doubtful he will. If, however, enough pressure is put on him by both Christians and especially Muslims then it could happen possibly.

Yahya Hayder Seymour said...

Have you actually contacted the apologists?

David Wood said...

Yes.

usr/bin said...

Just wondering if there is any response from the Islamic side, especialy Zaker Naik? It would be refreshing to hear Naik go against real and experianced christian apolgists.

David Wood said...

usr/bin,

I doubt we'll hear any response from the Muslim side.

You're not alone in hoping that Zakir Naik will finally take on an actual debater, but I really don't think it's going to happen.

Nakdimon said...

WOOOOOOOW!!!

THIS WILL BE AWESOME!

Let's hope and pray that these men will say YES!

If this goes on, this will definitely be the BATTLE OF THE TITANS!

I get excited by just reading this stuff...

Javier said...

If this goes on, this will definitely be the BATTLE OF THE TITANS!

James White vs Bart Erhman is Battle of the Titans. ;)

These men, I'm just not impressed. I mean you'd think they can at least pick up a systematic theology to learn what Chrisitans believe.

george said...

iam indian and i know the mind of indian muslims .zakir naik knows very well that handling big boys will makehis image very bad.just check out his debates and u will laugh that he never debate more only innumbers .i bet you guys that zakir will never say yes to debate with christians.
coz zakir is worldsbiggest show man,and how can show man debate?

e.Terminator said...

Hey guys i'm muslim youth and i'm telling you that you are completely mistaking. cuz muslims debaters have always been winning (Deedat-Zakir Naik-Jamal Badawi and even Shabir Ali)
and they mostly were asked to be debated especially Dr. Jamal Badawi.
you must know that they are not working as debaters but they are working in Da'wa and preaching field.
and even if they won't accept your invitation for the debate that don't mean that you are winners. because your preachers and debaters have loosed for a very period of time, and even if they win this time, it remains one in a million.
i'm not intending hurting your feeling, and you must know that most of my friends are christians and i love them and they do so.
but i'm trying to make you think in a different way at least for a while, i tried to do so but seeing such debtes, it make me more confident of my religione, and i'm asking you to try discovering islam good deeds and peacefull and mercifulll message.

THE STUDENT said...

I think this is going to be a real good debate and sam,white and david is going 2 win the debate. I hope that it happens but i doubt naik and accepts the debate

Unknown said...

See the Answer by Dr Zakir Naik on your first debate topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJhcjiNEwGo&feature=player_embedded
I don't know if that person asking question to Dr went to see him personally for the debate or not, but I am sure he didn't. You can see how he winks at the end and runs away. Islam is the True Religion, and the Quaraan is the word of God. I don't know what tougher opponenets want to debate?

Unknown said...

i will be meeting shabir ally then i iwill ask him to debate you

Unknown said...

You bring a crowd of over 10,000 people then Dr Naik can debate you; otherwise it will be a waste of time.

David Wood said...

Funny. Naik only uses his "10,000" rule when he's challenged by experienced debaters. Yet when he finds inexperienced debaters, he suddenly forgets this rule!

Naik has never faced a single respected Christian debater. Instead, he hides behind excuses.

Unknown said...

Sir Wood, so you consider yourself to be an "experienced" debater. How can you say, sir that he pounces on inexperienced debaters. Please do not forget about Sir William Campbell. Thank you. Lord Jesus said "Seek ye the Truth and Truth shall set you free", why do you lie? I know that since you are defending one side, "your"side; the "other" side has to be ridiculed- this is basic psychology- the "Us versus them" effect; but I say this to others also, even Dr Naik also, why do you people divide the world into "Us versus them". At least let us agree that we are brothers and sisters as both Islam and Christianity say that we are born from Adam and Eve. Thank you. May God show us the straight path and guide us closer towards the truth.

David Wood said...

Thanks for proving my point! I've been in more than 40 moderated public debates, which means that I have plenty of experience debating. James White also has plenty of experience. So does Sam Shamoun. We've all challenged Naik, and he refuses to debate.

And who is the "experienced" Christian debater that Naik has faced? William Campbell? Did you actually just call William Campbell an "experienced debater"? Until Campbell's debate with Naik, I had never even heard of him. But let's have some fun. Go ahead and list Campbell's previous debate opponents for us. How many people had he debated before Naik faced him? Let's see the list.

Unknown said...

Ok, sir I did not know about his inexperience, but as far as I know his book that so-called "refuted" Maurice's book was quite successful in the market and no body was able to refute, until of course Dr Naik went there and refuted each and every point. I did not know that you were actually really "experienced" debaters. Congratulations. Please send me the links so that I may learn from you. I have seen one debate between Shabir Ally and Sam Shouman on the topic of Quran or the Bible which is GOd's word and I was shocked to hear that in one chapter in the Bible it is mentioned that the sisters did "whoredoms" and the ejajucations and .. were like donkeys and etc. And when I saw the Quran which was referred by Sam that Quran also says "swelling breasts" etc first of all I did not find it disgusting and secondly it is not mentioned in the Quran which I read, it reads companions of equal age and/or spouses. Even if if means "full breasted", what is wrong in that, it is talking about the next life, ie in the hereafter. Thank you sir. I want to learn the truth. Please help me. I am confused.

Anonymous said...

You guyz realy dont hv any othr job for god sake...??gv it a break ...sick and tired with relgs inferiorty and superiority mind set of ppl injecting venom and hatred in to d mind of ppl eventualy resuling in casualities and othr'....all u chrstns and islam and jews links to abrahamc chain...now dat guy has a history of pimping his wife to many/as well as marryng his half sister .jvng sex with his wifes maid etc...wht makes u guyz so proud of dis centiries old cult..isnt it time to move on ?ok .if relgn s good.use it for ur good and not to chalang any body for dat reasn...

Unknown said...

Dr.Jakir niak is a highly educated and a wise scholar for the people who have the less knowledge about Science,Koran,Bible and other islamic books, but at the other hand Dr.Jakir niak is a great Liar, deceiver and a manipulator for the people who have the perfect knowledge of Science, koran, Bible and all the Islamic holy books....And this is a bitter truth which is hard to swallow.....you also can refer the points that Br. Jerry and his team has made and also you can watch the debate on 'is the koran a God's word' on YouTube and you can find many videos of Br. Jerry and his team where Br.Jerry has refuted Dr. Jakir Niak many times....this team has revealed all the lies of Dr. Jakir with scientific evidence...Please watch....

Unknown said...

Please watch Br. Jerry who refuted Dr. Jakir niak very badly with all scientific and koranic knowledge...don't forget to watch Br. Jerry and his team on 'koran a God's word?' And other...

syuhada said...

a matter of time, zakir successor will rise to the surface and will break everything from wood, sham, white and nabel ..

Anonymous said...

Here i am about to put my views on what exactly Mr.zakir naik does in his debates.
well he creates magic by his words,he decieves the conception about their belief of religion , he imposes his belief on them, and he closes off the arguement in such a way that the opponent gets all mesmorised by his answers.
i myself being an aethist had to judge it in his prospective itself.
No intent of harming anyone's belief regarding a religion when i myself deny the very own existance of god as a whole different entity.
I ll clear this whole god concept ,but first talking about this whole human psychology. What Mr.zakir naik does is very special ,its something related to mind games. He chooses his opponents and limits their interactive time span ,that itself leaves the opponent with a confused state of mind and makes them nervous and he imposes his thoughts when the person is all so vulnarable. He always tries not to debate over something in public when he is not prepared for it,but just limit d opponents ability to freely interact. And wats more fascinating is he hampers d person with his skill and knowledge upto the limits and when he feels the issue is heating up he simply takes away that opportunity from them. And then he wud continiously attack the victim with his religion Agenda. A mind which s already weak is easier to attack. Being a doctor himself as he proclaims knows it very well. And he always always avoid a situation debating Gwith ppl wiser than him unprepared. Coz he Will not have answers. He is accepting the facts of other religion which makes the layman think he is logical and than in a split second he says jesus,krishna,buddha they themselves are not god but messenger of god who were wrong in some perceptions and accountable to allah in the end, bible preached by jesus who thought love, geeta teaches "dharmasahisnute"(acceptance of all kind of religion,ideology and learn to love) ,And kuran again have the same thing but in different prospective. Bible was written by a man, geetha was written by a man, and again he forgets kuran is written by a man too. As he only says jesus ,vasudeva, mohammad they are messengers of gods, god didnt write these books and throwed it on earth, but these messengers wrote it using their ideologies , but not to forget they were humans not god himself.
Is there a sensible judgement on this why Dr.zakir naik keeps telling kuran is best,why not bible why not geetha,he says they r good there is nothing wrong but problem is in church ,but kuran has it all,. when all of them were actually written by a messenger of god but not god himself why he thinks kuran only has it because it was the last,whom u think you are to decide its the last,may be in coming years 15th Messenger may be getting ready to land, correct me if am wrong mahaveera founder of jainism was 24th theertankara, yet again you,a human and who mohammad a messenger says kuran is best to follow, not allah. .either all of the religion should be perfect or all of them sud be bullshit because all of them were by messenger. At the end of every arguement his agenda will be same again, now will u come to islam. Its like asking a person a question with all biased answer assume its happening in the show who wants to be a millionare and in the end u tell that person , u have to give 3milloin if u dont answer the question . Imagine the amount of pressure that person faces. I saw couple of his so called debate with ppl, which was never actually a debate. He wont allow the other person to put his views instead he goes rampant with his knowledge he has gained by his surroundings that makes other person go mesmarized. And one person in his show asks an amazing qiestion and he masks it without giving actual answer amazingly by giving example of situations. That might fit in as a answer but not exactly an answer. That is his trick.

Anonymous said...

its Mr.rahul ,He asks all other religions asks u to love but y islam says i ll punish you if u obey other then islam,y allah is not broad minded, as a matter of fact people keep taking birth in other religion living a lavish life and are dieing, i dont see any punishment given by so called islams almighty, generations have passed ,he may say u will be punished in hell, wat i dont see i dont belive so tats bullshit. keep it away, while taking about the answer for his questions given by Dr .zakir naik, he says in simple words he is our father and father knows everything which is good for his child , so he has the authority to punish you, but he does not want to hurt you,he just wants you to be happy. Gives some metaphoric situation based example comparing us to an innocen child wanting to jump into a pit, father deny but child goes on and the father slaps him,he punished you and saved you.. he makes such simple answer so much complicated and powerfull by his way of speech that the person goes speechless,It was hell lota years behind homie since any religion has evolved, our mind might be a child then , now we have evolved , i ll give him answers in his own way, why assume we r like a child, assume i am a teenager son to your so called god and i have passed my high school i have a sense of judgement and i want to join army and you defenately with better sense of judgement as a father you will deny it and you want your son to be a doctor assume. Your son being a teenager have a considerable amount of knowledge wants to decide his future , coz he knows wats good for him ,better than any one else. he will live life to the fullest till he dies for his country like a king. You want to say father should slap him and say you be a doctor you will make more money And you ll live longer just to reproduce. And i will be a nerdy doctor through out my life which i never wanted to be. Just because i listened to my father when i am capable of making my own judgement. whose life is ruined. Tat is wat happening for lakhs of innocent muslim young boys they are blindly listening not even to his father(allah) but to his so called messengers and mullahs.

A father(allah) should punish you when you are not capable of making ur own judgements but not necessarily.
A father Can make a child understand it with all the love he could possibly can give ,without punishing him by letting him learn by his own mistakes just by guiding him through tough times,but in no way by punishing him .That is the reality of life. And that is wat Jesus,krishna, buddha, mahaveera,gurunanak has thought.
Let me tell you,they are not messengers of god either including mohammad they are people with some moral values, some intellectual beings and indeed some with devilish thinkings at that time when human mind was so puny . They thought of guiding, ruling our puny minds through all the pain and sarrows we go through on the basis of humanity,or some for their own wicked gain. And it was us and so called religious heads, popes, mullahs, priests who mistook it and started fighting over ideologies of god.
its the ego of these people which made us fight over something as silly as religion ,even when mankind has reached mars.

Anonymous said...

and one more questions answered by Mr.zakir ,i dont know from which university he graduated his medicine degree. The question was eating red meat regularly and marriages between close relatives are medically proven hazardious to health when compared to normal individuals, get the fact wen compared to other circumstances am not saying it wont happen in other circumstances but in individuals with high rate of red meat consumption , the RISK of cardial diseases are high, you are exposing yourself to a potential risk, u r more likely to get heart related diseases when you have alot of red meat, but his answer was so stupid so lame ass, its like the person asked him (metaphor) i chew tobacco and i got oral submucous fibrosis,i went to doctor ,doctor said chewing tobaco can cause this to turn into a cancer so u sud stop chewing tobacco.
what was this awesome persons reply, the doctor said u have submucous fibrosis not me and rest if d ppl so you should stop chewing tobacco but rest of us can chew. Not that he says it multiplies ur chances of getting cancer but he says without any brain even the non tobacco users are having cancer. Salute to the university granted him with the degree.
my perception of god is what mother teressa saw in those poor leprosy inflicted people,
the pain which she felt and made her dedicate her life for them, i see god in abdul kalams wisdom which makes him a great personality standing tall above any religion, i see god in 108 Years old sri siddaganga swamiji who is serving thousands of blind people for free still living walking god. I see god in every single human being who feels he s a human first above all religion, i see god in humanity. God is nothig but that perticular sense of confidence you get when u are alone inside ,outside. Metaphor, assume u are in a really dark place with your friends , you aint gonna worry about shit.
wat if only one of your friend is with you, you will worry a bit. But you have ur friend to confront you. Assume you are alone in a really creepy place , u ll get d shit scared out of you. Who can be present at such situations crossing all boundries to confront you, YES it is god , it is that belief u need in that place to stay alive mentally and physically. That belief of presence of some supernatural power which helps you to find way through that tough time, that belief is called GOD.
and yes we humans created god because we need him , we need him through all our tough times. Not that he needs us to pray him forcefully the very ideology of this man has answered him.

Unknown said...

Will be interesting to See Zakir Naik, also I found this without real logic, just good at memorizing versus ........

Unknown said...

I would love to see this happen. Dr. Zakir Naik is very knowledgable and we could all learn quite a bit from this sort of display... ALLAHU AKBAR...

Unknown said...

Dr. Zakir Naik is a coward and a complete liar, he is scared to go against experienced debaters like david wood or sam shamoun because he will get refuted in a heartbeat. Praise to Christ!

Unknown said...

Jesus is Lord.

bull said...

7 Year and Zakir still refused the challenge...no hope

jerrys said...

He is afraid to debate with wood....

Unknown said...

David Wood, why don't you actually gather 10,000 rather than looking for any small thing and brag about it to make it as if somehow Zakir Naik has refused, just do what he tells you and the debate shall take place.

10,000 is nothing, Zakir Naik can gather more than 100,000 for his lectures and you crying over 10,000.

jon said...

Gathering 10,000 people from village is easy. Try ask ZN to gather 10,000 people from the country he is hiding now. I am so looking forward for a debate between ZN and David. Well, Shabir at least walk the talk and I respect him. So, ZN??? Hmm... he doesn't even dare to show up.

Unknown said...

DONT DELETE THIS PLEASE I WANT TO SHOW SOME MOSLEMS FRIENDS IN MY COUNTRY

Unknown said...

Why don't you all approach the Malaysian Government to arrange for a debate with Zakir Naik which should be live telecast in the mainstream television in Malaysia? Do put pressure on our Government.