Before you start conversation with your muslim friend, it is important to know that there will be chances of controversies.
1. Remember that our aim is not to silence our muslim friend, nor to gain a merely logical victory, but to win souls to Christ. Therefore, in argument, we should always try to remove misunderstandings which create difficulties for Muslim friends from giving careful attention to the Gospel message. What exactly we have to do is to remove stumbling-blocks or difficulties. But we must not expect it to convert a soul. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. You must at every step be prayerful and invoke the help of Holy Spirit. Persuade the inquirer or your muslim friend prayerfully, to read the Bible, especially the New Testament. Ask him/her not to be satisfied with finding fault with it and discovering difficulties in it.
2. It is better to limit the discussion on each occasion to one or two definite points. Both of you must settle beforehand the topics to be discussed at that particular time. To let him move quickly from one point to another without waiting for an answer is actually a waste of time. Try also to bring the argument to some definite conclusion. This is possible only if you are able to plan the pattern of discussion, as far as possible, in your own mind, and not deviating from your goal.
3. Always be polite maintain the decorum. If you are polite and kind in your words and manner, your muslim friend will generally, even against his will, be forced to observe the rules of courtesy. Remember to regard him/her as a brother/sister for whom Christ died, and to whom you are sent with the message of reconciliation. You can generally prevent any rudeness on his/her part, without offending him/her, by showing courtesy to him/her. You can then make it clear, by your manner, that you expect the same behaviour from him. Never let an argument evolve into a quarrel.
4. Remember that your opponent may be trying hard to make you angry. But if he/she can succeed in proving that you are angry, to those who are present there, he/she will in their opinion have gained the victory.
For example: In some Eastern countries, stroking your beard or moustache is a sign of inward-anger. To prevent one's anger from being shown outside, an Eastern will frequently stroke his moustaches. But if ever a Christian did this, even thoughtlessly, in an argument, then the muslim friend, who knows to deal it with a pause, would look round on the audience to call their attention to it. And then he/she will begin most profusely to apologize, with the appearance of fear, for having quite unintentionally made him angry! I say, he has gained the day; he has made his opponent angry, or pretends to think he has, and perhaps convinces the rest that it is so! Anger of course shows consciousness of defeat.
5. Your Muslim friend will attempt to discuss some terribly deep "important matters" very lightly. Try to make your muslim friend feel that you don't take those topics lightly. Show him, that you regard them as matters of life and death. Even if he is not serious at first, at a later point he will generally feel with you very readily, depending on your earnestness. If you are not earnest, you are no true missionary.
6. Never be deceived into answering (in a discussion) such a question as, "What do you think of Muhammad?". Never try to make a direct attack upon him. To do so would be to offend your hearers and do great harm. It is not necessary to tell them your opinion of Muhammad, for they will not accept it on your authority. By and by, if they read the Bible, they will form a very decided opinion themselves. So it is better to reply somewhat in this manner: "What does it matter what my opinion of Muhammad is? I have nothing to say to you about him: I come to tell you about Christ." The meaning of this will be quite clear to the audience: they will appreciate your courtesy, and will probably ask you to tell them your message about Jesus.
7. The missionary should be careful to give some title of respect to Muhammad (or, in case of need, to 'Ali or Fatima or other person honoured by Muslims) in countries where to do otherwise would be considered disrespectful. In India it is best to say "Muhammad Sahib". We cannot give him higher titles than this as Christians and Muslims are content if we give him this. In Egypt and Palestine they do not seem to resent him being spoken of simply as "Muhammad," but in India and Persia to speak thus would be insulting to your muslim friend.
8. Be careful of the theological terms you use. First you should thoroughly understand them yourself. The usage have to be not merely the English terms but the words used in the native language—Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, or whatever it may be. Do not think that the words for e.g. holiness, atonement, sin, kingdom of heaven, peace etc... which are used in the vernacular version of the Bible,
convey their Christian theological meaning at the first glance to your friend. They do have a different meaning for the same terminologies we use. Be careful not to confuse him/her or to create misunderstandings in his/her heart. Use his own theological terms as far as possible, making quite sure that you fully understand them.
Whenever your friend quotes and establishes an argument upon any passage in the Bible, make a point of turning to that passage (in the original language, if possible) in the Bible and make sure from the context exactly what is said and what is meant. Do not depend upon your memory. This is of the great importance. To read the verse aloud with the context will often give a complete reply to the difficulty in your friend's understanding. The same method could be effectively applied to the Qur'an, which must be quoted in the original.
9. Remember that although, generally speaking, the Bible, being an Oriental book, is more easily understood in some respects by Orientals than by Europeans. But some passages which is easily understood by a westerner, is difficult for an Oriental, occasionally requiring an explanation.
E.g., In Persia a very intelligent Kurdish convert asked the meaning of Isa. 1:18 - "Though your sins be . . . red like crimson, they shall be as wool." His difficulty is readily understood when we remember that in Persia most sheep are black. There was once a Persian of some learning under the impression that John the Baptist (Yahya') was Yahya' ibn Barmak, the noted minister of Harunu 'r Rashi. In India the expression (Matt. 27:7) "to bury strangers in" seemed to the native people to denote "to bury strangers alive in!" Other similar mistakes have occurred and should be taken care of.
10. Before entering into an argument—before going out as a missionary at all—one should not only know the Bible well, but should have made up one's mind on matters which are in dispute. Of course we must be fully convinced of the truth of all the main Christian doctrines; but we should also know exactly what the Bible teaches and what it does not teach on such subjects as, e.g., the Fall, "Conditional Immortality," "Eternal Hope," the Atonement, and many more. The case of F. W. Newman, and his difficulty when in Baghdad he was asked a question about the Trinity, presents an extreme example of the danger of want of preparation for our work.
11. Readily accept, and make it plain that you heartily accept, all the truth that is in any way common to Christianity and Islam. Then lead on from these points of agreement and show how much truer are some of their tenets than they have any idea of. You can show that the Bible teaches all that is true in such tenets of theirs, and that it goes very much further on such points than their theology does. Illustrations of this will be better.
12. Try to convince of sin and of human's need of a Saviour. Muslims have very little idea of the guilt of sin. Endeavour to reach people's hearts and not merely their intellects. Appeal to them as people for whom Christ died, who need the salvation which He has commissioned you to offer through the Gospel.
13. Put yourself as much as possible in your muslim friend's place, so as to try to understand his /herdifficulties. You will thus be the better able to frame your answers in such a way as to be understood by him. The Socratic method of asking questions and leading your opponent to find the answers, and thus to convince himself of the truth of what you wish to teach him, is perhaps the best in general, if properly used.
14. Remember what your muslim friend, if he be an "orthodox" Muslim, will be ready to admit, and what he will not at first admit. You will thus be on sure ground in your arguments, and will have an idea whereon to plant your lever.
(a) He is bound to admit the validity of arguments based on the assumption (for the sake of argument, as far as you are concerned) that the Qur'an is the Book of God, that every word and letter of it in the original is of Divine authorship.
(b) He accepts the great doctrines of: (1) God's Unity, Almighty Power, Wisdom, Eternity, Unchangeableness, and that He is the union of all good attributes; (2) His creation of the universe, and His Divine government and Providence; (3) the Divine Mission of all the Prophets (including Jesus); (4) the eternal distinction between the Creator and His creatures; (5) the existence of the world and of human personality, of the human spirit, of life after death, of future rewards and punishments, the Resurrection, the need of faith, the existence of good and evil spirits; (6) Christ's Divine Mission, His birth of a Virgin, His sinlessness (all the Prophets being by Muslims called sinless), His Ascension, His life in Heaven now, His future Advent, and that Christ is "the Word of God" (Kalimatu'llah) and "A Spirit from Him" (Ruhun minhu); (7) that the Bible, as originally given, was a Divine revelation; and he believes (8) that Idolatry is the one unpardonable sin. (An Nisa 4:116.)
On the other hand he does not realize the guilt of sin, the existence of an eternal Moral Law; he has no real conception of God's holiness, or justice, or love. He practically conceives of God's omnipotence as outshining all His other attributes. He sees no need of an Atonement. He denies the Trinity, the Sonship of Christ, and His death on the cross. He believes the Bible to have been corrupted, and at any rate he thinks that it has been annulled by the "descent of the Qur’an upon Muhammad."
A missionary, Dr. Pennell, well writes: "Nine out of ten of the Muslim objections come from their irremovable tendency to look upon everything and interpret everything carnally. My main endeavour is to try and set forward the spiritual side of the text or doctrine. If I can even get them to realize that there is a spiritual side to religious observances, I think something is gained. For instance, when they raise the objection that we do not perform 'ceremonial washing' before prayers, the muslim friend has probably never looked on 'ceremonial washing' as more than a form, and the spiritual teaching that may be derived from it is very likely quite a revelation to him. My line with that and similar objections would be to take the muslim friend a step back to the nature of prayer, and of what preparations are required when we approach our Creator. Similarly, objections about the cutting of our beard and moustaches or the making of our clothes, or the fact of our removing or not removing of our hats and shoes under certain conditions, all bring the discussion back to the underlying motives and internal nature of true religion. Help may be obtained by reminding them of the words they use in the niyyat before prayers, which lay stress on heart preparation as opposed to externalities."
15. Finally, let the servant of Christ remember and act on Bengel's advice: "Never enter upon controversy without knowledge, without love, without necessity," and, let us add, without prayer.
Source:
1. Clair Tisdall, A Manual of the Leading Muhammadan Objections to Christianity.
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