Previous Chapter -- Next Chapter
CHAPTER TWELVE: A BRIEF COMPARISON OF TOPICS IN THE BIBLE AND THE QUR’AN
This chapter will not discuss any of these areas in depth; it is just to give an overview. I will expand on areas of disagreement in the next chapter, as this is most likely what much of your discussion will focus on.
There are a few things Muslims take for granted and it might take some time to untangle their web of belief. It is a good idea to ask questions, and try not to challenge their answers too often. Muslims will tend to give you an answer they think you will find convincing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they find it convincing! Even if your contact avoids or twists your question, they will know that they dodged the question and they will be thinking about it or asking about it later on. I suggest therefore to not worry too much about winning every logical argument, as this may be counter-productive (we may lose the person) and in fact not even necessary.
So let me list key Muslim beliefs which we as Christians agree with, those we disagree with, and core Christian points on which Islam says nothing. An awareness of these can be helpful when engaged in conversation. I do however want to note that Biblically we should in theory agree with Muslims about nothing at all:
Our disagreement is over an entire worldview which underpins every other belief we hold, so when we agree with Muslims about something we should pay close attention to our agreement, ask why we agree about certain things, and see where it leads.