Debate: Who Was Muhammad?
If you are interested in a really fast-paced debate with two well-prepared scholars, I must recommend this recent debate between Christian apologist, David Wood, and Muslim apologist, Ali Ataie, at the University of California, Davis. The debate was sponsored by the Muslim Student Association, Campus Life, and Campus Crusade for Christ.
These two apologists reject political correctness to get at the heart of the issues surrounding Muhammad’s character, the scientific evidence for the Qur’an, the reasons Christians reject Muhammad as a prophet, and the material from the earliest Muslim manuscripts.
At the beginning of the debate, Wood cordially suggests that this will be no “interfaith picnic” and that the debate is not going to be “pretty.” His descriptive foreshadowing of the two hours ahead is spot on. Wood proceeds to lay out a series of arguments against the character of Muhammad and against the trustworthiness of the argument from scientific evidence and from literary excellence. Ataie responds with a rejection of the source material Wood is quoting, calling Wood’s arguments a “smokescreen” and pointing the finger back at the character of Jesus. In the end, though, Wood’s arguments go unanswered. Ataie spends more time attempting (but not succeeding) to build a similar case against the character of Jesus than he spends on defense of the character of the prophet Muhammad.
The debate is available on DVD from Amazon.com. For more information on how to purchase a copy click here.
MJ