Mission Fully Accomplished: Jihad by Tongue Is Useless in the Information Age
OP - August 18, 2023, 01:47 PM
Battles between Muslims and non-Muslims continue to take place every now and then. In today's information-age era, these battles took a contemporary form of debates on social media, e-forums, online interactive software, etc.
Three years ago, I was a Muslim scholar/apologist who adopted the so-called "Jihad by tongue", which is a form of struggle against non-Muslims using debates. The desire was to make my contribution along this line to become "hero" of Islam, just as other Muslims in the past wish to become "heroes" in "Jihad by the sword". And just as the Qur’an prohibits the jihadi to flee from the battlefield (Surah 8:15), in the world of Islamic apologetic there is an unspoken rule that it is strictly forbidden to surrender or be defeated by non-Muslims.
As a conservative Muslim -- at that time -- from a very religious family with strong background in Islam and Arabic, I was confident that I will turn the table on my opponents by winning the debates. I prepared for around 20 years, from collecting and studying Islamic literature, designing debate scenarios, practicing debates, etc. I was inspired by Mr Ahmad Deedat and Dr Zakir Naik techniques. As part of the plan, I intended bring my opponent debaters low by showing their weak logic in debates once I win the debate. I planned to publish the results and use social media platforms, e-forums and journals to expose them in a humiliating way. I planned for that in meticulous detail.
I came to terms with an intellectual defeat of Islam after debating many Secularists and Christians in the UK. I failed to defend the Islamic arguments many times, I prepared to win, but I was cornered in debates and had no option but to surrender (unconditional surrender). I admitted my defeat and documented it by publishing a testimony and a number of articles in special Secular magazines/newsletters (can provide references) and in an organised reddit posts as well. This had marked my permanent closure of my exist from Islam. By this formal admission of lost debates the mission was fully accomplished and celebrated. Finally the Muslim apologist genie inside me was taken out and locked inside a bottle ... forever.
My defeat was a lesson in itself and I never did get to carry out my intended humiliation of non-Muslims. In fact, ironically, the opposite happened. My plans turned on me and the case was considered a great win for both Secularists and Christians for the following reasons:
1. It was I who initiated the debate with non-Muslims. Planned for that for around 20 years, was overconfident, thought that I was invincible and vowed to win.
2. It was fairly easy for my opponents to prove me wrong using Islamic sources (references available).
3. Unlike most encounters where both parties claim victory over each other. I admitted my full decisive defeat and the victory of my opponents which was acknowledged by them. Thus, the results of the debates are objective and complete.
4. It is an ex-Muslim who is going to explain the wrong ways of Islam and tell his story, not an atheist, or someone from another religion or even a fledged young Muslim who is newly introduced to the faith of Islam, but someone who studied the faith very well.
5. All my knowledge and skills are now used to serve non-Muslims to demolish the Islamic doctrine in a systematic way.
My debunked arguments are documented on reddit and I admitted my defeat in all of them in the posts. We are currently preparing an Arabic and English videos to be uploaded on a special YouTube channel to make this experience available for free thinkers in the Arab/Muslim world.
I am posting this on CEMB for further documentation of the case study. If you need any help in debates against Islam, information about Arabic language, Islamic doctrine, history or any information to verify the case to use it in your research, please do not hesitate to get in touch. When I was a conservative Muslim apologist, I never thought or even imagined that I will one day be part of the CEMB forum and posting this experience for future generations. It is complete reversal of my old dawah goals ... but a win for humanity in my opinion.