Having debated on-line for some time with Muslims within various forums, I feel it might be somewhat amusing to list some of the “rules” that they appear to play by when engaging with non-believers. Much as I might like to claim ownership of all these, I can’t. Most come from others who contributed suggestions, so I am simply the editor here (well OK, a couple are mine).
So, with tongue placed firmly in cheek, here are the rules they play by (generally funny, because I’ve encountered all of these at one time or another) …
1. Always keep your CAPS Lock on. This way your post will be difficult to read and no one will be able to answer.
I did challenge one chap about that a few weeks ago by suggesting that his caps-lock appeared to be stuck and that he should have it looked at. He responded with a rant about how he only ever used caps-lock because that was his way of communicating. In my own mind it conjures up an image of some crazy street corner preacher yelling random texts at everybody wandering by.
2. Whenever someone comes up with a verse from the Qu’ran that you cannot defend, just say that it has been taken out of context.
3. If someone comes up with a Hadith that is rather embarrassing, just say that it is one of the weak Hadiths and can be ignored.
4. When someone comes up with rather embarrassing quotes from both the Quran and Hadith, just say that they can only be understood properly in Arabic, and that the translation has changed the true meaning.
5. If someone comes up with embarrassing Quran and Hadith quotes and also proves that he/she understands Arabic, say that these verses were for a specific time period only and should not be applied today.
6. Randomly repeat that Islam is the fastest growing religion and soon it will be proven to whole world.
7. If someone provides some evidence that shows that Islam is not fastest growing religion, just say that those figures are biased, then simply make up your own statistics to counter their statistics.
8. Paste videos about the Scientific Miracles of Quran from YouTube on an hourly basis. When someone takes the time to dissect these and shows that they are silly, just shout that they are biased.
9. Keep on pasting random irrelevant verses from the Quran to divert attention.
10. If they really have you in the run, turn and threaten them with Hell fire and say that they are not worthy of Islam.
11. Deploy the following claims on a regular basis “Islam is a religion of peace”, “Men and woman have equal rights”, “There is no compulsion in Islam”. If asked for evidence, see rules 9 and also 10.
12. Attack Atheism! You can pick any random point that you can remember. It need not be related to the issue at hand and there is no need to know anything about the matter. Just pick any argument that you can find online on some Muslim website, and cut and paste lots of text. Oh and don’t forget to remove the website reference, the original authors name and claim it all as your own.
13. Quickly Jump from topic to topic before anybody has a chance to nail you down.
14. Whenever you have been defeated in the argument, just wait until folks has moved on, then pop up a posting claiming victory because everybody has run away.
15. If faced with good arguments, switch tactic and call people bigots and islamophobes! Also pepper it all up with insults such as “female dog in heat”, and toss in a bit of swearing. Also consider naming your attacker as a Zionist.
16. Keep hammering your opponent with question after question after question… and remember to ignore all the answers provided.
17. Cite credible sources to verify your claims. Primary sources are, Dr. Zakir Naik and also Harun Yahya and remember to ignore the fact that they are both complete lunatics.
18. If asked to verify an Islamic claim about modern science in the Qu’ran, don’t quote some rather vague verse from the Qu’ran that could mean almost anything, provide a YouTube link instead.
19. Play the numbers game: start posting random videos about how famous person X has converted to Islam, but remember to ignore the fact that lots of people are also leaving Islam.
20. Finally, Evolution is a lie, so deploy lots of links from “Christian” websites to verify this “Islamic” claim and also you must remember to ignore all the evidence presented.
If anybody has any more ‘rules for Muslim debaters’ to add to the list, then please do drop a comment.
Do such debates make any difference? Apparently yes. One Facbook group setup by a fanatical Muslim to engage directly with Atheists was thrown into a bit of a tizzy after several months of debate when this same fanatical Muslim declared that he was now an Atheist and promptly left.