Journal of Islamic Studies > Volume 25, No. 2, 2013

Muslim-Christian Dialogue Contents: Scopes, Aims and Requirements / Ali Ibn-Ahmad Al-Ahmad

This research studies the content dimension of dialogues with Christians. It aims to do the following: identify the scopes of
the debate contents with Christians; define the underlying purposes of the contents; explore the ways of achieving the defined purposes; and
define the main requirements of keeping discourse consistent with Shari‘ah purposes. The research applies the deductive and inductive
approaches. With respect to its findings, the study reveals the following: the contents of the dialogues with the Christians fall into two broad
categories, the category of Da’wah (the call to Islam, and the category ofShar’i policies; the content dimension does not represent a priority
in current dialogues; and there is need for content requirements to guide debates and debaters. The study recommends that, in the absence of
the Christian debater’s interest in the D’awah category of contents, the Muslim debater be concerned, at least, with the Shar’i policy
category, by mastering and presenting it skilfully and wisely. The Muslim institutions worldwide that are inVol.ved in discourse with
Christians should form a united front so that their efforts can be more effective and efficient, especially with regard to debating issues in the
content dimension. This will serve the purposes of Da’wah on the one hand, and will provide freedom of choosing debate contents on the
other hand.