Yusuf Ismail is an attorney from South Africa, a public speaker and debater on religion and contemporary society who has debated many prominent Christian apologists and philosophers. He initiated contact with me requesting I post the following email correspondence on Blogging Theology. I am happy to oblige.

Some background context:

In a recent post I mentioned my brief meeting with the American missionary Nabeel Qureshi. I asked him about an issue that has been poisoning Muslim/Christian relations for a number of years now: the behaviour of fellow American missionary Sam Shamoun who has a shocking history of bullying, vilification and extremist hate speech against Muslims. Qureshi claimed (contrary to massive evidence) that Sam Shamoun has a “loving heart” towards Muslims (!). Nevertheless, there is a very widespread concern about the lack of public condemnation or rebuke from other Christian evangelists. In White’s email to Yusuf Ismail below White called on Shamoun “to apologize to Yusuf for the language and attitude you displayed in your emails.” and to adopt a biblical and Christian approach to dialogue and debate.  Credit to James White for doing the right thing. 

The highlighted words in bold and red are James White’s own.

From: James White

Sent: 28 January 2016 06:08 PM
To: Yusuf Ismail; Sam Shamoun; Rudolph Boshoff
Subject: Proper Apologetic Interaction

 Greetings:

I am writing to Yusuf Ismail and Sam Shamoun, and am adding, as my chosen witness to my words, and as one who can testify as to my heart and behavior in these matters, my dear brother in Christ, Rudolph Bushoff.

Just a few moments ago I received an email from Yusuf Ismail relating to communication between himself and Sam Shamoun regarding, from what I could gather, a proposed ABN debate (please correct me if I am wrong).

The listed email for Sam is correct, so I am going to assume the materials sent to me are accurate.  Again, I will stand corrected if I am mistaken in this.

Let me begin by saying that the “easy” road for me would be to plead time pressures–and, in fact, I could do so pretty easily and fairly.  But I simply cannot pass over this matter.

I was very disappointed this past October by what happened in Durban, South Africa.  I have expressed my displeasure to Yusuf Ismail as to his presentations, forms of argumentation, and the general interaction we had at that time.  I was so disheartened that I concluded there was no reason to continue to make the effort to debate Mr. Ismail due to what had taken place.

However, while I objected to what Mr. Ismail did in the two debates we had, it is plain that Yusuf did not engage in abusive ad-hominem.  He did not act petulantly toward me in any way.  He remained kind and gracious in our personal conversations.

If the emails forwarded to me this morning are accurate I must, as an elder in a Christian congregation, as a Christian leader and as one who seeks to bring the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all men, and to the dear Muslim people in particular, seek to bring correction to the situation presented before me.

Sam, you know more about Islam, the Qur’an, the Hadith, etc., than anyone else I’ve encountered.  There is no question of your encyclopedic knowledge of things Islamic.  And I am well aware of your Assyrian heritage and culture, and how your people are—not known for being politically correct.

But as you also know, Sam, biblically speaking, the Holy Spirit brings to us discipline, a sound mind (σωφρονισμός), and self-control.  Likewise, we are commanded in Scripture to “speak the truth in love” (ἀληθεύοντες δὲ ἐν ἀγάπῃ); that we are to sanctify (ἁγιάσατε) or set apart, treat as holy, the Messiah as Yahweh in our hearts as the necessary prerequisite to giving a defense of the faith (πρὸς ἀπολογίαν, 1 Peter 3:15); and that we are to always speak with grace, ὁ λόγος ὑμῶν πάντοτε ἐν χάριτι (Col. 4:6).  This is all the more necessary when we are representing the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, Jesus the Messiah, exalted at the right hand of the Father, to whom all authority has been given in heaven and earth.  The more our own emotions, our own self-interest, is expressed, the less will be seen of the One we represent.

The emails sent to me mirror the language I have heard in PalTalk discussions and even in Facebook postings where I regularly see accusations of cowardice, dishonesty, etc.  Likewise, use of unnecessarily offensive language was everywhere present—language that clearly functions only to inflame, not to communicate let alone honor the truth.  I realize that in some cultures this is considered “part of argumentation,” but cultural standards are, for Christians, subject to biblical correction.

I would be horrifically inconsistent, Sam, if I did not call you to apologize to Yusuf for the language and attitude you displayed in your emails.  It is not compromise to be consistent with obedience to Christ’s commands.  Whether you think Yusuf was dissembling or not does not matter.  Christians are called to a higher standard.  As for me, I pray for Yusuf that he would be the recipient of God’s grace, and that our glorious Lord would shine “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” in his heart (2 Corinthians 4:5).  I do not want to be a stumbling block for the gospel in Yusuf’s life.  I am sure you do not want to either, and hence know you will hear my words of exhortation and will, before formulating a response, consider the texts I have cited above prayerfully, asking the Holy Spirit to give you insight and obedience to Him.

Yusuf, allow me to say that I have not been perfect in my seeking to follow Christ in my life and in all my interactions with Muslims.  I am still being conformed to the image of Christ, and hence at times my ego and pride display themselves.  But I truly testify to you that I seek to follow my Lord in all things, and seek to be used as an instrument of His grace and peace in the lives of Muslim people, and yourself in particular.  While many a Muslim expresses his or her disdain and disrespect for me and for Christians in general, I refuse to respond in kind, and seek to consistently live a life of loving service in subjection to Christ and in service to the Muslim people.  Yes, we believe we are serving the Muslim people by seeking to communicate the gospel with clarity to them.  I ask forgiveness for the times when I, or my fellow followers of Christ, get in the way of His light.

James White