by Pete Bishop
“It went better than I expected,” Imam Mohamed Al-Darsani said after the two-hour debate. “We connected with people, we started a conversation and I hope we can keep that conversation going.”
About 3,000 attended the event, which was organized by the church and WRXY, a local Christian television station.
The debate was scheduled after Al-Darsani saw one of Pastor Reza Safa’s programs on WRXY and approached station manager Paul Lodato to ask for equal time.
Based in Tulsa, Okla., Safa is a former Shiite Muslim who converted to Christianity about 20 years ago. He is founder of World Harvest Ministries and TBN Nejat TV.
Al-Darsani is the founder and imam of the Islamic Center for Peace in Fort Myers.
He regularly organizes interfaith programs at the center and with Christian churches and Jewish temples in this region.
During the debate, Safa used his personal experience to stress the lack of “salvation” in Islamic theology and the religion’s emphasis on earning entry into heaven through good works.
Using verses from the Koran as evidence, he also said the religion is hostile toward Christians.
“If there’s so much love for Christians, how come there is not a single Islamic nation that allows Christians to practice their faith in freedom?” he asked.
Darsani said Safa was using a “cut and paste” approach with the verses, to misrepresent a peaceful religion.
He also stressed that Islam is a religion that shares core beliefs with Judaism and Christianity, and that acts fueled by political feuds should not be used to judge the religion.
“Yes, there are acts of violence and crime, but does that mean Islam is behind it? Crimes are crimes no matter where they happen and who commits them,” he said.
Each clergyman presented his case for one-half hour, then each was given 15 minutes for rebuttal.
Both Safa and Al-Darsani also answered three questions from the audience.
The audience was polite and attentive, applauding only at the end of each presentation and rebuttal.
“I think overall it was very balanced,” said Jim Rusnell, a Fort Myers resident and First Assembly congregant. “Both sides presented their theology well, and left the audience with many things to think about. They kept things civil, dealing with a very controversial topic.”
Abdalla Kishta, an Egyptian immigrant and member of Al-Darsani’s congregation, said the debate was informative but that Safa misrepresented some aspects of Islam.
“He selected a way to go, becoming a Christian, and that’s OK,” said Kishta. “He tries to convince people to follow those footsteps, but why didn’t he find any truth in the Koran? And how did he know his prayers weren’t being answered when he was a Muslim? I would like to ask him those questions.”
Stephen and Olinka Blevins attended the debate after hearing about it on the radio.
“We are both Christians but my wife has a Middle Eastern background,” said Stephen Blevins. “She knew about Pastor Reza and I wanted to see what this is all about.”
Olinka Blevins is Syrian but also lived in Iran.
After the debate, both Safa and Al-Darsani were happy with the results.
“We didn’t meet in order to come to any conclusions,” said Safa. “It’s more a matter of exposing our differences and discussing them. A meeting like this would be impossible in a Muslim country.”
“Hopefully we’ll have more programs like this, more dialogues,” said Al-Darsani. “Then we can go more into the theological proofs — why we believe this and why we believe that, and why we don’t agree.”
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Be sure to listen to the rest of this debate...It is fascinating stuff
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