The Ruling on Listening to Christian Evangelism Programs on Some Channels and Radio Stations

The questioner:
Benefits of the explanation of the book *Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim li-Mukhalafat Ahl al-Jahim* by Ibn Taymiyyah. On the occasion of this hadith, the hadith of 'Umar, and the page of the signature, sometimes a Muslim listens to Christian evangelism programs on some radio stations and channels. Does this have the same ruling?

The Shaykh:
It is not permissible except for one who has knowledge and intends to refute them, to look into what they hold of falsehood in order to refute them. It is not permissible except for specialists who intend to dismantle what they have and argue against them. As for the layperson, the beginner, and the one who listens and does not denounce it, it is not permissible for him to do so. Yes.

The questioner:
The layperson, specifically in the Shari'ah, can be a doctor or an engineer.

The Shaykh:
Everyone who does not know the matters of the Shari'ah is a layperson, yes, even if he is the most skilled of people in medicine or engineering or otherwise.

The questioner:
A quarter of a year in a general art, in another general art.

The Shaykh:
His being knowledgeable about worldly affairs does not make him a scholar. He is not called a scholar; he is called by whatever his specialty is called: doctor, engineer, pilot, and the like.