The Shaykh’s account of a debate he had with a Christian man.

The Shaykh : And among the wonders is that if I forget—as they say—I do not forget. Once, I left Damascus on my way to Aleppo for the sake of da'wah (calling to Islam). The distance between Damascus and Aleppo is about four hundred kilometers. Then I headed toward Latakia on the coast of the White Sea, which is about two hundred kilometers away. I was driving my personal car, and my friend was with me. We saw one of these foreign tourists standing by the side of a gas station. He was one of those European-style hitchhikers who ride for free and travel around the world for free; they have a specific, strange foreign name. He gestured, so I drove a short distance and consulted my friend. I asked, "What do you think? Should we stop the car, pick up this man, and have some fun with him along the way, meaning, debate him?" He said, "By Allah, that is the best thing you could say." So I reversed the car and picked him up. It turned out that his wife was a short distance behind us. Had we known that, perhaps it would not have encouraged us, but we said, "There is no harm; they will ride behind us, and my friend is beside me." The strange thing, my brothers, was that it was easier for me to convince this disbelieving man of the Salafi creed...
...disbelievers do not have a Book or a Sunnah, but they have logical reasoning. So it turned out that in the end, he came to the meaning that he became a Salafi, yes, by Allah, and he believed that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has the attribute of being above the Throne. After we finished with that, we began to talk about many matters. For example, he was shaved, and this was in the category of killing two birds with one stone [everyone laughs!]. I said to him, or rather to my friend: "Ask him: You exalt 'Isa (peace be upon him) more than we do. We believe that he is a messenger from the messengers of Allah and that he is a human being, not a god and not part of a god. So you exaggerate in exalting him, but on the other hand, you do not exalt him." He said, "How is that?" I said to him, "Did 'Isa (peace be upon him) have a beard or not?" He said, "He had a beard." So they depict him with a beautiful, great beard. Well, we see you, O Christians, that you do not imitate your god; he has a beard, and you do not have beards. Why? He said, "These are ordinary matters [the Shaykh laughs!]. These are ordinary matters; we are not obligated to follow 'Isa in that."
I mention this as part of the discussions that took place... So, glory be to Allah, Islam is by fitrah (the innate natural disposition), and as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and here we are, living in Islam, becoming Zoroastrian, Christian, and Jewish under what name? Muslims. This is the great danger; because if a person knows that he is in error, it is hoped that he will return from it, unlike if he thinks that he is right, then he will not return from it.