Accepting a copy of the Bible so that a kaafir will agree to accept a copy of the Qur’aan

 

A Muslim man says: I wanted to give a copy of a translation of the meanings of the Qur’aan to a kaafir man, but he said “I will not take it unless you take from me a copy of the Bible in Arabic, and I will not read it unless you read [the Bible].” Should I do that or not?

Praise be to Allaah.

We put this question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih
al-‘Uthaymeen, may Allaah preserve him, who replied as follows:

He should not do that, because the Bible may have an effect on the Muslim,
but it seems that the Qur’aan will not have an effect on this evil person, because he
is insisting that the Muslim should take the copy of the Bible. So he should not agree to
that. If he goes right, then it will be for the benefit of his own self, and if he goes
astray, it will be to his own loss.

Question:

Should he pretend to agree to read [the Bible], without really meaning it?

Answer:

He should not agree to anything, because that will make this person feel
proud. And Allaah knows best.