Ehteshaam Gulam vs James White

I came across a video last night on YouTube raising the same tired accusation about the scholarly credentials against Dr James White:








This isn't a new video or a new accusation. Basically, Dr White is a brilliant scholar and a very able debater. I find this objection raised against him from people who are either too scared to debate him, or have been so humbled publicly they have to desperately grope in the darkness for some weapon to try to hit him with. It's truly sad and pathetic. Dr White has answered such accusations many times and if you want to know what he has to say on it, read the following link on his blog:

Of Doctorates and Eternity (Part 1)
Of Gary Novak and the Columbia River
"The Saga of Accreditation" 

But it made me wonder why would Ehteshaam Gulam go through such lengths to try to make Dr. White look bad? Coincidentally, I saw three tweets from Dr. White the next night that answered the question for me.

I had seen the debate back in 2009 but it appears that only now has Dr White has been able to see it, and I have to agree Mary Jo Sharp handled Ehteshaam Gulam. He was toasted. I have heard Dr White refer to a Gulam and his antics and cyber stalking before but this was the first time I realized that he is the same man who debated Mary Jo Sharp.From this it doesn't take long to find out how all this got started between Gulam and White. And it's not just because White is a Christian and Gulam is a Muslim.

Back in June 2010, Dr James White was  to debate Sheikh Ahmed Awal but Awal backed out of it the last minute. Ehteshaam Gulam was supposed to be a replacement for a "discussion". At the time, Dr White blogged about it and said that it was horrible and much of an embarrassment for Ehteshaam Gulam and for Muslims. I truly admire Dr White for not seeking to decimate people and embarrass them more than necessary. However some people just will not let you be nice to them. Gulam accused White of hiding their "debate" so Dr White posted the entire thing on YouTube and a complete documentation of what happened in the way of background.








Just how bad and one-sided was it? It was so one-sided Ehteshaam Gulam felt the need to post two videos to try to make up for it. Notice how in the beginning how he characterizes the encounter










Obviously Ehteshaam Gulam thought he got some points and thoughts because also released the following:



It seems silly. Wasn't Gulam supposed to have prepared scholarly responses to James White when he had his "debate" with him June 21, 2010? Look at what the man is saying. He's whining because Dr White didn't link to his responses. If these video are his prepared and scholarly response, what would he call what he brought June 21, 2010?

I decided to do a little more digging to see if Dr. White had posted anything more on  Ehteshaam Gulam because I could not remember. Turns out if you are interested in this, you must read

Ehteshaam Gulam: Islamic Cyber Stalker

In this post, Dr White documents how for an extended period of time Gulam has been trying to bully Dr. White's ministry into taking down the video from June, 2010. Dr White wrote the following from the above link:

Now, all of a sudden, Mr. Gulam has become an Internet stalker making blackmail demands that we remove the video that he himself demanded we post in the first place! At one point Ehteshaam said I had "ruined his life" by posting it--and in the next tweet said he was kidding. In any case, he has taken to creating new Twitter accounts each time I, and others, block him, all to spam everyone with links to his lame attempts to attack me personally, all because he won't do his own homework and deal with what I have said openly and consistently about my educational background. The cost for him to start acting his age and not like a twelve year old with a fast internet connection? I must remove that video.

Now, some might be tempted to connect Ehteshaam's behavior to Islam, and say he is seeking to put me in a position of dhimmitude. Well, he may well be thinking that, but I do not see it that way. There are lots of immature, mean-spirited people out there who harass us regularly. Many of them claim to be Christians and wouldn't know how to spell dhimmitude, let alone know what it means. So I see Mr. Gulam as simply an angry cyber-stalker who, for some reason, has decided to lash out at some perceived injury, all the while knowing inside he is the one who brought the injury on himself, both by foolishly engaging in the "discussion" we had, and then foolishly demanding I post it publicly! 

It's truly sad that people would rather throw accusations and bad mouth others instead of providing a good response. If Gulam is correct than why resort to such tactics? I agree with Dr. White that it is just wrong to assume that all Muslims are like Gulam in this regard when we all know that some people who claim to be Christians do far worse. The best things anyone can do is to not be like that. The Holy Spirit does not need it in order to draw people. I'm also glad that Dr. White did not remove the video but instead stood his ground  for truth - Him and his small, but dedicated ministry. I've been watching and learning from Dr White for a while now, and despite a couple of minor things I disagree with, I find him solid and honest in his dealings with others. His work has truly been a blessing and people like Gulam can in no way stop what God is doing through Alpha and Omega Ministries.