How does one talk about faith with Christians who are not very religious?

One does not begin with questions that mean nothing to the other person. First one gets to know his views, looks for common ground, and then explains the faith in a way he can understand.

Many people in Europe are baptised, yet faith plays hardly any part in their lives. Some Muslims try to discuss religious controversies with them, such as proofs drawn from the history of religion. This rarely leads anywhere. To someone who hardly believes, such questions are meaningless.

Whoever insists on them anyway can easily end up in a quarrel from which both come out worse than they went in. It is like two people standing on different platforms that move in different directions, shouting at each other. Neither understands the other.

It is better to get to know the person first. What does he think about God, about the meaning of life, about good and evil? What matters to him? Only when one knows this can one begin where he himself stands. Then one builds common ground on which both can understand each other.

The Holy Qur’an itself takes this path. The second verse above shows that with Christians and Jews one first speaks about what is shared, about the One God and His revelation. From there one can explain the message of Islam in a way the other person can understand. Wisdom here means paying attention to the person and not only to one's own argument.