Debating Is a Skill

Not every scholar is a debater …

Ibn Abdul-Barr said : كل مجادل عالم وليس كل عالم مجادلا

So every debater can be knowledgeable, but not every knowledgeable person can be a debater.

Debating is a skill in itself …

It is possibly for an IGNORANT & MISGUIDED PERSON to DEFEAT and TRAP a knowledgeable scholar, if the scholar is not a skilled debater.

It doesn’t mean the truth lost, it means, the scholar was not a skilled debater.

It’s like in football: there are defenders, there are attackers, there is a goal-keeper, there is a coach, there is a commentator etc. Just because football coaches or commentators know everything about football, it doesn’t mean they can enter the field and score goals!!

Ibn Taymiyah said :

ليس كلُّ من وجدَ العلم قدرَ على التعبير عنه والاحتجاج له، ‎فالعلمُ شيءٌ، ‎وبيانه شيء آخر، ‎والمناظرةُ عنه وإقامةُ دليله شيء ثالث، والجواب عن حجة مخالفِه شيء رابعٌ
“Not everyone who obtains knowledge has the capability to express it and use it as an evidence.
1- Knowledge is one thing,
2- Explaining it is something else,
3- Debating about it and establishing its evidence is a third matter,
4- And replying to the evidence of those who oppose him is a fourth matter.”

[“Jawaab al-I’tiradaat al-Misreeyah”, p. 44].