Why would you need to do this? His advice shows that he believes already. Maybe you should ask him why he believes that god would write anything in books for mankind to read. It all comes back to a personal choice of which system you think you have to follow and again shows that you believe already. It's like saying there are lots of cars in the world but I prefer a Chevy. Cars are visible and really here. You cannot say as much for god.

I don't know about the other part, but the Hindu texts are definitely a source of some fun reading when it comes to stories. Some good philosophical points made there too.

I'm sure I've missed some nuances in the small amount of reading I've done because I'm only able to read translations.

Religious people will want to read since they need a continuing reinforcement and support of their Hope's. I know, there for I do not need to continually read about it.

Everyone who believes in God will always try to convert you in some way, thinking that you are ignorant of not having read the bible or any other books. Being a good person, is just your character and disincentive of your ecolhas. More for them is difficult to understand.

It makes me feel angry that how a graduate student and educated person can believe that an uneducated Arab guy 1400 years ago went to the space with flying donkey.

Oh yea. The way a Muslim apologist or Muslim ignorant (of his own text and scripture and official or widespread explanation) talks/argues can come off as strange, exotic, or weird. But once you've seen one, you've seen all. Basically what a western/modern/cool albeit observant Muslim is taught is how to use complete flowery misrepresentations tgat he might truly believe and how his religion differs from all other abrahamic ones and some logical fallacy ridden answers to basic atheist arguments (they like to use if u see a car, then u deduce there's a maker, if u see the UNIVERSE usually said with grandiosity, how can u not know there's a maker). We are a fertile field for Muslims especially those who aren't atheists but are Christians or secular families and angry at god. Many have been successfully converted to Islam. They escalate their arguments and as they get frustrated, if they're assholes who actually know the other side of their religion aka what to do when u become powerful or a majority, they start becoming belligerent and violent and threatening. Much like the catholic zealots or the puritans. These are the more intelligent qaeda, they're the ideological counterparts and recruiters, strewn in the suburb of London Sydney, Paris, in the US, Canada. They claim peace to outside world but then preach death from pulpits. Idk if you heard about the Islamic schools in Pennsylvania teaching kids some nazi style songs. Or the video of the Imam in Canada preaching death to seculars and western civilization, or the neighborhoods in Sydney, Paris, London where there's almost sharia. Idk how federal agencies don't classify these as threats on the same level as nazis. But then again we have a Bible belt here which is not better and a 50% politically catholic Supreme Court. These are the people that destroyed the Middle East before spreading their cancer elsewhere. Of course the believers are completely oblivious and think they're in a utopia in the slums of Cairo, Aleppo, Iraqi cities.. . Mind you I'm talking believer Muslim. Not the ones who are attached only for familial reasons but drink and don't fast or pray and don't believe. Those are atheist agnostic deists spectrum but coerced mentally or psychologically or doing their best interest.

Yes, I have had similar experience. Religious people can decide what's good and bad in their and other's religions. I argued that this implies most people already have a set of values with which they have evaluated the religions. So, the religion in question is superfluous as far as morality /values systems are concerned. We agreed on this, but the feeling of community provided by religions was contentious.
Side note: Mahabharata is an awesome story as far as you don't care what it may or may not be trying to teach. It raises some eternal questions but the answers it provides are not palatable to all, certainly not for me.

Yes, but not everyone is as nice about it as he seemed to be.

You can tell him that everyone understands the value of evidence so, when it comes to religion, why would anyone put all that kind of thinking aside in favor of faith? Faith is believing in things without evidence. Even if the evidence is to the contrary they believe it anyway! Faith is illogical!

When I worked retail, I had a customer who suggested that I read the Quran because it is an extension of the Bible. He was very kind and incredibly polite about it. I didn't tell him that I wasn't religious, because I was still figuring things out at the time, but I'm one to treat people the way they treat me so I was nice to him.

I don't personally care to read anything about any religion. It's all stories and myth to me.

A lot of religious people are rather sweet and think they have seen something that you have missed, not having the wit to realise that you have seen something that they have missed.

I was among thousands like him all around for 30 years until I decided to quit and left. I have not looked back ever since and I do not even start or allow anyone to start a discussion on religion.

I have concluded that not even a second spent on any discussion, though or act about religion is worth anything in life. The farther you will go from religion, the better you will be. It is a very easy thing to do with tons of benefits.

nor do i want to

There was a Catholic friend in grad school who speculated that I'd correctly abandoned Protestantism because its inconsistencies arise from its being incomplete. Imagine that your Muslim friend would like you to think the same.