What Catholics Should Know About Islam

1 Sandra Toenies KeatingVVERITASWhat Catholics Should know About IslamWhat Catholics Should know About IslamBYSANDRATOENIESKEATINGThe knights of columbus presentsThe Veritas Series Proclaiming the Faith in the Third millennium General EditorFather Juan-Diego Brunetta, of the catholic Information ServiceKnights of columbus Supreme CouncilCopyright 2008 by knights of columbus Supreme rights : Designed by Gail E. Williams knights of ColumbusSupreme Office 2008. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronic or mechanical, includingphotocopying, recording, or by information storage and retrievalsystem, without permission in writing from the publisher.

2 Write: knights of columbus Supreme CouncilCatholic Information ServicePO Box 1971 New Haven, CT FaxPrinted in the United States of OF THEQUR OF Gentes. Decree on the Missionary Activity of the II, of the catholic Church. USCC, Iesus. Declaration on the Unicity and SalvificUniversality of Jesus Christ and the Church. Congregation forthe Doctrine of the Faith, Verbum. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine II, Aetate. Declaration on the Relation of the Church toNon-Christian Religions. Vatican II, 5-Past experience teaches us that, unfortunately, relations betweenChristians and Muslims have not always been marked by mutual respect andunderstanding.

3 How many pages of history record battles and wars that havebeen waged, with both sides invoking the Name of God, as if fighting andkilling the enemy could be pleasing to him. The recollection of these sad eventsshould fill us with shame, for we know only too well what atrocities have beencommitted in the name of lessons of the past must help us to avoid repeating the same must seek paths of reconciliation and learn to live with respect for eachother s identity. The defense of religious freedom, in this sense, is a permanentimperative, and respect for minorities is a clear sign of true Benedict XVIINTRODUCTIONIn recent times, especially after the terrorist attacks on thePentagon and the World Trade Center in 2001, the Islamic world hasbecome a focus of global attention.

4 Most non-Muslims know little ofthe religion of Islam , and confusing and conflicting statements comingfrom the mainstream media and the Islamic community itself havedone little to purpose of this booklet is to give a basic overview of theorigins of the religion of Islam and its early history, as well as some ofthe central beliefs and practices of Muslims. In addition, several recentstatements made by the Roman catholic Church concerning itsrelationship to Muslims are presented here. This pamphlet makes noattempt to cover every aspect of Islamic beliefs, or of catholic doctrineon other religions. Rather, it is intended to be an introduction to whatevery catholic Should know About Islam in order to more fully liveChurch teaching and to understand events occurring in the world of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Meeting with Representatives of Some MuslimCommunities, Apostolic Journey to Cologne on the Occasion of the XX World Youth Day(Cologne, Germany, 20 August 2005).

5 - 6-The Second Vatican CouncilThe relationship between Muslims and Christians has a long andcomplex history. Whereas Christians in many areas in the East havelived under Muslim rule since the seventh century, those in the Westhad very little contact with Muslims apart from the Crusades(beginning in 1095) and later through European colonization. Themodern period, however, has brought the world closer together andgiven rise to a new awareness of the relationships among members ofother religions. It was for this reason that the Fathers at the SecondVatican Council chose to devote a separate document to non-Christianreligions, entitled Nostra Aetate(In our times).

6 After a general introduction emphasizing the common origins ofall peoples and our quest for truth, Nostra Aetateaddresses several of themajor world religions individually. Each section singles out beliefs heldby the followers of the religion that can be identified as seeds of theWord those partial truths found everywhere that are signs of theworking of the Holy Spirit. Since Islam is a monotheistic religion withhigh regard for Jewish prophets, the Council Fathers recognized it ashaving a particular relationship with Christianity. The followingpassages taken from Nostra Aetateaddress Islam specifically:Upon the Moslems, too, the Church looks with esteem. Theyadore one God, living and enduring, merciful and all-powerful,Maker of heaven and earth and Speaker to men.

7 They strive tosubmit wholeheartedly even to His inscrutable decrees, just asdid Abraham, with whom the Islamic faith is pleased to associateitself. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revereHim as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin mother; attimes they call on her, too, with devotion. In addition they awaitthe day of judgment when God will give each man his due afterraising him up. Consequently, they prize the moral life, and giveworship to God especially through prayer, almsgiving, in the course of the centuries many quarrels andhostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this mostsacred Synod urges all to forget the past and to strive sincerely for- 7-mutual understanding.

8 On behalf of all mankind, let them makecommon cause of safeguarding and fostering social justice, moralvalues, peace, and freedom (NA3).2 With this statement, the Fathers of the Council intended toestablish the foundation for building better relations with Muslimsthrough many forms of dialogue. Nostra Aetatedoes not, however, inany way draw attention away from the Church s evangelizing Gentes, the Council s document on the mission of the Churchemphasizes that, while the catholic Church continues to hold theabsolute uniqueness and salvific role of Jesus Christ, God works in ways known only to himself in the lives of non-Christians (AG7).

9 The central truth of catholic faith remains that Christ out of infinitelove freely underwent suffering and death because of the sins of all menso that all might attain salvation. It is the duty of the Church,therefore, in her preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign ofGod s universal love and the source of all grace (NA16).Indeed, God calls all peoples to himself and desires tocommunicate to them the fullness of salvation. Therefore, Godcontinually makes himself present in many ways, not only toindividuals, but also to entire peoples through their spiritual riches, ofwhich their religions are the main and essential expression even whenthey contain gaps, insufficiencies and errors.

10 3 Through the manyways of dialogue, we discover how God has worked in the lives of thosewho do not profess faith in Jesus Christ and we seek to discover those rays of truth that enlighten all men (NA2).Evangelization and dialogue can appear to be in tension. Yet, theChurch constantly appeals to all Catholics to continue to hold bothcommands at the forefront in their encounters with non-Christians. In2000, the declaration Dominus Iesusreaffirmed the Second VaticanCouncil s commitment both to proclaim the Gospel and to establishopen and respectful dialogues with peoples of other quotations of conciliar documents are taken from The Documents of Vatican II, Walter , ed.