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The question of Islam was not on the agenda when Nostra aetate was first drafted, or even at the opening of the Second Vatican Council. However, as in the case of the question of Judaism, several events came together again to prompt a consideration of Islam. By the time of the Second Session of the Council in reservations began to be raised by bishops of the Middle East about the inclusion of this question.
The position was taken that either the question will not be raised at all, or if it were raised, some mention of the Muslims should be made. Melkite patriarch Maximos IV was among those pushing for this latter position. Early in Cardinal Bea notified Cardinal Cicognani , President of the Council's Coordinating Commission, that the Council fathers wanted the Council to say something about the great monotheistic religions, and in particular about Islam. The subject, however, was deemed to be outside the competence of Bea's Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity.
Bea expressed willingness to "select some competent people and with them to draw up a draft" to be presented to the Coordinating Commission. At a meeting of the Coordinating Commission on 16—17 April Cicognani acknowledged that it would be necessary to speak of the Muslims.
Pope Paul VI chose to follow the path recommended by Maximos IV and he therefore established commissions to introduce what would become paragraphs on the Muslims in two different documents, one of them being Nostra aetate , paragraph three, the other being Lumen gentium , paragraph The text of the final draft bore traces of Massignon's influence.
The reference to Mary , for example, resulted from the intervention of Monsignor Descuffi, the Latin archbishop of Smyrna with whom Massignon collaborated in reviving the cult of Mary at Smyrna. The commendation of Muslim prayer may reflect the influence of the Badaliya. In Lumen gentium , the Second Vatican Council declares that the plan of salvation also includes Muslims, due to their professed monotheism. Protestantism and Islam entered into contact during the 16th century, at a time when Protestant movements in northern Europe coincided with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in southern Europe.
As both were in conflict with the Catholic Holy Roman Empire , numerous exchanges occurred, exploring religious similarities and the possibility of trade and military alliances.
Mormonism and Islam have been compared to one another ever since the earliest origins of the former in the nineteenth century, often by detractors of one religion or the other—or both. This epithet repeated a comparison that had been made from Smith's earliest career, [43] one that was not intended at the time to be complimentary.
Comparison of the Mormon and Muslim prophets still occurs today, sometimes for derogatory or polemical reasons [44] but also for more scholarly and neutral purposes. Mormon — Muslim relations have historically been cordial; [46] recent years have seen increasing dialogue between adherents of the two faiths, and cooperation in charitable endeavors , especially in the Middle and Far East.
Islamic art and culture have both influenced and been influenced by Christian art and culture. Some arts have received such influence strongly, particularly religious architecture in the Byzantine and medieval eras [48] [49]. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. July Learn how and when to remove this template message. Jesus in Christianity and Jesus in Islam. Trinity and Islamic view of the Trinity. Medieval Christian views on Muhammad. Catholic Church and Islam. Christianity portal Islam portal. Understanding Islam and Christianity: Prophets in the Quran: The Leaders Are Coming! Retrieved 24 September The Words and Will of God.
The New Encyclopedia of Islam. Mohr — via Google Books. Concordia Publishing House, , , Part two, Article 1. An updated version of the roger-pearse. Edinburgh University Press — via Google Books. Prologue and Todd J.
Joseph Smith and Muhammad: Muslims share friendship, similar values with Mormons" — via LA Times. McGraw-Hill — via Google Books. Biblica — via Google Books. Shahada Salah Sawm Zakat Hajj. Quran Sunnah Hadith Tafsir Seerah. Early Contemporary Eschatology Theological. In the Indian subcontinent, however, the conflict between Moslems and Hindus is still a major obstacle to unity. How, then, is one to assess the overall impact of Muhammad on human history? Like all religions, Islam exerts an enormous influence upon the lives of its followers.
It is for this reason that the founders of the world's great religions all figure prominently in this book. Since there are roughly twice as many Christians as Moslems in the world, it may initially seem strange that Muhammad has been ranked higher than Jesus. There are two principal reasons for that decision.
First, Muhammad played a far more important role in the development of Islam than Jesus did in the development of Christianity. Although Jesus was responsible for the main ethical and moral precepts of Christianity insofar as these differed from Judaism , St. Paul was the main developer of Christian theology, its principal proselytizer, and the author of a large portion of the New Testament.
Muhammad, however, was responsible for both the theology of Islam and its main ethical and moral principles.
In addition, he played the key role in proselytizing the new faith, and in establishing the religious practices of Islam. Moreover, he is the author of the Moslem holy scriptures, the Koran, a collection of certain of Muhammad's insights that he believed had been directly revealed to him by Allah. Most of these utterances were copied more or less faithfully during Muhammad's lifetime and were collected together in authoritative form not long after his death. The Koran therefore, closely represents Muhammad's ideas and teachings and to a considerable extent his exact words.
No such detailed compilation of the teachings of Christ has survived. Since the Koran is at least as important to Moslems as the Bible is to Christians, the influence of Muhammed through the medium of the Koran has been enormous It is probable that the relative influence of Muhammad on Islam has been larger than the combined influence of Jesus Christ and St. On the purely religious level, then, it seems likely that Muhammad has been as influential in human history as Jesus. Furthermore, Muhammad unlike Jesus was a secular as well as a religious leader.
In fact, as the driving force behind the Arab conquests, he may well rank as the most influential political leader of all time. Of many important historical events, one might say that they were inevitable and would have occurred even without the particular political leader who guided them. For example, the South American colonies would probably have won their independence from Spain even if Simon Bolivar had never lived.
But this cannot be said of the Arab conquests.
Nothing similar had occurred before Muhammad, and there is no reason to believe that the conquests would have been achieved without him. The only comparable conquests in human history are those of the Mongols in the thirteenth century, which were primarily due to the influence of Genghis Khan. These conquests, however, though more extensive than those of the Arabs, did not prove permanent, and today the only areas occupied by the Mongols are those that they held prior to the time of Genghis Khan. There was no need of scholarship to understand the articles of the Mohammedan faith.
Another trait of the Islam religion was its opposition to image worship. Throughout the Christian world the statues of the old gods and goddesses of Greece had simply given place to images and pictures of the Virgin Mary and the saints, which were worshiped in all the churches. The Moslems cast them out, destroyed them, and denounced all adoration of images, whether carved or painted, as idolatry. The Mohammedans rejected also all priestly and saintly mediation.
The church of that world made salvation depend, not on simple faith in Christ and obedience to him as Lord, but on priestly rites and the intercession of departed saints. The Mohammedans swept all these away, and in their doctrine, brought every soul face to face with God.
Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. By this you know the Spirit of God: Muhammad was unaware of the full extent of those Scripture's teachings and this ignorance allowed him to make contradictory statements because his words and teachings, i. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. The "Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible", continues on page Most churches had 27 books in their New Testament.
Throughout the Moslem world is the rule of abstinence from strong drink. This is still held as a principle, but is not universally followed where Mohammedans live in contact with Europeans. In the early period, under the caliphs, literature and science were promoted.
The Arabians gave us the numerals, 1, 2, 3, etc. In astronomy, they made one of the earliest catalogues of the stars. The court of the caliphs at Bagdad was a literary center. But all intellectual progress ceased when the barbaric Turks succeeded the enlightened Saracens as leaders of the Mohammedan world. Not to make our picture of Islam more favorable than the truth would warrant, we must notice on the other side some areas wherein Mohammedanism has failed, i.
A major wrong to humanity was in its method of missionary enterprise through the sword, promoting hate among men instead of love. Wherever a city resisted their conquest, its men were put to death, the women were placed in the harems of the victors, and the children were brought up in the Moslem faith. In the old Islamic conception, the state and the church were absolutely one, and the government was expected to use its power to the utmost for the promotion of the true religion and the suppression of false faith. When Turkey became a republic, the Sultan was dethroned and the Caliphate abolished.
Other changes have taken place with the modernization of Turkey: One significant fact was the translation of the Koran into the vernacular. At Istanbul, in , the Koran was read in the mosque of Sancta Sophia for the first time in Turkish. The Mohammedan conception of God is based on the Old Testament [a misunderstanding, at that], rather than the New Testament.
God is portrayed as a fierce, relentless Oriental despot, with no love for humanity outside the followers of the Prophet [Mohammed]. Islam practically leaves Christ out of its doctrinal scheme. In the Mohammedan view he is not the Lord of the heavenly kingdom, the Son of God, the Savior of men; but is reduced to the rank of a Jewish prophet, inferior in every respect to Mohammed.
Its conception of heaven, the abode of the blessed in the life to come, is totally devoid of spirituality and is altogether sensual.