BTW, St. John of Damascus is useful here because he lived under early Islam and actually knew it and wrote about it. When he classified Islam as a heresy, that wasn’t polemic. It was a way of saying: same God, different answer about Jesus. What tends to get lost is that Orthodoxy would make a similar judgment about Western Christianity. And in practice, Orthodoxy has often shared more with Muslims than with the West. Prayer, transcendence, restraint about defining God. The lines are not where people think they are.
I watched Pope Leo’s first Christmas Mass this morning. As a former Catholic I still can follow the tradition. It’s exciting to have a American for Pope 🙏🏻✌🏻❤️
Thanks for this. This was my first Christmas as a convert to Islam and ironically my seven-year old son wanted to celebrate Christmas for the first time in several years (he stopped because he was terrified of Santa for awhile). I decided to go ahead and do it - but felt it wrong to do the Santa bit and not show him anything about Christianity as faith. So, I took him to a progressive Church for a candle-lit service on Christmas Eve that he really enjoyed. I told him the Christmas story the night before, which he did not know at all yet. He has been attending Mosque classes on Sundays and before bed, he mentioned how they told him Allah has no relatives. I told him the similarities and differences in belief in the two faiths - as I understand them (still learning). I also told him he can decide what he believes and wants to follow on his own when he's older. I plan to keep him in the Mosque classes and celebrate Ramadan and EID with him going forward but think I will take him to some Church services every so often too. I rather him know more about ALL religions overall anyway, and I'd like him to learn about them respectfully through being in community with those practicing to some extent. To me this seems okay. But I was told by some more traditionally religious friends that I should not be doing this at all. I'm still finding my way, but given the times we live in and my personal background, it seems more moral to show the connections between these two religions (and Judaism). I never heard of The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community so look forward to hearing more. I did attend a Sufi Lodge here once, which was also a bit different and some people there seemed to mix religious traditions a bit. One step at a time for me I guess but thank you again for this post.
Welcome home! And remember to take your journey a day at a time. The Qur'an was revealed over 23 years for a reason. If even the closest companions had 23 years to begin to understand the faith, we should give ourselves that much more grace. Here's a brief primer on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community: https://files.alislam.cloud/pdf/The-Beliefs-of-the-Ahmadiyya-Muslim-Community.pdf
Thank you for educating me. Being born into a Catholic family, I branched out as I became older to accept all religions of the same. And to respect them and honor those who follow them.
Love posts like these. I seriously wish Americans and even Europeans could understand that Islam is arguably more about the values they say they care about than Christianity itself; in what I have read across the years I’ve noticed a strong recurring theme of moral responsibility and accountability on part of the individual; actually imitating Godly behavior here in this life, and for a worthy reward, and even that the prospect of descent to hell is only temporary because God is not petty and sadistic but actually good and naturally the ideal Person. Wild contrast to evangelicalism or the catholic teachings I grew up with. Our animalistic xenophobia (and other bigotries), still exploited hard here in the west - (and especially nowadays) - though probably an evolutionary survival mechanism not unlike our aggressive protectionism of status quo, needs collective conscious reevaluation and deliberate outgrowth. Imagine how civilization would benefit on all ends of the socioeconomic spectrum if that were the case. But unfortunately we are children and many beneficiaries do enjoy our disgusting traditional inequality and perpetuate our tribalistic mentality. Anyway, thank you for sharing these articles and insights (among everything else that you do), always well worth the read
Thank you once again for enlightening me about the similarities of Islam and Christianity. When I learn these things I’m always sorry I didn’t know them earlier. When I was growing up in the 40’s and 50’s as a Catholic, we were not allowed to attend any other church nor were we encouraged to read the Bible as it was not for us to interpret. I’ve lived through all the changes in our Church and we have made huge progress in accepting others beliefs. But it helps to understand what others believe. Thank you for helping me appreciate and understand more about Islam.
Thank you, for reminding folks that loving Jesus is not a Christian monopoly.
BTW, St. John of Damascus is useful here because he lived under early Islam and actually knew it and wrote about it. When he classified Islam as a heresy, that wasn’t polemic. It was a way of saying: same God, different answer about Jesus. What tends to get lost is that Orthodoxy would make a similar judgment about Western Christianity. And in practice, Orthodoxy has often shared more with Muslims than with the West. Prayer, transcendence, restraint about defining God. The lines are not where people think they are.
I am an atheist, but was born and raised Catholic. I received my formal education in a convent, from Catholic nuns.
We were told Muslims recognize Jesus, but that was all.
Thank you so much for posting this article. History... history is such a teacher. We really need to listen a whole lot more. 💖
Amen to that!
So Say We All! 🌞
I watched Pope Leo’s first Christmas Mass this morning. As a former Catholic I still can follow the tradition. It’s exciting to have a American for Pope 🙏🏻✌🏻❤️
Did you see the photo of him from 1982 dressed up as a Blues Brother? It's epic.
No I didn’t see that. Weird he has one brother that’s a MAGA supporter.
Thanks for this. This was my first Christmas as a convert to Islam and ironically my seven-year old son wanted to celebrate Christmas for the first time in several years (he stopped because he was terrified of Santa for awhile). I decided to go ahead and do it - but felt it wrong to do the Santa bit and not show him anything about Christianity as faith. So, I took him to a progressive Church for a candle-lit service on Christmas Eve that he really enjoyed. I told him the Christmas story the night before, which he did not know at all yet. He has been attending Mosque classes on Sundays and before bed, he mentioned how they told him Allah has no relatives. I told him the similarities and differences in belief in the two faiths - as I understand them (still learning). I also told him he can decide what he believes and wants to follow on his own when he's older. I plan to keep him in the Mosque classes and celebrate Ramadan and EID with him going forward but think I will take him to some Church services every so often too. I rather him know more about ALL religions overall anyway, and I'd like him to learn about them respectfully through being in community with those practicing to some extent. To me this seems okay. But I was told by some more traditionally religious friends that I should not be doing this at all. I'm still finding my way, but given the times we live in and my personal background, it seems more moral to show the connections between these two religions (and Judaism). I never heard of The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community so look forward to hearing more. I did attend a Sufi Lodge here once, which was also a bit different and some people there seemed to mix religious traditions a bit. One step at a time for me I guess but thank you again for this post.
Welcome home! And remember to take your journey a day at a time. The Qur'an was revealed over 23 years for a reason. If even the closest companions had 23 years to begin to understand the faith, we should give ourselves that much more grace. Here's a brief primer on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community: https://files.alislam.cloud/pdf/The-Beliefs-of-the-Ahmadiyya-Muslim-Community.pdf
Thank you!
My wish is that Christian extremists eventually learn these beautiful teachings and come to understand the love in what’s written
Thank you for educating me. Being born into a Catholic family, I branched out as I became older to accept all religions of the same. And to respect them and honor those who follow them.
Thanks for taking the time to read, Fran. Glad you found it of value.
I so enjoyed reading this. May our faiths traditions continue to deepen in understanding all we have in common. 💖
Wonderful. Thank you, Catherine.
I just finished reading Edward Said's "Covering Islam" a couple of days ago... Thank you for uncovering it for us so beautifully here, brother. ❤️
I have not read that work but I'm grateful for the rec!
Qasim- thank you- I honestly did not know any of this- and I found this very informative and very interesting! Thank you!
That makes me happy to hear. Thank you for reading, Nick.
Thank you for the insight!
I love Jesus. I will share this with the Muslims and Christians I work with.
Be Love.
Thanks William!
Beautiful. Sharing.
Thank you Donna.
Love posts like these. I seriously wish Americans and even Europeans could understand that Islam is arguably more about the values they say they care about than Christianity itself; in what I have read across the years I’ve noticed a strong recurring theme of moral responsibility and accountability on part of the individual; actually imitating Godly behavior here in this life, and for a worthy reward, and even that the prospect of descent to hell is only temporary because God is not petty and sadistic but actually good and naturally the ideal Person. Wild contrast to evangelicalism or the catholic teachings I grew up with. Our animalistic xenophobia (and other bigotries), still exploited hard here in the west - (and especially nowadays) - though probably an evolutionary survival mechanism not unlike our aggressive protectionism of status quo, needs collective conscious reevaluation and deliberate outgrowth. Imagine how civilization would benefit on all ends of the socioeconomic spectrum if that were the case. But unfortunately we are children and many beneficiaries do enjoy our disgusting traditional inequality and perpetuate our tribalistic mentality. Anyway, thank you for sharing these articles and insights (among everything else that you do), always well worth the read
We need more of this dialogue, absolutely. That's how we get to a place of mutual respect and understanding.
Thank you for providing an important insight to the Quran.
Thank you for reading, Jesse.
Thank you once again for enlightening me about the similarities of Islam and Christianity. When I learn these things I’m always sorry I didn’t know them earlier. When I was growing up in the 40’s and 50’s as a Catholic, we were not allowed to attend any other church nor were we encouraged to read the Bible as it was not for us to interpret. I’ve lived through all the changes in our Church and we have made huge progress in accepting others beliefs. But it helps to understand what others believe. Thank you for helping me appreciate and understand more about Islam.
Nothing to apologize for! We're all learning! Thank you for taking the time to read ❤️✊🏽
Thank you for this insight.
Appreciate you reading, Matt.
Thank you!
Thanks for reading, Helen!