It may surprise you! The official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church given at the Second Vatican Council in 1965 (known as Nostra Aetate), teaches the following:

“The Church has also a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth (Cf. St. Gregory VII, Letter III, 21 to Anazir [Al-Nasir], King of Mauretania PL, 148.451A.), who has spoken to men. They strive to submit themselves without reserve to the hidden decrees of God, just as Abraham submitted himself to God’s plan, to whose faith Muslims eagerly link their own. Although not acknowledging him as God, they venerate Jesus as a prophet, his Virgin Mother they also honor, and even at times devoutly invoke. Further, they await the day of judgment and the reward of God following the resurrection of the dead. For this reason they highly esteem an upright life and worship God, especially by way of prayer, alms-deeds and fasting.”

Read the decree in full here

Also, at the Second Vatican Council, in a document entitled Lumen Gentium issued in November, 1964, the Church teaches,

“But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place among whom are the Muslims: these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.”

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Muslims must always bear in mind that extremist Christians such as David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi, Sam Shamoun et al. do not represent mainstream Christianity.  The sensible, informed majority of the global Church – which also includes the Anglican Church and the Orthodox Churches – recognise considerable truth in Islam, though respectfully disagreeing about some things.

For further evidence of this mainstream, moderate majority see the signatories to the joint Christian & Muslim document A Common Word between Us and You. Here is a brief summary of the agreed common ground between the two religions:

‘Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population. Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.

The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour. These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity. The Unity of God, the necessity of love for Him, and the necessity of love of the neighbour is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity.’

Categories: Christianity, Extremism, Islam, Wisdom