Catchment para 841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims.

mark46 said:

Muslims also believe that Jesus is one of the 6 major prophets and believe in His virgin birth.

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• "And behold! Allah will say: "O 'Isa Ibn Maryam! Did you say to men, "Worship me and my mother as gods besides Allah?" He will say: "Glory to you! Never could I say what I had no right to say. Had I said such a thing, you would indeed have known it. You know what is in my heart, though I know not what is in yours. For you know in full all that is hidden," (Quran 5:116).
• "O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, "Three"; desist--it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs," (Quran 4:171).

• "[Jesus] said, "Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet," (Quran 19:30).
• "And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain," (Quran 4:157).

MikeK said:

Some Muslims likely will be saved, as some Jews, some Hindus, and some atheists. Similarily, not all Christians will be saved. We will be judged not only on what we did and did not do, but also on what options were available to us. The person who never had a real opportunity to know and serve Christ will not be damned for it.

Regarding God, there is but one God. He is the God of the Christians, but He is also the God that the Jews and Muslims and Deists worship, even if their ideas about Him are errant.

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MikeK said:

So? Jews need Christ for salvation like anyone else, and will be judged by their willingness and ability to accept Him and serve Him just like anyone else.

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LivingWordUnity said:

That part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church dealing with the question of Muslims and their beliefs about God is based on a statement made in the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium. And judging by what it says in the LG appendix, that the statement about Muslims is not and cannot be binding.

In the appendix to Lumen Gentium it says:

"Taking conciliar custom into consideration and also the pastoral purpose of the present Council, the sacred Council defines as binding on the Church only those things in matters of faith and morals which it shall openly declare to be binding. The rest of the things which the sacred Council sets forth, inasmuch as they are the teaching of the Church's supreme magisterium, ought to be accepted and embraced by each and every one of Christ's faithful according to the mind of the sacred Council. The mind of the Council becomes known either from the matter treated or from its manner of speaking, in accordance with the norms of theological interpretation."

"Faith and morals" is referring to the Catholic deposit of faith which does not include anything on Islam since that religion didn't exist when the deposit of faith was given to the Church.

In Lumen Gentium, it says:

"The Roman Pontiff and the bishops, in view of their office and the importance of the matter, by fitting means diligently strive to inquire properly into that revelation and to give apt expression to its contents; but a new public revelation they do not accept as pertaining to the divine deposit of faith." - Lumen Gentium, 25 (added emphasis)

Here are some things that were said by the Church about her hierarchy of teachings:

"It is the mission of the Magisterium to affirm the definitive character of the Covenant established by God through Christ with His People in a way which is consistent with the 'eschatological' nature of the event of Jesus Christ. It must protect God's People from the danger of deviations and confusion, guaranteeing them the objective possibility of professing the authentic faith free from error, at all times and in diverse situations. It follows that the sense and the weight of the Magisterium's authority are only intelligible in relation to the truth of Christian doctrine and the preaching of the true Word." - Donum Veritatis

"When comparing doctrines with one another, they should remember that in Catholic doctrine there exists a 'hierarchy' of truths, since they vary in their relation to the fundamental Christian faith." - Unitatis Redintegratio

"Let no Christian therefore, whether philosopher or theologian, embrace eagerly and lightly whatever novelty happens to be thought up from day to day, but rather let him weigh it with painstaking care and a balanced judgment, lest he lose or corrupt the truth he already has, with grave danger and damage to his faith." - Humani Generis

Some people, even some Catholics, will try to put Islam on equal footing with Judaism, but here's what a cardinal said about it:

"...Islam as a post-Christian religion and does not enter into the fundamental concerns of the Christian religion as Judaism does. As the apostle Paul said in his Letter to the Romans (11,17-24) and as the Second Vatican Council reiterated, the Church of the Gentiles is grafted, is nourished and is supported by the good olive tree of Israel. We can define Christianity without mentioning Islam, but we cannot do so without taking into account Judaism." - Card. Walter Kasper

However, if a Muslim believes that they are worshiping the same God as us then they are. There are Muslims who are more influenced by Christian culture. And since in some countries it's illegal to identify as anything other than Muslim there are some "Muslims" who are secretly Christian. So they would be worshiping the same God as us. However, I don't think that the radical Islamists worship the same God as us. And I don't think that they believe they do since they call us "pagans" because of their misunderstanding of the Holy Trinity.

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