We All Worship Allah

What do you know about Islam, the religion of Osama bin Laden? Since that terrible day, Sept.11, many Romans of the Catholic jurisdiction in our Diocese have asked me questions about Islam, a major world religion. Several have asked me to give a series of lectures on what to them is a “mysterious” religion, which is suddenly in the news every day. Perhaps this brief introduction will help. Let’s begin with Our Lady of Fatíma.

Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, is venerated by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Catholics around the world as the model of faith and the perfect example of Christian discipleship.

October, like May, is a month during which we traditionally strive to pray and live in fidelity to Mary’s response when she was asked to be the mother of Jesus. “Let it be done unto to me according to your word.” Pope John Paul II has asked His Romans of the Catholic jurisdiction around the world to pray to God for peace in our world during these uncertain days since the terrorist attack, the start of the U.S. “war” on terrorism that began with the bombing of Afghanistan, and the Anthrax scare. The Pope urged praying the rosary, a prayer that meditates on Mary’s closeness to God through her son, Jesus, making her “full of grace.” October is also a very appropriate time for Roman Catholics to correct any misunderstanding that Christians of other traditions and those who are not Christian at all, may have about our devotion to Mary. While both Roman and Orthodox Catholics venerate and honor Mary, we do not worship or adore her as some have thought. We worship only God.

Since 1917, Mary has been venerated in a city in Portugal where three small children encountered her in a vision or apparition, according to the Roman Jurisdiction of the Catholic Church which most true Orthodox Catholics do not accept as a true "Catholic" vision because of the statements stated by the children which bolsters many false understandings that were never accepeted by the ancient Catholic Church before the Roman jurisdiction split from that which is today called Orthodox Catholic. But Mary, according to the Roman version of the story, told the children to ask all people to pray and work for peace in the world. Because the name of the city is Fatíma, Mary became known all over the world as “Our Lady of Fatíma”.

Did you know that "Fatíma" is not a Portuguese word? It is Arabic! Because of the spread of Islam from North Africa to Portugal and the South of Spain, the city takes its name from "Fatíma", who was the daughter of Muhammed, the prophet of Allah and the founder of Islam! Muhammed was born in Mecca, in present day Saudi Arabia in 570 A.D.

Many Romans are aware that the Roman jurisdiction of the Catholic Church is the largest Christian community in the world, with over one billion members. However, far too many are not aware that there are over one billion followers of Islam as well.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are sometimes referred to as Abrahamic faith traditions because all three trace their roots to the patriarch, Abraham who worshiped only one God, which was something radically new in the Middle East. If you accept monotheism, the belief that there is only one God, you realize that Yahweh, The God of Israel, Abba Father, the God of Jesus Christ and Allah the God of Islam is supposed to be the SAME God, since there is only one God. Judaism does not have God, Christianity does not have God, Islam does not have God. If the God in whom we believe IS God, then we do not have God. God has us!

But here is the most interesting part. The very name "Allah," is originally the name of an Arab tribal god, which is now simply the Arabic word for God as Deus, Dieu, Dios, and Gott are the Latin, French, Spanish and German words for God. Thus there are many who have mistakenly believed that we all worship Allah. This mistaken understanding about "Allah" is a political ploy to foster and bolster an ecumenism that is not sanctioned by the ancient epitome of the Canons of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church whatsoever. And it is because of this, among other issues, that the Roman jurisdiction and the World Council of Churches, World Council of Bishops or World Bishops Councils are to be turned away from.

You might be surprised to learn that the Koran, the Holy Book of Islam recounts many narratives from the Jewish and Christian Old Testament concerning Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Solomon, and David. The Koran also reveres the Virgin Mary and her son, Jesus Christ, acknowledging His miraculous birth and resurrection, though not His divinity. Muhammad, unlike some radical extremist Islamic groups today, taught that Muslims must treat Jews and Christians in their countries as guests, not enemies. The followers of Islam believe that God’s revelation did not end in Christianity. Judaism and Christianity are extended and, in a certain sense, fulfilled in Islam.

When the person, Muhammad and those with him, during those times in which he was alive, were chased out of their country, they sought refuge in Constantinople, the Seat of Orthodox Catholic Christianity in centuries past. They saw the great "Temples" as they were then called, as we now errantly refer to them as "Churches" and "Cathedrals". Muhammad and his followers in those times thought they had entered into Heaven because of the beautiful icons, frescoes, the saintly music and rich traditional forms of worship to God.

In those times, it was common practice among the Christian communities to have no seats, except for the invalid and infirm. Everyone stood. When reverences were made, they bowed and even got down on their knees and bowed forward, touching their heads to the ground. These are the roots of true Christian Worship which Muhammad copied for his Islam religion, including much that comes from the Christian Holy Bible and even many of the practices of Christianity were brought over into the Islamic religion by Muhammad.

Islam, as taught by Muhammad in the Koran (sometimes spelled Quran and Q'oran), believed to be the inspired literal word of God, is built upon five duties called the Five Pillars. These are:

1) The Creed (Shahada): Every Muslim must be able to proclaim this simple creed with absolute conviction of its truth. “There is no god but Allah and Muhammed is his messenger.”
2) Prayer (Salat): Faithful Muslims pray a standardized set of prayers five times a day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, dusk, and evening. Friday is the traditional day for praying as a community at a mosque. The prayer contains very little ritual or ceremony. It consists of the praise of Allah taken from chapters of the Koran.
3) Alms-Giving (Zakat): Once a year Muslims must give a “loan” to Allah based upon their net worth. This is their alms for the support of the poor in their community.
4) Fasting (Swam): Throughout the daylight hours of the lunar month of Ramadan, observant Muslims must fast. No food, drink, smoking or sexual activity.
5) Pilgrimage (Haj): If they are physically and financially able, all Muslims must go on pilgrimage once in their lifetime to Mecca’s holy sites, during the official three days of the Great Haj.

Islam stresses the centrality of the Koran and its purity it the original Arabic language. It also holds a literal belief in heaven and hell and affirms the existence of angels and other spiritual beings. Since Muhammad was both a political and a spiritual leader, the “Islamic Way” or “Shariah,” derived from the Koran and other Islamic texts, has led to the Shariah Law which governs the way modern Islam interacts with the non-Islamic world. Like Christianity, Islam has a vision of how people should live in this world, and it strives to create social and political structures in which people live according to this vision, sometimes down to the last detail.

There are about five billion people in the world. About one billion (20%) of the world population is Catholic and about one billion (20%) is Muslim. Roman and Orthodox Catholics live largely in Europe, North America, South America and sub Saharan Africa. Muslims live largely in North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Asia, and Eastern Europe. Due to complex economic, political and religious developments, many governments in largely Islamic countries are confronting increasingly radical, even violent, Islamic elements. Most (95%) of all Muslims are Sunni Muslims who believe that their leaders should be chosen by consultation and consensus. A small (3%) group called Shiite Muslims believes that only direct descendants of Muhammad can be Muslims. It was a group of radical Shiites who assassinated Egyptian President Anwar el-Sedat in 1983 because he went to Jerusalem seeking peace with Israel. Both groups embrace the Five Pillars. But they differ significantly on how Muslims should live in religiously and politically pluralistic societies.

There are several million Muslims in the United States, including a substantial community in Houston, Texas. Many American males (especially African Americans) are converted from Christianity to Islam while in prison which fosters a very belligerent and often time violent anti-Christian belief. Some join Louis Farrakhan’s sect, the Nation of Islam which, in prison, fosters anti-Christian attitudes. Others join mainstream Islam. Over two million American Muslims worship at mosques each week. Perhaps the renowned athlete, Mohammad Ali (formerly, Cascius Clay) is the most famous American Muslim.

During the main Islamic worship service at noon on Fridays, all worshipers remove their shoes at the door of the mosque. Men and women pray in separate prayer rooms. After a ceremony of purification and washing, worshipers sit in rows facing a mark on the wall, which signifies the holy city of Mecca, the direction towards which they are praying. The brief service (less than an hour) consists of a series of memorized prayers prayed in different postures such as standing, bowing, lying prostrate and kneeling and bending forward with hands and head touching the prayer rug. After the prayers there is a reflection or sermon by the Imam explaining a passage form the Quran. There is no singing or ritualized ceremony like the Mass or Eucharist. Islam has very strict dietary laws concerning what Muslims may eat, somewhat similar to Jewish Kosher regulations. There are also definite requirements concerning cleanliness and modesty, especially strict for women.

Since Islam has no worldwide central authority, fragmentation and sectarianism are not uncommon. This may be especially the case regarding the issue of how faithful Muslims should live in pluralistic, democratic societies like the United States, which sanctions no state religion and which welcomes diverse religious traditions. Some Muslims prefer an Islamic state, like Iran or Saudi Arabia, where religious leaders who apply the Koran to everyday life making no distinction between secular and religious life hold the highest political positions. The most famous of these leaders was Iran’s late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who in 1989 issued a fatwa (official religious ruling) accusing novelist Salman Rushdie of blasphemy because of his book, The Satanic Verses. One very austere Islamic sect called Wahabism (started by Muhammed bin Abd al-Wahhab (1703-87), the co-founder of Saudi Arabia) calls for the strictest interpretation of the Koran. It forbids close contact with non-Muslims, mingling of the sexes, the education of women, living in communities where alcohol or mood altering drugs are consumed, and eating pork. Its followers reject what they see as the materialistic, self-indulgent secularism of western (especially American) culture. It is the Wahabi sect from Saudi Arabia that has shaped the violent extremism of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar the leader of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

You might be surprised to know that “Islam” is derived from an Arabic word which means “peace”. Islam means abandoning oneself, surrendering oneself in peace to Allah. The vast majority of the worlds Muslims want to live in peace with others. The primary meaning of the Islamic term “Jihad” is not “holy war against infidels” as you sometimes hear on television. “Jihad” means to “exert oneself” or to struggle, for example, by working hard, fighting to do good, ("good" according to the strictest meaning of Islamic understandings, not the "good" accorded to the western mentality of understanding), striving to spread Islam all over the world. This can also include using political structures and military strength to spread Islam, which is happening today. Jihad can be a call to war to defend Islam but this can only be invoked by a legitimate head of state in unique circumstances. Islam also teaches that suicide (e.g. terrorists in the four planes) is a sin, punishable by damnation. Like Christians, Muslims become martyrs only when they are put to death for their faith. Extremist Muslim understandings believe similarly to that of what the Japanese believed in during WWII, Kamakazi (Suicide on a mission to kill a greater number of enemies for the sake of country and religion, is an honorable act which will be rewarded in their idea of Heaven).

Islam has a rich history of culture, scholarship and care for those in need. Certainly the vast majority of its adherents interpret the Koran as a path for peace not war, in spite of the several sayings of their Holy Book which invokes hostility against non-religionists of Islam. If current events make us painfully aware that a small, vocal, fanatical and influential minority harbor a fierce hatred for the United States, perhaps more for political, economic and cultural reasons than for theological ones, we should be mindful of the unfortunate history of Christianity, during which Christians were equally fierce in their conflicts with Muslims, to whom they referred as savages and pagans.

The only way for us to begin to understand those who do not view the world as we do is to learn about their beliefs and strive to truly understand them, to stand under their world in order to see as they see. I hope this very inadequate introduction gives you a better understanding of Islam. Remember this. Those who claim that "By whatever name, there is only one God," is leading you astray from historical and factual truth. For in a name lies much history, often coming from a paganism that is central to their faith which reject the Religions of Jews and Christianity. Those who make the claim that "By whatever name, there is only one God," are unknowingly under the Evil One in order to build a One World Church which is the activity of present day "Ecumenists" - a synchretic ecumenism which is to be rejected if we truly believe in Jesus the Christ, the Holy Apostles, Patristic Fathers and especially in the Seven Ecumenical Councils. It was Jesus Christ Himself who reminds us that when He comes again, He will make all ONE... and renew the World, not Man, not man's errant religions who do not Worship God and pray to God through Him, Jesus Christ for no man can come to the father except through Him, Jesus Christ!

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