Few Christians and fewer Catholic Christians ever bother to dialogue with our Muslim brethren. Much less look into their equivalent of the Christian Bible, The Holy Qur'an. It is a pity, since it can actually help us understand our own Christian Faith; a Faith which has been so grossly distorted by man over the centuries that it hardly reflects what God intended our beliefs to be.

Some fascinating issues emerge as we look through The Holy Qur'an. Fascinating especially for Catholic Christians.

The Holy Qur'an and Jesus Christ

Did you know that Jesus Christ commands a key role in The Holy Qur'an? (1)

This is very interesting and revealing because The Holy Qur'an grants the importance to Jesus Christ one would expect only if they believed Him to be the Son of God. Even Mary is exalted as a creature especially prepared by God to be the mother of Jesus.

Using an American colloquialism: The Holy Qur'an speaks of Jesus as if He: "Feels" like God; "Smells" like God; "Looks" like God but... is not God.

But why?

The answer is very simple.

Not being able to understand the Concept of the Most Holy Trinity, that is, One God manifested in three distinct Persons, our Muslim brethren could not accept Jesus as God  since there is only one God. Once they understand the Secret Concept of the Most Holy Trinity they will be able to accept Jesus as "Being One with the Father", that is, God.

The Holy Qur'an and the Immaculate Virgin Mary

The preeminence The Holy Qur'an gives to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, enhances the statements made in item No.1 above.

Mary plays a far greater role in The Holy Qur'an than She does in The Holy Bible. She is spoken of in a multitude of verses in The Holy Qur'an as compared to the sparse mentions in The Holy Bible. In addition, Her Virginity, doubted by many Christians, is extolled in The Holy Qur'an:

Sura iii.47

Sura xix.20-22

She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?"

He said: " So (it will be): Thy Lord saith: 'That is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us'. It is a matter (so) decreed".

So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place.

Sura xxi.91

And (remember) her who guarded her chastity: We breathed into her of Our Spirit, and We made her and her son a Sign for all peoples.

Sura lxvi.12

Note that in the above verse the statement "she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord" means that she testified to the words of her son, who is her Lord. Also the reality of the Trinity shows through even though they cannot recognized it.

As if all of that were not sufficient honor given to the Virgin Mary, consider this....

While the Roman Catholic Church waited until 1854 to proclaim the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (born without the Original Sin), The Holy Qur'an speaks of it in Sura iii. 42:

CONCLUSION

We Christians, often scandalized by the social behavior of our non-fanatical Muslim brethren as well as in the manner in which they practice their Faith, need to take a hard, long and honest introspective look at their behavior as well as how they practice their Faith.

Maybe then Christians and Jews alike will begin to understand that the first phrase of The Holy Qur'an, Glory to God Most High, should be taken more seriously and lived to the fullest extent possible.

EPILOGUE

And these are the people Catholic Christians have persecuted for centuries as enemies of the Christian Faith. Our level of stupidity seems to be without limit.

NOTES______________

(1) The Holy Qur'an, Translation and Commentary A. Yusuf Ali; Published by the American Trust Publications for The Muslim Students' Association of the United States and Canada; 2nd Edition; ISBN No. 0-89259-006-8; Copyright June 1977

Document originally issued on June 1997
Udated and Expanded on July 26,  2013 - Feast of Saints Anne and Joachim - Parents of the Virgin Mary 

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