Islam vs Catholicism

[Lance]

Seems like all we ever hear about Islam is their radical clerics/Imams rantings against the West. Do they have missionaries and people like Mother Teresa or St. Maximilian Kolbe?

 

[AugustineH354]

Hi Lance,

Excellent thread IMO.

Many in the West construe Islam as being monolithic, but this is a false conception, for much diversity exists and has existed in Islam. Further, like Catholicism, Islam has produced many “saintly” people. I would like to recommend a few books on this topic:

Muslim Saints and Mystics by Farid al-Din Attar (trans. A. J. Arberry)

*Islamic Spirituality – Foundations *ed. by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

*Islamic Spirituality – Manifestations *ed. by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

For a more intellectual approach:

*Islam and Other Faiths *by Ismail Raji al-Faruqi

Grace and peace,

David

 

[manualman]

Muslims have two defining beliefs.

1. There is only one God, Allah and (2) Mohammed is His prophet.

Anybody who claims these things is a Muslim. After that, there is a total free-for-all since Islam has no intrinsic outward structure (much like Protestantism). Pretty much any Muslim can open a mosque and there’s no authority in place to regulate such people’s claims or behavior.

Thus you have things like the African American Muslim groups that bear little resemblence to Middle East Islam.

Confused yet? I am.