What to do with a Muslim friend?

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Despite being raised in a deeply Muslim country I have been a devout practicing Catholic since youth. I am worried about one of my best friends who is a Muslim despite going to school in a Roman Catholic college in his youth (his father is Catholic, his mother Muslim) is a devout Muslim. While I have no doubts that Islam is a genuine religion and some devout Muslims including their prophet Mohammed are now in Heaven, I worry about my friend as I have heard some prophecies of Our Lady’s that people who get sufficient exposure of Christianity must follow it or be condemned to hell after death. I am more than sure that he has had more than his share (he went to Saint Mary’s college and remember, his father is a Catholic) and am as a consequence deeply worried about his soul. Can anyone suggest to me effective prayers for his conversion, maybe a specific prayer or a specific saint? Thank you very much in advance and God bless you all.
 
Despite being raised in a deeply Muslim country I have been a devout practicing Catholic since youth. I am worried about one of my best friends who is a Muslim despite going to school in a Roman Catholic college in his youth (his father is Catholic, his mother Muslim) is a devout Muslim. While I have no doubts that Islam is a genuine religion and some devout Muslims including their prophet Mohammed are now in Heaven, I worry about my friend as I have heard some prophecies of Our Lady’s that people who get sufficient exposure of Christianity must follow it or be condemned to hell after death. I am more than sure that he has had more than his share (he went to Saint Mary’s college and remember, his father is a Catholic) and am as a consequence deeply worried about his soul. Can anyone suggest to me effective prayers for his conversion, maybe a specific prayer or a specific saint? Thank you very much in advance and God bless you all.
You don’t say that you friend is living outside the Muslim faith. I would not be concerned. Be an example, but if he’s a faithful Muslim he can still be in God’s grace.

It’s not only the amount of exposure that counts, but true belief, and only God will judge whether or not his adherence to his faith was real and not a rejection of Catholicism. It’s the same God afterall, just another way of getting there. Who knows? If you don’t pressure, remain a good friend and he sees your example he might become curious enough to learn more about your faith.

Please see this link on prayer conversion for another:

catholicism.org/prayer-for-the-conversion-of-non-catholics.html
 
You don’t say that you friend is living outside the Muslim faith. I would not be concerned. Be an example, but if he’s a faithful Muslim he can still be in God’s grace.

It’s not only the amount of exposure that counts, but true belief, and only God will judge whether or not his adherence to his faith was real and not a rejection of Catholicism. It’s the same God afterall, just another way of getting there. Who knows? If you don’t pressure, remain a good friend and he sees your example he might become curious enough to learn more about your faith.

Please see this link on prayer conversion for another:

catholicism.org/prayer-for-the-conversion-of-non-catholics.html
I am fully on board with your advice to remain considerate and avoid an irksome, aggressive demeanour.

But I must strongly object to the notion that good Muslims are essentially on the right path. They deny the trinity and the deity of Christ, rendering Islam incompatible with Christianity. The Gospel of John declares in chapter three:

[16] For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
[17] For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
[18] He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Catholics must be careful not to fall into complacency on matters of salvation. The doctrine of invincible ignorance, I have read and been told, applies more narrowly than Catholics widely believe.
 
I am fully on board with your advice to remain considerate and avoid seeming aggressive.

But I must strongly object to the notion that good Muslims are essentially on the right path. They deny the trinity and the deity of Christ, rendering Islam incompatible with Christianity. The Gospel of John declares in chapter three:

[16] For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
[17] For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
[18] He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Catholics must be careful not to fall into complacency on matters of salvation. The doctrine of invincible ignorance, I have read and been told, applies more narrowly than Catholics widely believe.
While I won’t argue with you that Islam follows certain principles that are incompatible with mainline Christianity, I have to object to your opinion that devout Muslims are all heathen who will be condemned by God no matter what. Islam has more than its share of miracles, and living in a Muslim country I’ve witnessed some of them, including a corpse of an Imam exuding a pleasant odor a week after his death. I think that our God is first and foremost a God of mercy and kindness who won’t condemn Muslims just because they are Muslims on three conditions: one, they are devout practitioners; two, they are ignorant of Christianity and three, like the poster above says, they don’t reject Catholicism merely for the sake of rejecting it. I’m merely concerned for my friend because in my opinion he could in no way be construed as ignorant of Christianity. God bless you. 🙂
 
Despite being raised in a deeply Muslim country I have been a devout practicing Catholic since youth. I am worried about one of my best friends who is a Muslim despite going to school in a Roman Catholic college in his youth (his father is Catholic, his mother Muslim) is a devout Muslim. While I have no doubts that Islam is a genuine religion and some devout Muslims including their prophet Mohammed are now in Heaven, I worry about my friend as I have heard some prophecies of Our Lady’s that people who get sufficient exposure of Christianity must follow it or be condemned to hell after death. I am more than sure that he has had more than his share (he went to Saint Mary’s college and remember, his father is a Catholic) and am as a consequence deeply worried about his soul. Can anyone suggest to me effective prayers for his conversion, maybe a specific prayer or a specific saint? Thank you very much in advance and God bless you all.
Faith is a gift. You should pray for your friend to receive this gift. God is just and merciful - if your friend is an honest and good person doing his best to follow his conscience, he will not be condemned to hell. Have you heard the story of Saint Francis and Sultan? catholic.org/diocese/diocese_story.php?id=21816 Perhaps you can invoke his intercession for your friend.

Also, be careful to which Marian apparitions you pay attention - not all of them are in line with the Church teaching. It is much better to consult the Catechism of Catholic Church on these matters. It is good you have concern for your friend’s eternal salvation, but do not let this distress you - pray for your friend and have trust in God. Sometimes, when I get anxious about things, I like to say a prayer of St. Therese of Avila:
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things pass away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who has God
Finds he lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
 
Despite being raised in a deeply Muslim country I have been a devout practicing Catholic since youth. I am worried about one of my best friends who is a Muslim despite going to school in a Roman Catholic college in his youth (his father is Catholic, his mother Muslim) is a devout Muslim. While I have no doubts that Islam is a genuine religion and some devout Muslims including their prophet Mohammed are now in Heaven, I worry about my friend as I have heard some prophecies of Our Lady’s that people who get sufficient exposure of Christianity must follow it or be condemned to hell after death. I am more than sure that he has had more than his share (he went to Saint Mary’s college and remember, his father is a Catholic) and am as a consequence deeply worried about his soul. Can anyone suggest to me effective prayers for his conversion, maybe a specific prayer or a specific saint? Thank you very much in advance and God bless you all.
I’ll pray for you too given the bold statement. I’ll pray for your friend as well. Mainly for you.

Such a position is absolutely false,and scripture would indicate that indeed mohammed brought another “gospel” and thus, is a type of anti-Christ and thus- no heaven but for the ignorant. Don’t get me wrong, I’d LOVE if everyone went to Heaven, even mohammed. Jesus died for his sins too. I just can’t see it given everything. His existence in Heaven would only mean one of two things: the mercy of God is unfathomable and He has reserved a moment between here and there for a final chance, or, I better start praying to Mecca.

Such posts as these are why I am so adamant in my fight against mohammedanism, and the modernist-phrasing in language which leaves open a flood gate of interpretive ability. Unfortunately, such occurrences often mesh well with, and are co-opted by, mohammedan doctrine and propaganda in their efforts.

It’s pathetic and sad that such ideas even occur which give credence to “heresy” (Belloc’s survey of mohammedanism defines it as such- not giving credence to) or the outright denigration of the power of the true Gospel (the syncretism so pervasive in more liberal circles).

Check out this article:ewtn.com/library/newage/syncret.txt
 
Before a flame war develops in here, it might be a good idea to look at the actual Church teaching summed up in the Catechism of Catholic Church:

841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst 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."330

842 The Church’s bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race:

All nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city...331
843 The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."332

844 In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:

Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.333
845 To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son’s Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is “the world reconciled.” She is that bark which “in the full sail of the Lord’s cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world.” According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah’s ark, which alone saves from the flood.334

“Outside the Church there is no salvation”

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336
847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.337
848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."338
 
Despite being raised in a deeply Muslim country I have been a devout practicing Catholic since youth. I am worried about one of my best friends who is a Muslim despite going to school in a Roman Catholic college in his youth (his father is Catholic, his mother Muslim) is a devout Muslim. While I have no doubts that Islam is a genuine religion and some devout Muslims including their prophet Mohammed are now in Heaven, I worry about my friend as I have heard some prophecies of Our Lady’s that people who get sufficient exposure of Christianity must follow it or be condemned to hell after death. I am more than sure that he has had more than his share (he went to Saint Mary’s college and remember, his father is a Catholic) and am as a consequence deeply worried about his soul. Can anyone suggest to me effective prayers for his conversion, maybe a specific prayer or a specific saint? Thank you very much in advance and God bless you all.
Yes, of course Islam is a genuine religion and of course the great prophet Mohammed is in Heaven. The stuffy old dogma of “extra ecclesiam nulla salus” was thankfully done away with by Vatican II. The Vatican II document on the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lemun Gentium, clearly teaches us that the religion of Islam is a means to salvation:

“But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Mohammedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.”

Furthermore, through the Ecumenical gatherings at Assisi and elsewhere, both John Paul II and Benedict XVI have demonstrated to us that God values the prayers and gestures of all those seeking a deity, including non-Catholic Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Shintoists, Animists, Jainists and other people of God.
 
Yes, of course Islam is a genuine religion and of course the great prophet Mohammed is in Heaven. The stuffy old dogma of “extra ecclesiam nulla salus” was thankfully done away with by Vatican II. The Vatican II document on the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lemun Gentium, clearly teaches us that the religion of Islam is a means to salvation:

“But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Mohammedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.”

Furthermore, through the Ecumenical gatherings at Assisi and elsewhere, both John Paul II and Benedict XVI have demonstrated to us that God values the prayers and gestures of all those seeking a deity, including non-Catholic Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Shintoists, Animists, Jainists and other people of God.
Unfortunately, the reality of the full system of mohammedanism automatically negates the miniscule truths it contains. It is a political system of totalitarian proportions, shrouded in a false-theocratic end-game, of which, the overall view is remarkably striking in its blatant imagery which negatively mirrors even the most basic orthodox understanding of the end times.

It’s so blatantly satanic, it’s cleverly disguised in not being disguised at all. It plays on the tendency of people to see the good and be blind to the evil, stupid, and totally illogical. It’s inhuman. It’s evil. It’s satanic.

That being said, despite the “building” of its system structure, that certainly doesn’t mean all mohammedan adherents are intrinsically inhuman in character, evil in spirit, or satanic in intent. The system in which they exist, particularly in the majority, merely drives them there. All but the kindest of souls would succumb to its intent: driving man into a hardness that denies the truth of God with a vigilance unparalleled in almost any other system.

It is the religiously affiliated equivalent of Marxism. It succeeds and Marxism fails because mohammedanism supplies the appearance of deity for those moments when the inherent moral compass in an individual says, “this dog don’t hunt”. Marxism is a flawed and narrow theory on human character, whereas mohammedanism defeats the entirety of man’s natural makeup.
 
Pray for your friend. Islam is by no means a way to Salvation.
 
I’ll pray for you too given the bold statement. I’ll pray for your friend as well. Mainly for you.

Such a position is absolutely false,and scripture would indicate that indeed mohammed brought another “gospel” and thus, is a type of anti-Christ and thus- no heaven but for the ignorant. Don’t get me wrong, I’d LOVE if everyone went to Heaven, even mohammed. Jesus died for his sins too. I just can’t see it given everything. His existence in Heaven would only mean one of two things: the mercy of God is unfathomable and He has reserved a moment between here and there for a final chance, or, I better start praying to Mecca.

Such posts as these are why I am so adamant in my fight against mohammedanism, and the modernist-phrasing in language which leaves open a flood gate of interpretive ability. Unfortunately, such occurrences often mesh well with, and are co-opted by, mohammedan doctrine and propaganda in their efforts.

It’s pathetic and sad that such ideas even occur which give credence to “heresy” (Belloc’s survey of mohammedanism defines it as such- not giving credence to) or the outright denigration of the power of the true Gospel (the syncretism so pervasive in more liberal circles).

Check out this article:ewtn.com/library/newage/syncret.txt
I DON’T appreciate the gesture, thank you very much. Who are you to judge that I am in need of intercessory prayer simply because I hold the belief that Mohammed is now in Heaven? Like I said, I’m a devout practicing Catholic who prays and goes to church. I definitely don’t need any intercessory prayer any more than the next Christian.
 
Pray for your friend. Islam is by no means a way to Salvation.
Yeah I kinda gathered that I should pray for him. Read the OP more carefully, if you please. I am asking whether anyone knows any prayer or saint that has been particularly efficacious for conversion.
 
I DON’T appreciate the gesture, thank you very much. Who are you to judge that I am in need of intercessory prayer simply because I hold the belief that Mohammed is now in Heaven? Like I said, I’m a devout practicing Catholic who prays and goes to church. I definitely don’t need any intercessory prayer any more than the next Christian.
And who else? Arius? Martin Luther? The Jewish priests who looked Jesus in the eye and condemned him? Judas? Hitler? Stalin? Mao? The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who helped organize mohammedan S.S. units? The same one who coached Hitler on certain aspects, and in which countless Christians also suffered.

Is it all a big joke? A round-robin game of anything goes and God just wants us to all see why we need him, but we’re all saved? Hell is just a boogeyman to keep us working in the system?

Where does it end?

If mohammedanism is real, what else is real? Why must I subject myself to such a testing system as working towards loving everyone so purely it ultimately might kill me, when I could just have a cool life owning sex slaves, invoking God’s name on everything unholy under the sun related to treatment of children, and outright depravity when the numbers allow for such behavior to be encouraged?

I mean, really… if what you say is true, Calvary is all but meaningless. It’s… relativistic, syncretic, and not even heterodox, but outright heresy. To espouse such a doctrine in such language as posited is in no way Christian. It reeks of what is emerging in the West as “Chrislam”.
 
please everyone read Dominus Iesus (wrote by Joseph Ratzinger to clarify Nostra Aetate position.

Islam is by no mean a way of salvation. It is false.But that does not mean that somebody who is not christian is de facto condemned.

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html

Above all else, it must be firmly believed that “the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mk 16:16; Jn 3:5), and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door”.77 This doctrine must not be set against the universal salvific will of God (cf. 1 Tim 2:4); “it is necessary to keep these two truths together, namely, the real possibility of salvation in Christ for all mankind and the necessity of the Church for this salvation”.78

The Church is the “universal sacrament of salvation”,79 since, united always in a mysterious way to the Saviour Jesus Christ, her Head, and subordinated to him, she has, in God’s plan, an indispensable relationship with the salvation of every human being.80 For those who are not formally and visibly members of the Church, “salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit”;81 it has a relationship with the Church, which “according to the plan of the Father, has her origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit”.82
  1. With respect to the way in which the salvific grace of God — which is always given by means of Christ in the Spirit and has a mysterious relationship to the Church — comes to individual non-Christians, the Second Vatican Council limited itself to the statement that God bestows it “in ways known to himself”.83 Theologians are seeking to understand this question more fully. Their work is to be encouraged, since it is certainly useful for understanding better God’s salvific plan and the ways in which it is accomplished. However, from what has been stated above about the mediation of Jesus Christ and the “unique and special relationship”84 which the Church has with the kingdom of God among men — which in substance is the universal kingdom of Christ the Saviour — it is clear that it would be contrary to the faith to consider the Church as one way of salvation alongside those constituted by the other religions, seen as complementary to the Church or substantially equivalent to her, even if these are said to be converging with the Church toward the eschatological kingdom of God
Certainly, the various religious traditions contain and offer religious elements which come from God,85 and which are part of what “the Spirit brings about in human hearts and in the history of peoples, in cultures, and religions”.86 Indeed, some prayers and rituals of the other religions may assume a role of preparation for the Gospel, in that they are occasions or pedagogical helps in which the human heart is prompted to be open to the action of God.87 One cannot attribute to these, however, a divine origin or an ex opere operato salvific efficacy, which is proper to the Christian sacraments.88 Furthermore, it cannot be overlooked that other rituals, insofar as they depend on superstitions or other errors (cf. 1 Cor 10:20-21), constitute an obstacle to salvation.8
 
Exactly! Dogma and doctrine are empty words unless they transform those holding fast to them into greater love, kindness, charity and respect for others, including those of different faiths.
 
And who else? Arius? Martin Luther? The Jewish priests who looked Jesus in the eye and condemned him? Judas? Hitler? Stalin? Mao? The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who helped organize mohammedan S.S. units? The same one who coached Hitler on certain aspects, and in which countless Christians also suffered.

Is it all a big joke? A round-robin game of anything goes and God just wants us to all see why we need him, but we’re all saved? Hell is just a boogeyman to keep us working in the system?

Where does it end?

If mohammedanism is real, what else is real? Why must I subject myself to such a testing system as working towards loving everyone so purely it ultimately might kill me, when I could just have a cool life owning sex slaves, invoking God’s name on everything unholy under the sun related to treatment of children, and outright depravity when the numbers allow for such behavior to be encouraged?

I mean, really… if what you say is true, Calvary is all but meaningless. It’s… relativistic, syncretic, and not even heterodox, but outright heresy. To espouse such a doctrine in such language as posited is in no way Christian. It reeks of what is emerging in the West as “Chrislam”.
Back in September, Pope Benedict XVI visited the monastery where Martin Luther studied before splitting from the Catholic Church. While there, the Pope took part in an Ecumenical service with the Lutherans and in a private meeting he praised Luther for his** “deep passion and driving force” **in his beliefs.

Bishop Nikolaus Schneider, Germany’s top Protestant bishop, was so elated by the Pope’s words on Benedict that he told journalists that Luther had, in effect, been rehabilitated.“Luther has experienced a de facto rehabilitation today through this appreciation of his work,” Schneider, who also heads the Evangelical Church in Germany, said, according to Reuters.

Furthermore, when writing as Cardinal Ratzinger, Benedict made it clear that he does not consider Protestantism to be a heresy:

“The difficulty in the way of giving an answer is a profound one. Ultimately it is due to the fact that there is no appropriate category in Catholic thought for the phenomenon of Protestantism today (one could say the same of the relationship to the separated churches of the East).** It is obvious that the old category of ‘heresy’ is no longer of any value.** Heresy, for Scripture and the early Church, includes the idea of a personal decision against the unity of the Church, and heresy’s characteristic is pertinacia, the obstinacy of him who persists in his own private way. This, however, cannot be regarded as an appropriate description of the spiritual situation of the Protestant Christian. In the course of a now centuries-old history, Protestantism has made an important contribution to the realization of Christian faith, fulfilling a positive function in the development of the Christian message and, above all, often giving rise to a sincere and profound faith in the individual non-Catholic Christian, whose separation from the Catholic affirmation has nothing to do with the pertinacia characteristic of heresy. Perhaps we may here invert a saying of St. Augustine’s: that an old schism becomes a heresy. The very passage of time alters the character of a division, so that an old division is something essentially different from a new one. Something that was once rightly condemned as heresy cannot later simply become true, but it can gradually develop its own positive ecclesial nature, with which the individual is presented as his church and in which he lives as a believer, not as a heretic. This organization of one group, however, ultimately has an effect on the whole. The conclusion is inescapable, then: Protestantism today is something different from heresy in the traditional sense, a phenomenon whose true theological place has not yet been determined.”- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, The Meaning of Christian Brotherhood, pp. 87-88.

So you see, the Post Vatican II Popes are leading us to a wonderful one world Ecumenical religion where there will be no division between Catholic and Protestant or even Christian and non-Christians. Haven’t you seen both Blessed John Paul II The Great and Benedict XVI praying in Mosques with Muslims and having Ecumenical services such as Assisi with the practitioners of all the great religions of the world such as the Animists and Vodouisants? We should not be so narrow in our thinking, we need to broaden our perspectives of what religion is as our recent Holy Fathers have demonstrated to us.
 
I was only afraid you might’ve been being mislead by some of the other posters…sorry if I annoyed you.
 
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