Anything Good about Islam?

While those wrongdoings are sadly associated with radical Islam, which accounts for about 20 percent of Muslim adherents worldwide, that is certainly not the case with Muslims in general, even though we as Catholics have serious doctrinal differences with Muslims.

For example, we can affirm, in part, Islam’s imperfect belief in the one, true God (CCC 841). Yet we cannot accept their rejection of the Trinity, the fatherhood of God, and that Jesus is God the Son, eternally begotten of the Father. We also reject the Muslim belief that God implants inclinations toward evil in man rather than them being a result of original sin (see CCC 388-421).

Muslims do affirm Jesus as a prophet, though only as a man, and they also revere his Blessed Mother. They recognize that all will have to answer to God for the choices they make on Earth and so extol the practices of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting (see Vatican II, Nostra Aetate 3).

And while we can affirm Muslims in qualified ways regarding their outlook on basic morals and marriage, we also have to take exception in charity regarding their teachings, including the embrace of “temporary marriages,” contraception, abortion in some cases, and the possible acquisition of four wives.

For more information, see the aforementioned linked article on “Islam and Catholicism,” as well as another article on “Answering a Muslim Apologist.”