Muslim Christian Dialogue

1. The first contact between a Christian & a Muslim

BEGINNING OF THE DIALOGUE.
THE FIRST CONTACT BETWEEN A CHRISTIAN AND A MUSLIM.

C. Why has there been so many discussions held between Christians and Muslims about their beliefs in the last couple of decades?

M. Because we both have several things in common. We believe in the One GOD who sent many Prophets into this world for the guidance of humanity. We both also believe in Jesus as the Messiah, and as the Word of God, which is denied by the Jews. Our Holy Qur'an mentions in Surah 3:45: "(Remember) When the angels said, 'O' Mary! Verily Allah gives you glad tidings of a word from Him, his name will be Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and in the hereafter, and of those who are nearest to Allah...'"

Dialogues have been held everywhere in Europe, Canada, the USA and Australia. Even in the Vatican itself discussions were held between Vatican theologians and Egyptian Muslim scholars. Further dialogues were held between Vatican theologians and Saudi Arabian Muslim scholars in Rome in 1970, 1974, and 1978. Many more discussions were held in Colombo, not to mention Muslims being invited by many churches to present Islam in different parts of the world to their congregations.

C. If Christianity is nearly two thousand years old and Islam more than fourteen hundred years, why were these discussions not held centuries ago?

M. Many Asian and African countries of Muslims were colonized by Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Spain and Portugal over the past 2 to 3 centuries. Thousands of Christian missionaries tried to convert as many Muslims as they could by whatever means they had. (by bribing the poor with medical treatment, clothes, food, jobs etc but very few were converted.)

After the Second World War thousands of Muslims from Asian and African countries were immigrating as workers and professionals to the Western Hemisphere, which brought them more in contact with the Christians. Also Muslim students were active in introducing Islam to their fellow students.

C. Do you see any other reasons why many dialogues are held nowadays between the Muslims and Christian missions?

M. I think the gap between both is becoming smaller as each is more tolerant, although both are still competing in getting more converts.

We Muslims feel closer to the sincere Christians than to the Jews, or the idol worshippers and the atheists.

The Qur'an clearly says in Surah.5:v 82: "Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who are muslims (to be) the Jews and the idolators. And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe; those who say: Lo! We are Christians. This is because there are among them priests and monks (i.e. persons entirely devoted to the service of God, as are the muslims) and because they are not proud."

Some Christian denominations are making tremendous progress now by acknowledging for the first time in history that Muhammed (pbuh) descended from Ishmael, (the first son of Prophet Abraham) through his second son Kedar. The 1980 Davis Dictionary of the Bible, sponsored by the Board of Christian Education of the Presbyterian Church in the USA, writes under the word Kedar: " . . . A tribe descended from Ishmael (Genesis. 25:13) ... The people of Kedar were Pliny's Cedrai, and from their tribe Muhammed ultimately arose." The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia quotes the following from A. S. Fulton: " . . . Of the Ishmaelite tribes, Kedar must have been one of the most important, and thus in later times the name came to be applied to all the wild tribes of the desert."

"It is through Kedar (Arab-Keidar) that Muslim genealogists trace the descent of Muhammed from Ishmael." Also Smith's Bible Dictionary prints the following: "Kedar, second son of Ishmael (Genesis. 25:13) ... Muhammed traces his lineage to Abraham through the celebrated Koreish tribe, which sprang from Kedar. The Arabs in the Hejaz are called Beni Harb (men of war), and are Ishmaelites as of old from their beginning." Palgrave in the 1800's, says their language is as pure now as when the Koran was written (A.D. 610), having remained unchanged more than 1200 years; a fine proof of the permanency of Eastern Institutions." (1425 years in 2005).