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| BISHOP FULTON SHEEN ON ISLAM |
"Muslimism is the only great post-Christian religion of the world. Because it had its
origin in the seventh century under Mohammed, it was possible to unite, within it, some
elements of Christianity and of Judaism, along with particular customs of Arabia.
Muslimism takes the doctrine of the unity of God, His Majesty and His creative power,
and uses it, in part, as a basis for the repudiation of Christ, the Son of God.
In This Article...
"The Power of Islam"
"Mary, Mother of God"
"The Significance of Fatima"
"A Missionary Strategy"
The Power of Islam
(The following was written in 1952 and reprinted in the October 2001 Mindszenty Report.)
Misunderstanding the notion of the Trinity, Mohammed made Christ a prophet, announcing
Him just as to Christians Isaiah and John the Baptist are prophets announcing Christ. The
Christian European West barely escaped destruction at the hands of the Moslems. At one
point they were stopped near Tours and at another point, later on in time, outside the gates of
Vienna. The Church throughout northern Africa was practically destroyed by Moslem power,
and at the present hour, the Moslems are beginning to rise again. If Muslimism is a heresy, as
Hilaire Belloc believes it to be, it is the only heresy that has never declined. Others have had
a moment of vigor, then gone into doctrinal decay at the death of the leader, and finally
evaporated in a vague social movement. Muslimism, on the contrary, has only had its first
phase. There was never a time in which it declined, either in numbers, or in the devotion of its
followers. The missionary effort of the Church toward this group has been at least on the
surface, a failure, for the Moslems are so far almost unconvertible. The reason is that for a
follower of Mohammed to become a Christian is much like a Christian becoming a Jew. The
Moslems believe that they have the final and definitive revelation of God to the world and that
Christ was only a prophet announcing Mohammed, the last of Gods real prophets. At the
present time, the hatred of the Moslem countries against the West is becoming a hatred
against Christianity itself. Although the statesmen have not yet taken it into account, there is
still grave danger that the temporal power of Islam may return and, with it, the menace that it
may shake off a West which has ceased to be Christian, and affirm itself as a great
anti-Christian world power. Moslem writers say, "When the locust swarms darken countries,
they bear on their wings these Arabic words: "We are Gods host, each of us has ninety-nine
eggs, and if we had a hundred, we should lay waste the world, with all that is in it." The
problem is, how shall we prevent the hatching of the hundredth egg? It is our firm belief that
the fears some entertain concerning the Moslems are not to be realized, but that Muslimism,
instead, will eventually be concerted to Christianity - and in a way that even some of our
missionaries never suspect. It is our belief that this will happen not through the direct
teachings of Christianity, but through a summoning of the Moslems to a veneration of the
Mother of God. This is the line of argument:
Mary, Mother of God
The Koran, which is the Bible of the Moslems, has many passages concerning the Blessed
Virgin. First of all, the Koran believes in her Immaculate Conception, and also, in her Virgin
Birth. The third chapter of the Koran places the history of Mary's family in a genealogy which
goes back through Abraham, Noah, and Adam. When one compares the Koran's description
of the birth of Mary with the apocryphal Gospel of the birth of Mary, one is tempted to believe
that Mohammed very much depended upon the latter. Both books describe the old age and
the definite sterility of the mother of Mary. When, however, she conceives, the mother of Mary
is made to say in the Koran: "O Lord, I vow and I consecrate to you what is already within me.
Accept it from me." When Mary is born, the mother says: "And I consecrate her with all of her
posterity under thy protection, O Lord, against Satan!" The Koran passes over Joseph in the
life of Mary, but the Moslem tradition knows his name and has some familiarity with him. In this
tradition, Joseph is made to speak to Mary, who is a virgin. As he inquired how she conceived
Jesus without a father, Mary answered: "Do you not know that God, when He created the
wheat had no need of seed, and that God by His power made the trees grow without the help
of rain? All that God had to do was to say, So be it, and it was done." The Koran has also
verses on the Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity. Angels are pictured as accompanying the
Blessed Mother and saying: "Oh Mary, God has chosen you and purified you, and elected
you above all the women of the earth." In the nineteenth chapter of the Koran there are 41
verses on Jesus and Mary. There is such a strong defense of the virginity of Mary here that
the Koran, in the fourth book, attributed the condemnation of the Jews to their monstrous
calumny against the Virgin Mary.
The Significance of Fatima
Mary, then, is for the Moslems the true Sayyida, or Lady. The only possible serious rival to
her in their creed would be Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed himself. But after the death of
Fatima, Mohammed wrote: "Thou shalt be the most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after
Mary." In a variant of the text, Fatima is made to say, "I surpass all the women, except Mary."
This brings us to our second point: namely, why the Blessed Mother, in the 20th century,
should have revealed herself in the significant little village of Fatima, so that to all future
generations she would be known as "Our Lady of Fatima." Since nothing ever happens out of
Heaven except with a finesse of all details, I believe that the Blessed Virgin chose to be known
as "Our Lady of Fatima" as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Moslem people, and as an
assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her divine Son too.
Evidence to support these views is found in the historical fact that the Moslems occupied
Portugal for centuries. At the time when they were finally driven out, the last Moslem chief had
a beautiful daughter by the name of Fatima. A Catholic boy fell in love with her, and for him
she not only stayed behind when the Moslems left, but even embraced the Faith. The young
husband was so much in love with her that he changed the name of the town where he live to
Fatima. Thus, the very place where our Lady appeared in 1917 bears a historical connection
to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed. The final evidence of the relationship of Fatima to the
Moslems is the enthusiastic reception which the Moslems in Africa and India and elsewhere
gave to the Pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima, as mentioned earlier. Moslems attended the
church services in honor of our Lady, they allowed religious processions and even prayers
before their mosques; and in Mozambique the Moslems who were unconverted, began to be
Christian as soon as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was erected.
A Missionary Strategy
Missionaries in the future will, more and more, see that their apostolate among the Moslems
will be successful in the measure that they preach Our Lady of Fatima. Mary is the advent of
Christ, bringing Christ to the people before Christ Himself is born. In an apologetic endeavor,
it is always best to start with that which people already accept. Because the Moslems have a
devotion to Mary, our missionaries should be satisfied merely to expand and to develop that
devotion, with the full realization that Our Blessed Lady will carry the Moslems the rest of the
way to her divine Son. She is forever a "traitor," in the sense that she will not accept any
devotion for herself, but will always bring anyone who is devoted to her to her divine Son. As
those who lose devotion to her lose belief in the divinity of Christ, so those who intensify
devotion to her gradually acquire that belief. Many of our great missionaries in Africa have
already broken down the bitter hatred and prejudices of the Moslems against the Christians
through their acts of charity, their schools and hospitals. It now remains to use another
approach, namely, that of taking the 41st chapter of the Koran and showing them that it was
taken out of the Gospel of Luke, that Mary could not be, even in their own eyes, the most
blessed of all the women of Heaven if she had not also borne the Savior of the world. If Judith
and Esther of the Old Testament were pre-figures of Mary, then it may very well be that
Fatima herself was a post-figure of Mary! The Moslems should be prepared to acknowledge
that, if Fatima must give way in honor to the Blessed Mother, it is because she is different
from all the other mothers of the world and that without Christ she would be nothing.
(This article courtesy of The Mindzenty Report, published by the Cardinal
Mindzenty Foundation.)
origin in the seventh century under Mohammed, it was possible to unite, within it, some
elements of Christianity and of Judaism, along with particular customs of Arabia.
Muslimism takes the doctrine of the unity of God, His Majesty and His creative power,
and uses it, in part, as a basis for the repudiation of Christ, the Son of God.
In This Article...
"The Power of Islam"
"Mary, Mother of God"
"The Significance of Fatima"
"A Missionary Strategy"
The Power of Islam
(The following was written in 1952 and reprinted in the October 2001 Mindszenty Report.)
Misunderstanding the notion of the Trinity, Mohammed made Christ a prophet, announcing
Him just as to Christians Isaiah and John the Baptist are prophets announcing Christ. The
Christian European West barely escaped destruction at the hands of the Moslems. At one
point they were stopped near Tours and at another point, later on in time, outside the gates of
Vienna. The Church throughout northern Africa was practically destroyed by Moslem power,
and at the present hour, the Moslems are beginning to rise again. If Muslimism is a heresy, as
Hilaire Belloc believes it to be, it is the only heresy that has never declined. Others have had
a moment of vigor, then gone into doctrinal decay at the death of the leader, and finally
evaporated in a vague social movement. Muslimism, on the contrary, has only had its first
phase. There was never a time in which it declined, either in numbers, or in the devotion of its
followers. The missionary effort of the Church toward this group has been at least on the
surface, a failure, for the Moslems are so far almost unconvertible. The reason is that for a
follower of Mohammed to become a Christian is much like a Christian becoming a Jew. The
Moslems believe that they have the final and definitive revelation of God to the world and that
Christ was only a prophet announcing Mohammed, the last of Gods real prophets. At the
present time, the hatred of the Moslem countries against the West is becoming a hatred
against Christianity itself. Although the statesmen have not yet taken it into account, there is
still grave danger that the temporal power of Islam may return and, with it, the menace that it
may shake off a West which has ceased to be Christian, and affirm itself as a great
anti-Christian world power. Moslem writers say, "When the locust swarms darken countries,
they bear on their wings these Arabic words: "We are Gods host, each of us has ninety-nine
eggs, and if we had a hundred, we should lay waste the world, with all that is in it." The
problem is, how shall we prevent the hatching of the hundredth egg? It is our firm belief that
the fears some entertain concerning the Moslems are not to be realized, but that Muslimism,
instead, will eventually be concerted to Christianity - and in a way that even some of our
missionaries never suspect. It is our belief that this will happen not through the direct
teachings of Christianity, but through a summoning of the Moslems to a veneration of the
Mother of God. This is the line of argument:
Mary, Mother of God
The Koran, which is the Bible of the Moslems, has many passages concerning the Blessed
Virgin. First of all, the Koran believes in her Immaculate Conception, and also, in her Virgin
Birth. The third chapter of the Koran places the history of Mary's family in a genealogy which
goes back through Abraham, Noah, and Adam. When one compares the Koran's description
of the birth of Mary with the apocryphal Gospel of the birth of Mary, one is tempted to believe
that Mohammed very much depended upon the latter. Both books describe the old age and
the definite sterility of the mother of Mary. When, however, she conceives, the mother of Mary
is made to say in the Koran: "O Lord, I vow and I consecrate to you what is already within me.
Accept it from me." When Mary is born, the mother says: "And I consecrate her with all of her
posterity under thy protection, O Lord, against Satan!" The Koran passes over Joseph in the
life of Mary, but the Moslem tradition knows his name and has some familiarity with him. In this
tradition, Joseph is made to speak to Mary, who is a virgin. As he inquired how she conceived
Jesus without a father, Mary answered: "Do you not know that God, when He created the
wheat had no need of seed, and that God by His power made the trees grow without the help
of rain? All that God had to do was to say, So be it, and it was done." The Koran has also
verses on the Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity. Angels are pictured as accompanying the
Blessed Mother and saying: "Oh Mary, God has chosen you and purified you, and elected
you above all the women of the earth." In the nineteenth chapter of the Koran there are 41
verses on Jesus and Mary. There is such a strong defense of the virginity of Mary here that
the Koran, in the fourth book, attributed the condemnation of the Jews to their monstrous
calumny against the Virgin Mary.
The Significance of Fatima
Mary, then, is for the Moslems the true Sayyida, or Lady. The only possible serious rival to
her in their creed would be Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed himself. But after the death of
Fatima, Mohammed wrote: "Thou shalt be the most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after
Mary." In a variant of the text, Fatima is made to say, "I surpass all the women, except Mary."
This brings us to our second point: namely, why the Blessed Mother, in the 20th century,
should have revealed herself in the significant little village of Fatima, so that to all future
generations she would be known as "Our Lady of Fatima." Since nothing ever happens out of
Heaven except with a finesse of all details, I believe that the Blessed Virgin chose to be known
as "Our Lady of Fatima" as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Moslem people, and as an
assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her divine Son too.
Evidence to support these views is found in the historical fact that the Moslems occupied
Portugal for centuries. At the time when they were finally driven out, the last Moslem chief had
a beautiful daughter by the name of Fatima. A Catholic boy fell in love with her, and for him
she not only stayed behind when the Moslems left, but even embraced the Faith. The young
husband was so much in love with her that he changed the name of the town where he live to
Fatima. Thus, the very place where our Lady appeared in 1917 bears a historical connection
to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed. The final evidence of the relationship of Fatima to the
Moslems is the enthusiastic reception which the Moslems in Africa and India and elsewhere
gave to the Pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima, as mentioned earlier. Moslems attended the
church services in honor of our Lady, they allowed religious processions and even prayers
before their mosques; and in Mozambique the Moslems who were unconverted, began to be
Christian as soon as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was erected.
A Missionary Strategy
Missionaries in the future will, more and more, see that their apostolate among the Moslems
will be successful in the measure that they preach Our Lady of Fatima. Mary is the advent of
Christ, bringing Christ to the people before Christ Himself is born. In an apologetic endeavor,
it is always best to start with that which people already accept. Because the Moslems have a
devotion to Mary, our missionaries should be satisfied merely to expand and to develop that
devotion, with the full realization that Our Blessed Lady will carry the Moslems the rest of the
way to her divine Son. She is forever a "traitor," in the sense that she will not accept any
devotion for herself, but will always bring anyone who is devoted to her to her divine Son. As
those who lose devotion to her lose belief in the divinity of Christ, so those who intensify
devotion to her gradually acquire that belief. Many of our great missionaries in Africa have
already broken down the bitter hatred and prejudices of the Moslems against the Christians
through their acts of charity, their schools and hospitals. It now remains to use another
approach, namely, that of taking the 41st chapter of the Koran and showing them that it was
taken out of the Gospel of Luke, that Mary could not be, even in their own eyes, the most
blessed of all the women of Heaven if she had not also borne the Savior of the world. If Judith
and Esther of the Old Testament were pre-figures of Mary, then it may very well be that
Fatima herself was a post-figure of Mary! The Moslems should be prepared to acknowledge
that, if Fatima must give way in honor to the Blessed Mother, it is because she is different
from all the other mothers of the world and that without Christ she would be nothing.
(This article courtesy of The Mindzenty Report, published by the Cardinal
Mindzenty Foundation.)
