7.  JOHN PAUL II AND ISLAM

The following are quotes from His Holiness John Paul II's book titled, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope", pages 91 to 94.

1. "As a result of their monotheism, believers in Allah are particularly close to us."
2. "Whoever knows the Old and New Testaments, and then reads the Koran, clearly sees the process by which it completely reduces Divine Revelation. It is impossible not to note the movement away from what God said about Himself, first in the Old Testament through the Prophets, and then finally in the New Testament through His Son. In Islam, all the richness of God's self-revelation which constitutes the heritage of the Old and New Testaments, has definitely been put aside."
3. "...the God of the Koran...is...a God who is only Majesty, never Emmanuel, God-with-us. There is no room for the Cross and the Resurrection".
4. "Jesus is mentioned, but only as a prophet who prepares for the last prophet, Muhammad. There is also mention of Mary, His Virgin Mother, but the tragedy of redemption is completely absent. For this reason, not only the theology but also the anthropology of Islam is very distant from Christianity."
5. "Nevertheless, the religiosity of Muslims deserves respect. It is impossible not to admire, for example, their fidelity to prayer."
6. "In countries where fundamentalist movements come to power, human rights and the principle of religious freedom are unfortunately interpreted in a very one-sided way - religious freedom comes to mean freedom to impose, on all citizens, the "true religion".
7. "Fundamentalist attitudes of this nature make reciprocal contacts very difficult. All the same, the Church remains always open to dialogue and co-operation."

NOTE: See also, Article 4, Article 17 & Article 18.