What makes an American Catholic of Irish and Italian descent one of the leading global voices in admiration of Prophet Muhammad? In this overview of Muhammad’s life and legacy, prominent scholar Craig Considine provides a sociological analysis of Muhammad’s teachings and example. Considine shows how the Prophet embraced religious pluralism, envisioned a civic nation, stood…… Continue reading Order “The Humanity of Muhammad: A Christian View”
“Lone wolf.” “College student.” “White man.” “Shooter.” “Far-right.” “Suspect.” These words have been deployed to describe Alexandre Bissonnette (pictured), who recently killed six Muslims inside a mosque in Quebec. His social media activities show that he trolled refugees, supported Trump and other far-right nationalists, and fancied himself as a Christian crusader. One word in particular…… Continue reading Alexandre Bissonnette: Another White Supremacist Terrorist Described as a “Lone Wolf”
“Why This Christian Studies Islam”, my latest article in the Huffington Post, has been translated into Arabic. Translation is important because it moves ideas from here to there. Translation is another way to build bridges across unnecessary divides. You can find the article here
People often ask me, Why do you study Islam if you are a Christian? Here is my answer: I am hungry for meaning, wherever it might be found. I do not care if it is in a desert of Arabia or a small village in France. I want to bridge the perceived worlds, through meaning-making.…… Continue reading Why This Christian Studies Islam
This short video/documentary that I made is based on my recent Huffington Post article titled “Why a Christian Can View Muhammad as a Prophet”.
Source: USA Today By Ibrahim Hooper “Behold! The angels said: ‘O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and in (the company of) those nearest to God.'” Before searching for this quote…… Continue reading On Christmas, Christians and Muslims can unite under religious similarities
Nelson Mandela, the South African liberator of hearts and minds, has passed away to his Creator. What inspires me most about his life is his capacity to forgive: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your…… Continue reading Nelson Mandela and the Power of Forgiveness
News of the beautiful and awe-inspiring Hagia Sophia, or “Holy Wisdom,” turning into an active mosque is a tricky situation for political and cultural reasons, as Religion News Services reports (via Huffington Post). Christians and other minorities may see the Hagia Sophia’s conversion into a mosque as a challenge to Turkey’s secular-republican origin, whereas Muslims…… Continue reading Turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque, a church, or both?
U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Texas) recently suggested that the U.S. should judge its foreign policy decisions based on a literalist interpretation of prophecies and stories in the Bible. Scriptural literalism in any religious tradition blatantly denies cold-hard facts such as evolution and encourages naive absolutism in the face of scientific inquiry, among other issues. Interpreting the…… Continue reading A Radical Christian in U.S. Congress
Some critics find it odd that I am a Christian who writes about Muhammad. Haters see my articles as odd and even worse – sacrilegious – because I give praise to the founder of Islam, a religion often portrayed as “evil” around the world. However, as you will see in these articles, there is nothing…… Continue reading So What if a Christian Writes About Muhammad
My recent Huffington Post article “A New Perspective of “Jihad” in Christianity and Islam” sparked a good amount of controversy in the interfaith and anti-Muslim blogosphere. In a follow up post, I focus solely on what I call the “Jesus Jihad,” or the Christian struggles which are noted in the New Testament. The following excerpts…… Continue reading Jesus Jihad
There’s a heart-warming story coming out of Rome about the head of a papal agency that gives help to Christians in the Middle East. According to Monsignor John E. Kozar, president of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association and native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, “[t]he broad majority of Muslims are people of good-will.” Kozar claims that the…… Continue reading Top Catholic American official calls Muslims “people of good-will”
I like Pope Francis more and more with each passing day! On May 18, the Pope raised the issue of the “moral crisis” plaguing the hearts and minds of Christians around the world. To explain the crisis, Pope Francis used the state of homelessness as an example. He stated to a huge international audience in St. Peter’s Square:…… Continue reading Be a good Christian, forget Hollywood scandals and help the homeless
Here’s another interesting response to yesterday’s post. I’m interested in hearing how people would answer the question in the title. I don’t believe extremism, like ignorance, can be reasoned with. It comes from such a deep place inside someone, a place of fear. I think even Jesus recognized some people were not able to be…… Continue reading Can we reason with religious extremists?
About three weeks ago I wrote a poem for the Huffington Post Religion called “Allah or God, It Doesn’t Matter to Me.” While the poem did not receive a ton of attention, a few Huffington Post users left their thoughts, of which one stood out more than the others. Alongside posting several biblical passages which…… Continue reading Huffington Post user warns of the coming rapture
“So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” – Revelation 3:16 Here’s a look at Pope Francis’ meaningful words about how many of today’s Christians are too “wrapped up in [their] petty things, [their] jealousies, envy, careerism, in going ahead selfishly.” According to the…… Continue reading Pope Francis refers to Revelation 3:16, calls out “lukewarm Christians without courage”
Many of you might notice how the pronunciation of Considine, my last name, sounds like the surname Constantine. In fact, the surname Considine is the Anglicanized version of the Gaelic surname Mac Consaidin, which in the Gaelic language literally means “Son of Constantine.” The origins of the Irish surname Considine dates back to at least…… Continue reading Why Saint Constantine is Important to Me
I felt very discouraged at Mass this morning. The priest virtually incited hatred of Islam. In paraphrasing he said something like “The Boston Marathon bombings was part of the global jihad of Islamic supremacists on Christians.” He followed these loaded statements by talking about evil, the devil and how Islam has basically “always been this…… Continue reading Politicizing the Marathon bombings in a Boston church
Note: Here’s an article by Alayna Ahmad, which was recently published on the Huffington Post Religion page. Below the article, I’ve also posted an ITV documentary on “The Muslim Jesus.” Islam is a deeply monotheistic religion and thus forbids any partners or associations with God. Although all prophets including Jesus were mortal and gifted in…… Continue reading The Muslim Jesus
Hundreds of Pakistani Catholics recently lost their homes and livelihood in a widespread arson attack in the predominantly Catholic neighborhood of Joseph Colony, Lahore. In response to the attack, Rohan Emmanuel, a Pakistan writer, wrote in The Express Tribune of the Vatican’s unfortunate silence on the plight of Pakistani Catholics and other Christian communities in…… Continue reading Pope Francis I must address concerns of Catholics in Pakistan
This ‘study’ conducted by the Liberty Institute claims that there is rising hostility towards Christians in today’s United States. But last time I checked, Christian Americans were not seeing their churches burned to the ground. Last time I checked, non-Christian Americans were not going into churches and shooting people at random. Last time I checked, non-Christian…… Continue reading Commentary: Relativity and religious hostility
To be a member of the Know Nothing Party, one had to be ‘a native born citizen, a Protestant, born of Protestant parents, reared under Protestant influence, and not united in marriage with a Roman Catholic’. In addition, members of the Know Nothing Party had to take a pledge to prevent ‘the insidious policy of…… Continue reading Déjà vu and the Tea Party
Saiyid Ahmad Khan was the founder of Islamic modernism, that is, the development in Islamic thought which bears comparison with the development of higher criticism and modernism in Christian thought. He was deeply concerned that Islam should make sense in the light of Western science; he was no less concerned that Muslims should be reconciled…… Continue reading Religion: A ‘modernist’ Muslim for all those who think they’ve never existed
… [T]here is so much misunderstanding of Islam. The debate on Islam that is in full cry in the West since September 11 is too often little more than a parading of deep-rooted prejudices. For example, the critics of Islam ask: ‘If there is such an emphasis on compassion and tolerance in Islam, why is…… Continue reading Vital passage: Misunderstanding and understanding Islam
In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Muslims are hoping to celebrate Ramadan in the much-anticipated opening of their Islamic Center of Murfreesboro (ICM). While it seems they will be able to do so, a most unfortunate story is lurking in the shadow. A group of non-Muslims who filed suit seeking a restraining order to end the Centre’s construction has…… Continue reading The “free” in Murfreesboro bugs me
Have you heard about the ‘European problem’? To your likely surprise, the problem has nothing to do with debt, sovereignty, Brussels, or the devaluing euro. As George Weigel posits in The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America and Politics Without God, the ‘European problem’ is atheistic humanism or, as he often calls it in more academic…… Continue reading Religion: Atheistic humanism in The Cube and the Cathedral
The author of Blessed Virgin Mary is a Sufi master of Turkish descent named Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak, who passed away in 1985. He is considered by Sufis as a Waliullah, or intimate friend of Allah (God). The book is designed in a nonlinear fashion, ‘transcending the usual laws of logic and habitual experience which the Virgin…… Continue reading Sufism and the Virgin Mary
Sufis are very inclusive and open-minded. They believe that God is everywhere. They quote Qur’anic passages like, ‘Wherever you turn, there is the face of God’ (2: 115). If God is everywhere, then God can be seen in all religions too. A Sufi would not only be comfortable praying at a church or synagogue or…… Continue reading This is Why People Love Sufism
There is a young Dublin man who had been ‘lost’ for nearly 10 years. ‘I have seen it all, done it all, laughed harder than most, and definitely partied harder than all. I had all the pleasures in the world – beautiful women, a good physique, and charming looks’, he said. The young Dublin man…… Continue reading The mystery of faith for a young Dublin man
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