nineteenth century (and in some countries, notably Yemen,
well into the twentieth), these laws fell by the wayside when
much of the Islamic world was colonized by Western
powers. Few Muslim countries enforce these laws today, but
they are still officially part of the Sharia and thus can be
brought to play again by any Muslim reformer who calls for
a return to Islamic purity and the fullness of observance of
the faith. In various places Muslim authorities also restrict
Christians and Jews from public proclamations of their faith.
Christians are also forbidden to evangelize; they are
forbidden to enter mosques. Thus no Christian preacher may
ever enter a mosque and engage those within in religious
debate (the way St. Paul entered synagogues to proclaim the
Gospel). Though Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Omayyad
mosque in Damascus, Syria, in May of 2001 was certainly a
bold (and fruitful) action, it seems to have been allowed
only because he was not there to preach — he was there to
‘‘reach out’’ to Islam, to ‘‘build bridges of understanding’’
between Christians and Muslims.
Non-Islamic publications are tolerated in some places,
but they often must be under the control of a department of
the civil government that enforces Islamic laws and
regulations in society. Finally, if a Muslim and a Christian
wish to marry, the Christian must publicly accept Islam;
otherwise the couple will incur civil and religious penalties.
- How do the Catholic and Muslim views of justice
differ?
There are some similarities in our respective views of