format_quote Originally Posted by
Al Habeshi
[B]
Well sister, the same type of speech is used by some catholics I know when they talk about 'calling on a saint' they dont mean 'peace be upon him' or pray for the saint, but rather they ask for things.
Calling upon Mary would mean asking or making dua to her, not making asking Allah for her, but asking her for something to give us by the grace of Allah.
Salam Alaikum, Brother:
Well, as a former Catholic myself, I can tell you that yes, they do call on saints for a variety of reasons. But, I was referring to what was posted above. It was a quote from Nostra Aetate concerning Muslims, and from what I could tell, it was speaking with respect about how devoted Muslims are to their faith. Saying, "Calling on her with devotion" in the context of this article, to me, simply means referring to her with respect, and was most likely because of "peace be upon her" being added when speaking her name.
As a Catholic I would have never said, I call upon St. so and so, with devotion..." I might say, "I called upon St. Jude, (the patron saint of lost items), to help me find my ring." So, the wording is different enough for me to suggest that the author meant "referring to her with devotion".
Brother, this is simply my opinion, I am not the author to know how much knowledge he had or didn't have about Islam. I based my opinion on the context of the entire quote...not just the one sentence. So, for sure, I could be mistaken.
Allah, swt, knows best.
Wasalam,
Hana