Say, “O People of the Book! Let us come to common terms: that we will worship none but Allah, associate none with Him, nor take one another as lords instead of Allah.” But if they turn away, then say, “Bear witness that we are Muslims.” (Qur’an 3:64)
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The Eastern Orthodox are a type of hydra where their views on Islam depend on the geo-political climate. insh’Allah we will come to this later.
The global Eastern Orthodox Church is organized into 14 universally or widely recognized self-governing (autocephalous) regional churches. Listed in traditional order of seniority (the diptychs), they include nine traditional patriarchates, the Georgian catholicosate, and five autocephalous national or regional churches. The 15th and 16th churches are a matter of internal dispute among the Eastern Orthodox Church.
1. His Holiness Patariach Bartholomew of The Church of Istanbul. (Turkey)
As he is called, ‘The first among equals’ Patriarch Bartholomew is the Patriarch of Istanbul. He oversees the community of Orthodox Christians in Turkey. However, his title within his circle is Patriarch of Constantinople.
It has come to our attention is that his holiness Patriarch Bartholomew has recently claimed that ‘At the cewntre lies the Sacred itself, the ultimate, absolute reality, which is expressed in various ways, as God, Allah,’.
There is also an eye opening quote from an early Church Father that is worthy of a repost here:
“As the Great Cappadocian Father of the Church, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, teaches, it is impossible for anyone to ascend to that height where the light of truth is seen, unless the dead and earthly garment of skins is stripped away from the foundations of the soul… This is truly that which really exists, and the understanding of this is the knowledge of truth.”
as well as:
“The loss of the relationship with the Sacred translates into a loss of the bonds that constitute society, leaving behind it a sum of individuals in competition.”
2. Theodoros II, the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa. (Egypt)
The Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria has said:
“The Orthodox and Muslims are “brothers under the same sky,” «είμαστε αδέλφια κάτω από τον ίδιο τον ουρανό»
3. Patriarch John X Yazigi, whom is called Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. (Syria)
In a meeting with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X Yazigi, Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa was presented with a copy of the “Ashtiname of Muhammed”, a document said to be written by Ali ibn Abi Talib in 632 CE on behalf of Prophet Muhammed (saw), which pledges protection for the Christians of the time.
The meeting between the leaders took place in Damascus on Sunday 26 October.
Source: https://sana.sy/en/syria/2274374/
Patriarch Jonhn X Yazigi the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East has said this about Muslims.
“To start, we would like to direct our warmest greetings to the Syrian people as a whole and our Muslim brothers in particular on the occasion of Eid el-Adha. Many happy returns..”
“We as Christians live beside our Muslim brothers in these lands. Nothing separates us from them.”
“When the late Fares al-Khoury was asked about “the protection of Christians”, he quickly took to the pulpit of the Umayyad Mosque and said, “As a Christian member of parliament, I reject French or English protection and I ask the protection of my brothers who are praying with me in this mosque.” This is our history and this is what we continue to affirm always. There are many people with other goals who are trying to spread other ideas, but adversity brings forth real men and we are not afraid.”
4. Patriarch Theophilos iii of Jerusalem and all holy lands. (Palestine)
“He stressed his condemnation of insulting the Islamic faith with the same vigor of condemnation as he would if the insult afflicted any of the other monotheistic religions.”
“Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem – Chairman of the Council of Heads of Churches of the Holy Land, denounced the unfortunate sequence of events in France, which started with insults to Islam and the honorable Prophet Muhammed, and was followed by a murder crime of a teacher on the hands of three students as a retaliation for the insults , which triggered a series of unfortunate crimes that targeted innocent Muslim civilians.”
Source: https://orthodoxtimes.com/patriarch-of-jerusalem-condemns-insults-to-islam-and-violence-in-france/
5. Patriarch Kirill (Cyril) of Moscow and all Rus’. (Russia).
The respected and honourable Patriarch Cyril has said:
“поэтому всего сердца молитесь просите У Господа помощи Я знаю что здесь и христиане и мусульмане каждый обращается к одному и тому же Богу творцу и вот в ответ на это мы получаем реальную Божью помощь.” This is translated as:
“Therefore, pray with all your heart, ask the Lord for help. I know that here there are both Christians and Muslims. Each turns to the same God, the Creator. And in response to this, we receive real help from God.”- Patriarch Cyril of Moscow and all Rus.
6. Patriarch Porfirije. Patriarch of Serbia. (Serbia)
Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije congratulates Muslims on Kurban Bayram(Eid Al Dha). He says:
“On the occasion of the forthcoming Kurban Bayram, We extend Our most sincere congratulations to all faithful of the Islamic religion, with cordial wishes that the All-Merciful Creator may grant them blessing and spiritual strength, and that they may celebrate this great feast with their loved ones in peace, health, and prosperity. May the days of Kurban Bayram, inspired by the steadfast faith of the forefather Abraham, strengthen faith in God and be filled with understanding and mutual respect, in the spirit of the exalted traditional values that this feast embodies.”
Source: https://spc.rs/en/news///16793.patriarch-porfirije-congratulates-muslims-on-kurban-bayram.html
7. Patriarch Daniel . The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. (Romania)
When receiving a diplomat from Iran the Patriarch pointed out that onyx imported from the Islamic Republic of Iran was used in the arches of the iconostasis doors of the National Cathedral. He maintains cordial relations with Muslims.
8. Patriarch Daniil, head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. (Bulgaria).
He maintains cordial relationships with the Mufti of Bulgaria (who overseas Bulgaria’s 10% Muslim population).
Source: https://orthodoxtimes.com/bulgarian-patriarch-daniel-meets-with-grand-mufti-mustafa-hadzhi/
9. Patriarch Shio III born Elizbar Mujiri head of the Georgian Orthodox Church (Georgia)
He has only recently been elected. He will most likely follow diplomatic protocol of those who came before him. His huge concern seems to be the rise of abortion and lgbtq activism in Georgia.
10. Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus.
One can say that his attitude towards Islam and Muslims is hostile. This is primarily coloured by the disputes between Turkey and Greece over Cyprus.
11. Archbishop Ieronymos II. Archbishop of Athens and All Greece. (Greece).
His view and position is notably hostile towards Islam and Muslims.
Here is a video of his statements:
12. Archbishop Sawa Archbishop of Warsaw and Metropolitan all of Poland. (Poland)
To our knowledge there really is no negative or positive statement towards Islam and/or Muslims. Muslims are an extreme minority in Poland. Poland for the most part is a homogenous society with the exception of being divided among Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic.
13. Joani (Joan), Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, Exarch of Illyricum. (Albania)
It is claimed that he was born into a non-practicing Bektashi “Muslim” family (a Sufi Islamic order prominent in Albania) under the country’s strict communist regime, before secretly converting and baptizing into Christianity in 1979. We use “Muslim” as we do not recognize the terminology of non-practicing Muslim. The term is an oxymoron. We want to draw attention to this. He was brought up in a secular household with secular values that had cultural attachments to Islam.
Nonetheless he has maintained cordial relations with the Muslim community. Congraulating the believers on the occasion of Eid al Fitr.
14. Rastislav Archbishop of Prešov, Metropolitan of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. (Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia).
To our knowledge there really is no negative or positive statement towards Islam and/or Muslims. To our knowledge the Muslim communities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are quite small. They are mostly homogenous socities. The bigger divide being between Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox.
15. This one we really cannot grant because the Eastern Orthodox Church has not been guided by the Holy Spirit in this matter. They have no consensus on either the status of the The OCA (Orthodox Church in America), as being self governing or a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The OCU (Orthodox Church of Ukraine) is also one disputed in general.
So the Eastern Orthodox Church has not reached a consensus on the recognition of either as being a
It is divided on rather or not the OCA or OCU can be universally counted as the 15th autocephalous church.
Recall our statement: The Eastern Orthodox are a type of hydra where their views on Islam depend on the geo-political climate.
This is true. Those churches who live under the authority of Muslim majority governments, or have family members who have married among the Muslims have positions that are more cordial.
The history of the Ottoman empire invites different responses as we saw from the Bulgarian, Romanian, Greek and Cyprus churches.
Accordingly, the Patariach Bartholomew of The Church of Istanbul as well as Patriarch Kirill (Cyril) of Moscow and all Rus’ have all but confirmed that the Allah of Islam is the same God that Christians worship.
Eastern Orthodox laity and catechumen should be very careful to watch their words concerning Allah (swt). Until their is a council that is convened and the 14 churches come to an agreement on thier position in regard to Allah (swt) it cannot be said that the Eastern Orthodox Church has an ‘offical position’ for or against.
What would be akward however, is that Eastern Orthodox Christians in Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey and other places very often use the word Allah in their liturgy and day to day worship.
“Have they not travelled throughout the land so their hearts may reason, and their ears may listen? Indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts in the chests that grow blind.” (Qur’an 22:46)
“When they listen to what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears for recognizing the truth. They say, “Our Lord! We believe, so count us among the witnesses.” (Qur’an 5:83)
May Allah (swt) guide the sincere Christians to the truth and save them form the torment of the hellfire.
May Allah Guide the Ummah.
May Allah Forgive the Ummah.
Prima Quran 