The LDS Church and Islam
​كنيسة يسوع المسيح والإسلام

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Islam are coming into contact with each other more and more as both grow and expand. What follows is a brief and by no means comprehensive summary of their interactions and the mutual amicability that has existed and should exist between the two faiths.

I admit my primary goal is to show the alarming number of right-wing American Latter-day Saints who harbor prejudice against Muslims that they are completely out of harmony with the teachings and actions of the church they profess to follow. In fact, anti-Muslim and anti-Mormon polemics are often strikingly similar. Both quote-mine an unpopular religion's texts and past leaders, with little or no regard for historical context or the perspective of the religion's own adherents, to purportedly demonstrate what they "really believe". The hypocrisy of Latter-day Saints who resent when this is done to them, but do the same to Muslims without batting an eyelash, is as astonishing as it is disgusting.

1841

March 1 - Under Joseph Smith's leadership, the city of Nauvoo, Illinois adopts this ordinance: "Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, that the Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Latter-day Saints, Quakers, Episcopals, Universalists, Unitarians, Mohammedans [Muslims], and all other religious sects and denominations whatever, shall have free toleration, and equal privileges in this city".

1855

September 23 - Elder George A. Smith says in a speech, "About six hundred years after Christ a prophet rose in Arabia, by the name of Mahomet… Mahomet continued preaching: there was nothing in his religion to license iniquity or corruption; he preached the moral doctrines which the Savior taught; viz., to do as they would be done by; and not to do violence to any man, nor to render evil for evil; and to worship one God....  Now this man descended from Abraham and was no doubt raised up by God on purpose to scourge the world for their idolatry.”

Elder Parley P. Pratt also speaks, saying: "History abundantly shows the followers of Mahomet did not take the sword, either to enforce their religion or to defend themselves, until compelled to do so by the persecutions of their enemies, and then it was the only alternative that presented itself, to take up the sword and put down idolatry, and establish the worship of the one God… The Greek and Roman Churches, which have been called Christian, and which take the name of Christians as a cloak, have worshipped innumerable idols. On this account, on the simple subject of the Deity and His worship, if nothing more, I should rather incline, of the two, after all my early traditions, education, and prejudices, to the side of Mahomet, for on this point he is on the side of truth, and the Christian world on the side of idolatry and heathenism....

"Therefore, in that sense, in the very foundation of their creeds they are idolators; and instead of saying that Mahometanism prevailed against Christianity, and that Christianity was in danger of being done away by its prevalence, we would rather say, that where Mahometanism prevailed, it taught and established one truth at least, viz., the true and living God, and so far as this went, it did preserve people from worshipping idols….my rational faculties would compel me to admit that the Mahometan history and Mahometan doctrine was a standard raised against the most corrupt and abominable idolatry that ever perverted our earth, found in the creeds and worship of Christians, falsely so named....

"Though Mahometan institutions are corrupt enough, and need reforming by the Gospel, I am inclined to think, upon the whole, leaving out the corruptions of men in high places among them, that they have better morals and better institutions than many Christian nations… So far as that one point is concerned, of worshipping the one true God under the name of Mahometanism, together with many moral precepts, and in war only acting on the defensive, I think they have exceeded in righteousness and truthfulness of religion, the idolatrous and corrupt church that has borne the name of Christianity."

1883

September 2 - President George Q. Cannon declares, "I believe myself that Mahomed, whom the Christians deride and call a false prophet and stigmatize with a great many epithets - I believe that he was a man raised up by the Almighty, and inspired to a certain extent by Him to effect the reforms which he did in his land, and in the nations surrounding. He attacked idolatry, and restored the great and crowning idea that there is but one God. He taught that idea to his people, and reclaimed them from polytheism and from the heathenish practices into which they had fallen. I believe many men were inspired who lived after him and before him, who, nevertheless, did not have the Holy Priesthood, but were led by the Spirit of God to strive for a better condition of affairs and to live a purer and higher life than those by whom they were surrounded were living. But while this was the case it was the Spirit of God that did it."

1978

February 15 - In a statement entitled "God's Love for All Mankind", the First Presidency writes in part, "The great religious leaders of the world such as Mohammed, Confucius, and the Reformers, as well as philosophers including Socrates, Plato, and others, received a portion of God's light. Moral truths were given to them by God to enlighten whole nations and to bring a higher level of understanding to individuals."

2001

October 7 - In his General Conference address, President Gordon B. Hinckley says, "This is not a matter of Christian against Muslim. I am pleased that food is being dropped to the hungry people of a targeted nation. We value our Muslim neighbors across the world and hope that those who live by the tenets of their faith will not suffer. I ask particularly that our own people do not become a party in any way to the persecution of the innocent. Rather, let us be friendly and helpful, protective and supportive."

2003

April 6 - Discussing the Iraq War in General Conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley says, "First, let it be understood that we have no quarrel with the Muslim people or with those of any other faith. We recognize and teach that all the people of the earth are of the family of God. And as He is our Father, so are we brothers and sisters with family obligations one to another."

2004

"Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service" mentions that "Just as the Western Christian world was blessed by the courage and vision of the reformers, many other nations and cultures have been blessed by those who were given that portion of light and truth “that [God] seeth fit that they should have” (Alma 29:8). Teachings of other world religious leaders have helped many people become more civil and ethical." It includes brief bios of some of these leaders, including Mohammed.

2012

January 3 - Yeah Samake, mayor of Ouelessebougou, Mali and one of very few Latter-day Saints in the 90% Muslim country, is asked in a radio interview how his faith has affected his presidential campaign. He responds, "You know, faith is not a divider. They certainly know, everybody knows of this in Ouelessebougou, and I have not seen a single negative reaction."

February 15 - In "The Church and Islam", Elders Paul B. Pieper, Patrick R. Kearon, and Craig A. Cardon of the Seventy give a presentation to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on current and future prospective outreach to the Muslim world.

2015

December 8 - US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump calls for a ban on all Muslims entering the country. The Church responds with a statement saying in part, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is neutral in regard to party politics and election campaigns. However, it is not neutral in relation to religious freedom."

2016

April 3 - In General Conference, Elder Patrick Kearon makes an impassioned plea on behalf of the many refugees from Muslim majority countries, noting, "The Savior knows how it feels to be a refugee - he was one." Following his remarks, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, also a former refugee, is visibly so affected he can barely speak.

2018

April - Church leaders commission Daniel C. Peterson, BYU professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic, to write an article on "Understanding Islam" for the Ensign, its official magazine. Dr. Peterson emphasizes the fact that Latter-day Saints and Muslims can live and work together peacefully.

2019

April 6 - Peter M. Johnson, who belonged to the Nation of Islam during his teenage years, becomes the first former Muslim General Authority of the Church.

May 19 - YouTuber Khalid Al Ameri releases a video about the common ground he and his wife found with a young Latter-day Saint family living in the United Arab Emirates.

May 22 - While visiting New Zealand, President Nelson announces two $50,000 donations to the mosques affected by the shooting in Christchurch.

November 3 - Dr. Mohammad Abdulkarim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League and president of the International Organization for Muslim Scholars, publishes an op-ed in the Deseret News entitled "Muslims and Latter-day Saints can be leaders in building tolerance". He writes, "While the centers of Islam and the Church of Jesus Christ sit on opposite sides of the world, the values that bring our communities together could not be closer."

November 5 - Dr. Al-Issa meets with the First Presidency and tours Welfare Square.

2020

April 5 - President Nelson announces a temple to be built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, adding, "The plan for a temple in Dubai comes in response to their gracious invitation, which we gratefully acknowledge." The UAE embassy in the US, UAE assistant minister for cultural affairs Omar Saif Ghobash, and UAE director of Strategic Communications in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs express their congratulations on Twitter.