Akdamar Church in Van – Türkiye

I grew up as a Muslim child of immigrants in Germany in the beautiful city of Mainz. Surrounded by a rich Catholic culture, I often felt the weight of being seen as “other.” I experienced firsthand both the beauty and the tension that can come from living between religious worlds. At home, I recited Qur’an, in school I sang Christmas songs. I fasted during Ramadan while my classmates opened Advent calendars. Even as a child, I recognized that our faiths were not as distant as they were often portrayed. I was raised to revere Jesus not only as a Prophet, but as one of the most beloved figures in Islam. I knew of Mary whose name is honored in the Qur’an more than any other woman. Visiting my family and friends in Eastern Türkiye, I often admire the ancient Aghtamar Holy Cross Church reminding me how Christians and Muslims lived together mostly amicably for almost 1300 years in the vast Islamic Empire. And I believe, in the one God — in mercy, in accountability, and in a shared moral call to justice.

Today, as nearly one in two Muslim women in Europe experience discrimination due to their religious convictions, I reflect on the continued need for Christian-Muslim engagement. In Nostra Aetate, the Catholic Church’s groundbreaking document on its relationship with other religions, I saw a vision that affirmed my experience — one that invites Muslims and Christians to move beyond fear, toward mutual respect, shared values, and a more just future. It was the spirit of this document that gave me the opportunity as a Muslim to study at Georgetown University – a Catholic institution – and to serve as a Muslim Chaplain-in-Residence on the same campus. I walked alongside students of all faiths and none learning how transformative genuine Christian-Muslim relations can be.

While Nostra Aetate offers hope, it does not erase the painful parts of our shared history — and it should not. Muslims and Christians, should not forget the past, but must also not be imprisoned by it. The only way forward is together, in truth and mutual respect. 

While this vision was a major shift in the history of the Catholic church, Muslims were also making efforts to advance relationships with other communities. For instance, in 1950, the Muslim scholar Bediüzzaman Said Nursi wrote a letter to Pope Pius XII expressing his hope for cooperation between Christians and Muslims against growing hostility, widespread poverty and moral decay. In 1953, Nursi visited Patriarch Athenagoras in Istanbul to seek cooperation in facing the challenges of the modern age. Nursi’s vision is rooted in the example and universal teachings of Prophet Muhammad and still resonates: collaboration rooted in faith, not in spite of it. 

Therefore, I was deeply moved to learn that Pope John Paul II, on his 1980 apostolic visit to my hometown of Mainz, spoke directly to Muslim immigrants — my community — acknowledging our presence, our faith, and our dignity: 

But not all guests in this country are Christians; a particularly large group professes the faith of Islam. To you as well I extend my heartfelt blessing!

If you have brought your belief in God from your homeland to this foreign land with sincere hearts, and if you pray here to God as your Creator and Lord, then you too belong to the great pilgrimage of people who, since Abraham, have repeatedly set out to seek and find the one true God.

When you are not afraid to pray publicly, you offer us Christians an example that deserves respect.

Live your faith, even in a foreign land, and do not allow it to be misused by any human or political interest!

That moment matters. These gestures matter in a growing climate of dehumanization and demonization of Muslim immigrants and refugees.

And in our time, Pope Francis has continued this legacy. In Fratelli Tutti, his 2020 encyclical on fraternity and social friendship, he calls on people of all faiths — and those of none — to recognize one another as brothers and sisters. Inspired by his friendship with Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb, Pope Francis affirms that “authentic religion” must be a force for peace and solidarity. 

The message of Nostra Aetate is therefore still relevant not only for clergy and theologians but also for the wider public. To help the next generation understand the complexity of our histories and the promise of a shared future. We live in a world of polarization, but this document reminds us that Christian-Muslim collaboration is not naïve — it is necessary. And that we can find, in one another’s scriptures and hearts, the foundations for respectful relationships, justice, and peace.

An adapted version was published on National Catholic Reporter.

The German text was published on Qantara and Islamische Zeitung

The Arabic translation was also published on Qantara