The Sufi and the Friar: A Mystical Encounter of Two Men of God in the Abode of Islam by Minlib Dallh

Author:Minlib Dallh [Dallh, Minlib]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2017-07-19T04:00:00+00:00

II. A Priest of Non-Christians

This section follows the Dominican friar’s meditation on specific features of his religious identity among Muslims.

1. A Catholic Priest in Kabul

Our investigation pays attention not to the classical role of a priest in a Christian community but to how the Muslim community and other friends in Kabul shaped de Beaurecueil’s theology and praxis of priesthood. The Christian theology of priesthood borrows from the cultic priesthood of the Hebrew people and the New Testament theology.57 If the classical theology of priesthood in Christian tradition seems of little value to de Beaurecueil in Kabul, could one argue that the Qur’ānic treatment of “the People of the Book,” and particularly its portraits of monasticism (rahbāniyya)58 and monk (rāhib), had some influence on him? Among the primary sources for Muslims’ understanding of Christianity and particularly monasticism, a few Qur’ānic verses seem pertinent.59 It is there that our investigation looks for Muslims’ expectations of a Christian priest.60 To be certain, the Islamic view of monasticism is diverse and complex, and the Qur’ān itself is ambivalent and ambiguous about Christian monks and priests.

Four Qur’ānic verses refer directly to monks or monasticism: verse 82 of sūrat al-Mā’idah, 31 and 34 of sūrat al-Tawba, and 27 of sūrat al- Ḥadīd.61 Generally, Q.5:82 and 83 seem to praise and hold Christian monks as good models and commend their practice of mortification. However, the Qur’ānic verse 27 of sūrat al-Ḥadīd remarks that monasticism was a Christian invention and Christian monks failed to live up to its demands. The verse recognizes nonetheless that the motive of monastic life is to please God. Also, a number of positive characters are ascribed to Christians, such as “kindness and mercy.” Likewise, verses 82 to 85 of sūrat al-Mā’idah point to Christian monks’ humility and meekness and describe them as the “nearest in friendship.”62 Finally, in the early days of Islam, Abū Bakr al Ṣiddīq’s instruction to Yazīd ibn Abū Sufyān before the conquest of Syria seems to suggest that Christian monks were protected.63 Similarly, M. Ayoub, a scholar of Islamic studies and a seasoned writer in Christian-Muslim relations, asserts that this tolerant attitude of Q.5:85 is pertinent even in times of conflict and hostility and could serve as a reminder for Muslims to show restraint against the common human tendency to cruel revenge against the enemy. He traces the application of these principles back to the time of the Prophet and concludes that they became Sunna, an example binding on all later generations.64 He refers to a ḥādith related on the authority of Abū Bakr:

Do not betray [one another in war]. Do not commit treachery. Do not mutilate or kill a young child, an old man or woman. Do not cut down trees bearing fruits. Do not slaughter a sheep, a cow or a camel except if you need it for food. You shall pass by people who have dedicated themselves to acts of devotion in their hermitages. Let them be, and that to which they have dedicated themselves.65

Nonetheless, there are dissenting voices that remark that, first, even Q.

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