Louis Massignon

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Louis Massignon (born July 25, 1883 in Nogent-sur-Marne , † October 31, 1962 ) was one of the most important French orientalists of the 20th century. As an Islamic scholar who dealt in particular with the mystic al-Hallādsch , in addition to his academic work, he campaigned for understanding between Christians and Muslims . In his efforts as a Catholic to understand Islam from within, he paved the way for the redefinition of the position of the Catholic Church on Islam, which took place at the Second Vatican Council in the Declaration Nostra Aetate .

Life

Louis Massignon was born in Nogent-sur-Marne near Paris . His father, Fernand Massignon (1855–1922), worked as a painter and sculptor under the pseudonym Paul Roche and was a close friend of the writer Joris-Karl Huysmans . Until his death in 1907, Huysmans was a paternal friend for Massignon; his mother was a practicing Catholic .

Studies

Louis Massignon attended the famous Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris (1896) and made friends there with his classmate Henri Maspero , who later became a respected sinologist . After graduating from high school (1901), Massignon went on his first trip to Algeria , where his family had connections, in particular connections to high colonial officers: Henry de Vialar, Henry de Castries and Alfred Le Chatelier, the founder of the Chair of Sociology of Islam at the Collège de France in Paris . In 1902 he continued his studies, obtained a license with a study of Honoré d'Urfé and devoted himself to the first of his numerous Arabic subjects: the corporations in Fez in Morocco in the 15th century. Massignon studied the sources for his studies in Morocco in 1904 and after a dangerous encounter in the desert decided to devote himself to the study of the Arabic language . In 1906 he received the "diplôme d'études supérieures" with his study Tableau geographique du Maroc dans les 15 premières années du 16ième siècle, d'après Léon l'Africain (Jourdan ed., Alger 1906).

Conversion to Christianity

In 1907 he was sent on an archaeological mission to Mesopotamia . In Baghdad he was a guest of the great Muslim family of the Alusi, and in the process he became known for the kind of Arab hospitality which he showed his lifelong respect. The Alusi rescued him from a dangerous situation in the desert in 1908 - he was arrested as a 'spy' and almost executed during the Turkish Revolution . The Alusi also helped him find the sources for his magnum opus on al-Hallādj . In 1909 he published in the Parisian magazine Revue du Monde Musulman with his study of the library of Boutilimit in Mauritania the first description of a medieval Arabic manuscript collection in the western Sahara .

The situation of his imprisonment in Turkey and the experience of Muslim spirituality led to his conversion to Christianity: In danger of death, in great physical fear, he felt remorse for his previous life as an agnostic , made a suicide attempt, fell into delirium and into a state extreme restlessness, which was later diagnosed as malaria , sunstroke, exhaustion or mania . Finally, he experienced the presence of God as a “visit from a stranger”, which overwhelmed him, made him passive and helpless. He felt responsible for judging others too harshly and almost lost consciousness of his identity. But he also experienced this event as a release from his (external) captivity and as a promise that he would be able to return to Paris. (Gude, 39-46) He himself interpreted this delirium as a “reaction of his brain to the 'forced' conversion of himself Soul "(Gude, 46)

He quickly recovered from his illness, had a second spiritual experience and, accompanied by the Iraqi Carmelite Father Anastase-Marie de Saint Elie, traveled to Beirut and thus completed his conversion to Catholicism.

In his encounter with God and his conversion, Massignon believed to have been supported by the intercession of his living and deceased friends, among them Huysmans and Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916), who had also experienced God in the Muslim context. For Massignon, his conversion became the basis of his lifelong study of Islam. Foucauld made him the executor of his spiritual legacy: the "Directoire" - the rules for the Little Brothers of Jesus , the publication of which reached Louis Massignon in 1928 after the Catholic authorities had long hesitated with the imprimatur .

However, Massignon did not accept Foucauld's invitation to join his life as a hermit among the Tuareg in Tamanrasset . Instead, he married his cousin Marcelle Dansaert-Testelin in January 1914.

Use in the First World War

During the First World War he worked as a translator and officer for the 2ème Bureau at the headquarters of the 17th French colonial division. In this capacity he was assigned to the delegation for the negotiations that led to the Sykes-Picot Agreement . Before that, he had served on the Macedonian front at his own request , where he received a medal for his bravery.

Through his work for the delegation he became acquainted with TE Lawrence , with whom he spoke about the Handbook for Arabia , which became the model for his Annuaire du Monde Musulman (Yearbook of the Islamic World). Both felt the same sense of honor and betrayal after the collapse of Arab-English-French relations and the publication of the Balfour Declaration (1917). Massignon does not appear among Lawrence's friends in Lawrence's published letters, but this does not mean that Lawrence did not take an intellectual interest in Massignon's later contributions to Arabic studies.

Scientific work after the First World War

On June 15, 1919, Massignon was provisionally nominated as the successor to Alfred le Chatelier for the Chair of Sociology of Islam at the Collège de France . He was finally given the chair in January 1926, after Le Chatelier's retirement. He conducted research on various topics relating to Islam, such as the life of the 10th century mystic al-Hallādsch , Mohammed's companion Salman Pak and the importance of Abraham for the three Abrahamic religions .

His four-volume dissertation on Hallaj was published in 1922. Many have criticized Massignon for giving so much space to a relatively marginal figure in Islam. Edward Said writes in Orientalism (German title: Orientalism ), according to Massignon, Islam is based on the systematic rejection of the Christian doctrine of incarnation. "Mohammed should clear the field to make room for a figure of Christ like al-Halladsch" (German edition by S. Fischer, 2009, page 126). Massignon's great openness to Islam was viewed with skepticism by many Catholics.

His students include many later famous scholars: Henry Corbin , whom he led to study Suhrawardi (Shaykh Al-Ishraq); Abd al-Rahman Badawi, the Egyptian specialist in Arabic philosophy; Abd al-Halim Mahmud , Sheikh of al-Azhar University and in the USA George Makdisi, Herbert Mason and James Kritzeck.

Religious engagement

In the 1930s Francis of Assisi played a major role in his life: In 1931 Massignon became a member of the Franciscan Third Order (for lay people) and took the name "Ibrahim". On February 9, 1934, Massignon and Mary Kahil , a friend from their youth, preached in an abandoned Franciscan church in Damietta , Egypt , where Francis of Assisi met Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in 1219 . They made a vow of Badaliya (Arabic: substitution) and thus vowed to live for the Muslims, "not to convert them, but so that God's wish may be fulfilled in them and through them". This vow led to the official formation of the Badaliya Prayer Associations in 1947.

Encouraged by Mary Kahil and with the permission of Pope Pius XII. he became a Melkite Greek Catholic on February 5, 1949 , which means that he was still a member of the Catholic Church but no longer of the Roman Catholic Church with its Latin liturgy . Since the Melkite Church consists of Arab Christians and the service is held in Arabic, Massignon could be closer to Arab Christians and Muslims. As a Greek Catholic he could be ordained a priest even though he was married, but that was not the reason for his move.

Despite initial opposition from the Holy See , he was ordained by Bishop Kamel Medawar on January 28, 1950 with the permission of Patriarch Maximos IV . For Massignon, being a priest meant being there for others, especially Muslims.

Political engagement after the Second World War

After the Second World War, Massignon continued to work as a scholar, but shifted the focus of his activities to political support for Muslims and Arab Christians. He followed the example of Mahatma Gandhi and his principles of nonviolent action ( ahimsa and satyagraha ). (He was also president of the Amis de Gandhi Society.) He emphasized that he did not hope for success in all of his endeavors, but that his primary concern was to bear witness to truth and justice like Jesus Christ .

He was committed to:

Dialogue was very important to Massignon. He also spoke to the Iranian sociologist Ali Shariati , who later became very influential as a modernist, Muslim thinker in Iran. Schariati had great respect for Massignon and adored him as a teacher and master.

Massignon died on October 31, 1962 and was buried on November 6 in Pordic , Brittany .

Fonts

  • La passion d'al-Hosayn-Ibn-Mansour al-Hallaj martyr mystique de l'islam exécuté à Baghdad le 26 mars 922: étude d'histoire religieuse , Geuthner, Paris 1922; newly published by Gallimard, Paris 2012, ISBN 978-2-07-043591-3 (Vol. 1)

literature

  • Jean Morillon : Massignon . Classiques du XXième Siècle, Editions Universitaires, Paris, 1964.
  • Seyyed Hossein Nasr : In commemoration of Louis Massignon: Catholic, Scholar, Islamist and Mystic . University of Boston, November 18, 1983 in: Présence de Louis Massignon-Hommages et témoinages Maisonneuve et Larose ed. Paris 1987
  • Mary Louise Gude : Louis Massignon - The Crucible of Compassion . University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1996.
  • Maurice Borrmans : Aspects Théologiques de la Pensée de Louis Massignon sur l'Islam . In: Louis Massignon et le dialogue des cultures . Paris 1996: Cerf
  • Jean Moncelon's website dedicated to Louis Massignon
  • Georges Anawati . Louis Massignon et le dialogue islamo-chrétien. In: Louis Massignon et le dialogue des cultures . Paris 1996: Cerf.
  • Paul-Victor Desarbres: The Hospitality of Abraham. Louis Massignon as a pioneer of the Christian-Islamic dialogue . In: International Catholic Journal Communio , 40, 2011, ISSN  1439-6165 , pp. 485-495.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Massignon, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French orientalist
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Nogent-sur-Marne
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1962