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Catholicism Engaging Other Faiths pp 265–284Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

A Model for Muslim-Christian Dialogue on Care for the Earth: Vatican II, St. Francis and the Sultan, and Pope Francis

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Part of the book series: Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue ((PEID))

Abstract

This chapter explores the mutual exchange of the 1219 encounter between St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil as a model for present-day cooperation between Christians and Muslims on ecological issues. The author first critically analyzes select sources from Vatican II, the meeting between Francis and al-Kāmil, and statements by Pope Francis—especially Evangelii Gaudium—showing the links between spirituality, poverty, and violence. The essay exposes how these linkages are made relevant for ordinary people through the praxis of dialogue and proposes not only that the encounter between Francis and the Sultan is a powerful model for present-day Christian-Muslim cooperation on earth care issues, but that these traditions possess a strong conceptual convergence on which to base that cooperation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Two-Way, National Public Radio, “World’s Muslim Population Will Surpass Christians This Century, Pew Says,” April 02, 2015, http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/04/02/397042004/muslim-population-will-surpass-christians-this-century-pew-says.

  2. 2.

    For a discussion of this important figure, see Thomas F. Michel, S.J., “Muslim-Christian Dialogue and Cooperation in the Thought of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi,” The Muslim World 89, no. 3–4 (1999): 325–335; this paper and others are available in Thomas F. Michel, S.J., Said Nursi’s Views on Muslim-Christian Understanding: Eight Papers (Istanbul: Söz Basim Yayin, 2005).

  3. 3.

    For book-length treatment of these two figures in their historical context, see Paul Moses, The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam, and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace (New York: Doubleday, 2009); for a brief summary by the same author, see “Mission Improbable: St. Francis & the Sultan,” Commonweal 136, no. 16 (2009): 11–16; see also André Vauchez , Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 80–94.

  4. 4.

    Qur’ān 3:113–15; cited in A Common Word Between Us and You, www.commonword.com, 14; see also Moses, The Saint and the Sultan, 145.

  5. 5.

    Moses, The Saint and the Sultan, 173–4.

  6. 6.

    Ibid., 175.

  7. 7.

    Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M., “The Democratization of Prayer: What Francis of Assisi Learned in Damietta (1219),” Collectanea Franciscana 85, no. 1–2 (2015): 63; see also Francis of Assisi, “The Testament (1226),” in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, ed. Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M.Cap., J.A. Wayne Hellmann, O.F.M.Conv., and William J. Short, O.F.M. (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1999), vol. 1, 124. Hereafter Francis of Assisi: Early Documents is cited as FA:ED.

  8. 8.

    Cusato, “The Democratization of Prayer,” 64; Francis of Assisi, “Later Admonition and Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance (1220?),” in FA:ED I, 47.

  9. 9.

    Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M., “From Damietta to La Verna: The Impact on Francis of his Experience in Egypt,” Spirit and Life 12 (2008): 85–7.

  10. 10.

    Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M., “The Tau: The Meaning of the Cross for Francis of Assisi,” The Cord 57, no. 3 (2007): 287–301.

  11. 11.

    Cusato, “From Damietta to La Verna,” 90.

  12. 12.

    See, among other places, Francis of Assisi, “The Earlier Rule (1221),” FA:ED I, 64.

  13. 13.

    Cusato, “From Damietta to La Verna,” 88–89.

  14. 14.

    Cusato, “The Democratization of Prayer,” 65–6.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., 66; see also Thomas of Celano, “The Life of St. Francis by Thomas of Celano,” in FA:ED I, 231 [¶ 57]; Francis of Assisi , “The Earlier Rule (1209/10–1221),” in FA:ED I, 79 [Chapter 22:1–4].

  16. 16.

    James of Vitry, “Historia Occidentalis (c.1221/25),” in FA:ED I, 584–585 [¶ 13–15]. Medieval accounts of this event vary. James speaks of only Francis at Damietta; others include Illuminato. I draw from several sources to indicate the memory the tradition holds.

  17. 17.

    Jordan of Giano, “Chronicle,” in XIIIth Century Chronicles: Jordan of Giano, Thomas of Eccleston, and Salimbene degli Adam, trans. Placid Herman, O.F.M. (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1961), 26 [¶ 10].

  18. 18.

    “The Chronicle of Ernoul,” in FA:ED I, 606. Soldiers converted on both sides during the Fifth Crusade.

  19. 19.

    Qur’ān 4:94.

  20. 20.

    “The Chronicle of Bernard the Treasurer,” in FA:ED I, 608.

  21. 21.

    “The Chronicle of Ernoul,” 606; see also more contentious accounts of this exchange, including Thomas of Celano, “The Life of St. Francis,” 231 [¶ 57], and Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, “The Major Life of St. Francis (1260–1263),” in FA:ED II, 602–3 [9:8].

  22. 22.

    Louis Massignon, The Passion of Al-Hallaj, trans. Herbert Mason (Princeton: University Press, 1982), 1:642.

  23. 23.

    Interview with Seyyed Hossein Nasr, December 26, 2007, in Moses, The Saint and the Sultan, 72; see also Qur’ān 5:82.

  24. 24.

    Interview with Fareed Z. Munir, January 30, 2008, in Moses, The Saint and the Sultan, 265.

  25. 25.

    Taqī l-Dīn al-Maqrīzī, A History of the Ayyubid Sultans in Egypt, trans. R.J.C. Broadhurst (Boston: Twayne, 1980), 229–231.

  26. 26.

    James of Vitry, “Historia Occidentalis,” 584–5.

  27. 27.

    Ibid.

  28. 28.

    See note 21 above. Sources stressing the proselytizing nature of Francis’ encounter are hagiographic and ignore Francis’ cardinal spiritual conversion; see Cusato, “The Democratization of Prayer,” 65–66.

  29. 29.

    James of Vitry, “Historia Occidentalis,” 584–5.

  30. 30.

    James of Vitry, “Letter VI,” in FA:ED I, 581.

  31. 31.

    Jan Hoeberichts, Francis and Islam (Quincy, IL: Franciscan Press, 1997), 61–134, esp. 100.

  32. 32.

    James of Vitry, “Historia Occidentalis,” 584–5.

  33. 33.

    Qur’ān 9:6, trans. N.J. Dawood, “And if one of the idolaters seeks you out for protection, then grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of God. Afterward, escort him to a safe place. Such things happen because they are a people without knowledge of God.”

  34. 34.

    “The Chronicle of Ernoul,” 607.

  35. 35.

    Cusato, “The Democratization of Prayer,” 70.

  36. 36.

    Ibid., 67–81. Cusato details Islamic influence on numerous works by Francis, including “Later Admonition and Exhortation,” in FA:ED I, 74; “The First Letter to the Custodians (1220),” 8, in FA:ED I, 57; “A Letter to the Rulers of the Peoples,” in FA:ED I, 58–59.

  37. 37.

    Cusato, “From Damietta to La Verna,” 92–95. August 15 is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. September 29 is the feast of St. Michael the Archangel.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., 100–101.

  39. 39.

    Ibid.

  40. 40.

    Ibid., 103.

  41. 41.

    Ibid., 104.

  42. 42.

    Ibid., 104–5.

  43. 43.

    Ibid., 105.

  44. 44.

    Ibid., 106.

  45. 45.

    Ibid., 107, citing Kathleen A. Warren, O.S.F., Daring to Cross the Threshold : Francis of Assisi Encounters Sultan Malek al-Kamil (Rochester, MN: Sisters of St. Francis, 2003), Appendix I, 122–38.

  46. 46.

    Francis of Assisi, “The Praises of God,” FA:ED I, 109.

  47. 47.

    Francis of Assisi, “A Blessing for Brother Leo,” in FA:ED I, 112.

  48. 48.

    James of Vitry, “Letter VI,” 581; “Historia Occidentalis,” 584–5; see also Cusato, “From Damietta to La Verna,” 108–9.

  49. 49.

    Cusato, “From Damietta to La Verna,” 109; Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M., “Of Snakes and Angels: The Mystical Experience behind the Stigmatization Narrative of I Celano,” in The Stigmata of Francis of Assisi: New Studies, New Perspectives, ed. Jacques Dalarun, Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M., and Carla Salvati (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2006), 63–65.

  50. 50.

    For an analysis of this document, see Gerald O’Collins, S.J., The Second Vatican Council on Other Religions (Oxford: University Press, 2013), 84–108.

  51. 51.

    See especially the scholarship and dialogue emerging from the Common Word initiative in 2008, www.acommonword.com, and the Building Bridges initiative of Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

  52. 52.

    Matthew Hoppler, Jennifer Bell, and Ruth Donaghey, “Islamic-Catholic Relations: A Local and Global Comparison” (2009), Global Studies Student Papers, Paper 16, http://digitalcommons.providence.edu/glbstudy_students/16/

  53. 53.

    Jordan Denari, “‘In Our Time’: Francis Moves beyond Nostra Aetate,” December 8, 2013, https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/our-time-francis-moves-beyond-nostra-aetate

  54. 54.

    Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, AAS 105, no. 12 (2013): 1019–1137, no. 252.

  55. 55.

    Ibid., 253; see also Rashied Omar, “A Muslim Response to Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation , Evangelii Gaudium,” in Contending Modernities, http://blogs.nd.edu/contendingmodernities/2014/03/07/a-muslim-response-to-pope-francis-apostolic-exhortation-evangelii-gaudium/, March 7, 2014.

  56. 56.

    Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 251.

  57. 57.

    Ibid., 253.

  58. 58.

    Daniel A. Madigan, S.J., “Nostra Aetate and the Questions It Chose To Leave Open,” Gregorianum 87, no. 4 (2006): 781–796.

  59. 59.

    Ibid.

  60. 60.

    http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2017/april/documents/papa-francesco_20170428_egitto-conferenza-pace.html

  61. 61.

    Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 252.

  62. 62.

    Ibid.

  63. 63.

    Ibid., 253.

  64. 64.

    Ibid., 252.

  65. 65.

    “The Greek word oikonomos has a broad meaning… Increasingly… ecumenism is being understood to be a more relational and inclusive concept that extends beyond Christians and churches to the entire human community within the whole of God’s creation. Thus interreligious relationships and dialogue are integral to the ecumenical movement of the twenty-first century.” Donald E. Messner, “Ecumenical Movement,” in Contemporary American Religion, ed. Wade Clark Roof (New York: Macmillan, 2000).

  66. 66.

    Francis, Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, AAS 107, no. 9 (2015): 847–945, no. 16; for passages showing the pope’s understanding of this interrelatedness, see no. 14, 49, 93, 109, 139, 195, 204–5, 209. Some Muslim thinkers began addressing the relationship between religion and ecology even before Lynn White’s seminal article criticizing Christian notions of dominion for their contribution to environmental destruction; Seyyed Hossein Nasr, who discusses explicitly the witness of Francis of Assisi for ecology, is one such example. Sarah E. Robinson-Bertoni, “Seyyed Hossein Nasr, 1933–,” in Key Thinkers on the Environment, ed. Joy A. Palmer-Cooper and David E. Cooper (New York: Routledge, 2018), 299–304; Lynn White, Jr., “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,” Science 155 (March 1967): 1203–1207.

  67. 67.

    Francis, Laudato Si’, 233, note 159; for commentary, see Alberto Fabio Ambrosio, O.P., “Laudato Si’ and Sufism – Encyclical cites Sufi Spiritual Writer Ali al-Khawas,” October 8, 2015, http://www.globalpulsemagazine.com/news/laudato-si-and-sufism/1996, or the fuller treatment by Jason Welle, O.F.M., “A Note on a Footnote: Pope Francis’s Ṣūfī Ecologist,” Islamochristiana 43 (2017): 141–147.

  68. 68.

    Joseph E. B. Lumbard, “An Islamic Response to Pope Francis’ Encyclical,” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-e-b-lumbard/an-islamic-response-to-pope-francis-encyclical_b_7616762.html

  69. 69.

    Francis, Laudato Si’, 16.

  70. 70.

    Ibid., 139.

  71. 71.

    For these themes, see “Renewing the Earth: An Invitation to Reflection and Action on Environment in Light of Catholic Social Teaching,” A Pastoral Statement of the United States Catholic Conference, November 14, 1991, http://www.usccb.org

  72. 72.

    Roger C. Foltz, “Islam,” in Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology, ed. Roger S. Gottlieb (Oxford: University Press, 2011); Frederick Mathewson Denny, “Islam,” in Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability, ed. Willis Jenkins (Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire, 2010–12); The Islamic Foundation For Ecology And Environmental Sciences, www.ifees.org.uk; see also “What does Islam Teach about Ecology?” http://www.arcworld.org/faiths.asp?pageID=6; Adnane Mokrani, “Islamic Ecological Reflections in Dialogue with Laudato si’,” Islamochristiana 43 (2017): 115–122.

  73. 73.

    For a fuller discussion of the qur’ānic understanding of khalīfa and its contemporary application, see Maria Massi Dakake, “To Be Khalīfa: The Human Vocation in Relation to Nature and Community,” in God’s Creativity and Human Action: Christian and Muslim Reflections, ed. Lucinda Mosher and David Marshall (Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2017), 101–118.

  74. 74.

    Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, The Book of the Softening of Hearts (K. al-Riqāq, 49), Chapter on the Saying, “Most of the People of Paradise Are Poor ” (B. Akthar ahl al-janna al-fuqarā’, 26).

  75. 75.

    Rashied Omar, “A Muslim Response to Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.”

  76. 76.

    International Islamic Climate Change Symposium, available at ifees.org.uk; see also Kevin Clarke, “A Francis Effect? Islamic Leaders Issue Statement on Climate Change,” America, August 18, 2015, http://americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/francis-effect-islamic-leaders-issue-statement-climate-change.

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  1. Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL, USA

    Dawn M. Nothwehr O.S.F.

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  1. Dawn M. Nothwehr O.S.F.
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Correspondence to Dawn M. Nothwehr O.S.F. .

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  1. Tübingen University, Tübingen, Germany

    Vladimir Latinovic

  2. Department of Theology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    Gerard Mannion

  3. Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome, Italy

    Jason Welle, O.F.M.

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Nothwehr O.S.F., D.M. (2018). A Model for Muslim-Christian Dialogue on Care for the Earth: Vatican II, St. Francis and the Sultan, and Pope Francis. In: Latinovic, V., Mannion, G., Welle, O.F.M., J. (eds) Catholicism Engaging Other Faiths. Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98584-8_16

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