St. Francis Meets the Sultan
As you probably recall, St. Francis of Assisi gave us a good model for seeking better relations with the Muslim community. In the year 1219, while Christian Crusaders were engaged in bloody combat with Muslim forces, St. Francis traveled to Damietta, Egypt, where he had a meeting with Sultan Malik al-Kamil, leader of the Muslim forces. Convinced that violence and war was the wrong path, Francis determined to engage in peaceful dialogue with the Sultan and the whole Muslim world. When he gained entrance to the Sultan's camp, he fearlessly tried to persuade his Muslim host that Christ was the true path to salvation.
Although the Sultan was not about to change religions, he admired Francis' enthusiasm and courage and listened respectfully to him. Francis also showed a deep respect for his Muslim brother. The Sultan offered gifts to Francis and saw to it that he was given safe passage back to the Christian camp. As they parted, according to one account, the Sultan said to Francis, "Pray for me that God may reveal to me the law and the faith that is more pleasing to him."
Franciscan scholars find evidence that Francis had truly entered into a spirit of dialogue with the Sultan and was personally open to the positive values present in the Muslim religion and culture. During his stay in Egypt and neighboring parts of the Muslim world, various aspects of the Islamic faith inspired Francis. For example, he could have hardly missed the importance Muslims give to prayer. Five times a day from the top of the minaret the muezzin—or prayer caller—publicly invites the faithful to prayer. Apparently, this impressed Francis profoundly. Sometime after Francis returned to Italy, he wrote his Letter to the Rulers of the People, in which he instructs them: "See to it that God is held in great reverence among your subjects; every evening, at a signal given by a herald or in some other way, praise and thanks should be given to the Lord God almighty by all the people."
Nor could Francis have missed the way Muslims prostrated themselves or bowed to the ground in reverence to the Almighty. In his Letter to a General Chapter, he writes, "At the sound of God's name you should fall to the ground and adore him with fear and reverence." The reason friars are sent all over the world, he adds, is to "bear witness...that there is no other Almighty God besides him," an expression amazingly similar to the Muslim's central formula of faith: "There is no god but God!"
Francis also seemed to pick up other aspects of the Muslim style of prayer, as Franciscan researchers have noted. Muslims, for example, have a keen sense of God's sublimity, majesty, goodness and transcendence over all creatures. They praise God with a beautiful litany of names (99 in all), often reciting them reverently on their prayer beads, names like, "The Gracious," The Kindly," The Beneficent," The High One," "The Merciful," "The Compassionate," "The Mighty," "The Loving."
This form of praise clearly seemed to have an impact on Francis' own style of prayer, especially in his later years. Take, for example, his litany-like "Praise of God" at Mt. La Verna: "You are holy, Lord, the only God.... You are strong, you are great, you are the Most High, you are almighty....You are Good, all Good, supreme Good....You are love, you are wisdom. You are humility, you are endurance. You are rest....You are our eternal life, great and wonderful Lord, God almighty, merciful Savior."
Inter-religious Dialogue
We live in a society where different cultures mix together and, unfortunately, sometimes even clash. This is most evident in big cities where neighbours of different ethic backgrounds live side by side. Even in rural areas, through the media, people are aware of the growing ethnic diversity of our country.
In response to this multicultural growth, the Franciscans have promoted active reflection on being open to other cultures and religions. This type of reflection endeavours to diminish intolerance and lack of understanding. Inspired by St. Francis’s experience with the Sultan, many Franciscans work with ethnic organizations and on various initiatives for inter-religious dialogue. It is inspiring to consider that even in the Middle Ages, instead of encouraging war and violence, some people, like St. Francis, wanted to establish harmonious relations with other religions, especially with Islam.
Even if Francis of Assisi went to meet the Sultan with the intension of converting him, his approach was one of reconciliation and peace. Even more comforting, is that we can still apply today the lessons of that profound and tender encounter.
“It seems”, says Albert Jaquard, “ that the Sultan did not forget Francis’ smile and his boundless faith. Perhaps he remembered this when he decided ten years later, when nothing would oblige him to do so, to give Jerusalem to the Christians. What the armies from Europe failed to obtain, the intelligence and tolerance of Malik Al-Kamil permitted Islam to offer. Without a doubt the insight of Francis had slowly made its way into the consciousness of this man open to the thoughts of others.”
Today religious distinctions hide the real cause of conflict. It has nothing to do with religion. The real conflict today is “north” against “south” and especially poor against rich. Muslims also desire to build a better world with human and spiritual values.
For this reason the Franciscans in Quebec continue the work of St. Francis by attempting to link with people of different religions (Aboriginals, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Christians from other denominations). Together they search for ways to face the difficulties of our times: poverty, loneliness, violence, drugs and many other issues.
For ten years now, the Franciscans in Montreal have brought together delegates from eight religions for prayer services. These gatherings, in return, have given birth to many diverse initiatives such as inter-religious prayer initiatives organized by other associations, schools, priests and other Christian Pastors, a group of Muslim and Christian women and an inter-religious council.
Else where, in Lebanon, the Philippines and Indonesia, Franciscans and Muslims get together every year to organize a pilgrimage to promote peace and justice. In an elementary school in Tyr, Lebanon, where there is a mix of Muslim and Christian students, the Franciscans have devised a method of insuring harmony. They always insure that there is a mix of Muslim and Christian students in every class, social group and sports team. Never will you see, for instance, a soccer match between a completely Christian team and a completely Moslem team.
In western Canada, the Franciscans run St. Michael’s Retreat Centre in the beautiful Qu’Appelle valley in Saskatchewan. It operates as an ecumenical centre through an interchurch board made up of the Friars along with the Regina Roman Catholic Archdioceses and the Anglican and Lutheran communities.
These are just a few examples of initiatives between different peoples that attempt to bring about that universal fraternity that Francis so much desired.
Francis Meets the Sultan
According to St. Bonaventure’s biography (1266) the meeting of St. Francis with the Sultan took place in 1219.
At that time fierce fighting was taking place between the Christians and Saracens. Their two armies were drawn up opposite each other at close quarters in a field. Francis, hoping to achieve his purpose, decided to make the journey to meet the Sultan. He took with him as his companion a friar who was an enlightened man of great virtue. When they arrived at the outpost, the Saracen sentries fell upon them. They dragged them away, treating them with insults, beating them and putting them in chains. Then, exhausted as they were by the ill-treatment they had received, they were dragged before the Sultan Malik-al-Kamil. The Sultan asked them by whom and why and in what capacity they had been sent, and how they got there. Francis replied that they had been sent by God, not by man, to show him and his subjects the way of salvation and proclaim the truth of the Gospel message.
Francis proclaimed the triune God and Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all, with such steadfastness, with such courage and spirit, that it was clear the promise of the Gospel had been fulfilled in him: I will give you such eloquence and such wisdom as all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to confute.
When the Sultan saw his enthusiasm and courage, he listened to him willingly and pressed him to stay with him. Then he offered Francis a number of valuable presents, but the saint, anxious only for the salvation of souls, had no interest in the things of this earth and so he scorned them all as if they were so much dust. The Sultan was lost in admiration at the sight of such perfect disregard for worldly wealth and he felt greater respect than ever for Francis.
REFLECTION – Please answer the following in full sentence format.
- What message did St. Francis bring to the Sultan? To which lands did he travel?
- How did the Sultan respond?
- What did St. Francis learn from Islam?
- What did the Sultan learn about Christianity?
- What did the Sultan admire about St. Francis?
- What is inter-religious dialogue? Why is it important?
- As a school community, what can we do to understand other faiths?
You will be graded according to the following rubric:TOTAL:/12
4 / 3 / 2 / 1Organization / Information is very organized in a well constructed sentences
/ Information is organized in a well constructed sentences / Information is organized but paragraph is not well constructed / The information appears disorganized
Mechanics / No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors / Almost no grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors / A few grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors / Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors
Quality of Information / Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples / Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1 – 2 supporting details and/or examples
/ Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples or given / Information has little to do with the main topic