Abdallah Qara'ali

Abdallah Qara'ali, OLM (8 September 1672 – 6 January 1742) was a Lebanese renowned jurist and prelate of the Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch, better known as the Maronite Catholic Church. He served as Archeparch of Beirut from 1716 until his death in 1742, but is also known as a cofounder of the Lebanese Maronite Order.

Biography

Early life and priesthood Qara'ali was born on 8 September 1672 in the Mount Lebanon Emirate, an autonomous subdivision of the Ottoman Empire covering roughly what is now the modern state of Lebanon. He was ordained a priest in 1696.

In 1694, he, along with two other men, established the Lebanese Maronite Order. Patriarch Jacob IV Awad, Patriarch of Antioch served as the principal consecrator. While its contents are not radical for its time period, and in fact were in line with common Middle Eastern legal practices, it is noted for its unique combination of Roman, Islamic, and Christian influences.

Episcopal lineage Patriarch Youhanna Bawwab el-Safrawi Patriarch George Rizqallah Beseb’ely (1656) Patriarch Estephan El Douaihy (1668) Patriarch Jacob IV Awad (1698) Archeparch Abdallah Qara'ali (1716)

Writings

Written in 1720, Qara'ali's Mukhtasar is a Maronite Catholic nomocanon, or collection of ecclesiastical laws. While modeled after a Syro-Roman nomocanon compounded by Ibn al-'Assal, it was also highly influenced by Sunni Islamic sharia law and did not stray far from the general legal patterns of the Middle East at that time.