Jean Mohamed Ben Abdejlil

Jean-Mohammed Abd-el-Jalil, , born Mohammed ben Abd-el-Jalil (17 April 1904 – 24 November 1979) was a Moroccan Catholic priest, a convert from Islam, and Islamicist. He is considered a pioneer of interreligious dialogue in the Catholic Church.

Biography Early life Mohammed ben Abd-el-Jalil was born 17 April 1904, in Fez, Morocco. He was born to a religious noble family of Andalusian descent, his father serving as a high-ranking government official. Abd-el-Jalil would later speak of his family being "poor and honorable." He was one of ten children, of whom only three survived to adulthood. His brother, , served as a minister of education and agriculture in newly independent Morocco. At the age of nine years old in 1913 or 1914, Abd-el-Jalil accompanied his family on Hajj.

Education and conversion to Christianity Abd-el-Jalil received an Islamic education in Moulay Idriss Zerhoun at the University of al-Qarawiyyin. He then received a Catholic secondary education at École Charles de Foucauld in Rabat, a Franciscan high school, with the insistence of his father that his son's religious identity be respected. The headmaster Clément Étienne took notice of his academic talents and recommended him for higher education in Paris. Muhammad. His conversion permanently alienated him from his father, who held a funeral for him in an empty casket and ignored his frequent letters. by Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani for his doctorate, which was translated into English by Arthur John Arberry as A Sufi Martyr: The Apologia of 'Ain al-Qudat al-Hamadhani.

Religious and academic life On 17 September 1929, the feast day of the stigmata of Francis of Assisi, Abd-el-Jalil entered the Order of Friars Minor. He was ordained to the priesthood on 7 July 1935. His ordination card featured a calligraph of Quran 5:114, which speaks of Jesus bringing down a table from heaven to the disciples. Appointed a professor at the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1936, he published several books on Arabic and Islamic studies as well as Christian–Muslim relations, and numerous articles. In 1961, Abd-el-Jalil suffered a nervous breakdown and fled from Paris on 27 April to be with his brother in Fez, having seemingly reverted to Islam and this being reported in the Moroccan press. Believing he had made a mistake, he returned to Paris by 15 May, with the assistance of the Franciscan community in Morocco.

Abd-el-Jalil retired from teaching in 1964, having been diagnosed with tongue cancer. His work had a significant influence on the Second Vatican Council and its positive reassessment of Islam. Abd-el-Jalil was received in a private audience with Pope Paul VI in 1966. For the final fifteen years of his life, he was increasingly disabled and unable to participate in community life or public ministry, living as a virtual hermit. He died of his illness on 24 November 1979.

Spirituality Abd-el-Jalil was a member of the Badaliya prayer movement of Louis Massignon.