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Article: To go among the Saracens: a Franciscan composer's journey into the House of Islam.(Francis of Assisi )
- Article from:
- CrossCurrents - The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health
- Article date:
- September 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Association for Religion and Intellectual Life. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Francis of Assisi went to Damietta, Egypt in 1219 with the intention of converting Sultan Malek al-Kamel, in the hope that the rest of the Fifth Crusade might be averted. After spending a week with the Sultan (during which he was able to work out a peace agreement with the Muslims which was summarily rejected by the Crusaders), (1) Francis went on to minister to the poor and afflicted irrespective of creed, first in Damietta, then later in the Holy Land.
During this time, a great change occurred in his thinking about Islam, and in his notions about prayer and devotion. Though he had not achieved his goal of converting the Sultan, he did bring back from the House ...