Where Islam & Christianity meet: Saint Moses in the Syrian desert

Commonweal, March 12, 1999 by Gabriel Saiad Reynolds

The history of Mar Musa matches the ups and downs of its patron saint. According to the traditional account, Saint Moses led a long and lucrative career as a thief in Ethiopia, before being pursued by the authorities and forced to seek refuge among hermits in the wilderness. There he was converted to Christianity, and his piety became as intense as his impiety had been. Still a wanted man, Moses headed north from Ethiopia to Egypt, where he was ordained and retired as a hermit. He died in 395 and was buried at the monastery of al-Baramus in Egypt, where his body is still venerated. Today, the Syrian church often represents Moses in a manner close to that of Saint George: a knight riding a horse and slaying a dreadful beast that is the incarnation of evil.

Today, the fledgling community at Mar Musa is intensely aware of its troubled past and its fragile future. For the Christian churches of the Arab lands are endangered today, split into scores of sects and divided by a bitter legacy of contention that traces back to the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451). Meanwhile, each year Christians become a smaller minority as a result of a lower birth rate and higher rate of emigration than Muslims. Those Christians who do remain stand in a precarious social position, being fully integrated neither with their Islamic neighbors nor with Western culture, which has shown little interest in the fate of Eastern Christianity. Yet Mar Musa does not look west for guidance. Rather, it embraces its minority status, emphasizes its Semitic heritage in the roots of the Syrian church, and believes that these will allow Christianity to be more fully alive in the Islamic context.

While its effect on the church worldwide is the subject of debate, the theology of inculturation is crucial to Mar Musa. It affirms the uniqueness of Eastern Christians and their deep and authentic roots in the Arab world. It also provides a channel for Christians to better understand Islam, and affirm their own rights in Islamic society. And finally, it suggests that Eastern Christianity must engage Islam, not merely as a question of style, but as a matter of survival.

Leaving the monastery behind at the end of the month, with my spirit refreshed and my head spinning with ideas, I reflected on the venture of Mar Musa. I don't know if it will succeed; the obstacles are great, but I know that I will be back, and many like me. For the abundance of life in the midst of the wilderness gives hope in the persevering human spirit and in the enduring grace of God, "which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast..." (Hebrews 6:19).

Gabriel Saiad Reynolds is currently pursuing a doctorate in Islamic Studies at Yale University. This is his first contribution to Commonweal.