An enigma for French Muslims Muhammad Hamidullah
by
AMARA BAMBA*

In a secular country, non-Muslim academics’ opinions on Islamic issues are often interesting but always incomplete because they are unable to tackle the spiritual experience of the foundation of Islamic devotion. With his traditional Islamic family background, coupled with a strong academic culture from the Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, Hamidullah enriched the French intellectual sphere on Islamic questions with his prolific work.

For 23 years he worked as a professional researcher at the French National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS), where he became a research director, comparable to the position of a university professor.

In 1959, his translation of the Holy Quran became the first Muslim translation of the Holy Book into French. His research on Sira -- the life of Prophet Muhammad -- collected under the title of “Le Prophète de l’islam,” (The Prophet of Islam) is the most complete and documented piece of research ever published on the life of the Prophet in the French language. He wrote in the introduction that his book was a gift to France for playing host to him.

Seven years after Hamidullah breathed his last in Jacksonville, Florida, his personality remains an enigma among French intellectuals. Few people can talk of Hamidullah as a person, but his work is widespread and discussed by teachers, who still refer to it. A biography of Hamidullah is definitely needed for the younger generations of French Muslims who are seeking spiritual and intellectual references.

Hamidullah was just as enigmatic in life as he is in death. He was a lecturer of international renown, he was a prominent academic researcher sought by universities and he was also a spiritual authority who converted hundreds of people to Islam, but Hamidullah always refused the media an audience and refused photos to be taken by them as well. Cameras were forbidden during his conferences.

But, once, in 1994, police arrested the rector of Adda’wa Mosque. Adda’wa is the second biggest mosque in Paris, where Hamidullah usually attended weddings and conversion services. The rector was one of his students. A few days after the police detained him, a public gathering was organized in the mosque in support of the rector, who is well known for his peaceful and interfaith positions. Priests, imams and rabbis were present. Hamidullah joined this gathering. Because journalists were invited, the organization committee was in great panic when Hamidullah walked onto the stage. Security staff rushed to ask photographers and cameramen to turn their cameras off. But Hamidullah stopped them and left the journalists to take pictures and even film his speech.

The lack of media coverage is not sufficient to explain the Hamidullah enigma. Another reason, a more ideological one, can help bring light to this issue. We must remember that in the 1950s many Muslim countries were still under colonization or fighting for political freedom. Hamidullah was a victim of this situation personally, for he left his homeland, Hyderabad, because of the Indian invasion. So, like all Muslim intellectuals, his word was expected on the complex phenomenon labeled “the Crisis of The Muslim World.” But for some reason, Professor Hamidullah never engaged in the debate about this crisis. “We tens of thousands of Muslim students in Paris would sit down quietly and listen to his [Hamidullah’s] words. He would talk about very interesting and important subjects, but never would he question the crisis of the Muslim world,” says Rachid Benaïssa, a French intellectual of Algerian origin.

A third reason for our search to explain the Hamidullah enigma is a quote from Muhammad Mestiri, director of the French bureau of International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). According to Mestiri: “With his model of humility, asceticism and his thirst for knowledge, Professor Hamidullah gave us an example of an open-minded, critical, civilized and progressive Muslim spirit. But I actually see this choice in contrast with the spirit prevailing in the French Muslim community because the community is falling under more sectarian and communitarian attitudes.”

 Undeniably, for the entire the 50 years he lived in Paris, Hamidullah focused on the core of Islamic teachings with scientific research. He didn’t engage in the frequent public polemics around the presence of Muslim communities in the West. Those who attacked his views usually heard him saying, “I have acknowledged that you don’t agree with me,” and then the subject was closed. But when he couldn’t escape from the controversy, he would express his visions in books written anonymously. Mentioning one such divisive book in a letter to one of his colleagues, he explains that “there are ‘Islamic’ reasons for not giving my name on that book. … I have the French and English versions. It’s a good idea to translate it into German, Arabic, Indonesian etc… and even into Italian to distribute it in the Vatican,” as quoted in the book “Muhammed Hamidullah, Hocam’dan Mektuplar,” by İhsan Sürreya Sırma.

Professor Hamidullah was an active participant in the French Christian-Muslim dialogue along with Louis Massignon, who wrote the foreword of the first edition of his translation of the Holy Quran. The Islamic Cultural Centre (CCI) Hamidullah founded in Paris distributed Christmas gifts to Christian families. In this interfaith relationship, Hamidullah would always explain Islam, but never would he make concessions on its principals.

We heard and example of this from Réunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean with a Muslim population of less than 10 percent. During a conference, a local Hindu priest became enthusiastic after he listened to Hamidullah. He expressed deep gratitude to the professor for his speech and concluded his comment by saying, “In the manner in which you talk of your religion, I see no difference between Islam and Hinduism.” The statement was refreshing and welcomed with loud applause. But with a calm and emotionless voice, Hamidullah’s response was, “One difference between Islam and Hinduism is that the Hindu worships the cow, but the Muslim slits its throat and eats it.”

 The author of more than 130 books, Hamidullah’s works were published in many languages, including English, German, Arabic, Turkish and Urdu. But in France, teaching about Islam in the French language was very important for him. An official report by the CCI states that “the public conferences organized by the center must be in French.” But today, not more than two of his books can be found in French bookshops. Turkish readers can find more than 20 of his books.

There is another aspect of the Hamidullah enigma. He was neither an Arab nor French, but he was the first Muslim to translate the Quran from Arabic into French. For many French citizens of Arab origin, Hamidullah is thought to be an Arab of North African origin. For the Pakistani community, Hamidullah is a perfect Pakistani. They oppose the Indians who say he is Indian. A few interviews made in İstanbul show that many Turkish people think that Hamidullah was Turkish.

Once he was questioned on his nationality: “I come from Paradise, my mother is Awa and my father is Adam,” he countered. Hamidullah did not talk of his personal life. In “Abraham,” an interfaith book by a Christian, a Jew and a Muslim writer, he introduces himself: “I was born in 1948 in Hyderabad, in India. I have studied at La Sorbonne University. I have lived in Paris since 1948. I am a Sunni Muslim intellectual interested in scientific questions [I have worked at the CNRS].”

On his membership form for the CCI, he filled his name, address, profession and other details normally. But for his nationality he just wrote “Muslim.” Officials saw him as a “stateless citizen.” But for his grandniece Sadida Athaullah, Hamidullah was “the last citizen of the erstwhile state of Hyderabad.”

French philosopher René Guénon (1886 - 1951) exposed the spiritual East to the materialistic West. After he converted to Islam, Guénon moved to Egypt, where he lived for the rest of his life. Hamidullah didn’t compare the East to the West. He considered Islam to be a gift for all humanity, but he was conscious of the weight of science in Western society. By devoting himself to scientific research on Islamic subjects in Western languages, Professor Hamidullah sowed intellectual seeds in France, even if his own life remains an enigma.