Abdallah Qara'ali, OLM (8 September 1672 – 6 January 1742) was a Lebanese renowned

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch The Maronite Church (; ) is an Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The head of the Maronite ...

, better known as the

Maronite Catholic Church The Maronite Church (; ) is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The head of the Maronit ...

. 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 The Baladites, formally known as the Lebanese Maronite Order (; abbreviated OLM), is a monastic order among the Levant-based, Catholic Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic Church. The order was founded in 1 ...

Biography

Early life and priesthood

Qara'ali was born on 8 September 1672 in the

Mount Lebanon Emirate The Emirate of Mount Lebanon () was a part of Mount Lebanon that enjoyed variable degrees of partial autonomy under the stable suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire between the mid-16th and the early-19th century. The town of Baakleen was the seat of ...

, an

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

subdivision of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

covering roughly what is now the modern state of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. He was ordained a priest in 1696. In 1694, he, along with two other men, established the Lebanese Maronite Order. He served as the order's

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

from 1699 to 1716.

Episcopacy

On 17 September 1716, Qara'ali was consecrated Archeparch of Beirut, making him the first member of the Lebanese Maronites to ascend to the prelature.

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

Jacob IV Awad,

Patriarch of Antioch The Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (, , from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has ...

served as the

principal consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

. As archeparch, he played an important role in the

Lebanese Council of 1736 The Lebanese Council of 1736 (Arabic: ''al-Majma al-Lubnanī'', also Council of Mount Lebanon or Council of Luwayza) was a synod of the Maronite Church held from 30 September to 2 October that year at the monastery of Our Lady of Luwayza near Zou ...

. This

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

canonically established the Maronite episcopal sees, including that of Beirut. Qara'ali was a renowned jurist in his time, and is noted in legal circles for his significant work ''Mukhtasar al-shari'a'', a

nomocanon A nomocanon (, ; from the Greek 'law' and 'a rule') is a collection of ecclesiastical law, consisting of the elements from both the civil law and the canon law. Nomocanons form part of the canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches (through th ...

in the Maronite Catholic tradition. 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. Qara'ali died in 1742 and was buried at the Luwayzah Monastery, the location where the Lebanese Council had taken place.

Episcopal lineage

* Patriarch Youhanna Bawwab el-Safrawi * Patriarch George Rizqallah Beseb’ely (1656) * Patriarch

Estephan El Douaihy Istifan al-Duwayhi or Estephan El Douaihy ( / ALA-LC: ''Isṭifānūs al-thānī Buṭrus al-Duwayhī''; ; ; ; 2 August 1630 – 3 May 1704) was the 57th List of Maronite Patriarchs, Patriarch of the Maronite Church, serving from 1670 until his d ...

(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 Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...

and did not stray far from the general legal patterns of the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

at that time.

References

{{Authority control Lebanese jurists 1672 births 1742 deaths