Yahyah Michot
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Yahya Michot (born Jean Michot) is a Belgian
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
who is a professor of
Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...
.


Background

Yahyah Michot was the president of the Higher Council of Muslims in Belgium from 1995 to 1998. Yahyah Michot teaches at the Hartford Seminary,
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
as a professor of
Islamic Studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...
and
Christian-Muslim Relations Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, with 2.8 billion and 1.9 billion adherents, respectively. Both religions are considered as Abrahamic, and are monotheistic, originating in the Middle East. Christianity deve ...
. He is also the current editor of the journal "The Muslim World" edited by the Seminary.


Controversy

In 1997, under the pseudonym of Nasreddin Lebatelier, he published ''
Le Statut des Moines Le Statut des Moines is a short French translation of Muslim jurist Ibn Taymiyyah's Mardin fatwa by Yahyah Michot, published in 1997, under the pseudonym of Nasreddin Lebatelier. The translation is considered a misprint and a gross misinterpretati ...
'' from Lebanon. This pamphlet included a translation of a short work by the famed 13th-14th century Muslim scholar
Ibn Taymiyya Ibn Taymiyyah (January 22, 1263 – September 26, 1328; ar, ابن تيمية), birth name Taqī ad-Dīn ʾAḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām al-Numayrī al-Ḥarrānī ( ar, تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد الحليم ...
, called ''On the Statute of
Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s'', which is read by some as a call for the killing of Christian monks if they are found outside their monasteries in a Muslim country. Lebatelier's introduction referred to the Algerian
Armed Islamic Group The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from french: Groupe Islamique Armé; ar, الجماعة الإسلامية المسلّحة, al-Jamāʿa l-ʾIslāmiyya l-Musallaḥa) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian gove ...
's (GIA) killing of seven Trappist monks in Tibhirine in 1996. He analysed not only the GIA's justification for the killings but also the Muslim community's consensus ''(ijmâ')'' which condemned these assassinations, and explained the religious authoritativeness of such a consensus. He was nevertheless accused of having condoned the killing of the seven Trappists by Catholic authorities and media, notably by Marcel Crochet, the Rector of the Catholic University of Louvain where he was employed (June 26, 1997). Michot negotiated his departure from the University of Louvain, which paid him a financial indemnity, including 50% of his lawyer's fees. Once appointed as the first Muslim lecturer of Islamic theology in Oxford, Michot faced renewed Catholic hostility, notably in various articles by
Margaret Hebblethwaite Margaret Isabella Mary Hebblethwaite (née Speaight; born 16 June 1951, in London) is a British writer, journalist, activist and religious worker. The daughter of wood engraver Mary Olive (née Mudd) and historian George Speaight, Hebblethwaite i ...
in '' The Tablet'' (22 and 29 August 1998; 12 September 1998) and in an interview of the same activist on BBC 4, ''Sunday'' program (27 September 1998). Oxford nevertheless confirmed his appointment (''Oxford University Gazette'', 23 September 1999). In England, Michot issued a statement which made clear that he had "never developed any kind of apology for murder" in his writings or statements. He "completely endorsed the condemnation of the GIA by the consensus of the Muslim community" and had always considered that "these killings were a particularly tragic event in Islamo−Christian relations". However, in 2010, Michot, agreed with that the misprint of the Mardin fatwa resulted him that resulted him writing an erroneous analysis in
Le Statut des Moines Le Statut des Moines is a short French translation of Muslim jurist Ibn Taymiyyah's Mardin fatwa by Yahyah Michot, published in 1997, under the pseudonym of Nasreddin Lebatelier. The translation is considered a misprint and a gross misinterpretati ...
, and distanced himself from condoning any killings by
jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
groups. A Jesuit specialist of Ibn Taymiyya wrote to Michot in January 1999, "Your book is certainly not advocating murder, as I had been led to believe before I read it. I see your point, the case of the killing of the monks does present legal questions which are important for Muslims to address."


Works

*''IBN SÎNÂ. Lettre au vizir Abû Sa'd"'', 2000; *''"AVICENNE. Réfutation de l'astrologie" '', 2000; *''Ibn Taymiyya: Muslims under non-Muslim Rule'' (2006), *''Ahmad al-Aqhisârî: Against Smoking. An Ottoman Manifesto'',2010; *''Musulmans en Europe'', (2002).


See also

*
Le Statut des Moines Le Statut des Moines is a short French translation of Muslim jurist Ibn Taymiyyah's Mardin fatwa by Yahyah Michot, published in 1997, under the pseudonym of Nasreddin Lebatelier. The translation is considered a misprint and a gross misinterpretati ...


References


External links


Ibn Taymiyya. Le statut des moines
Yahya Michot. * .



Philippe Van Parijs. * ''Jihad from Qur'an to Bin Laden''.
Richard Bonney Richard Bonney (1947–4 August 2017) was an English historian and priest. He was appointed Lecturer in European History at the University of Reading in 1971 and Professor of Modern History at the University of Leicester in 1984, a post from wh ...
, p. 122. {{DEFAULTSORT:Michot, Yahyah Belgian writers in French Converts to Islam 21st-century Muslim scholars of Islam Belgian Muslims Living people Year of birth missing (living people)