The order of Preachers and its early missionary endeavours in the Islamic world

This paper sets the missionary activity of the order of preachers throughout the thirteenth century within the context of the charisma of its founder st. dominic and the strategies he employed in his early encounters with the albigensians in southern france,namely preaching and scholarly disputation. being spanish from castile,st dominic was already well acquainted with islam. yet it was only under his successor,bl. jordan of saxony,that the helm of the order established itself in lands under muslim rule,especially in the middle east and north africa. throughout the thirteenth century a number of friar preachers,inspired by the method of their founder and his successors,undertook the mission of encountering islam,mainly by means of apologetical writings and theological disputations. this activity was made possible in no small way by the establishment of language schools and a working knowledge of the teachings of the qur'an. this paper will trace the salient stages of this missionary endeavour - in north africa as well as in the middle and near east its successes and failures,and the lessons to be drawn therefrom.