Christian Mysticism in the Ottoman Empire: The Case of Hindiyya the Nun, 1720-1798
Muslim World, The › Vol. 95 Nbr. 2, April 2005
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Summary
No Christian woman in the Ottoman Empire provoked as much agitation and anxiety, admiration, and obloquy as did a nun from Aleppo who migrated and settled in Lebanon in the eighteenth century. Matar discusses the case of Hindiyya Ujaimy in the midst of Christian mysticism in the Ottoman Empire.
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Extract
Christian Mysticism in the Ottoman Empire: The Case of Hindiyya the Nun, 1720-1798
No Christian woman in the Ottoman Empire provoked as much agitation and anxiety, admiration and obloquy as did a nun from Aleppo, "une religieuse arabe," as Maurice Barrés called her,1 who migrated and settled in Lebanon in the eighteenth century.2 She was Anne/ Hindiyya Ujaimy (1720-1798), always described as the "Aleppan Maronite" / al-halabiyya al-maruniyya, who established an Order that was later dissolved for nuns dedicated to the devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She was supported as well as opposed by rulers of Mount Lebanon; patriarchs and priests either denounced her or blessed and joined her order; others sought to be buried in her convent and bequeathed to her order all their worldly possessions. From 1750 until 1774, she was celebrated and admired: one manuscript that records her sayings concludes with a comment that Hindiyya enjoyed a good reputation from "1750 to the year 1774. Her good years were twenty-four."3 Thereafter, Hindiyya fell afoul of the Rome-based ecclesiastical authorities, and was persecuted and tortured. Her tribulations continued until her death in 1798 in the convent of Our Lady of the Fields, where she had been held in isolation in an underground crypt. Her memory continued to be orally celebrated in Lebanon until the early twentieth century.
The life and teachings of Hindiyya show how a Christian woman was able to lead an intensely spiritual life in the heart of the Ottoman Empire. Her tribulations did not come from Muslim but from Christian persecution. Hindiyya attempted to establish an order that would take account of conditions of women in the region, and would have "Arabized" or "Levanitinized" the spiritual life of nuns in the Middle E...See the full content of this document
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