ABSTRACT
The work deserves attention, because it is very likely the only known case in modern history of a Moroccan Muslim convert to Christianity who joined the Franciscan order and became a renowned orientalist as well as one of the main architects of the modern Christian–Muslim dialogue. The personal intervention of Lyautey, Abdeljalil is grants a scholarship to continue higher education in Paris. All these encounters have – to some degree – influenced Abdeljalil’s conversion to Christianity. The latter is introduces to Massignon for the first time by Lyautey during one of visits to Morocco. The writings can be groups under two categories: academic works and works destined to nonspecialized Catholic readers. Abdeljalil’s impact in the fields of Arabic and Islamic studies cannot be compares to that of Louis Massignon. It is probably the famous Nostra Aetate, a.k.a. the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non–Christian Religions, that represents best the legacy, the spirit, and the hopes of Abdeljalil.
