Lessons in philosophy

Volunteering to work in the Middle East, he was sent to a school founded by the Jesuits in Bekfaya, Lebanon, to study Arabic language and culture. The course was very intensive, and lasted two years. He studied Arabic literature from pre-Islamic to modern times and singles out two books that gave him a deep insight into Arabic culture -- Kalila wa Dimna and Taha Hussein's Al-Ayyam.

To pursue his graduate studies in Arabic and Islamic philosophy, he came to Egypt and enrolled at the Faculty of Arts of Ain Shams University, there to work under the tutelage of Dr Abdel-Rahman Badawi. He taught philosophy at the Coptic Catholic Theological Faculty at the same time. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete his masters' thesis -- a critical study of a text by Bahmaniar Bin Marzoubar -- as a fire broke out in a theatre near his lodgings, spreading to his rooms and ravaging all his belongings, including all his books, notes and papers.

In 1966, he went to France to study theology before being ordained as priest. He chose as his motto 'the service of reconciliation'. He clarifies: "My interpretation of the term reconciliation is entering into a true relationship with people -- of different faiths, denominations, cultural and social levels -- studying, understanding and respecting these differences. Reconciliation does not imply the abolishment of differences; on the contrary, it acknowledges these differences and searches for common grounds and the possibility of communication to bring them into agreement and harmony." He was ordained priest in 1969.

While in France, he also started his doctoral studies at the Sorbonne on Islamic philosophy. During the summer vacations, he would return to Egypt to pursue his teaching work and rediscover his love for the country. His primary reading in Islamic philosophy was the Qur'anic commentary of Imam Mohamed Abduh and his disciple, Mohamed Rashid Reda. "The commentary, a study of six thousand pages, was an excellent experience for me. It gave me a clear understanding of the whole Qur'an, the basis of Islamic history. It was a direct and definite entry into Islamic thinking, which I appreciated, as I felt that my vocation was to be in the service of religion."

Through his work on the commentary, he discovered the importance Mohamed Abduh and Rashid Reda attributed to the two Qur'anic terms "Sunan Allah" (the Way or Laws of God) and "Al-Thiqa Billah (Trust in God). These became the topic of his doctorate, entitled "The Concept of the Laws of God in the Qur'an, based on Al-Manar by Imam Mohamed Abduh and Rashid Reda". He registered at the Sorbonne in 1968 and, returning to Egypt, became so immersed in various activities that it was only in 1987 that he was able to defend his thesis.

One of van Nispen's great passions is teaching Islamic philosophy and theology to the would-be priests. "There is a certain complementarity in my teaching Islamic studies and philosophy to these young novices. It is only through their complete understanding of Islam that the priests can function responsibly and positively toward society as a whole. At the same time, philosophy is not only giving people ideas. It is teaching them to listen, to be open to other people and have access to questions. Questions are more important than answers; with questioning, we are in constant motion. Contrary to current belief, questioning is not heresy. People must be convinced of their beliefs in order to be true to their faith."

He was one of the founders of a group of people of various walks of life, different allegiances and different faiths, interested in brining together Christians and Muslims in complete harmony. The group, officially recognised in 1978, is called the Religious Brotherhood. Some of the founding members of this group were Sheikh Ahmad Hassan El-Baqouri, Abduh Sallam, Mary Kahil, and Father George Qanawati. The group's aim is not to formulate a new religion based on Islamic and Christian principles, but to meet as brothers and co-citizens of different faiths, with complete respect for each other. Nabil Allouba, an eminent member of the Brotherhood, says of van Nispen: "He attends our monthly meetings very regularly. He always arrives on his bicycle, pedaling from his home in Shubra to Garden City, and keenly works for the expansion of the membership and activities of the Brotherhood."

With respect to Sheikh El-Baqouri, van Nispen has a somewhat esoteric remark: "I regard him as my father in Brotherhood. We were very close and I really felt a strong rapport towards him -- like a son to his father. He was a marvelous man, a living book, and extremely open. Through our numerous talks. I learned a lot about the history of Egypt and Egyptian society, the changes in the structure of the society, its problems, causes and the roles played by foreign influences. It clarified to me the deep-rooted relation embodying all Egyptians and how each is part of the other's identity."

Van Nispen is also a member of the Egyptian Philosophic Society and the Egyptian Commission for Justice and Peace. One of the most positive and concrete works of this Commission was a booklet published after the series of meetings entitled the National Dialogue.

Describing his feelings towards Egypt, where he has lived for almost 36 years, Van Nispen says "I am deeply attached to Egypt and have never felt like a foreigner here. What links me so strongly to Egypt was certainly the friendship I enjoyed with so many people. I believe that real human relations -- al-'ishra al-tayyiba [an untranslatable expression best rendered as good-hearted coexistence] -- is one of the aspects of strength of Egypt and the Egyptians."

In 1979 he applied for Egyptian nationality, and is still hopeful that the government will grant it to him. "It is a question of belonging. It is not that I am denying my Dutch nationality -- my physique and Arabic accent are an obvious evidence of my Western origin -- but I feel I belong to this society, and cannot speak about it as though it were outside my personality." He strongly resents foreign intervention in religious matters in Egypt, saying angrily: "It is a misunderstanding of what is happening, and the most negative way of dealing with the problem."

He is often invited to attend conferences at home and abroad on enlightenment and national unity as well as religion. Last year, he traveled twice to Algeria at the invitation of the National Higher Institute for Islamic Civilisation, to attend their conference on Human Beings in the Celestial Books, where he delivered a paper entitled "Freedom, Responsibility and Relations with the Other in Perspective of the Holy Scriptures". He has been invited again and will be going before the end of the current year.

In 1994, he was asked to participate in writing a chapter in Between Desert and City: The Coptic Orthodox Church Today as part of the protest raised by many persons here against the congress to be held in Cairo on the "rights of minorities in Arab motherland and in the Middle East". He wrote a lengthy paper entitled "Changes in Relations between Copts and Muslims (1952-1994) in the Light of Historical Experience". He concludes his paper with these words: "The experience of Copts and Muslims living together in Egypt is a unique experience of two communities who together form the national reality of the same country from the very beginning of the existence and the expansion of Islam. This experience includes challenges, tests and indeed sufferings, but it has been able to survive despite everything, and constitutes the very riches of Egypt. At the same time, it is never a fixed given, something automatically put into practice: at each period, and today more than ever, it must be refashioned and recreated in an original manner, on the very basis of the historical inheritance -- common and distinct -- which all have received together. This is the challenge addressed to the totality of Egyptian society today. It is also the lesson that other societies, each in its own way, can draw from this rich and unique experience of the co-habitation of Copts and Muslims in Egypt.

photo: Randa Shaath