CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, AND HINDUISM IN LOUIS MASSIGNON'S APPROPRIATION OF GANDHI AS A MODERN SAINT.

Toward the end of his career, Catholic scholar of Islam and pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding Louis Massignon focused increasingly on the life and work of M. K. Gandhi, whom he considered a saint. Massignon was convinced of a Muslim orientation in Gandhi's spirituality, which he believed to be nearly Abrahamic through Gandhi's devotion to truth/satya, which Massignon equated with the Arabic haqq, a primary Muslim name for God. This essay seeks to expose Massignon's indebtedness to, and understanding and appropriation of, Gandhi. It addresses his handling of Gandhi's actual lived Hinduism and anticipates a critique of Massignon's orientalism. It concludes that the Massignon-Gandhi relationship is a complicated but fruitful example in which Gandhi's Hindu-Muslim sanctity illuminates and encourages Massignon's Christian sanctity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]