Resumé from the book
Alois Musil's life work has certainly made him one of the greatest scientists of Arabic culture. It is very difficult to sum up his life and work in one book. His wide range of interest was concerning geography, religious studies, ethnography but also political issues of today's world. He was a specialist in oriental encyclopaedia research and his work even became valued for its diplomatic purposes.
Alois Musil was born on 30-th of June 1868, in a farmer family in the town of Rychtářov by Vyškov. To help his poor family from difficult economic situation he decided to take up religious classes to become a priest. After graduating at a secondary level he went on with studies at a seminary. There he met Prof. Melichar Mlčoch, who influenced him with his interest in the Old Testament. When he finished the seminary, he became a master of both: the Old Testament and Hebrew language.
However, dr. Musil had to leave the seminary and he moved to Moravská Ostrava, where he started teaching at a local school and occasionally helped out with running the church affairs. In June 1895, despite very tough conditions, he was able to prepare and pass a doctor degree and he obtained the diploma. His unhealthy lifestyle caused him a serious lung disease.
Despite originally thinking of studying a subject of religious life aspects in Bohemia after 30 Years War, he took up biblical studies. This intention corresponded to the encyclic of Pope Leo XIII., whose main purpose was to put together traditional dogmatics with scientific research. Popes encyclic was called Providentissimus Deus. As a result, French Dominicans opened their Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem and Jesuits established the University of St. Joseph in Beirut. Dr. Musil managed to convince his colleague, archbishop dr. Theodor Kohn, to make him leave for studies to Jerusalem. In the beginning of November after having been guaranteed a financial support, he departed Olomouc. After short while, dr. Musil gets disappointed with Dominican school where he lacked a sufficient knowledge of Dominican teachers. After fourteen months he left Jerusalem and decided to go to Beirut. He found out immediately, that Beirut suits his aims much more than Jerusalem. He quickly found a good friend, an excellent arabist P. Louis Cheikh who became his advisor. He also started to learn about the country by taking up some trips and visiting historic sites like Petra and Palmyra. In that early stage, his most important trip took place east of Amman in 1898. During this expedition he found a little oriental palace called Kusejr Amra built in the first half of the eight century. Dr. Musil was surprised to see mosaic pictures and wallpaintings inside. The most surprising though, was the finding of figural drawings, originating from the early stages of Islam culture. Musil's exploration was a breakthrough into a scientists and explorers. Musil kept on coming back to Arab world until 1917. His first Austrian co-travellers were painter A. L. Mielech, R. Thomasberger from the Academy of military geography, geologist L. Korber, and also the prince Sixtus Bourbon-Parma, the brother of Caesar Zita. During his expeditions he had gone through various adventures, he risked his life, suffered from dangerous oriental diseases, hunger, thirst, cold and heat. On the other hand, he became an honorary chief of two largest Bedouin tribes - Ruala and Beni Sachr. He even saved life of the duke of Ruala, Nuri ibn Salan.
Between his trips dr. Musil kept working on his publications and lecturing. In 1907 he published a four-part monography Arabia Petraea containing three maps and two-part publication Kusejr Amra with reproductions of Melichar's drawings. In addition to that, he published plenty of magazine articles and stories. In that time, he became such famous specialist in Arab culture, that even Sir Edward Grey, the British ministry of foreign affairs, asked Musil to help him with demarcating the Egypt-Turkish Palestinien borders. In 1910 he worked with dr. L. Kober on mapping the area of Hedjars track, two years later he accompanied prince Sixtus Bourbon-Parma to Palmyra and Mesopotamia. At this time begins Musil's friendship with archduke Charles and princess Zita, the sister of Sixtus.
After the beginning of the World War I., which took place also in Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Musil leaves for Middle East, upon the written request of Nuri and Aude. They asked him to help them eliminate English attempts for forcing the local tribes onto their side and bringing up the uprising against Turkey. In a way, he becomes an opponent of T. E. Lawrence, unfortunately, a losing opponent.
His last expedition takes him into Turkey in 1917, with archduke Hubert Salvator undercover.
Its official purpose was to inspect Austrian Army units and to check the safety of Austro-Hungarian citizens. However, its main purpose was the same as the one mentioned in the above paragraph: to get the Arabs fight against Turks. Finally, the War was over with the monarchy broken apart and Caesar couple left in exile. The University in Vienna offered Musil to stay and teach but he decided to go to Prague. There he started working in the Charles University, although some people protested against it. In the aftermath campaign taken against Musil, they found some facts about his beneficial work in favour of imprisoned.
Czech politicians K. Kramář, A. Rašín, V. Klofáč and also some Czech marines from Boka Kotorska. As a result, he was nominated as a professor of Auxiliary Studies of Orient and Modern Arabistic at the Charles University.
On May, 7, 1922, president T. G. Masaryk introduced Musil to an American industrialist Ch. R. Crane. Thanks to the help of both of these influential men, dr. Musil could start publishing the results of his work in English. In 1923 he left with Crane for America to negotiate the conditions of publishing his work with American Geographical Society. Musil's large work about the life and culture of Arab world came finally out within next three years and was called Oriental Explorations and Studies. The author was awarded the Gold Medal of Ch. P. Daly, and his name was embossed with bronze letters in society's Hall of Fame.
Alois Musil worked for the Charles University until 1938. He was lecturing, writing and publishing. The end of his life he spent in Otryby by Štenberk nad Sázavou. Neither there had he stopped working. He would practice his last Mass, then he had to lie down in the bed. He was moved to the hospital in Prague, where his kidney-disfunction was joined by lung disease. When he felt the approaching end, he insisted on being moved back to Otryby where he died.
It was the 12 of March when Alois Musil - aka Musa ar Rueili - died. Hiss body remnants stay in his house in Rychtářov, where they were moved on his 100. birth anniversary.
Oldřich Klobas: Alois Musil --- resumé aus der Buch, aktualiziert 23.3.2005