Stephen El Douaihy

From Maronite History

Stephen El Douaihy (Istefan al-Duwayhi) (?-1704) served as Maronite Patriarch from 1670 until 1704. El Douaihy is also considered the first Maronite historian in modern time, having written extensively about the Maronite Church. He authored an ecclesiastical and temporal history of the Maronites and their church, entitled Tarikh al-Ta'ifa al-Maruniyya (History of the Maronite Denomination). In this book he carefully examined the origin of the term "Maronite," rejecting several theories as to the origin of the word and instead adopting the theory that the Monastery of Marun was named after Christ, and that Maronites adopted their name from this monastery. El Douaihy also embraces a theory promoted by Jabra'il Ibn al-Qila'i that the Maronites were named after Marun, "Patriarch of Great Antioch."

El Douaihy insisted that the Maronites have their origin in a monastery situated on al-Asi (Orontes) River near the city of Hama in Syria, the monks of which always upheld the orthodox faith defined by the Council of Chalcedon and were never Monothelites.

Sources

• Matti Moosa - The Maronites in History (Syracuse University Press, 1986).