The Salafī and the Orientalist. The Correspondence between Paul E. Kahle and Taqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī from the Fondo Paul Kahle of the University of Turin

The University of Turin/Italy owns the collection of materials (manuscripts, books, offprints and all the archive) belonging to the German Orientalist Paul Ernst Kahle (1875–1964). One of the most significant items in the collection of thousands of letters from around 2.500 correspondents is the correspondence between Kahle and the MoroccanTaqī al-Dīn al-Hilālī (1893–1987) who hadbeen collaborating with Kahle and stayed in Germany in the years 1936–1942. The relationship between Kahle and al-Hilālī is particularly significant because of the relevance of the protagonists in their respective realms, as, respectively, a famous Orientalist and a key figure in 20th‐century Salafism. The letters highlight their intimacy and friendship through the years and the scholarly exchange between them. From these letters written in German, English and Arabic, al-Hilālī appears as a fascinating character with many personalities and the letters as a whole further enrich a biography that attests toall that he was at the sametime: anobserver of the West and Islamic activist, a scholar according to Orientalist tradition and a Salafi.