Sufi mysticism and Jewish mysticism

The question addressed in this article explores the intersection of theology and mysticism in Judaism and Islam. All religions have mystical elements in every aspect of religious life, from the creation of man, and in some cases, up to the extinction of human life. I argue that Jewish mysticism (particularly the Kabbalah) and Islamic mysticism (Sufi mysticism) share a commonality that suggests contact at the philosophical and esoteric levels, which evolved after the Muslim conquests, spreading from the gates of China to Andalusian Spain.

I argue, based on the ‘Cairo Genizah” documents, that the Jews were interested in Sufi literature with Arabic characters and Hebrew letters.  Jewish scholars recognized the Sufi tradition as a legitimate means of experiencing mystical encounters with the Creator.

Over the centuries, a tradition of religious and philosophical meetings has existed between Jewish mystics and Sufis. On the negative side, this often led to the conversions of the Jews to Sufism, which caused extreme hardship for their Jewish wives and children. One of the questions that arose during the research for this article concerns the interaction between 21st-century Jewish and Sufi communities. Dr. Chen Bram’s article, “Spirituality under the Shadow of the Conflict: Sufi Circles in Israel,” was extremely helpful in helping me find an answer. Dr. Bram opens by describing Sufism in Israel as not typical of the evolving Sufism under Western influences. Opening a new field in this study had always been relatively apolitical in the past. As it emerges in Israel, Sufism’s challenge is to become a bridge between the rival parties: Jews and Sufi Muslims.

Dr. Bram notes that Sufism began to influence Israeli spirituality in the 1990s, when new translations of Sufi literature and poetry became available. Israeli Jews organized study groups at the turn of the new century, and a Jewish-Muslim tariqa (brotherhood) was created, including The Path of Abraham. Bram argues that the latest Israeli Sufi circles emerged from a general spread of Sufi ideas in the West, particularly in North America, as part of a global interest in Sufism; however, according to Bram, the Israeli experience differs in several ways. Bram argues further that Israel is, in effect, a microcosm of the general Western world, in that Israeli society includes Jews and Muslims, and sub-groups such as the influence exerted by Jewish settlers, on the Jewish side, and Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood on the Muslim Palestinian side. Efforts are underway to rebuild traditional Sufi meeting houses, thus creating a new interaction between Sufi Brotherhoods and Israeli Jewish society.