Mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

The notion of ‘mysticism’ differs from that of ‘religion’ in the sense that it does not designate a faith and a practice in anticipation of an after-life, but rather involves the quest for an experience of the divine in life. Throughout the history of man, mysticism has been manifested in the form of the remarkable individual quests of holy figures; some of the most noteworthy, amongst thousands of others, were Baal Shem Tov (eighteenth century) in the Hasidic movement, Jean de la Croix (sixteenth century) in Catholicism, and the Sufi Jal?l al-d?n R?m? (thirteenth century). Mysticism also inspired spiritual movements that were influenced by these models, such as Hasidism, the Carmelite spiritual movement, and the mystical order of the Mawlaw?yah. These movements sometimes played a considerable role in the history of these three religions.

There are similarities in these monotheistic mystical experiences, which distinguished them from the Eastern spiritualities (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism) or those of classical antiquity (Pythagoreanism and Neoplatonism). Indeed, the God of the Bible and the Qu’ran is interested in mankind; He manifests himself to them, and for them, through a revelation. The believers integrate his intervention into their History. The mystics take this relationship between the human being and the divine presence to its most extreme point. This encounter is often expressed in terms of reciprocal love between man and God, in an analogy of human love. Jewish and Christian mysticism are inspired by biblical texts like the Canticle of Canticles (or Song of Songs); Islamic mysticism was expressed through an outpouring of lyrical poetry written in Arabic (Hall?j, d. 922 and Ibn al-F?rid, d. 1235), Persian (R?m? or Eraqi, d. 1289), and Turkish (Yunus Emre, fourteenth century), and so on. The three religions share very similar symbols: the intoxication with the beauty of the loved one, the waiting for their presence, the nostalgia of separation, and so on.

The outcome of this love is described in the narration of ecstatic experiences in these three religions. These experiences are sometimes visionary: the vision of the divine Throne in the mysticism of the ‘chariot of God’ (Merkava) in Judaism in late antiquity, the cosmic dimension of Christ (Hildegard of Bingen, in the twelfth century), and heavenly ascensions, like that of the prophet Muhammad (Mi‘r?j) in Sufism. However, these ecstasies could take other forms than visionary ones, and could be experienced as a state of rapture. This more intellectual experience was influenced by Neoplatonian thinking, and can be found in the mysticism of the three religions.

In the three religions in question, these experiences were related and interpreted in more systematic doctrines, such as, for example, those of Abulafia (thirteenth century), Jean de la Croix, and ’Ibn ‘Arab? (d. 1241). These doctrines sometimes have a pantheistic significance: God is ultimately the only reality and the human soul is a divine emanation. They can also have a personalistic sense, that of an intermittent loving union granted by divine grace, God remaining completely transcendent compared to man. Whatever the approach, the ultimate aim of the mystical effort is to attain a state of holiness and total cooperation between human life and divine action, and the restoration of the harmony destroyed by Adam’s sin. The saint is a being who has become ‘perfect’, i.e. perfectly human. Thanks to his presence on earth, sinful humanity can continue to exist. Hence, the tzaddiq in Hasidism, the ‘Pole’ and the hierarchy of saints in Sufism and, more generally, the ‘communion of the saints’ in Christianity, all reflect the intuition of the central role of the saints in the history of humanity.

The mystical experience has always been limited to a select few. In Christianity, it was generally experienced by the monks, or isolated laypersons (Madame Guyon). However, in Judaism and Islam, it often represented a veritable social force (the Hasidic movement of Eastern Europe and the Sufi brotherhoods in the twelfth century). Thousands, even hundreds of thousands of believers gave their allegiance to spiritual masters, and accorded them their profound trust, in the hope that the blessings from the saint would benefit them. The religious authorities and doctors of Law have often been mistrustful of any direct relationship with God. But, despite some spectacular condemnations (Hall?j, crucified and decapitated in Bagdad in AD 922; Marguerite Porète, burned alive in Paris in 1310), a status quo was kept. The mystics did not contest—and most often showed the greatest respect for—the prevailing religion, whether rabbinical Judaism, Church, or the law of the Shar??ah.

That said, the mystical movements do have profound divergences that arise from the differences in religious references. Judaism and Islam accord a central role to the Book sent by God. It is through a book (the Torah and the Qur’an) and words that God reveals himself. The book—and the language that conveys its message—become, not only a means of knowledge, but also effective vehicles for the divine force, and ways of gaining knowledge of God. In this role, the Jewish Kabbala is concerned with the mysticism of the Word. The Kabbala’s major works—the Sefer Yetzira (‘Book of Creation’) or the Zohar (‘Book of Splendour’), and the teachings of Isaac Luria (sixteenth century) attest to this: the world—and therefore man—has the structure and even the consistency of a word. In Islam, similar movements sprang up, culminating in the monumental work of ’Ibn ‘Arab?, based on the idea of a cosmic outpouring of the word, a divine breath creating all worlds. But even here, while there are similarities, the notions are not identical: the collective role of the Jewish people as vector of the divine Word has no equivalent in Sufism. Islam is a religion of individual salvation, and, because of this, the quest for cosmic redemption—which appears in Jewish mysticism and Christian spirituality— finds no expression.

In contrast with the religions of the ‘Book’, the Christian religion, based on the manifestation of God in the human form of Jesus, engendered a mysticism in which Christ’s mediation is constantly present. The Book—the Old and the New Testament—is a path to finding the truth, but it doesn’t contain a divine presence, and it may be translated in different languages without losing its spiritual value. The mystic does not ‘embody the Book’— the Torah or Qur’an—but rather becomes Christ. The sentiments, visions, and doctrines that were born in the Christian framework express this idea of human deification in various ways, and the perfect example of this is Christ.

It is important to stress the diversity of the mystical movements within each religion. The most profound ruptures are not confessional—they cross over into all the mystical movements. There is no single, but rather several forms of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim mystical experience, and it would be a great mistake to make any generalizations.  This is manifested by the opposing notions of pantheistic and personalistic movements, visionary fervour and intellectualism, and ecstatic mysticism (Baal Shem Tov, Francis of Assisi, and Rumi) and ‘sober’ mysticism. It would be legitimate to consider that each mystical experience is unique and ultimately inexpressible. Therefore, we can see that it is impossible to state that ‘all forms of mysticism are saying the same thing’. More precisely, the mystics are not stating ‘something’, but are attempting to transmit a transformational experience of being. As this is a profoundly unique experience, it cannot be expressed in the usual terms. Understanding the mystics’ teachings involves studying their words in great detail and with humility, by attempting to grasp—at least in part— the experiences that they are seeking to transmit.

P. L.