I'm still new to this forum concept so if I've misunderstood, please move this thread to Religion.
Muslim influence can sometimes be found far from Arabia. The first book of Eastern European Hasidism, Toledot Yaakov Yosef by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye, disciple of the Baal Shem Tov (1780) twice includes the saying: “The wise man has said: You have returned from the minor war, now prepare yourselves for the major war”. That is, prepare for spiritual struggle which is more important than any material struggle.
This is a well-known Sufi saying, usually attributed to Muhammad. It probably found its way into Hasidic tradition through its appearance in Rabbenu Bachya’s Duties of the Heart. Rabbenu Bachya included many Sufi teachings and stories in his work, ascribing them to anonymous sages.
The boundaries between Judaism and Islam were not rigid in early times. There were Jewish converts to Islam. Muslim sources also mention a Jewish movement which accepted Muhammad as a prophet and the Quran as scripture. These Jews were still not Muslims since they did not consider themselves bound by the obligations of Islam (such as praying 5 times a day or making the pilgrimage to Mecca). The fact that, with the spread of Islam, Arabic became the language of the Middle East, North Africa and Spain, including the Jews of those countries, facilitated cultural cross-influences. For several centuries, most Jewish writing in those regions, both secular and religious, was in Arabic (though it was Jewish Arabic, written in Hebrew letters), and was strongly influenced by Muslim culture which was responsible for the spreading of the Arabic language.
e.g. There was a tradition of Jewish thought which arose in a Muslim milieu and expressed itself principally in Judaeo-Arabic writings. Today this tradition usually goes under the name of medieval Jewish philosophy. Its representatives include Saadya Gaon, Bachya ibn Pakuda, Ibn Daud, and of course Judah Halevi and Moses Maimonides.
It is a well-known fact that the Jewish authors in question were, in general, students of the works of the Muslim Falasifa (philosophers) and acknowledged their debts to them. Moreover they frequently and candidly adopted their interpretations of the works of Plato and Aristotle.
There is an important difference, however. In Islam, especially Western Islam, where the Judaeo-Arabic tradition flourished, philosophical and exegetical literature were fairly distinct enterprises. In the West the preferred philosophic teacher was al-Farabi, whose works have extremely few Quranic references, and refer mainly to classical philosophy and the works of Plato and Aristotle.
By contrast, in the works of the Judaeo-Arabic philosophers, Scripture and its exegesis play an important role.
There are some important differences between Jewish Sufism and its Islamic models. In Muslim Sufism the ultimate aim is to achieve union with God. The Jewish sources instead emphasize prophecy as the ultimate goal. The chasidim often referred to themselves as ‘b’nei hanevi’im’, the disciples of the Prophets. This seems to be associated with the belief mentioned by Maimonides that the gift of prophecy was soon to be renewed among the children of Israel. It could not have been an idea held by Muslim Sufis, for whom the cycle of prophecy had been terminated with Muhammed
Paul Fenton, “Judaeo-Arabic Mystical Writings of the XIIIth-XIVth Centuries”, in Golb, Judaeo-Arabic Studies (1997), 89
Hillel Fradkin, “Philosophy or Exegesis” in Golb, 103-105
Time-line:
by c. 500 BCE – completion of most books of the Hebrew Bible
70 CE – destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans
c. 220 – completion of the Mishnah, founding text of Rabbinic Judaism, including Pirkei Avot, a collection of ethical sayings
by c. 400 – completion of the Jerusalem Talmud and early Midrashim
c. 571 – birth of Muhammad
c. 600 – completion of the Babylonian Talmud
c. 610 – first revelations of the Quran to Muhammad
622 – Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Medina (both now in Saudi Arabia), the Hejira. Muhammad assumes leadership of Medina. Year One in the Muslim calendar.
632 – death of Muhammad
633-642 – Arab/Muslim conquest of Syria (including Palestine), Iraq and Egypt
711-712 – Muslim conquest of Spain
928-942 – in Iraq, Saadya Gaon writes his Arab translation of the Bible and other works
1038-56 – Samuel ibn Naghrela serves as vizier of Granada, high point of Jewish power in Muslim Spain
c. 1080 – in Spain, Rabbenu Bachya ibn Pakuda writes Duties of the Heart in Arabic
1085 – first beginnings of Christian reconquest of Spain
c. 1139 – in Spain, Judah HaLevi writes the Kuzari in Arabic
1190 – in Egypt, Maimonides writes Guide for the Perplexed in Arabic
1204 – death of Maimonides; his son R. Avraham ben haRambam succeeds him as leader 1200s and 1300s – Maimonides’ son and descendants, leaders of Egyptian Jewry, promote a Jewish version of Sufism as the best path of Jewish piety
1492 – final completion of Christian reconquest of Spain, expulsion of Jews and Muslims
http://post.queensu.ca/~jjl/islam.html
Muslim influence can sometimes be found far from Arabia. The first book of Eastern European Hasidism, Toledot Yaakov Yosef by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye, disciple of the Baal Shem Tov (1780) twice includes the saying: “The wise man has said: You have returned from the minor war, now prepare yourselves for the major war”. That is, prepare for spiritual struggle which is more important than any material struggle.
This is a well-known Sufi saying, usually attributed to Muhammad. It probably found its way into Hasidic tradition through its appearance in Rabbenu Bachya’s Duties of the Heart. Rabbenu Bachya included many Sufi teachings and stories in his work, ascribing them to anonymous sages.
The boundaries between Judaism and Islam were not rigid in early times. There were Jewish converts to Islam. Muslim sources also mention a Jewish movement which accepted Muhammad as a prophet and the Quran as scripture. These Jews were still not Muslims since they did not consider themselves bound by the obligations of Islam (such as praying 5 times a day or making the pilgrimage to Mecca). The fact that, with the spread of Islam, Arabic became the language of the Middle East, North Africa and Spain, including the Jews of those countries, facilitated cultural cross-influences. For several centuries, most Jewish writing in those regions, both secular and religious, was in Arabic (though it was Jewish Arabic, written in Hebrew letters), and was strongly influenced by Muslim culture which was responsible for the spreading of the Arabic language.
e.g. There was a tradition of Jewish thought which arose in a Muslim milieu and expressed itself principally in Judaeo-Arabic writings. Today this tradition usually goes under the name of medieval Jewish philosophy. Its representatives include Saadya Gaon, Bachya ibn Pakuda, Ibn Daud, and of course Judah Halevi and Moses Maimonides.
It is a well-known fact that the Jewish authors in question were, in general, students of the works of the Muslim Falasifa (philosophers) and acknowledged their debts to them. Moreover they frequently and candidly adopted their interpretations of the works of Plato and Aristotle.
There is an important difference, however. In Islam, especially Western Islam, where the Judaeo-Arabic tradition flourished, philosophical and exegetical literature were fairly distinct enterprises. In the West the preferred philosophic teacher was al-Farabi, whose works have extremely few Quranic references, and refer mainly to classical philosophy and the works of Plato and Aristotle.
By contrast, in the works of the Judaeo-Arabic philosophers, Scripture and its exegesis play an important role.
There are some important differences between Jewish Sufism and its Islamic models. In Muslim Sufism the ultimate aim is to achieve union with God. The Jewish sources instead emphasize prophecy as the ultimate goal. The chasidim often referred to themselves as ‘b’nei hanevi’im’, the disciples of the Prophets. This seems to be associated with the belief mentioned by Maimonides that the gift of prophecy was soon to be renewed among the children of Israel. It could not have been an idea held by Muslim Sufis, for whom the cycle of prophecy had been terminated with Muhammed
Paul Fenton, “Judaeo-Arabic Mystical Writings of the XIIIth-XIVth Centuries”, in Golb, Judaeo-Arabic Studies (1997), 89
Hillel Fradkin, “Philosophy or Exegesis” in Golb, 103-105
Time-line:
by c. 500 BCE – completion of most books of the Hebrew Bible
70 CE – destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans
c. 220 – completion of the Mishnah, founding text of Rabbinic Judaism, including Pirkei Avot, a collection of ethical sayings
by c. 400 – completion of the Jerusalem Talmud and early Midrashim
c. 571 – birth of Muhammad
c. 600 – completion of the Babylonian Talmud
c. 610 – first revelations of the Quran to Muhammad
622 – Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Medina (both now in Saudi Arabia), the Hejira. Muhammad assumes leadership of Medina. Year One in the Muslim calendar.
632 – death of Muhammad
633-642 – Arab/Muslim conquest of Syria (including Palestine), Iraq and Egypt
711-712 – Muslim conquest of Spain
928-942 – in Iraq, Saadya Gaon writes his Arab translation of the Bible and other works
1038-56 – Samuel ibn Naghrela serves as vizier of Granada, high point of Jewish power in Muslim Spain
c. 1080 – in Spain, Rabbenu Bachya ibn Pakuda writes Duties of the Heart in Arabic
1085 – first beginnings of Christian reconquest of Spain
c. 1139 – in Spain, Judah HaLevi writes the Kuzari in Arabic
1190 – in Egypt, Maimonides writes Guide for the Perplexed in Arabic
1204 – death of Maimonides; his son R. Avraham ben haRambam succeeds him as leader 1200s and 1300s – Maimonides’ son and descendants, leaders of Egyptian Jewry, promote a Jewish version of Sufism as the best path of Jewish piety
1492 – final completion of Christian reconquest of Spain, expulsion of Jews and Muslims
http://post.queensu.ca/~jjl/islam.html
