Mysteries of Israel | Sufism and islam

Sufism and islam

suggested tours - upon request

Sufis in Israel
The Sufis are the mystic sects in Islam, and their goal is to reach union with God, which they do through dance, music, storytelling, art, aesthetics and different meditations and spiritual techniques. The Sufis emphasize love as a way to God and the importance of the teacher. Throughout the centuries, Israel was a place of Sufi mystics. Sufism started in the city of Ramla in Israel at the end of the 8th century. Israel is called in the Koran "The Blessed Land" and indeed it is so.

 Throughout history, cooperation and co-relations between Sufis and Jews were common. In Egypt, for example, in the middle centuries, a group of Jews, calling themselves Hasidim, wanted to renew Judaism in the spirit of Sufism. They claimed that the Sufis learned their practice of dance and song from the Jewish prophets, and now the Jews needed to learn the ways of love, ecstasy, seclusion and devotion back from the Sufis. The movement was started by Rabbi Abraham ben Meimon, the son of the most important Jewish figure of the Middle Ages – Rabbi Moshe ben Meimon.

 Sayings of Rabbi Abraham ben Meimon include:

 “Don’t think it improper to compare the behavior of the prophets with the behavior of the Sufis, for the Sufis have imitated the prophets and did as they did and not the opposite.”


 Mr. Zeev ben Arie, the founder of Mysteries of Israel, is a practicing whirling dervish, who has written two books about Sufis in Israel. We have a lot to offer on this theme.


Suggested tours:
In Jerusalem

In the Galilee


Read articles:
The way of Abraham

Shadeli Sufi order
Across enemy lines

