Muslim Mystics and Contemporary Antisemitism – Reconsidering Sufi Heritage
Apr. 27, “Muslim Mystics and Contemporary Antisemitism – Reconsidering Sufi Heritage”
Professor Giuseppe Cecere, Associate Professor, Department of History and Cultures, L-OR/12 Arabic Language and Literature, Director of First Cycle Degree of Anthropology, Religions, Oriental Civilizations, University of Bologna
Chair
Dr. Charles Asher Small, Executive Director, ISGAP; Research Scholar, St. Antony’s College, Oxford
Zoom Webinar
Date: Monday, April 27, 2020
The presentation focused on “deconstructing” stereotypes on Sufism (Muslim Mystics), an always peaceful and tolerant spiritual tradition, by analyzing a wide array of Sufi attitudes towards Jews and Judaism both in Medieval and Contemporary contexts. With this in mind, the presentation outlined the main historical developments in Sufi attitudes towards non-Muslims (mainly Jews) in the Middle East, and provided an analysis of different trends on the subject in different Sufi groups in contemporary Egypt nowadays.