As the only son of the great medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, Abraham (1186-1237) followed in his father’s footsteps, serving as official head of Egypt’s Jewish community and its leading religious authority. In response to what he believed was a widespread spiritual crisis, he sought to reinvigorate Jewish piety by importing ideas and practice from Sufism, the mystical school of Islam then greatly influential in North Africa. This effort is the subject of a recent book by Elisha Russ-Fishbane. (Interview by Alan Brill.)
Historians of Jewish philosophy often consider it remarkable that the son of the great Maimonides—considered a champion of rationalism and moderation against mysticism and asceticism—would so blatantly stray from his father’s course and choose the mysticism of Sufism over the sober ideals of philosophy. The truth, as usual, is much more complicated.
Philosophy, in its medieval guise, was no less dedicated to personal liberation from physical attachments than was its Sufi counterpart. Mysticism, for its part, did not always entail a rejection of reason. In practical terms, Jewish philosophers and mystics of the medieval Islamic world advocated ways of life that were remarkably similar in orientation. . . .
Abraham . . . understood the path of [Sufi-influenced] pietism as the logical extension of the core principles of his father’s doctrine. That said, Abraham made far more extensive use of Sufism’s spiritual terminology than his father ever did, although there is [a scholarly] consensus that the father was not devoid of a modest Sufi vocabulary of his own. Even more meaningfully, Abraham embraced concrete Sufi practices within his own pietist circle and openly praised his Muslim counterparts, at times holding them up as a model for his own community.
Read more on Book of Doctrines and Opinions: https://kavvanah.wordpress.com/2016/01/23/interview-with-elisha-russ-fishbane-judaism-sufism-and-the-pietists-of-medieval-egypt-a-study-of-abraham-maimonides-and-his-circle/