In class we have been discussing saints and the different levels of holiness and sainthood in both Judaism and Islam. One of the unique aspects of sainthood in Islam is the notion of Baraka, which is holiness. I found it particularly interesting that everyone in society possesses some level of Baraka, but that saints seem to surpass some threshold where they have enough Baraka to qualify as saints.
It is interesting that sainthood in Islam is much more informal than in Judaism. In Islam saints can be determined by society and there doesn’t have to be complete agreement necessarily about whether one qualifies as a saint or not. However, in Judaism there are fewer saints, and those who are considered saints are recognized more consistently. It seems that this is a key difference in the two religions that is exemplified through culture and religion.
Due to this contrasting understanding of saints, I found it interesting that historically Jews and Muslims worshipped each others saints. I would assume that since the two religions ideas of saints are so different, they would be opposed to each other’s understandings of saints, and in turn the saints they choose to identify. However, by participating in worship of saints together, there seems to be a mutual understanding and accepting of the determining of saints. This mutual understanding is what allowed Jews and Muslims to worship together, regardless of who identified the saint.
