The Mystical Union in Sufism and Christian Mysticism: Inter-Experiential Reading of Hallaj’s Ḥulūl and Eckhart’s Birth of God

Mystical experiences, though personal and shaped by different religious traditions, share a foundational resonance that can deepen interreligious understanding. This article examines the mystical experiences of Hallaj, from Islam, and Meister Eckhart, from Christianity, using a hermeneutic approach that interprets each mystic's experience through the other's. Despite their different religious languages and symbols, the article finds a strong resonance between their experiences. It argues that this resonance allows for an inter-experiential reading, suggesting that mystical experience can serve as a robust basis for interreligious dialogue, making such dialogue richer and more profound.

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Abstract

Mystical experience illustrates a fundamental aspect of human relations with the ultimate reality within the framework of religiosity. This article explores the mystical experiences of Hallaj and Meister Eckhart, both of whom came from different religious traditions. Employing a hermeneutic approach, this article attempts to read the experiences of both mystics by interpreting one with the other. Inevitably, although both mystics use different religious language and symbols, there is a strong resonance that allows us for inter-experiential reading of such mystical experiences. This article argues that mystical experience can be the strong basis of interreligious dialogue wherein although each mystical experience is personal and subjective in nature, there is something foundational that can be found as a pulse that is connected and can explain each other, rendering our interreligious understanding richer and more profound.