American Jew Finds Peace in Islam

Quest for spiritual truth guides US woman to Sufi Islam

21 May 2010

Maryam Kabeer Faye, here in 2009, teaching Arabic to students in Gambia

For many people, the word 'Islam' conjures up images of violence, suicide bombings and holy war. But not for Maryam Kabeer Faye, a Jewish-born American. She believes the religion she adopted after a long spiritual journey represents peace, love and mercy.

Kabeer Faye describes her transformative experience, from her Jewish roots to Sufi Islam, in her recent book, "Journey through Ten Thousand Veils:the Alchemy of Transformation on the Sufi Path."

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As far back as she can remember, Maryam Kabeer Faye yearned for spiritual fulfillment.

She was born in 1946 to a liberal Jewish family in Hollywood, California. While her parents were kind and loving, they were not religious, which left Kabeer Faye with a spiritual void.

At the age of 12, she was given a painted scroll of an ancient man with the words, "Seek and the truth shall make you free." That message resonated with her as she grew up in the tumultuous political climate of the 1960s.

At 16, she enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, then a hotbed of social and political activism. While there, she studied the teachings of the Koran, the scriptures of Advaita Vedanta - a form of Hindu philosophy - and the poetry of 13th century philosopher Jelaluddin Rumi.