Inayat Khan

For other uses, see Inayat Khan (disambiguation).

Inayat Khan (Urdu: عنایت خان ) (July 5, 1882 – February 5, 1927) was an exemplar of Universal Sufism and founder of the "Sufi Order in the West" in 1914 (London). Later, in 1923, the Sufi Order of the London period was dissolved into a new organization formed under Swiss law and called the "International Sufi Movement". He initially came to the West as a representative of classical Indian music, having received the title Tansen from the Nizam of Hyderabad but soon turned to the introduction and transmission of Sufi thought and practice. His universal message of divine unity (Tawhid) focused on the themes of love, harmony and beauty. He taught that blind adherence to any book rendered any religion void of spirit.

Life

Inayat Khan was born in Vadodara, Gujarat to a noble Muslim Indian family (his mother was a descendant of the uncle of Tipu Sultan, the famous eighteenth century ruler of Mysore). He was initiated into the Suhrawardiyya, Qadiriyya and Naqshbandi orders of Sufism but his primary initiation was from Shaykh Muhammed Abu Hashim Madani into the Nizamiyya sub-branch of the Chishti Order.

With the Shaykh's encouragement he left India in 1910 to come to the West, traveling first as a touring musician and then as a teacher of Sufism, visiting three continents. Eventually he married Ora Ray Baker (Pirani Ameena Begum) from New Mexico and they had had four children: Noor-un-Nisa (1914), Vilayat (1916), Hidayat (1917) and Khair-un-Nisa (1919). The family settled in Suresnes, near Paris.

Universal Sufi Temple

In 1922, during a summer school, Inayat Khan had a 'spiritual experience' in the South Dunes in Katwijk, The Netherlands. He immediately told his students to meditate and proclaimed the place where he was on that moment holy. In 1969, the Universal Sufi Temple was built there.

Khan returned to India at the end of 1926 and there chose the site of his tomb, the Nizamuddin Dargah complex in Delhi, where the eponymous founder of the Nizami Chishtiyya, Shaykh Nizamuddin Auliya (died 1325), is buried. Khan died shortly after, on February 5, 1927.

Spiritual lineage

Further information: Chishti_Order#Spiritual_lineage

The Silsila or lineage of Inayatt Khan as presented by adherents of Universal Sufism is that of the Chishti oder, even though Khan was also initiated into the Suhrawardi, Naqshbandi and Qadiri sufi orders. The lineage of Inayat Khan as compiled by Pir Zia Inayat Khan begins with Allah, the Archangel Gabriel and Muhammad, reflecting the "divine origin" tradition of the Qur'an, followed by the traditional lineage from Ali ibn Abi Talib to Abu Ishaq Shami (d. 940), the founder of the Chishti order, and hence to Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehlavi (d. 1356).

Foundational principles

Inayat Khan set forth ten thoughts that form the foundational principles of Universal Sufism:

1. There is One God, the Eternal, the Only Being; None exists save He.
2. There is One Master, the Guiding Spirit of all souls, Who constantly leads all followers toward the Light.
3. There is One Holy Book, the Sacred Manuscript of Nature, the only Scripture that can enlighten the reader.
4. There is One Religion, the unswerving progress in the right direction toward the Ideal, which fulfills the life's purpose of every soul.
5. There is One Law, the Law of Reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience, together with a sense of awakened justice.
6. There is One Brotherhood, the human brotherhood which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the fatherhood of God. ... (later adapted by followers) There is one Family, the Human Family, which unites the Children of Earth indiscriminately in the Parenthood of God.
7. There is One Moral, the Love which springs forth from self-denial and blooms in deeds of beneficence. ... (alternative, source unknown) There is one Moral Principle, the Love which springs forth from a willing heart, surrendered in service to God and Humanity, and which blooms in deeds of beneficence.
8. There is One Object of Praise, the Beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshipper through all aspects from the seen to the unseen.
9. There is One Truth, the true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of Wisdom.
10. There is One Path, the annihilation of the false ego in the real, which raises the mortal to immortality, in which resides all perfection. ... (alternative, source unknown) There is One Path, the effacement of the limited self in the Unlimited, which raises the mortal to immortality, in which resides all Perfection.

Relation to Islam

Inayat Khan's emphasis on spiritual liberty led many contemporary Westerners to understand that his brand of Sufism and Islam are not inherently intertwined, although his followers continue to perform (Dhikr). There is a historic precedent of certain Chishti masters (and masters of other orders) not requiring their non-Muslim followers to convert to Islam. The numbers of non-Muslim Sufis before the twentieth century, however, were relatively few.

Contemporary movement

Today active branches of Inayat Khan's lineage can be found in the Netherlands, France, England, Germany, the United States, Canada, Russia and Australia

Music

• Song "Yaman Kalyan Khyal" by Inayat Khan recorded in Calcutta 1909
• «Hindustani songs by prof. Inayat Khan» 16 melodies for piano (1915). Performed by Philip Sear
• «Hindustani songs by prof. Inayat Khan» (scores PDF)

References

Centrum Universel