Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan was a professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism in the West. At the urging of his students, and on the basis of his ancestral Sufi tradition and four-fold training and authorization at the hands of Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani of Hyderabad, he established an order of Sufism in London in 1914. By the time of his death in 1927, centers had been established throughout Europe and North America, and multiple volumes of his teachings had seen publication.
Vilayat Inayat Khan was a teacher of meditation and of the traditions of the East Indian Chishti Sufi sect of Sufism. His teaching derived from the tradition of his father, Inayat Khan, founder of The Sufi Order in the West, in a form tailored to the needs of Western seekers. One of his sisters was Noor Inayat Khan GC MBE. He taught in the tradition of Universal Sufism. His parents met at the New York City ashram of American yogi, Pierre Bernard, half-brother of his mother Pirani Ameena Begum.
The Chishtī Order is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began in Chisht, a small town near Herat, Afghanistan, about 930 AD.
The Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) are a spiritual practice that employs singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions. Their intention is to raise consciousness and promote peace between diverse religions according to one stated goal. The DUP are of North American Sufic origin. They combine chants from many world faiths with dancing, whirling, and a variety of movement with singing.
Samuel L. Lewis also known as Murshid Samuel Lewis and Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti was an American mystic and horticultural scientist who founded what became the Sufi Ruhaniat International, a branch of the Chishtia Sufi lineage. After a lifetime of spiritual study with teachers East and West, primarily Inayat Khan and Nyogen Senzaki, Lewis was recognized simultaneously as a Zen master and Sufi murshid by Eastern representatives of the two traditions. He also co-founded the Christian mystical order called the Holy Order of Mans. His early interest in international seed exchange and organic agriculture also established him as one of the pioneers of green spirituality. His most enduring legacy may be the creation of the Dances of Universal Peace, an early interspiritual practice that has spread around the world in the 50 years since his passing.
Hidayat Inayat Khan was a British-French classical composer, conductor and Representative-General of the Inayati Order.
Reshad Feild was an English mystic, author, spiritual teacher, and musician, who, as Tim Feild, originally came to prominence as a founder member of folk-pop group The Springfields. He was later the author of more than a dozen books about spirituality, and Sufism in particular.
Lex Hixon (1941–1995) was an American Sufi author, poet, and spiritual teacher. He practiced and held membership in several of the world's major great religious traditions, and documented his spiritual explorations in nine books and many articles and teachings given to various groups. His passionate conviction that all of the great religions are true was sparked by his study of the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, and he made his life a witness to this belief by fully immersing himself in multiple religious practices and studies, not as a research project but as an act of faith.
Zia Inayat-Khan is a scholar and teacher of Sufism in the lineage of his grandfather, Inayat Khan. He is president of the Inayati Order and founder of Suluk Academy, a school of contemplative study with branches in the United States and Europe.
Yakzan Hugo Valdez was a Sheikh of the Sufi Order International initiated by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and of the Mevlevi Order initiated by Suleyman Hayati Dede, Sheikh of Konya. Yakzan was additionally a celebrated master of the Dances of Universal Peace as originated by Samuel L. Lewis and an acknowledged peer of the Sheikhs of the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society. Yakzan was a long-term resident of Honolulu, Hawaii. He established Sufi communities in Hawaii, Chile, and Spain.
Pir-o-Murshid Ali Khan (1881–1958) was the leader of the Inayati Order from 1948 until his death. He was a second cousin of Inayat Khan, the grandson of Inayat's grandfather and therefore according to Indian custom considered a brother.
Musharaff Moulamia Khan was born in Baroda (India) on 6 September 1895 and died in The Hague (Netherlands) on 30 November 1967. Не was the youngest brother of Inayat Khan family, and shared his delight in music. While in his teens he had just come to Calcutta to study and be under the influence of his brother when Inayat was called away to America, and Musharaff was left alone. Within a year, however, he also journeyed to the west, where he joined Inayat and became one of 'The Royal Musicians of Hindustan.'
India has been home to a large number of religious thinkers and spiritualists. The most important of such religious thinkers include Buddha, Guru Nanak, and Mahavira. Buddha and Guru Nanak were the founders of the Buddhist and Sikh religions respectively. Mahavira was the last Jain Tirthankara.
The Inayati Order (Inayatiyya), is an international organization dedicated to spreading the Sufi teachings of Inayat Khan, a musician and mystic who first introduced Sufism to the modern Western world in 1910. The Inayati Order operates internationally through a network of centers, and offers a number of programs and activities. It is led by Zia Inayat Khan, grandson of Inayat Khan.
Pirani Ameena Begum was the wife of Sufi Master Inayat Khan and the mother of their four children: World War II spy Noor-un-Nisa (1914-1944), Vilayat (1916-2004), Hidayat (1917-2016) and Khair-un-Nisa (Claire) (1919-2011).
The Sufi Ruhaniat International (SRI) is a stream of Universal Sufism and draws inspiration from traditions of Sufism within and beyond historic Islam. SRI is an initiatic order within the lineage of Inayat Khan (Inayati-Chishtiyya). Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti, a disciple of Inayat Khan, formally founded the order in 1970. There are centers throughout the United States, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies is a non-profit educational retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. Founded in 1977 by Elizabeth Lesser and Stephan Rechtschaffen, inspired by Sufi mystic, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and his ecumenical spirituality, today it offers classes to over 25,000 people a year, at the 190-acre (0.77 km2) campus.
Shah Ïnayatullah, popularly known as Sufi Shah Inayat Shaheed, Shah Shaheed or Shah Ïnayat of Jhok, sometimes referred as the First Social Reformer of Sindh was a 17th-century Sindhi Revolutionary from Jhok, Sindh.
Shabda Kahn serves as Pir of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, a branch within the spiritual lineage of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan. He is also a teacher and performer of Hindustani classical vocal music, Raga, in the Kirana Gharana style, serving as director of the Chisti Sabri School of Music, within the lineage of his teacher Pandit Pran Nath, at whose direction this school was formed and placed in Shabda Kahn's care.
Western Sufism, sometimes identified with Universal Sufism, Neo-Sufism, and Global Sufism, consists of a spectrum of Western European and North American manifestations and adaptations of Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam, established in the twentieth century.
