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Shabda Kahn serves as Pir (spiritual director) 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, [1] [2] at whose direction this school was formed and placed in Shabda Kahn's care.
Peter Kahn "was born to German Jewish refugees in New York. His parents were not particularly religious in the traditional sense, but he remembers his father standing by the window and praying." [3]
Shabda Kahn gave bayat (initiation) to his teacher Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti, "Murshid Sam"), a disciple of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, in 1969. He served as his personal assistant during the fall of 1970, shortly before Murshid Sam's death. He then served as an assistant to Murshid Sam's successor, Pir Moineddin Jablonski, throughout the 1970s. He was given responsibility for leading dance and practice meetings in the San Francisco Bay Area, when Pir Moineddin's health left him unable to do so himself.
At the request of Pir Moineddin, Shabda Kahn was initiated as a Sheikh (spiritual guide) in 1977 by Pir Vilayat Khan, eldest son of Inayat Khan, at the tomb of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan in Delhi, on the occasion of Inayat Khan's 50th Urs (death anniversary). He was initiated as a Murshid (senior spiritual guide) in 1997 by Pir Hidayat Inayat Khan, son of Inayat Khan. In 2001, at the death of Pir Moineddin Jablonski, Shabda Kahn succeeded him as Pir of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, by Pir Moineddin's appointment. Shabda Kahn is also a disciple of the illustrious Tibetan master, the 12th Tai Situ Rinpoche, and was deeply influenced by his twenty-two year relationship with the great American mystic Joe Miller.
As Pir, Shabda Kahn directs the leadership circle of the Sufi Ruhaniat International as well as its board of trustees, and serves as spiritual director for the Dances of Universal Peace, worldwide.
Along with Imam Bilal Hyde, Faisal Muqaddam, and Murshid Wali Ali Meyer, Shabda Kahn is co-author of Physicians of the Heart, A Sufi View of the 99 Names of Allah. [4]
Shabda Kahn has released over 9 digital recordings of his musical work and teaching. [5]
Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the saraswati vina, poet, philosopher, and pioneer of the transmission of Sufism to 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 been published.
Vilayat Inayat Khan was a teacher of meditation and of the traditions of the East Indian Chishti Sufi order 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 with Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht, circa 930 AD in a small town near Herat, a strategic city in then Eastern Persia, which later became independent and then part of Afghanistan.
Pandit Pran Nath was an Indian classical singer and master of the Kirana gharana singing style. Promoting traditional raga principles, Nath exerted an influence on notable American minimalist and jazz musicians, including La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Don Cherry. He began performing in the United States in the 1970s, and established the Kirana Center for Indian Classical Music in 1972; he subsequently taught in various universities across the US and Europe.
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.
Sultan-ul-Mashaikh, Mahbub-e-Ilahi, Sheikh Khwaja Syed Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya, also known as Hazrat Nizamuddin, and Mahbub-e-Ilahi was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar, Sufi saint of the Chishti Order, and is one of the most famous Sufis from the Indian Subcontinent. His predecessors were Fariduddin Ganjshakar, Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, and Moinuddin Chishti, who were the masters of the Chishti spiritual chain or silsila in the Indian subcontinent.
Hidayat Inayat Khan was a British-French classical composer, conductor and Representative-General of the Inayati Order.
Murshid is Arabic for "guide" or "teacher", derived from the root r-sh-d, with the basic meaning of having integrity, being sensible, mature. Particularly in Sufism it refers to a spiritual guide. The term is frequently used in Sufi orders such as the Naqshbandiyya, Qādiriyya, Chishtiya, Shadhiliya and Suhrawardiyya.
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 Mohammed Ali Khan (1881–1958) was the leader of the International Sufi Movement 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, 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.'
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.
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.
Shah Deccan Qutub Kokan Khwaja Pir Hafiz Habib Ali Shah was born in a Sufi family, whose lineage is traced back to Abu Bakr, the first Caliph of Islam, his ancestors were Sufi masters. Abu Bakr Siddiq the forefathers of Pir Khaja Habib Ali Shah حضرت حبئب علی شاہ obtained the spiritual education (Tassawuf/Tariqat) and bestowed with Caliphat from their fathers
Shah Inayatullah, popularly known as Sufi Shah Inayat Shaheed, Shah Shaheed or Shah Inayat of Jhok, was a 17th-century Sindhi Sufi saint and revolutionary from Jhok. He was the first socialist and agricultural reformist of Sindh.
Sufism in Bangladesh is more or less similar to that in the whole Indian subcontinent. India, it is claimed, is one of the five great centers of Sufism, the other four being Persia, Baghdad, Syria, and North Africa. Sufi saints flourished in Hindustan (India) preaching the mystic teachings of Sufism that easily reached the common people, especially the spiritual truth seekers in India. Sufism in Bangladesh is also called pirism, after the pirs or teachers in the Sufi tradition.
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.
Syed Nadir Ali Shah, popularly known as Murshid Nadir Ali Shah, was a Sufi saint of the Qalandariyya sufi order of Islam, a Muslim preacher, ascetic, mystic, philanthropist and humanitarian. Born in Gandaf in the north-west of the Indian subcontinent, he eventually settled in Sehwan Sharif, Sindh. He was a spiritual descendant of the well-regarded Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and the custodian of the revered Sufi Khanqah, Kafi Saki Sarwar located in Sehwan Sharif. Nadir Ali Shah's legacy primarily revolves around his distinction as one of the most remarkable figures among the saints of the Qalandariyya Sufi order. He is renowned for his pursuits in Islamic preaching, mysticism, and asceticism. Beyond his spiritual contributions, he is recognized for his substantial efforts in advancing human welfare and uplifting the underprivileged, in line with the teachings of the Qalandariyya Sufi order of Islam. Notably, he also served as the custodian of the shrine of the Sufi saint Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi.