Mystic
Khan, Hazrat Inayat
Category: Mystic
Hazrat Inayat Khan was the founder of Universal Sufism and the Sufi Order International. Today active branches of this order can be found in France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, and Russia.
Khan was born in 1882 into a princely Muslim Indian family (he was a great-grandson of Tipu Sultan, the famous eighteenth century ruler of Mysore). He left India in 1910 to come the West and traveled first as a touring musician, as a representative of several traditions of classical Indian music, having received the title ‘Tansen’ from the Nizam of Hyderabad.
In 1922, during a summer school, Inayat Khan had a 'spiritual experience' in the South Dunes in Katwijk. He immediately told his students to meditate and proclaimed the place where he was on that moment holy. [A temple was constructed in 1969 on the site of the vision and every year a Sufi summer school takes place in this temple].
As a result of the vision Khan began to introduce and explain Sufi thought and practice to the West.
His teachings however were not pure Sufism, nor Islam. Khan combined the teachings of his Sufi heritage with the philosophical ideas of Vedanta/Shankara spirituality in Hinduism in a uniquely mystical union of the two. He also draws extensively from his musical roots.
Although the main driving force behind this fusion was his desire to harmonise the two great religions of Hinduism and Islam, his other motivation was to create a philosophy which would be acceptable to a western audience.
Even though Inayat Khan was raised as a Muslim, he was keenly aware of the Euro-American prejudice against Islam in his time. In his autobiography he stated:
...a prejudice against Islam has existed in the West for a long time. …..Therefore there is little chance of Islam being accepted in the West. However, those seekers after religious ideals have more or less regard for the religions of the East and those who seek after truth show a desire to investigate Eastern thought.
He was not uncritical of the presentation of Islam itself, however, and taught that blind adherence to any book rendered any religion void of spirit, regardless of its external nature:
But if the following of Islam is understood to mean the obligatory adherence to a certain rite; if being a Muslim means conforming to certain restrictions, how can the Sufi be placed in that category, seeing that the Sufi is beyond all limitations of this kind?
Khan returned to India at the end of 1926. While there chose the site of his tomb, the Nizamuddin Dargah complex in Delhi and died shortly after his decision, on February 5, 1927.
References
- The Art of Being and Becoming (1989)
- The Mysticism of Sound and Music
Also of interest
- The Spiritual Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Volume I - The Way of Illumination
- The Soul's Journey
- The Heart of Sufism: Essential Writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Observations
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- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quote - The feeling of 'I-ness'
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - Communicating via the mind
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - Men speaking with trees
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On accessing perceptions
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On art & diversity
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On becoming that of which you are accused
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On God the engineer
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On mind and body
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On music
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On Muwakkals
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On nature
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On reality
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - On why we are here
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - The healing of the spirit
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Misc. Quotes - The howling of dogs and wilting of plants
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - Miscellaneous quote - Intuition
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On love
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - All creatures can be found in man
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - Blessed are the pure in heart
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On adversity
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On aspects of soul
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On Good and Evil
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On Good and evil, and justice
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On peace
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On salt water and sweet water
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On springs and fountains
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On the ego
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On the Great Work
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On the inspiration for art
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On the sea
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On the stages of the mystic
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Art of Being and Becoming - On why are we here
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On 'vibrations'
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On astrology
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On dream symbolism
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On energy
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On erasing memory
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On illumination
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On levels and layers
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On Resonance
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On spells and chants
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On spells and miracles
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On the Great Work
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On the healing power of music
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On the levels
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On the music within
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On the Planets
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - On the Systems of the universe
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - The diagreeable vibrations of some people
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - The Word
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat - The Mysticism of Sound and Music - Ultimate good
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - Editing memory
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - On criticism and your destiny
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - On democracy
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - On minding your own business
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - The best form of love
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - The dangers of hyper sensitivity
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - The eradication of suffering
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - The meaning of pleasure and happiness
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - Thorns and flowers
- Khan, Hazrat Inayat – The Art of Being and Becoming - What are we here for?