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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 Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
, the mystical dimension of Islam.
Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
flourished in Spain from the tenth to fifteenth centuries and spread throughout the Balkans during the Ottoman period. Enslaved Africans maintained Sufi traditions in the Americas. It was not until the twentieth century, however, that Sufi organizations were established in Western Europe and North America.
Inayat Khan Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan ( ur, ) (5 July 1882 – 5 February 1927) 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 ...
promulgated Sufism in the United States and Europe from 1910 to 1926. In 1911
Ivan Aguéli Ivan Aguéli (born ''John Gustaf Agelii'') (May 24, 1869 – October 1, 1917) also named Shaykh ʿAbd al-Hādī al-ʿAqīlī ( ar, شيخ عبد الهادی عقیلی) upon his conversion to Islam, was a Swedish wandering Sufi, painter and a ...
established a Sufi society in Paris. Inayat Khan's legacy has sometimes been associated with the neologism "Universal Sufism", though he never used the phrase. Inayat Khan opened his London-based Sufi Order to people of all faiths and simultaneously founded the Anjuman-i Islam (Islamic Society) for "the furtherance of the study of Islam and unity between the Muslims and the non-Muslims in the world by discovering the universal spirit of Islam." Aguéli's legacy is associated with the
Traditionalism Traditionalism is the adherence to traditional beliefs or practices. It may also refer to: Religion * Traditional religion, a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group * Traditionalism (19th-century Catholicism), a 19th–cen ...
and
Perennialism The perennial philosophy ( la, philosophia perennis), also referred to as perennialism and perennial wisdom, is a perspective in philosophy and spirituality that views all of the world's religious traditions as sharing a single, metaphysical trut ...
of his student
René Guénon René Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon (15 November 1886 – 7 January 1951), also known as ''Abdalwâhid Yahiâ'' (; ''ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Yaḥiā'') was a French intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having writte ...
.


History


The Legacy of Inayat Khan

The scion of a family of Indian mystics and musicians of Central Asian origin,
Inayat Khan Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan ( ur, ) (5 July 1882 – 5 February 1927) 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 ...
was trained and authorized in the
Chishti The Chishtī Order ( fa, ''chishtī'') is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufism, 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 Ch ...
, Suhrawardi,
Qadiri The Qadiriyya (), also transliterated Qādirīyah, ''Qadri'', ''Qadriya'', ''Kadri'', ''Elkadri'', ''Elkadry'', ''Aladray'', ''Alkadrie'', ''Adray'', ''Kadray'', ''Kadiri'', ''Qadiri'', ''Quadri'' or ''Qadri'' are members of the Sunni Qadiri ta ...
, and
Naqshbandi The Naqshbandi ( fa, نقشبندی)), Neqshebendi ( ku, نه‌قشه‌به‌ندی), and Nakşibendi (in Turkish) is a major Sunni order of Sufism. Its name is derived from Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Naqshbandi masters trace their ...
lineages of Sufism. The Chishti order had for centuries engaged with Hindu spiritual traditions, thus exemplifying a broader Indian cultural phenomenon popularly known as ganga-jamni tahzib. In a similar fashion, Inayat Khan saw his mission as the spiritual unification of the Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian and Islamic) and
Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
traditions of
monotheism Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...
. To this end, at the request of his students, he founded The Sufi Order in London in 1918 and The Sufi Movement in Geneva in 1923. At the time of his death in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 1927, Sufi centers had been established in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, and
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Following the death of
Inayat Khan Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan ( ur, ) (5 July 1882 – 5 February 1927) 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 ...
, his brother
Maheboob Khan Shaikh-ul-Mashaik Pyaromir Maheboob Khan (1887–1948) was born in Baroda, India. An Indian classical musician and younger brother of Inayat Khan, he became the representative of the International Sufi Movement on the latter's death in 1927. ...
was elected to lead his Movement. On the latter's death in 1948, their cousin Mohammed Ali Khan was elected leader. Inayat Khan's eldest son and Sajjadanishin
Vilayat Inayat Khan Vilayat Inayat Khan (19 June 1916 17 June 2004) 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 ...
deferred to Mohammed Ali Khan, but subsequently assumed his father's mantle in 1956. His lineage, traced via his elder sister
Noor Inayat Khan Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, GC (1 January 1914 – 13 September 1944), also known as Nora Inayat-Khan and Nora Baker, was a British resistance agent in France in World War II who served in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The purpose of S ...
(d. 1944) and now represented by his eldest son and successor
Zia Inayat-Khan Zia Inayat-Khan (born 1971) is a scholar and teacher of Sufism in the lineage of his grandfather, Inayat Khan Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan ( ur, ) (5 July 1882 – 5 February 1927) was an Indian professor of musicology, singer, exponent of the ...
, is known today as the Inayatiyya. Mohammed Ali Khan (d. 1958) designated Maheboob Khan's son Mahmood Khan (1927-) as his successor, but the latter stood down in deference to his uncle Musharaff Khan. Following Musharaff Khan's death in 1967, the Sufi Movement was led in turns by
Fazal Inayat Khan Fazal or Fazl ( ar, فضل ) is a given name meaning ''grace''. Notable people with the name include: * Abul Fazal Muhammad Ahsanuddin Chowdhury or A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury, the ninth President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh *Abul Faz ...
(d. 1990) and
Hidayat Inayat Khan Hidayat Inayat Khan ( ur, ; 6 August 1917 – 12 September 2016) was a British-French classical composer, conductor and Representative-General of the Inayati Order. Biography Hidayat was born in London to Sufi Master Inayat Khan and Pirani Ame ...
(d. 2016). The current Representative General of the Sufi Movement is Nawab Pasnak. In 2021, students of Mahmood Khan established the International Sufi Centre 1923 as an alternative structure for members of the Sufi Movement. Fazal left the Sufi Movement in 1988 and founded a new organization named The Sufi Way. Its current leader is Elias Amidon. Rabia Martin (d. 1947), who served as the North American representative of the Sufi Movement in Inayat Khan's lifetime, broke away when Maheboob Khan assumed leadership. Another disciple of Inayat Khan, Samuel Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti, d. 1971), left with her, but subsequently broke from her when she affiliated herself with
Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894  – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...
.On Samuel Lewis' dissent, see Rabia Martin's successor Ivy Duce went on to found an organization under the leadership of Meher Baba named Sufism Reoriented. Samuel Lewis in turn founded a California-based organization named Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society. Now known as Sufi Ruhaniat International, its current leader is
Shabda Kahn 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 Kir ...
. Another organization, known as Sufi Contact, was founded by the Dutch Sufi proponent Gauri Voute. Its structure is strictly egalitarian, hence there is no central leader.


See also

*
Friedrich von Frankenberg Friedrich von Frankenberg (2 January 1889 – 1950), born Friedrich Elliot von Frankenberg and also known as Frederick von Frankenberg and by his Sufi name Sheikh Momin, was one of the early founders of Sufism in Australia. Von Frankenberg stu ...
, founder of the first Sufi society in Australia *
Inayati Order 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 internat ...


References

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