Sufi Order International

The International Sufi Order was founded by the Indian musician and religious scholars Hazrat Inayat Khan with a legal statute in 1917 in London. Since 1926, the Order has its headquarters in Suresnes (France) by Inayat Khan Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan son is headed. From Inayat Khan, the Order was conceived as part of the Sufi movement, which included all initiated members. This "inner circle" of his followers went through here in more phases of initiation.

The Order operates under the umbrella association Federation of the Sufi Message.

Historical Development

The death of Inayat Khan in 1927 led to a dispute over his successor and finally to a schism, which ushered in the independent development of the International Sufi Movement and the Sufi Order International. Where it could initially Inayat Khan as a great unifying figure to hold together the different parts of the enormously expanding Order so made ​​it in the 1930s, no one in settling the internal power struggles and to verteitdigen the unity of the movement. The eldest son of Inayat Khan, his father had determined in his lifetime as his successor, Pir Vilayat Khan took over but only in 1957 the government of the Order of the Sufi movement. He dissolved the Order very soon of the administrative structures of the movement and thus led him to independence. The International Sufi Movement he considered a rival organization and his order as "true " heir of his father. When considering the internal structure ( see below) and the teaching of the Order in comparison to the International Sufi Movement can be detected only very small differences. Both organizations have the same tradition and approximately the same doctrine and practice. In addition, in recent years can be observed an increased communication and cooperation among organizations in the same tradition, which, for example, in 1997 the establishment of an umbrella organization " Federation of the Sufi Message" expresses itself. The leaders of the Sufi Order International, however, have not yet decided for unspecified reasons to join an umbrella body. Pir Vilayat Khan in 2001 transferred the management of the International Sufi Order to his son Zia Inayat Khan. Pir Vilayat Khan in 2004 died at the age of 88 years in his father's home in Suresnes, near Paris. Since then, his son has carried on all activities and seminars of his father, among other things, that takes place for 35 years summer retreat camp in the Swiss Alps.

Structure and activities of the Order

The following discussion refers not only to the International Sufi Order but also to the International Sufi Movement, as the structure in both cases is very similar.

Esoteric School

The heart of the movement is the esoteric school or the Order in which to devote their spiritual training the students. Here, the student goes through a path of initiation, which is respectively connected to an initiation into a higher class. Even those who do not wish to be bound by initiation itself, are invited to participate in lessons or lectures. Whether this is also true for higher classes remains questionable. The objectives are training and guiding the students for their " spiritual " way. It is always stressed the voluntary nature of all involved. No exercise is mandatory. No one is to be forced to initiate. The student who, however, Who desires should entrust themselves to a spiritual leader ( guide). At the initiation of religious affiliation of students does not matter.

Universal Worship

The universal service came originally from the Theosophist and later a student of the Sufi Movement Sophia Saintsbury - Green. It is designed for people of all denominations and religions and everyone can participate. In the course of worship is read from the scriptures of the major world religions. Through this inter-religious comparison, the true, unified essence of all religions is to be disclosed to make the unity evident in the diversity of the major religions. The service, which from a " Cherag " (priest) is held, essentially consists of three parts:

Brother - and sisterhood

The brother - and sisterhood comprises mainly the circle of the initiated murids. It virtually forms the core of life of the Sufi network of the numerous activities emanate. The aim of the student is to carry love, harmony and beauty even after the religious boundaries. Due to this motivation, numerous projects have been formed, for example, soup kitchens, centers for Counseling and health, art networks, development aid projects.

Order of salvation

The Healing Order is concerned with all aspects of spiritual healing. The aim of such orders is to support patients who have asked with the help of divine power and to encourage their self-healing. This is to be an adjunct to treatment by the evidence-based medicine.

Ziraat

This area seems to be hardly understandable for total outsiders. Is on the website of the movement of this little "Planetary consciousness" in concrete terms, that is, the knowledge of the divinity of nature and the will to preserve them. This insight to the creation of " Ziraat " to have had 1927 Inayat Khan. Since then, ceremonial events were regularly held in order to experience the beauty and divinity of nature. Later, founded mainly in the U.S., many groups who practiced also active environmental protection.

A related buzzword is " Earth Healing ". In rituals, were taken from the Zoroastrian religion and the indigenous religions, is similar to the Healing Order of the individual man, the planet earth gives healing, divine power.