In One's Own Life

By Atul Sethi, *One moment in history – February 5, 1927* - The Times of India - India; Sunday, February 6, 2011

In a corner of Delhi's Nizamuddin basti, not far from the dargah of 14th century Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya, stands a whitewashed building. It is a dargah too, but Dilliwallahs and Indians in general may not know it.

Inside its immaculately maintained and quiet interiors, visitors are insulated from the chaos of the locality and the wider world. The dargah is the final resting place of Sufi mystic and musician Hazrat Inayat Khan.

His death in Delhi, 84 years ago, is marked by a three-day Urs, and is attended by followers from around the world. It is a fitting celebration of the life and times of a man, who many believe, pioneered the spread of Sufism to the West.

Hazrat Inayat Khan's story is interesting because he exported a pacifist strand of Islam, much before the West started to equate the religion with radicalism. In keeping with Sufi tradition, Inayat Khan preached tauhid or oneness of being, often using his songs to teach. It helped that he was a trained classical musician, who was hailed for his singing style by many including the Nizam of Hyderabad, who conferred the title of 'Tansen' on him.

Theologian Karin Jironet's book on Inayat Khan records that "he came from an illustrious family of musicians that traced its lineage to Tipu Sultan. His maternal grandfather, Maula Bakhsh was a renowned rudra veena player who taught him the rudiments of classical singing at an early age." She terms "the relationship between the young Inayat and his father as rather reserved ."

Even so, his father is believed to have been a profound influence on the young Inayat's spiritual temperament, particularly his simple philosophy on remorse and self-satisfaction . The young boy was taught "neki kar paani mein daal, badi kar pallu me baandh (Do good and forget about it, but always remember your misdeeds).

But Inayat Khan's greatest influence was his teacher, Shaikh Abu Hashim Madani, who initiated him in the ancient Sufi Chishti Order. Farida Ali, representative of the Hazrat Inayat Khan Trust in Delhi says he followed his teacher's instructions and travelled to Europe and the United States in 1910. "The next sixteen years saw the blossoming of a Sufi tradition associated with him," she says.

The West found Inayat Khan's message appealing, as long-time mureed or follower Nawab Pasnak explains. The essence of his teachings is reflected in the symbol adopted by the international Sufi movement he initiated — a heart with wings and a crescent and star in the centre. "This is symbolic of a heart, which, responding to the knowledge of the divine, gets wings and is liberated ," says Pasnak.

The ongoing Urs celebration, which happens every year at the dargah, emphasizes the message with qawwalis that reflect the age-old Chisti tradition of sama or spreading sukoon or peace through musical events. Ironically, the Urs draws followers from around the globe but has only a limited attendance from India. Farida Ali says the irony lies chiefly in the fact that "Hazrat sahab could not reach out to people in India despite having a great desire to do so."

Is it time for India to know one of its famously spiritual sons a little better? Nearly 90 years after Inayat Khan's death, his remedy for a world afflicted by negativism and hatred is increasingly relevant in this, his signature message: "All the tragedy in the world, in the individual and in the multitude, comes from lack of harmony. And harmony is best given by producing harmony in one's own life."

[For any further information visit the International Sufi Movement and the Dargah]