Biography - Hazrat Inayat Khan

Hazrat Inayat Khan was born into a learned and musical family in Baroda, India, in 1882. His grandfather, Maula Bakhsh, known as the 'Beethoven of India,' was an acknowledged master of the music of both Northern and Southern India, and the founder of a very important music academy, the Gayanshala. Inayat quickly proved himself to be a talented musician as well, winning great honours with his singing and vina playing. At the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, he was honoured with the sobriquet Tansen, in memory of the greatest singer in the history of Indian music. However, Inayat felt a restless longing for something beyond worldly accomplishment, a longing which he began to understand when he met his Sufi Murshid or spiritual teacher, Sayyed Mohammed Abu Hashim Madani, in Hyderabad.

In 1910, accompanied by his brothers, Inayat sailed from Bombay to the west, following his Murshid's last instructions to 'unite East and West with the music of his soul.' At the beginning of his travels, the brothers all gave concerts whenever they could, although in those days Indian music was usually treated as an exotic curiosity rather than a sacred communication. However, there was a hunger for spiritual teaching in the West, and soon there was a growing band of students. Hazrat Inayat founded the Sufi Movement, and by the mid '20s, he was travelling and lecturing almost constantly in Europe and North America, initiating students and giving the Sufi Message of spiritual liberty. Many of his talks have since been compiled into more than a dozen volumes, among them 'The Unity of Religious Ideals,' "Gayan,' 'The Alchemy of Happiness' and 'In an Eastern Rose Garden.'

Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan was himself a living example of the message of love, harmony and beauty which he taught; all were struck by his atmosphere of loving kindness and the genuine charm of his personality. Although a mystic who would have been happy in the solitude of the forest, he lived in the world, married and, with his wife, raised a family of four children.

In the autumn of 1926, he returned to India, where he was also met with many re-quests for lectures and interviews, but the great work he had done had taken a toll on his health. Early in 1927, after a short illness, he passed away. His body now rests in the Dargah Hazrat Inayat in Delhi.

Since the passing of the Master, the work of the International Sufi Movement has continued to grow. Now under the guidance of one of Hazrat Inayat's children, Pir-o-Murshid Hidayat Inayat-Khan, the Sufi Movement is active in more than twenty countries around the world, offering the simple belief that race, caste and creed make no difference, that all come from the same Divine source, and that in honour of our Divine heritage we should make whatever effort we can to live together in harmony.