Biographies

Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan was born in London in 1916 and passed away in Suresnes, France on June 17, 2004 (Pir Vilayat's obituary).  He was the son of the Sufi Master Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan and Ora Ray Baker. His early years were thus imbued with both the rich mystical tradition of the East and the heritage of the West.

His later training also reflects the synthesis of East and West. He studied philosophy and graduated with a degree in psychology from Paris University, later did postgraduate work at Oxford, and also studied music at l'Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. He then began an intensive practice of meditation in India and the Middle East with Sufi masters and teachers of various meditative disciplines, and carried out long periods of seclusion and retreat.

In 1926 his father named him to be his successor and head of the Sufi Order and the Confraternity of the Message. Later, when he came of age, he was confirmed as by the Sufis in Ajmer, India. In accordance with this background, Pir Vilayat exemplified the global consciousness of the emerging holistic age, allowing him to fulfill his position as successor to Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan in the line of Murshids of the Chisti Order, and present the message of unity.

Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan was a well-known teacher of meditation, presenting seminars, camps and retreats throughout the United States, Western Europe, and India. The training he gave integrated a broad spectrum of meditation techniques from many traditions. In seminars intended especially for psychologists and educators, he demonstrated ways to adapt meditation to the needs and traumas of people in our age. A particular focus in his work was his dedication to the retreat format as means of enabling personal transformation.

Owing to his efforts to bridge the experience of contemplatives and the findings of physicists, biologists and psychologists, he was a popular speaker at symposia on science, religion and holistic medicine. He convened religious congresses in various parts of the world, bringing together teachers from a variety of denominations in mutual respect and recognition of their underlying unity.

Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan is the author of numerous books, including Introducing Spirituality into Counselling and Therapy, The Call of the Dervish, The Message in Our Time, Toward the One, and That Which Transpires Behind that Which Appears. His most recent books are In Search of the Hidden Treasure - A Conference of Sufis (Tarcher/Putnam, ISBN 1-58542-180-4) and Awakening - A Sufi Experience (Tarcher/Putnam, ISBN 0-87477-974-X).

Pir Zia Inayat Khan Pir Zia Inayat Khan is the first son of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and Taj Inayat. Raised in the United States, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Persian Literature from the University of London and his doctorate in Religion from Duke University.

Pir Zia’s father trained him in Sufism, and in 2000 confirmed him as his spiritual successor.

Since Pir Vilayat’s passing in 2004 (God keep him), Pir Zia has served as Pir-o-Murshid and President of the Inayatiyya, guiding Sufi communities around the world. To provide opportunities for focused spiritual study, Pir Zia founded the Suluk Academy, which offers in-person courses in North America and Europe, as well as a Suluk Global Online Course.

The two central lodges from which Pir Zia works are Fazal Manzil in Suresnes, France, and the Astana in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.

Pir Zia’s writings include Immortality: A Traveler’s Guide; Dream Flowers: The Collected Works of Noor Inayat Khan with a Critical Commentary by Pir Zia Inayat Khan; Mingled Waters: Sufism and the Mystical Unity of Religions; and Saracen Chivalry: Counsels on Valor, Generosity and the Mystical Quest. He is editor of Caravan of Souls: An Introduction to the Sufi Path of Hazrat Inayat Khan and A Pearl in Wine: Essays in the Life, Music and Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

Pir Zia and his wife, Sartaj, divide their time between Richmond, Virginia and Suresnes, France.