Inayatiyya International Board

Inayatiyya International Board
May 2023 Newsletter

Update on changes in the Organisation

Our friend Alia Sura Kirsten will be stepping down from her role as European Vice President of the Knighthood of Purity. She is the first person to have taken on this role since the Knighthood Activity was re-instigated in the 2000s. We are grateful for the breadth and range of her work during the last six years. She has been instrumental in building an infrastructure for the Knighthood Activity both globally and in Europe, in co-developing the Adab curriculum for Knights with Suhrawardi Gebel and offering a number of events and retreats, including the first International Gathering of the Knighthood Activity.

Alia is a firm believer in shared leadership and she created and held a network of the heads of the Knighthood Activity in Europe. This group has been meeting regularly since, and has worked collectively and individually to develop Knighthood activities in various European countries. In terms of her succession, the group has decided to adopt a shared leadership model and will be rotating this position amongst the group.

The current leadership is held by Qayyima Clainchard with support from Kabir Clainchard from France. Qayyima has been a student of the Inayatiyya path for the last 25 years. She was a journalist for a large press group in France, has been involved in several voluntary activities including working with a Hungarian and Jewish survivor of the Shoah (Magda Hollander-Lafon), and is an author of the book The Future is in US (published in 2014). Kabir will support Qayyima in this role. He too has been on this path for 25 years. He was a clinical psychologist for forty years in a hospital environment and dealing successfully with children, drug addicts and teenagers. Today, he is very involved in associations linked to migrants, and he is President of an Association in the city of Rennes working with issues related to young people.

We are grateful to them and the whole group for all the work they are doing.

We are also saying thank you to our dear friend Nicolas Ikram Enjalbert, who has been a trustee on the Inayatiyya International Board (IIB) for the last three years. We will miss his presence in our regular meeting where his strategic thinking, commitment and passion to getting things done and his desire to ensure that we put the voices of those we are serving at the centre of our work have been vital in shaping our work. The good news is that he is staying on as an advisor.

Inayatiyya International Board
Monthly Newsletter, January 2023

This month we commence with a monthly newsletter from the Inayatiyya International Board (IIB). The IIB is leading on our global strategy, working closely with the World Wide Message Council, National Boards, the Astana, and Pir Zia. We have a few updates to share with you. 

Worldwide Message Council

Over the last three years, Firos Holterman of Germany has served as Dar-us-salam/Vice President of the Ziraat Activity in Europe. He is now transitioning out of the role due to some wonderful new opportunities in his life. We would like to thank him for his dedicated and inspired work for the Ziraat Activity and for his serving as a vital part of the Worldwide Message Council. 

The European Dar-us-salam/Vice President of Ziraat role will now be shared by two people:

Tasnim Stupac is originally from Bosnia and now lives in Switzerland where she has worked with Refugees and Victims of Torture and War. Tasnim is passionate about permaculture and  is a graduate of the Suluk Tuba class.

 Raqib Kittel, a murid since 1980, has been involved in many roles within the Inayatiyya. Raqib is a social worker and supervisor in Germany, where he lives with his wife and two children. He is a graduate of the Suluk Zindarud class.

For next month’s The Zephyr, we will post a full list of Worldwide Message Council members. 

Inayatiyya International Board

Qahira Wirgman has completed her three-year term as a member of the IIB and is moving into the role of advisor. She is being replaced on the board by Mehrunnisa Dilek Ekşi Bilgin from Turkey who brings her expertise of  Software Design and Project Management, as well as her love and dedication to the Message. Mehrunnisa has translated the Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat Khan into Turkish and is a graduate of the  Suluk Zindarud class. 

Pir-o-Murshid’s 96th Urs 2023

The year, Murshid’s Urs Celebration will take place in Delhi, India between the 3-5th of February, 2023. Here is some information about the programme, including who to contact for additional details.