21 December 2023 Dear Companions on the Path, It’s drizzling today here in Richmond. It’s Maulana Rumi’s Urs – God bless and keep him. An hour ago we gathered for a Sunday Sama with Maestro Anupriya Deotale. Pure ecstasy. Afterward I navigated to CNN. These words appeared at the top of the headline news feed: “Approximately 18,800 Palestinians — 70% of whom were women and children — have died in Gaza between October 7 and December 15, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah said in a statement Sunday.” 272 violent deaths a day, mostly of women and children. Hanukkah has come and gone. Soon will come Christmas and the New Year. Friends are busy finding gifts for each other. It’s the season for sipping hot chocolate by the fire. And there are 272 violent deaths a day in the Holy Land, mostly of women and children. And the bombings continue. I visited the Holy Land with my father. We paid respects at the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Al-Aqsa Masjid. We did zikr beside Hazrat Rabia’s tomb. The drizzle outside has become a steady rain. I pray for more of this water from heaven. I pray for a downpour to wash away the bombast, bomb blasts, gunshots, and land-grabs in the Holy Land and wherever lives are engulfed in violence. The Inayatiyya is a big tent. We don’t tell each other, or anyone, what to believe or which political cause to champion. But the central pole of our tent has a meaning that could not be clearer: God is One and all beings are kin. We cannot be happy when any group of people in the world is suffering. All are equal before God. Maestro Anupriya’s raga is still ringing in my ears. I still see the dervishes whirling. Our planet is likewise whirling around the sun. In our skin, electrons are whirling. Explosions make noise, but no music. Music is the antidote to noise. The remedy for aggression and domination is harmony. The way that Maestro Anupriya and her tablist listen to each. In our Inayatiyya tent there are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Arabs, and people of various political views. For all our differences, there is much that unites us. We wish for the world what we wish for each other, and we wish for each other what we wish for ourselves. It’s raining hard now. I remember being in the retreat tent in the Alps when big storms swept in. Talking became impossible. We would spend an hour listening to the rain. 272 violent deaths a day in the Holy Land these last two months. Daily we pray Amaan, invoking sanctuary. Sanctuary for the slain, for those with crushed limbs, for those who have lost dearly loved ones, and for the enormous multitudes who have lost their homes. Rain of heaven, wash us here below. Wash the bloodstains and the bloodthirst. We can’t be content when fellow humans suffer. The Palestinians are enduring unimaginable civilian devastation right now; let it stop at once. Pour over the Earth the music of Heaven. The same water flows in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, Dal Lake, the Rio Grande, Nile, Ili, and Setit rivers, and the canals of the Netherlands. The same blood flows in the veins of all of us. Every march, every letter to a decision maker, every donation, and every prayer that goes toward saving lives is an attestation to oneness. Cast your bread upon the waters. Eternal Musician, give us the song that fathoms heartache and resilience, the song that will build bridges where there was barbed wire, hospitals where there were ammunition dumps. The Solstice is almost here. Send us the rain of Your Peace. Yours ever, CONVERSATION ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL New Year’s Day Attunement w/ Pir Zia Inayat Khan We invite you to join us for our annual New Year’s Day Attunement, to be united in the sacred transmission of the Sufi mystic and musician Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927). All are welcome. More details and Zoom Link. We would like to draw your attention to In Family’s Footsteps by Wali van der Zwan. In an unparalleled way, this new title describes the vision of Shaikh al-Mashaik Mahmood Khan on the Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan. For this month only, the book is available for a $5 per copy discount via asaanmanzil@hotmail.com. Also, it is available on Amazon. We highly recommend In Family’s Footsteps as a biography of our dear Shaikh al-Mashaik, one of the last living people who knew Murshid. Inayatiyya Year-End Appeal 2023 We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all who have given so far during our year-end appeal. To date, we have raised $112,652 toward our goal of $220,000 by December 31st. This money is essential to our budget, and goes toward future expenses that allow us to provide the programming and events that we all treasure. We also express our appreciation to those who give so generously by making monthly contributions through tithing. You are a constant source of reliable support. We appreciate you and we know who you are! We still have $107,348 to raise to meet our goal. Please donate today if you haven’t already! DONATE TODAY The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of the Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more information, please visit us at inayatiyya.org.
Pir Zia
We would like to invite you to join us in prayer, practice and conversation in connection to Palestine and Israel. Please save the date of Saturday 30 December, 10 am EST/4 pm CET via Zoom. Hosted by the Inayatiyya International Board including Pir Zia, Gulrukh Patel, Munira Salomon and Farah Zeb. Additional details are forthcoming.
January 1st, 2024, 12:00 – 12:30 pm ET / 6:00 – 6:30 pm CET
In Family’s Footsteps
