The Sufi Order
| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon; ©1999 |
| The purpose of the Sufi Order is to help unite East and West and spread the leaders’ interpretation of the teachings of Sufism, the “original religion of God”. |
The Sufi Order
Info at a Glance
Name: The Sufi Order of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, and the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society of Samuel L. Lewis.
Purpose: To help unite East and West and spread the leaders’ interpretation of the teachings of Sufism, the original religion of God.
Founder: Hazrat Inayat Khan, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Samuel Lewis.
Source of authority: Hazrat Inayat Khan.
Claim: The Sufi Order constitutes the true essence of all religions.
Examples of occult potential: Development of psychic powers, trance states, spiritism.
Quote:
“The God of the Sufi is the God of every creed, and the God of all. Names make no difference to him. Allah, God, Gott, Dieu, Khuda, Brahma, or Bhagwan” (The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, Vol. 1, p. 13).
“The divinity of Christ means the divinity of man, although divinity itself is the ideal” (Ibid., p. 109).
Note: Samuel Lewis’ Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society is a split from the Sufi Order of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, and the writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan are foundational to both groups. The individual writings of Samuel Lewis and Pir Vilayat Khan reflect the philosophy of Hazrat Khan, his books being sold and promoted by both groups as their message.
Doctrinal Summary
God: God is everything, in everything, transcendent and ultimately indescribable.
Jesus: A saikh or murshid (enlightened spiritual master).
The Christ: The divine part of Jesus, active in all great masters.
Salvation: God-realization through mysticism toward achieving union with God.
Man: Inwardly divine.
Sin: Ignorance of one’s true nature.
Satan: Figurative for emotional agitation.
The Bible: One of many scriptures mystically re-interpreted to support Sufi precepts.
Death: In general something good, a normal transition or spiritual advance.
Heaven and Hell: Inner states, e.g., heaven is inner peace.
