Fazal Inayat-Khan

Pir-o-Murshid Fazal Inayat-Khan

Fazal Inayat-Khan (Urdu: فضل عنایت خان) (July 20, 1942 – September 26, 1990), also known as Frank Kevlin, was a psychotherapist and poet who led the Inayati Order from 1968 to 1982.[1]

He was the author of Old Thinking, New Thinking: The Sufi prism (1979) and, published in Dutch, Modern soefisme: over creatieve verandering en spirituele groei (Modern Sufism: on creative change and spiritual growth) (1992).

Life and career

Born in Montélimar,[2] Vichy France to a Dutch mother and the composer, Hidayat Inayat Khan, Inayat-Khan was brought up speaking Hindi, Dutch, English and French. His grandfather was Inayat Khan and his aunt was Noor Inayat Khan. Fazal Inayat-Khan is buried at the Oud Eik en Duinen cemetery in The Hague.

Inayat-Khan found work as a poet, psychotherapist and publisher.[2] Finding that his family name influenced people's perception of his work, he changed his name legally to Frank Kevlin.[3] As an early promoter of Neuro Linguistic Programming, he was the main motivating force behind the creation of the Association for Neuro Linguistic Programming.[4]

From 1968 to 1982 he was head of the Sufi Movement, a movement started by his grandfather and kept in the family.[5] He held that Sufism has three aspects: it is non-definitive, inclusive, and experiential –

• non-definitive because the real exists without needing to be defined;
• inclusive because it is found in all religions and accepts any form of worship or meditative practice that is appropriate to the moment;
• experiential because it goes beyond theology and second-hand spiritual experience, accepting the possibility of direct revelation.

Works

• Inayat-Khan, Fazal (1979). Old thinking, new thinking: The Sufi prism. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-064086-3.
• Inayat-Khan, Fazal (1992). Modern soefisme : over creatieve verandering en spirituele groei (Modern Sufism: on creative change and spiritual growth) (in Dutch). Katwijk aan Zee: Panta Rhei. ISBN 90-73207-28-2. OCLC 65771646.

Inayat-Khan's grave, The Hague, Netherlands

Notes

1. Melton, Gordon J. and Baumann, Martin. Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. ABC-CLIO, p. 1482.
2. Heart of a Sufi: Fazal Inayat-Khan, A Prism Of Reflections. Arch Ventures Press. 2010. ISBN 978-1-907303-01-2.
3. "A Short Biography of Fazal Inayat-Khan 1942-1990". Self and Society: European Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
4. "Neuro Linguistic Psychotherapy and Counselling Association - History". Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
5. Jironet, Karin (2002). The image of spiritual liberty in the western Sufi movement following Hazrat Inayat Khan. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters. pp. 215–218. ISBN 978-90-429-1205-2.