6. Mission of Sufism, Part 1
Beloved Sisters and Brothers,
The message of Universal Sufism that was brought to the world by Hazrat Inayat Khan upholds the ideal of tolerance for the many faiths that exist worldwide, teaching that these faiths are like the many waves in the sea of one Truth.
May this teaching inspire us to rise above the "distinctions and differences which divide" mankind that we may grow in greater understanding for all people.
With loving regards and prayers for an enlightened world,
Nuria and KarimaGita
Social Gatheka, No. 6, Part 1
by Hazrat Inayat Khan
The Misson of Sufism to the World
The Sufi Movement has two missions to perform in the world, one as a duty to individuals searching after the truth, the next duty, to bring about a better understanding among people. Therefore these two missions depend on each other for their fulfillment. Without the progress of individuals the progress of humanity is difficult, without the progress of humanity in general the progress of the individual is also difficult. The Sufi movement is not political, because beyond the political to a Sufi there exists the mystical idea. In all ages in the past the spiritual message was given by the prophet, for the words of God came to humanity through the medium of a mystic. When the law has fallen in the hands of worldly intellectual people it will always prove imperfect. It wants seeing further than the average eye to see the actual condition of life, which those interested in life cannot see, for they cannot help being partial when there is a question of their own interest.
The principal thing that the Sufi message has brought to the world is tolerance for all faiths existing in the different parts of the world, followed by different people. This can be done by giving the idea of that one truth which stands as the stem of religion, and all different faiths as its branches. The true religion to a Sufi is the sea of truth and all the different faiths are as its waves. The message of God from time to time comes as tides in the sea, but what remains always is the sea, the truth. Those who consider another on the wrong track they themselves are also not on the right track, for the one who is on the right track finds every road leading to the same goal sooner or later. The Sufi mission does not make converts to a certain faith to the exclusion of all faiths. A convert to the Sufi orders means a convert to all faiths in this world and is bound by no particular faith. Faith to a Sufi is a free ideal, not a captivity.
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