Vilayat Inayat Khan, 87; Headed Sufi Order of Islam
Vilayat Inayat Khan, 87, head of the Sufi Order International, representing members of a mystical type of Islam, died June 17 at his home in the Paris suburb of Suresnes. No specific cause of death was announced.
Vilayat, who was a teacher and lecturer, was the son of Hazrat Inayat Khan, founder of the order who helped establish Sufism in the West.
Although Sufism is a form of Islam, the order permits followers to continue practicing their own religions as they explore Sufi mysticism.
Vilayat’s oldest son, Zia Inayat Khan, will take over leadership of the order.
An author whose books were translated into several languages, Vilayat wrote “Toward the One” and “The Call of the Dervish,” among others.
He was born in London to an Indian father and an American mother and studied cello, graduating from Paris’ Sorbonne.
He served in the British Royal Navy during World War II, surviving the torpedoing of his minesweeper during the D-day invasion of Normandy.
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