Hazrat Inayat: A Preparation for a World Service

The following short text from Hazrat Inayat Khan was most likely given in connection with a Universal Worship ceremony.  

The Sufi Movement is a preparation for a world service, a world service chiefly in three directions. One direction is the philosophical understanding of life,  another direction is the bringing about of brotherhood among races, nations and creeds, and the third direction is the world’s greatest need, which is the religion of the day.

Now you may ask: “What need is there for a new religion?” The answer is that it is not a new religion, it is the continuation of the same old religion which has always existed and will always exist, a religion which adheres to all the great teachers and all the great scriptures accepted by large numbers of humanity, an altar upon which there are the scriptures of the Hindus, the Hebrews, the Zoroastrians, the Buddhists, the Christians and the believers in Islam, an altar upon which are placed candles representing all the different religions of the world.

Can it ever be called a new religion?  Are there new religions?  Are these scriptures new scriptures? It is the unification of religion which was the dream of Jesus and the inspiration of Mohammed, which was the object of Abraham and the desire of Moses. What the prophets of the past could not bring about, owing to the difficulty of conditions at the time of their coming, it is this which is brought about today as the granting of their prayers which have been made for thousands of years in the past. Therefore although the Sufi Movement is in its infancy, yet it is the servant of God and the whole of humanity, and the fulfillment of the object of this mission is the world Message, and the blessing that we receive in this service is the blessing of all the great teachers and prophets and illuminated souls, all in one.

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