The following text by Hazrat Inayat Khan was evidently given either before or during a Universal Worship service.

Religion has its place in the world, whatever be the condition. From the beginning of civilization there has been some religion or other followed by people. Of course, whenever a new religion came, the old religion was rooted out, but what was rooted out? Was it the religion or the corruption that was rooted out? The truth is the truth, religion is religion. The religion can never be rooted out. That religion which is the need of the human soul, that religion has always been and will always be. It is only the outer form, its outer dogmas, which have perhaps been corrupted at times, which did not answer the purpose of humanity at that stage of evolution. And not understanding that, man has very often revolted against religion, not knowing that it the revolt was against corruption, not against religion. 

Now the condition of the world as we find it today, it is like an intoxication. People do not know, when they are in revolt, whether they do right or wrong. When  a person is cross with his friend, by seeing the defects or the faults of the friend, he forgets his merits. Therefore man today, intoxicated in a revolt against religion – which means against corruption – revolts also, ignorantly, against God, or form, or prayer, or anything which asks the deepest of his being. And what has this revolt brought about in the Western world just now? It has brought about a condition where it has become the fashion to be an atheist.

There are people who wish to mention the name of God, and yet they are afraid whether it will be held against the fashion, the custom of the day. It is just as in the past – an atheist in the past did not dare to say that he did not believe; he had to respect the custom. The outcome of this condition is that man is absorbed in material gain, and the spiritual gain and heavenly inspirations are away out of his sight.

The Sufi Movement is intended to play its part at the present moment in this condition of the world. And, however small and infantile, it has a wide horizon and a vast field of work before it. Its work is to bring to the world that religion which has always been the religion of humanity, that nature’s religion: to respect one another’s belief, one another’s scripture, one another’s teacher. It is not, therefore, only a Church, it is a school where we learn to respect the religion of all the people in the world and their scriptures, and to pay homage to the teachers that they have esteemed the most. This was the object of all the great prophets, and it is at the present moment that this object, held by all prophets, is being fulfilled. And, in this way, with us is the blessing, the inspiration and the power of all souls who have for ages come in this world and wakened humanity towards that goal which is the longing of every soul.

This service of the Church of All is a universal worship. In this service a Christian service, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu service – all services are included. Therefore the blessing of Christ is given from the altar to the seeker of Jesus Christ’s blessing; the one who seeks for the blessing of Moses, to him the blessing of Moses is given; the one who seeks the benediction of Buddha, for him there is the benediction of Buddha.

But those who seek the blessing from all these great ones who have come at different times, they are blessed by all. This service, therefore, is the fulfilment of the desire of Christ; this is therefore the service which Moses would have had, if he could in those times; and this is the service which Mohammed had intended, for Islam was meant for all the religions of the world. No great teacher ever came on earth with the thought of dividing people into different sects and communities.

Our Movement, therefore, is busy rendering our service to God and humanity in this direction, without any intention of forming an exclusive community, but to unite in this service the people of all different religions. This Movement, in its infancy, is commencing its work, but its culmination will be a world movement. It is the World Message, and that religion which will be the religion of the whole humanity, a religion which does not distract the mind of any person from his own religion, but makes it more firm and enlightened, more sympathetic to their own religion; a religion which teaches tolerance towards the faith of another; a religion which opens a person’s heart to the words of wisdom, no matter what direction they come from. This is not only a Church, but this is a school for us to learn, to learn the lesson of tolerance, a lesson for us to learn to adhere to all teachers and to respect all scriptures, a lesson which teaches us that we need not give up our religion, but we must embrace all religions in order to make the sacredness of religion perfect.

It is to learn this, to understand this idea that the Sufi Movement has this Universal Worship; that in this Universal Worship, whatever form a person has, it does not matter; as long as he believes in God, he may come together with other human beings, without thinking his belief differs in this or that. This worship does not take away anyone from his own way, it only presents before everyone his own scripture. In this service one begins to train oneself to love one’s own religion and to tolerate the religions of the others. At this time when the world is divided into so many sections, one working against another, it is most necessary that humanity must at least unite in God, for there is no difference. He is the Father of all humanity, and we all go before Him as His children. This Universal Worship reminds us of this, and this Universal Worship prepares us to sympathize with one another and to be blessed by all forms of wisdom which have come to us by different great Teachers of humanity.

There is one God, there is one Truth, so in reality there cannot be many religions, there is only one religion. And it is by the realization of this Truth that we shall be truly benefited by what is called religion.