A renowned Sufi saint, Hazrat Inayat Khan was born in a family of musicians in 1882. His house was a meeting place of poets, composers mystics and thinkers and discussion among them generated a sympathy for many different religions in the young mind of Inayat Khan.
Being born in a musician’s family, Inayat Khan developed considerable skill at the ‘Veena’. At the age of eighteen, he organised numerous concerts j throughout India with the intention of reviving older folk songs. This enhanced his fame and he was invited to perform in the courts of Rajas. In the meantime, he began to seek spiritual guidance. He chose Mohammed Abu Hassan as his revered teacher. Inayat spent four years with him and experienced a level of realisation that made God a reality in his life.
On the instruction of his guru he went to America and later reached Europe to disseminate the message of oneness of all religions. He felt that prayer and meditation are techniques necessary to develop high consciousness in man. He died of influenza in New Delhi in 1927.