Hidayat Inayat Khan was the third child of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Amina Begum. Born in England and raised in France, he was a distinguished composer of symphonic music. He learned the ancient Indian raga style as a child, from his father and his uncles who had been renowned musicians in India and then in Europe and America. He also studied Western polyphonic harmonies, studying under the famous composition instructor Nadia Boulanger. In his own music he blended Eastern and Western styles. His work includes the Message Symphony, La Monotonia, the Zikar Symphony, and the Gandhi symphony.
As a senior teacher of the Sufi Message he traveled around the world from the 1970s in order to meet with Sufis who had been inspired by the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan. Then he took on the leadership of the International Sufi Movement. He served for many years as the Pir-o-Murshid of the Movement, a title he held reluctantly, and one that he finally retired out of respect for his father. During his leadership he brought his tremendous energy, his dignity, his warm heart, and his humor to spread the Message. He also worked to bring together the different organizations that were in the lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan and founded the Federation of the Sufi Message so that these organizations could better express the ideal of Oneness. He died on September 12, 2016, at the age of 99, having tirelessly devoted his life to the fulfillment of his father’s work.
