A Month’s Travel

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Greetings of peace and love! Following a month of travel, I am again home at the Abode. My travels took me first to Suresnes and Epernon in France, and then, together with my family, to Delhi, Baroda, and Ahmedabad, India.

In Delhi we celebrated the Urs festivals of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Khwaja Nizam ad-Din Awliya’ and visited the shrines of Khwaja Qutb ad-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki, Bibi Zulaykha, Shah Kalim Allah Jahanabadi, Mawlana Fakhr ad-Din, Shaikh Qutb ad-Din, and Shaikh Nasir ad-Din Kale Miyan.

In Baroda we stayed at our ancestral home, Naulakha. Much of Naulakha (also known as Maulabakhsh House) has been beautifully renovated and made into a pilgrimage center by the efforts of Petra-Beate Schildbach, Harunnisa Youskine, and Imtiyaz Ahmad Shaikh.

In Baroda we had the honor of hosting Huzur Sayyid Ahmad Shah Chishti Maududi, the Sajjada-Nishin (hereditary lineage bearer) of Chisht Sharif, Afghanistan. Together with Huzur Sayyid Ahmad Shah we traveled to Ahmedabad to pay our respects at the shrines of Shaykh Jamal ad-Din Jamman, Shaykh Hasan Muhammad, and Shaykh Muhammad.

Returning to Delhi, we had the opportunity to meditate at the tomb of my father, Pir Vilayat, and to visit the Hope Project (www.hopeprojectindia.org), where “smiling foreheads” were everywhere to be seen. (Please see the latest Hope Project Annual Report.)

Now home, our hearts are full of thanks for the many kindnesses shown to us during our travels, and for the many blessings received.