The Passing of Murshid Karimbakhsh

Jamiat Am
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Dear Companions on the Path,

I am writing with a sad heart to let you know that Murshid Karimbakhsh Witteveen returned to the Unseen on Tuesday. His soul departed from his body while he was in meditation.

A direct disciple of Murshid Mohammed Ali Khan and a leading light in the Sufi Movement for decades, Murshid Karimbakhsh devoted his long life to the Sufi cause and was an unceasing inspiration in the lives of many.

I will miss Murshid Karimbakhsh dearly. At the same time, I rejoice in the thought of the blessings that await him in the hereafter.

God willing, I will take part in Murshid Karimbakhsh’s funeral in Katwijk, Holland, next week. This means I will have to postpone some existing plans. My live-streamed commentaries on The Art of Personality will now to commence on May 9th and run four Thursdays through May 30th. Please look out for news of the new schedule.

I hope you will join me in sending loving prayers for the soul of Murshid Karimbakhsh as he journeys onward toward the One.

Yours ever,

Bawa

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The first Sufi I ever met was Murshid Karimbakhsh Witteveen while in Rome, Italy. He was wearing a three-piece suit and introduced as the past finance minister of The Netherlands. I knew nothing of the Sufis before meeting him and was deeply impressed that a man so obviously involved with high politics and finance could so eloquently speak of his inner life. I thought, “this is a truly integrated human!” Later that week I read in “Time” magazine that he was just appointed as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund. “Time” acknowledged he was a Sufi and noted that he would need all his mystical powers to get the IMF out of the difficulties it was experiencing at the time. Soon after I returned to the United States and became a student in the Sufi Order under Pir Vilayat’s direction - but I have never forgotten that initial impression granted to me by Karimbakhsh Witteveen. May he unfold ever more in the eternal world of divine love and light!

With deepest gratitude,

Himayat Inayati