Fazal Inayat-Khan (Urdu: فضل عنایت خان) (July 20, 1942 – September 26, 1990), also known as Frank Kevlin, was a psychotherapist and poet who led the Inayati Order from 1968 to 1982.^[1]

He was the author of Old Thinking, New Thinking: The Sufi prism (1979) and, published in Dutch, Modern soefisme: over creatieve verandering en spirituele groei (Modern Sufism: on creative change and spiritual growth) (1992).

Life and career

Born in Montélimar,^[2] Vichy France to a Dutch mother and the composer, Hidayat Inayat Khan, Inayat-Khan was brought up speaking Hindi, Dutch, English and French. His grandfather was Inayat Khan and his aunt was Noor Inayat Khan. Fazal Inayat-Khan is buried at the Oud Eik en Duinen cemetery in The Hague.

Inayat-Khan found work as a poet, psychotherapist and publisher.^[2] Finding that his family name influenced people's perception of his work, he changed his name legally to Frank Kevlin.^[3] As an early promoter of Neuro Linguistic Programming, he was the main motivating force behind the creation of the Association for Neuro Linguistic Programming.^[4]

From 1968 to 1982 he was head of the Sufi Movement, a movement started by his grandfather and kept in the family.^[5] He held that Sufism has three aspects: it is non-definitive, inclusive, and experiential –

• non-definitive because the real exists without needing to be defined;
• inclusive because it is found in all religions and accepts any form of worship or meditative practice that is appropriate to the moment;
• experiential because it goes beyond theology and second-hand spiritual experience, accepting the possibility of direct revelation.

Works

• Inayat-Khan, Fazal (1979). Old thinking, new thinking: The Sufi prism. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-064086-3.
• Inayat-Khan, Fazal (1992). Modern soefisme : over creatieve verandering en spirituele groei (Modern Sufism: on creative change and spiritual growth) (in Dutch). Katwijk aan Zee: Panta Rhei. ISBN 90-73207-28-2. OCLC 65771646.