Inayat’s Journey to India and His Death

In 1926, after the Sufi summer school program ended as usual, Inayat prepared to leave Suresnes again, but this time for a place he had not visited in years: India. As Claire put it, "Murshid and his Begum walked down the Sufi Garden path to Fazal Manzil. Under a starless sky, in deep sorrow, Murshid left his beloved wife and his Rubies Four this side of the world, to return to his motherland. Once arrived, there was no saying how he must have felt to kiss the soil of his beloved India."150 The deep sorrow likely referred to Inayat leaving his family yet again, but Inayat, devoted as ever to the Cause, as well as missing his home country, left on the journey. En route to India, in either late August or early September of 1926, Inayat sent a chatty letter from Venice to Ora: "Good bye my soul. With all love…" 151

In India, Inayat continued his work as a Sufi leader, accompanied by a woman mureed who went by the name Kismet Stam. This is another example of Inayat’s close platonic relationships with his female followers, as well as the increased intermingling of men and women during this era. Kismet Dorothea Stam recounted many of her experiences and Inayat’s sayings in a book of her own, titled Rays. Categorized as a meditation book by the publisher, this book offers a glimpse into Inayat’s final days, as well as stories from his childhood, his personal reflections, and accounts of things that happened at Suresnes. According to Stam, the last place Inayat lived was Tilak Lodge, located on Daya Lane in Delhi.152

Inayat’s last trip in India, as described by Kismet, showed his continuing influence and work at being a Sufi leader, helping and engaging with people in both spiritual and social terms. According to Kismet, both Hindu and Muslim families settled near Inayat’s residence soon after he moved there, possibly to be closer to him.153 She noted that Inayat believed in spiritual protection when confronted with the prospect of robbers,154 that he helped a bored boy from a lower caste who did not have anything to play with,155 that he encouraged his servant’s prayers before his duties to Inayat,156 and that he helped people by providing medicine, clothing, and food.157 Kismet recorded some of Inayat’s observations on India, including, "In India, one finds the best and the worst."158 and "if I have to take up the work for India, I should have to leave everything, everything."159 Perhaps Inayat thought that such an effort would require him to leave Ora and his family behind.

He also commented on the sites that he visited, presumably with Kismet, openly wishing that he "could take one of these beautiful Mosques to the land in Suresnes",160 and observing that Emperor Humayun’s tomb at sunset hours is "like a throne on the earth",161 and that the little birds at Tenfields’ Garden were "like living jewels."162 The friendship with Kismet indicates the respectful comfort that appears to have been present in Inayat’s platonic relationships with women.

Kismet also noted Inayat’s speeches in India, providing a sense of what his speeches may have been like in general. Inayat had written to Rabia that he had been invited to the Aligarh Moslem University to speak and that other arrangements had already been made for him to speak in Delhi.163 Kismet detailed in her account that Inayat spoke at the University of Delhi first, on the 15th and 16th of December, 1926, and then later at the Christian College of Lucknow on the 22nd of December. Kismet included one line about Murshid preaching about the Sufi Message; the rest of her account talks about issues that Inayat brought up that are connected to the Sufi Message, but also somewhat political. Inayat criticized the existence of the Untouchable class in India's caste system, calling for an end to it, and mentioned the beggars that were spread throughout India. He discussed religious intolerance between Muslims and Hindus, referring to instances such as segregating water for the two religious groups. His last point was a chastisement of Indian people for letting women do hard construction work and heavy lifting. Describing the response of his audience of scholars, Inayat said, "They did not like to hear it, but they all saw that it is true."164

Inayat’s chivalrous chastisement with regard to how Indian women had to lift heavy things might reflect gender roles that were still preserved, beliefs about femininity that Inayat held, and Ora’s own supposed "delicate" health. Although Inayat did experience periods of poverty, both he and Ora came from upper-class families, enjoyed comfort and wealth during their lives, and attracted many followers from high society. This may have also contributed to his chastisement, of coming from a place where middle-class and upper-class women could afford not to do hard labor, even though they still performed domestic labor, as in Ora’s case.

In India, Inayat Khan would eventually become ill and pass away. Kismet wrote that Inayat didn’t show any outward signs of illness towards his last breath,165 which he took on the 5th of February 1927, at 8:20 AM.166 She claimed that a large thunderstorm came over the area after his death and compared it to earthquakes that occurred after the departure of Buddha and Jesus Christ, this section being her last entry in her book.167 Interestingly, Kismet did not mention Ora and Inayat’s domestic family in the India section, although she mentioned his parents.168 However, this omission may have been due to practicality and the fact that Kismet’s book was focused on Inayat and his work.

In the first week of February 1927, Stam sent Ora a telegram that Inayat was very sick.169 A letter to Inayat from his uncle A.M. Pathan,170 dated November 17, 1926, revealed that he had been ill since the fall, with the letter speaking of the current treatment Inayat was undergoing.171

Ora and Claire only learned more details about Inayat’s sickness from Kismet Stam after she returned from India and could meet with them. Stam described the doctors Inayat visited, the medicines he received, and the way he was behaving, such as being in a "trance" when listening to a group of Qawali singers, which made it unclear to her whether he was meditating or if his body was giving out.172 According to Stam, Inayat had also been given the wrong medicine for his condition and Inayat himself was aware of this. Additionally, Claire mentioned speculation that Inayat may have been poisoned in India, or given poison instead of proper medicine. However, she conceded that there was no way to know for sure.173

 Ora received a heartbreaking telegram174 from Kismet informing her that Inayat had passed away on February 5, 1927, 175 news that Claire called "the greatest sorrow on Earth."176 She recalled her mother saying, "Had I gone with him, he would not have died, but I could not have left the children."177 What this statement means is not entirely clear; however, it may indicate that Ora wanted to travel with Inayat, but felt constrained by her domestic duties.

Ora had already not been eating or sleeping due to worry over Inayat’s being ill, and his death escalated her behavior. She experienced a nervous breakdown that was serious enough to lead a doctor to advise her to stay in bed for a few months.178 Because of Ora’s inconsolable grief, Noor began to take over care of her siblings, leading them to see her as their "little mother."179

However, Claire recalled her mother’s resilience as well as her frail condition: "Nonetheless, she did leave her bed. As a young girl, she had contracted typhoid fever, and the doctor said she survived only because she had such a strong will. Her escape from America confirms her tremendous courage and her strong will. This inborn trait of hers was still present under the weight of her overwhelming sorrow. For our sake, she tried her best to overcome her grief."180

In 1927 or 1928, Ora, her children, and Inayat’s brothers and cousin went to Delhi, India to visit Inayat’s grave. Claire’s account of the trip conveys her excitement as an eight-year-old encountering a faraway place, as well as her witnessing her mother’s grief. Claire recalled playing with her older brothers on the ship, the delicious food she ate, and the festivities meant for adults that she spied on. Yet she also sensed a dark undercurrent: "Perhaps that’s why we were such naughty children, because we felt there was something wrong, something broke in our lives, in our family. The happiness we knew as children had gone for some reason. We didn’t talk about it with each other; we just got wilder."181 When little Claire visited her father’s dargah182 and grave, she wondered, "Why did my father have to die, and why so far away? Why did he have to go to India anyway? But nobody heard me; I didn’t expect answers."183

Claire recounted how Ora’s crying at her husband’s grave was "too much for the human heart to bear."184 Her mother’s melancholy persisted throughout the trip, from the time they were on the ship, to their touring of famous Indian sites, to when they finally visited the Maula Baksh House in Baroda. It was there that Ora claimed to have heard Inayat singing outside, calling her children over when she did, and then later saw him before he vanished.185

Despite Ora’s sorrow and the fact that Noor had to console her while on the trip, Claire remembered her mother tending her when Claire became ill. "I wasn’t aware of what became of the rest of the family," Claire wrote, "I only remember that my mother took care of me and had me lie down."186