URS March 9, 2021
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Recently Posted Memories
- Baqia Shelley Burns on Zakir (Siddiq) Richard Jacobs
- Dawn Bari Jacobs on Zakir (Siddiq) Richard Jacobs
- Madhzub Dershem on Zakir (Siddiq) Richard Jacobs
- Gayatri Hull on Zakir (Siddiq) Richard Jacobs
- Musawwira Beverly Decker on Zakir (Siddiq) Richard Jacobs
- Brigitte Lakshmi on Mischka Ulrike Malika Ananda Heinze
- Gayatri Hull on Mirabai Chrin
Question or problem?
Write to Khushi Tanveer, Administrator SufiRemembrance@sonic.net
One year the annual Inayati Summer gathering was held in a remote location outside of Seattle, before the time of ubiquitous cell phones. The schedule for transportation was not well planned and there was little in the way of communication with the staff. My wife and I were stuck at the pick-up point for hours. Then Mikail appeared in his Cadillac Convertible, smiling and available. Of course I knew Mikail from other circumstances, but this one is memorable for us..rescued at last by a smiling friend.
Mikail was a spirit unlike any other. When he arrived in
Seattle to assume the position of Executive Director of the Sufi Order, he sent a large bouquet of yellow roses to his predecessor, my (former) wife, Dawn Jacobs.
While in Seattle, he was instrumental in the creation of the first S.O. men’s group. He, along with several unindicted co-conspirators, christened this group of wildly different personalities: “J.W. S.O.W.S.”
(Translation: The John Wayne School of Western Sufism.)
He will be missed, but never forgotten, by all who knew him.
Mikhail and I have never met physically, but we had a common ground in Kinship, we shared our sympathies. We felt friends – no, we feel friends! Sure his passing is a big loss for our family, specially for the Kinship activity. I am so grateful for all his many hands he offered us, for his knowledge in informatics, for his support in any kind of questions. The last mail he sent me was a couple of addresses from European murids he supported which he gave up just some weeks ago. I was not intuitive enough to see his arriving passing and went into my retreat – I am sorry for this Dear friend! May you be in light and bliss, may your dreams become reality!
We are stunned to hear of the loss of our dear friend Mikail. Our memories span decades – Mikhail and Kate and dinners together…him smiling out on the lawn of his house…the people, forgotten, incarcerated, lost..that he helped as his dear heart friends…his time as head of Ziraat, Mikail at the Secretariat…his beautiful and warm heart, our last recent chat. Mikail, dear brother, we’ll miss your face. They got a good deal when you passed over to the unseen world. Take your time. Don’t do too much too fast.
We still love you.
Love and Light. A beautiful soul.
“Why, O my feeling heart
Do you live and die?
What makes my feeling heart
To laugh and to cry?
Death is my life indeed;
I live when I die.
Pain is my pleasure; when
I laugh, then I cry.”
Hazrat Inayat Khan
My earliest memories with Mikail are his talents on the barbecue at our home in Duvall after Universal Worship Services, of which he was a presenter with others. He was so joyful with our children always making them laugh. Later visit was in Austin several years back. Love and miss you Mikail.
Dear Mikhail,
the news of your passing struck me.
You just shared with us a long conversation among farmers about the Message of Ziraat in our times.
And now you are gone!
You told us that your energy didn´t allow you all that you would have liked to do. That was all.
You left as the modest man that you have always been.
Great Servant!
Mikail was a lovely soul who deeply touched my heart. I am grateful for the beauty he infused in my life.
Oddly, Mikail and my paths never crossed in person, though I imagine that we attended large Sufi events together. During this past year we did connect in three significant ways, and because of that, I came to consider him a close friend. We were both members of the Kinship Council, we were in the same Kinship Racial Inquiry Group, and he and I both participated in a 7-month long group email exchange with 11 Ziraat initiates with the theme of exploring Ziraat in Our Time. These connections led to personal email exchanges that were meaningful to us both. Our relationship had grown to the point that I was exploring how to get down to Austin for a visit once the pandemic lessened. That will now never come to pass, but I know that our connection will always remain, heart to heart.
Beloved Mikhail, Although we haven’t been in touch in decades, your humor and light never leave me. I remember a summer Sufi camp with Pir Vilayat when, before camp started, you shared a particular enchanting piece of music with me. It played on a tiny portable recorder, which you were holding while I listened on a headset attached to the recorder with a wire. Of course, you had some business to attend to, so we walked all around camp together attached by the headset wire & the recorder. It brought a smile or a laugh to almost everyone we passed & was great fun! Thanks so much for your wonderful humor! Blessings on your journey on the other side. ??
At my first mountain camp at the Abode, Mikhail was serving as the SOI Director, and the camp co-ordinator, and he welcomed me with instant friendship. I enjoy the memory of him walking the mountain with his Tilley hat and walking stick. As an example of his spirit, he introduced me to a friend from Canada, and she jokingly asking him “Is he an okay guy?” and Mikhail replied, “Oh yes, you can even lend him money!”