Kinship Connection Newsletter May 2025

We’d like to begin this newsletter with a big thank you to the members who have recently stepped back from the kinship council – Rabia Povich, Zakir Amin Povich, Shams Kairys, and Batina Sheets. The programs they have put together over many years have been exemplary, the depth of knowledge, care and energy they have shown in their work has been inspiring and they will be  very much missed on the kinship council. However, that said, we will be inviting them back for future kinship programs, so you will hopefully be seeing them again.

Khatidja Rodriguez-Ruiz, Raqib Jonah Yakel and Majid David Vowells are  the new co-leadership team and we would like to introduce ourselves.

 

Khatidja Rodriguez-Ruiz was initiated into the Inayatiyya in 2008 and is a graduate of the Suluk Academy (Naubahar). She has previously served the Inayatiyya as a Kinship Council Member, as a member of the North American Board of Trustees, and as a chair of the Fundraising Committee. Khatidja has focused her academic studies in the area of urban community and public policy. In her daily life, she works in education philanthropy with a goal of expanding accessibility and inclusivity in higher and performing arts education. She is passionate about building networks of community and mutual aid, as well as elevating the visibility of marginalized groups. She is motivated by the belief that our diverse outlooks and experiences make us a stronger whole, if we work collaboratively to weave a unifying ideal of love, harmony, and beauty. She currently lives in Forest Hills, NY with her husband Wesley.

 

Raqib Jonah Yakel was initiated into the Inayati Order by Pir Vilayat in 2000. For many years, he was an active member of the Washington, DC, Baraka Center and is a graduate of both the Suluk Academy (Gulzar/2015) and the Raphaelite Program with Himayat Inayati. He spent ten years in Kansas City, where he led a Sufi center and later served as a mentor for the Suluk classes of Naubahar and Na-koja-abad. His service in the Kinship Activity began in 2010 as a rider for the Spirit Rides the Wind fundraiser, a five-day bike ride from Washington, DC, to the Abode of the Message. He later led early Kinship circles in Kansas City. After several years focused on health and healing, he returned to the Kinship Council in 2023. Professionally, Raqib is a chiropractor and functional medicine practitioner specializing in brain health, chronic inflammatory conditions, and mold-related illness. In addition to his private practice, he works closely with Raqib Kogan at the George Washington Center for Integrative Medicine in Washington, DC. Raqib currently resides near Portland, OR, with his wife, Jeni.

 

Majid David Vowells was initiated into the Inayatiyya over twenty five years ago and has been the kinship representative in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2017. He is a Cherag in the Universal Worship, a member of the New Zealand Message Council, a graduate of the 2025 Suluk course and is a coordinator working toward building a centre in Auckland’s North Shore, inshallah. Originally from England, he emigrated to NZ in 1994. He lives with his wife and son and has three other children and two grandchildren spread between England, Japan and NZ. He loves his job teaching woodwork and pottery to grade 7 and 8 children in a local school, though he can hear retirement calling in the distance.Below are the programs that Kinship, in the regions of Oceania and North America, developed, led, and engaged in, with many willing collaborators, over the last five years – most recent to oldest.

From Khatidja
The 6^th Sufi Thought
There is One Siblinghood, the human siblinghood, which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the Parenthood of God.
 
The 7^th Sufi Thought
There is One Moral, the love which springs forth from self-denial, and blooms in deeds of beneficence.
 
As one of the incoming co-leaders of the Kinship activity, I feel privileged to be a part of the continuing unfoldment of Murshid’s teaching that the whole of humanity is one family, and with all of our differences and distinctions we are inextricably linked and share a responsibility for each other. 
 
Over one hundred years ago, Murshid spoke of the growing materialism, commercialism, and transactional nature of communities. Communities which were intended as places of connection had become places of commerce. More than a century later, this condition is still evident in much of the world. Places of public gathering, discourse, and community have become scarce, leaving only space for those with the capital to be consumers.
 
“It is not preaching that is needed, but the hammering on the hearts, so that they naturally will understand.” p. 331, Social Gathekas: Sufi Wisdom on Social Harmony & Service, Hazrat Inayat Khan
 
Our charge is to awaken the heart quality in humanity, to realize our original state of unity in variety, and to be of service to our worldwide family. We are not missionaries. We do not proselytize. We do our work by being of service to our fellow siblings, without expectation of service kind, but as an expression of our moral ideal. That we have an obligation to each other.
 
“We think it a privilege to give our humble service in the great cause of world Kinship.” p. 329, Social Gathekas: Sufi Wisdom on Social Harmony & Service, Hazrat Inayat Khan
 
We give love without condition. We feed those who are hungry. Cloth those who are naked. Provide hospitality to those who have been displaced. Be a companion to the lonely. We amplify the voices and experiences of those who others wise may not be heard, by hosting space where the dignity and sovereignty of every body, heart, and soul is witnessed and respected we work to amplify the voices and experiences of those who otherwise may not be heard.
 
When one begins to undertake a meditative practice, one must learn to quiet the mind. One does not begin with an instantly clear the mind. A focus is given, on the breath or the pulse, a word or sound. Practice is required. Each time the mind wanders and becomes distracted by thoughts, there is a reminder to re-center upon that focus. In much the same way, the world we live in is full of distractions that draw us away from the truth of our kinship. The transactional nature of our day to day lives cause overwhelm and uncertainty.  We must continuously remember to return to the heart. To return to the understanding of our bond, of our inherent connection to one another. 
 
The poets have told us; the world is hurting. No matter where we trace our finger on an atlas there is hurt everywhere. But we do not need the poets to tell us this. We know this, in our bones, in our souls, in our hearts. Now more than ever, the need of the day is Kinship. May we be guided in our work.  
 
In gratitude and service,
Khatidja
 
From Raqib
Greetings Friends on the Path,
As I step into this role with my friends Khatidja and Majid, I wanted to take a moment and my experience of kinship as it has continued to unfold over the years.  
You could say Kinship is the fabric of our very existence, woven through our relationships with ourselves, our guides (both outer and inner), the natural world, and each other. As I look ahead, I sense that my contribution to the Kinship Activity may be in helping deepen our collective focus on cultivating this sacred interconnectedness: embracing the full spectrum of self, attuning to both visible and invisible companions, and nurturing true friendship in an ever-expanding circle of life.At the heart of Kinship is the recognition that our being is singular, of the One, and also an ecology of selves—body, mind, heart, and soul. To fully embody our nature, we must welcome all parts of ourselves, including those parts that have been “broken,” disowned, and forgotten. I believe this self-inclusion to be the foundation of love. It is not abstract or esoteric—it is a deeply human act. This is an inner act of kinship, and possibly, the first step towards kinship with another.Here, the insights of Polyvagal Theory offer profound relevance: when our nervous systems are regulated—grounded in breath, rooted in safety—we have space to return to what Murshid calls the natural state. In this state, the heart softens. It becomes sensitive, resonant, capable of deep communion and healing. This is the golden heart—a heart that shines not only because it has been refined, but because it remains open in the face of life. Kinship emerges not merely through shared ideas or values, but through co-regulation—the sacred art of attuning to one another with presence, breath, and warmth. Kinship extends beyond the self into what Pir Zia refers to as the “cloud of witnesses”—the collective of ancestors, prophets, saints, and sages, guiding each of us, including angels, jinn, and illuminated souls who walk beside us in unseen ways. These beings offer not only wisdom but companionship, guiding us toward remembrance and alignment. Through breath, prayer, and inner listening, we come into resonance, attunement, and kinship with their presence. 
The natural world, too, speaks the language of kinship. Trees, rivers, mountains, and animals are not only objects to behold—they are kin to breathe with. As we refine our breath and root into the body, we can begin to awaken the capacity to commune with all of life. The nervous system becomes an instrument of attunement, and the heart becomes a bridge between worlds. In this way, Kinship is more than a concept—it is a practice, a rhythm, a sacred exchange. It is the quiet knowing that we do not walk alone. In every breath, we are in relationship—with the near and the far, the seen and the unseen, the present and the eternal. As this work unfolds, I hope to help create spaces—within and among us—where co-regulation and living connection can take root, nourishing spiritual friendships and embodied service, and helping to cultivate a world where all beings are met with dignity, safety, and love.

This is our work: to be bridges, to be friends, to be kin.
 
From Majid
For me the essence of kinship is in our personal relationships, particularly the realisation that friendship and respect are the foundations we build our worlds on. Friendship is at the heart of the sufi path and is surely part of what might be called our original relationship with the world. These words are from our website;
 
At the core of the Kinship concentration is the aspiration to bring humanity to its original relationship, raising us above the differences and distinctions that rupture the unity of our human family. The starting point maybe humanity but kinship ultimately covers all of life on our planet. The well-being of one organism is inextricably tied to the well-being of the other and of the whole.
 
Nothing is left out, everything is connected, and of course the starting point is always ourselves. One of my goals in kinship is to continue to build strong community locally here where I live, in the North Shore of Auckland, in NZ, but then beyond that, wouldn’t it be wonderful to create a global network of friends, linked across the world by our shared path and love for the message. These things are easily said, but what would be the steps to turn that into reality? I’m excited to be part of a global network, but how do we make that tangible, functional? Perhaps you have Sufi friends in other parts of the world? Here in NZ, we have mureeds that join us from France, Germany and Finland for our Thursday evening program. Perhaps the kinship activity could be instrumental in strengthening ties both between countries and within them.
 
As a community, how do we want to be and how do we want to communicate? Zoom feels to me like something of a blessing and an obstacle as well. While it’s wonderful to be able to meet together from anywhere on the planet, is it replacing meeting face to face? Are we losing the preciousness of spending time together in person, which surely should always be the first choice. If so, how do we build and support strong local centres? Do we need to look around and see what other, similar groups are doing? Historically, Sufi centres fed the poor, is there a contemporary equivalent? Is this something the kinship activity can help with?
 
Much thought is being given at present to the form the Inayatiyya should take in the future. You may have noticed that we are an aging group and, particularly since covid, we seem to have a preference for online meetings rather than face to face. What is your experience of this? How would you choose to see us move into the future? Should we just focus on the message and have faith, or should we also be more proactive. I would love to see a discussion on these issues within the kinship activity.
 
Murshid considered that kinship was created to address the needs of the day. Life was difficult after the first world war, but today we face similar, even greater problems. Social justice for all people seems as hard to achieve as ever, wars continue unabated and of course the climate crisis looms over everything, casting its own dark shadow. It can be hard to know how to address challenging topics like these within the kinship activity, but my own feeling is that however hard it is, we have a duty to do so. We all feel the fabric of our world fraying around us. What steps can we take to prevent it, and how can we best support each other along the way?
 
I am hoping that kinship will continue to be a forum to discuss all the important issues of the day, however difficult, and however seemingly political. It can be hard not to be overwhelmed by all that is happening in the world today, I would love to see the kinship activity as a place where we support each other through these difficult times and work out what is possible for each of us in our lives so that we and our community may thrive.
 
Yours in love, harmony and beauty
Majid