Nahid Angha

Nahid Angha, Ph.D.

Dr. Nahid Angha at the International Conference on Science and Spirituality, Cortona, Italy, June 2009, addressing the subject of Human Dignity and the New Frontiers of Science
Occupation Scholar, activist, lecturer, translator, and author

Dr. Nahid Angha, PhD is a Sufi human rights and women's rights activist, as well as a scholar, lecturer, translator and author of over fifteen published books.[1][2]

She is the co-director and co-founder of the International Association of Sufism, Founder of the International Sufi Women Organization, Executive Editor of the online journal Sufism: An Inquiry, main representative of the IAS for the United Nations NGO/DPI,[3][4] the organizer of the annual Sufism Symposium and Songs of the Soul: Poetry and Sacred Music Festival. Angha is the first Muslim woman inducted into the Marin County Women's Hall of Fame[1] and received the 2012 Visionary Award from the Marin Interfaith Council.[5]

Angha is a Sufi master from an ancient lineage. She is the daughter of the 20th-century Persian Sufi Master, Moulana Shah Maghsoud.[6] Her father appointed her to teach and lead Sufi gatherings when she was in her early twenties. She initially held gatherings at her father's Khaneghah in Sufi Abad, Iran, and continues her teachings to the present time, in the United States.

Peace, Social Justice and Intra-faith Vision

Angha has established a tremendous range of peace-keeping, humanitarian activities and made significant contributions to interfaith and inter-religious activities and programs in the United States and internationally. In 1983, Angha and her husband, Shah Nazar Seyyed Ali Kianfar, PhD, co-founded the International Association of Sufism (IAS), a non-profit educational and community service organization with chapters and representatives around the world. The headquarters are in Marin County, California.

In 1993, Angha, with the sponsorship and contribution of Sufi women from around the world, created the International Sufi Women Organization,[1][4] an organization with representatives and chapters around the world. SWO advocates for women's rights, children's rights and sponsors contributions towards education, immunizations, safety and health. She has created a series of round table discussions and formed a domestic violence awareness and prevention program specifically for women within the Islamic community.

She led the IAS to be admitted as a United Nations NGO/DPI in 1997[7] and to be recognized as a Messenger of UNESCO's Manifesto 2000 for contributions to the culture of peace and nonviolence. Dr. Angha serves as the main representative of the IAS NGO/DPI of the United Nations.[8]

In 1999, recognizing the need for interfaith understanding, she sponsored a Women's Wisdom Conference in San Rafael, California.[9] The Conference brought together women from the states, many others from overseas, and represented multi-faith traditions and congregations. In 2006, Angha established Voices for Justice, a youth organization with a multi-religious, multicultural unified voice to advocate for children's human rights.[9]

Another of Angha's initiatives is the SWO Prison Project, which works within women's jails to provide education, health awareness, cancer prevention and stress reduction services. The Project maintains correspondence with women prisoners throughout the United States and sends books and newsletters to women inmates. Sufi women contribute money, goods and volunteer time to projects throughout the US and in numerous other countries.[10]

Her efforts earned the International Association of Sufism the recognition award of a Messenger of Peace UNESCO's Manifesto 2000 for its contribution to the culture of peace and non-violence, and an Ambassadorship status from UNICEF for Voices for Justice. She is frequently invited by world media to share her ideas on peace, social justice and Islam as she did at this appearance in London in 2011.[7]

IAS gradually expanded its focus to also address moral issues facing our global community. These issues, essential to a peaceful world, include women’s rights, children’s rights, non-violence, mental health, immunization, scholarship and education, elimination of poverty, environmental issues, global warming, AIDS and refugees.

Sufism Symposium

One of her significant accomplishments is the creation of the annual Sufism Symposium.[11]

The Annual Sufism Symposium celebrates this most influential school of civilization and provides a platform for diverse Sufi teachers to share their wisdom with a wide range of English-speaking audiences. Sufism Symposium has been celebrated in the United States as well as in Spain, Egypt and Scotland.[12]

The annual event continues to serve as an important contribution to intra and interfaith dialog and encourages peaceful conversation, the exchange of ideas and an opportunity to set goals for global peace, education and human rights advocacy among Muslims and people of all religions in the United States and across the globe.[13]

Songs of the Soul: Poetry and Sacred Music Festival

In recent years, Angha has organized an annual event which highlights the beauty of Sufism through poetry and music. The event is both interfaith and multicultural while retaining a Muslim aesthetic. The "Songs of the Soul" event typically occurs in the Spring and has included a poetry contest open to the public and people of all faiths.[14]

Women's Rights in Islam

At the first international Sufism Symposium, Angha was the first Sufi woman who sat together in the center circle traditionally reserved for male leaders and led meditation in that international Sufi gathering, helping to pave the way for other Muslim women to engage and participate in the inner circle of a traditionally male-oriented Muslim Sufi ritual when she sat with male Muslim leaders from around the globe and led people in prayers and zikr. The significance of her action, in leading prayer and zikr, in an international forum was of great importance to lead the way for Muslim Sufi women across the globe to assert their equal rights and leadership privileges within the context of Islam. In this sense, Angha has been a leading advocate for Sufi women and the rights of women in Islam.[10]

Angha brought together Sufi women leaders from different traditions to establish the international Sufi Women Organization (SWO) in 1993. She created an international dialogue among women of various spiritual backgrounds, different cultures, with the primary goal of advocating for women's rights. SWO and its numerous members, both local and international, have been instrumental in many global peace efforts and social justice movements. Some examples include open letters to the world's Muslim and non Muslim leaders, particularly in conflict areas, calling for the recognition of women’s human rights and demanding a focus on implementing peaceful solutions to end a range of abuses and violent acts committed against women and children.[15][16][17]

SWO has launched several local and international social justice programs including, in conjunction with other humanitarian organizations, to lobby for clean water in refugee areas, offer maternity/child health care resources for the Navajo Nation and sponsor academic scholarships for youth.[10] In addition, SWO has established long-term projects including an educational and leadership training conference series (Women's Wisdom, Women in Action), prison projects offering women-led meditation seminars for women inmates and literacy programs promoting women-led educational programs for underprivileged youth.[9]

Partnerships with Higher Education

Angha created a partnership between IAS and the Humanities Department of Dominican University of California and developed a conference series entitled, "Building Bridges of Understanding". Among the highlights of this series, Angha was instrumental in inviting Dr. Shirin Ebadi to the Dominican Campus.[18]

Building Bridges of Understanding continues to bring Interfaith Communities together with academia and service organizations for interfaith dialog, cooperation and social justice. Representatives of many faith traditions in Marin County serve as the Program Committee for these series.[19]

She identifies and promotes a philosophical framework of action that advances dialogue between secularism and spirituality on a mission of peace. A variety of programs, such as Muslim non-Muslim Dialogue, in partnership with Dominican University of California's Campus Ministry, are focused on respectful exchange, conversation, personal stories among Muslims and non-Muslims for the sake of better understanding and peaceful dialogue.[20]

Voices for Justice

In 2006, at the invitation of Angha, a group of multi-religious, multicultural youth gathered to establish Voices for Justice, a unified voice to advocate for children's human rights. Voices for Justice has worked with a number of international and local humanitarian organizations, like Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity, and UNICEF, to support a number of initiatives in North America, Central America and Africa. These initiatives include access to clean water, AIDS awareness, immunization access, nutrition awareness and educational resources access. Voices for Justice also continues to support efforts like the Children and Youth Summer program for healthy meals and promote activities for at-risk children and youth in the summer months.

Partnership with Interfaith Communities (Partial list)

Angha's dedication to peace has led her to serve in various leadership roles in large-scale international interfaith organizations including serving as:

Publications

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Marin Women's Hall of Fame (Dr. Nahid Angha, honoured for Religion in 2005)". Marin Women's Hall of Fame. 2005. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Angha, Nahid; Lewisohn, Leonard (2010). Stations of the Sufi Path. Cambridge, UK: Archetype. p. 11. ISBN 1-901383-35-0.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders". The World Council of Religious Leaders. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Drucker, Malka (2003). White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual Leaders in America. Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths Publishing. pp. 38–41. ISBN 1-893361-64-0.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Visionary Marin: Honoring Nahid Angha". Marin Interfaith Council. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Pierce Gonzalez, Karen (25 August 2000). "Selfless Sufis Spread Their Word Throughout Marin County/New Novato institute offers refuge, education with peace in mind". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Non-Governmental Organization/DPI (registry)". United Nations Department of Public Information. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "International Association of Sufism". International Association of Sufism. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Clow, Soraya Chase. "Women's Wisdom: Women in Action: An Interfaith Conference presented by the Sufi Women Organization". International Association of Sufism. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mijares, Dr. Sharon. "The Role of Women in Religion: A Shifting Paradigm". Sufi Women Organization. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Glover, Malcolm (23 March 2001). "'Language of Spirit' At Sufism Symposium". SFGate. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Sufism Symposium". International Association of Sufism. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Moore, Brian (25 May 2002). "Sufism Symposium seeks harmony with all religions". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Sufism: Mysticism of Islam". Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  15. ↑ "Sufi Women Organization". Sufiwomen.org. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  16. ↑
  17. ↑ "SWO: Articles". Sufiwomen.org. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Ashley, Beth (10 September 2006). "2003 Nobel laureate discusses Iran, Islam". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  19. ↑ "Brains On Purpose™: Upcoming conference on neurospirituality: California in October". Westallen.typepad.com. 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  20. 1 2 3 4 "Muslim Non-Muslim Facebook Page". Facebook. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
  21. ↑
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