Sufi Ahmed Murad Chishti was an American who was born on October 18, 1896 to a Jewish couple. He became the mystic of Sufi Chishti order and was the student of Inayat Khan. His teacher gave him his name Ahmed Murad in 1946. His actual name was Samuel Lewis. He devoted his life for the peace. Lewis as a child was keenly interested in the religion and the spirituality. Lewis 1916 studied mathematics at Colombia University and he later rejected the family business for his career. In 1915 Lewis went to the Palace of Education at the World’s fair which was held in San Francisco. There he became interested in the “Theosophy” that teaches that, “all the religions are right”. At that time Lewis was just 18 years old.
In 1919 Lewis joined the Sufi Community of California in Fairfax where he met the Murshida Rabia Martin. She was also a student of Hazrat Inayat Khan. Hazrat Inayat Khan was a musician and an Indian Sufi teacher. Around a year later, Lewis started studying Zen. Zen can be called a school of Mahayana Buddhism that focuses on meditation an act that used for the attainment of enlightenment. By studying the life of Lewis it is evident that his life was centered with Sufism and Zen. Lewis stayed at Fairfax Sufi community during the 1920s. In 1923 Lewis gets into the initiation of Pir-O-Murshad by the vision of his teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan.
In 1926 with the alliance of a Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk he opened first official meditation hall at San Francisco. Lewis also became interested in the Horticulture and he started promoting the exchange of seeds internationally. Lewis stayed in touched with the study of Sufism, Zen as well as yoga. Years of 1930s and 1940s are the years that can be said the productive years for his writing. In 1956 the company of many other mystics and teacher, he visited the India, Pakistan, Japan and Egypt. He also claimed that in 1960 when he visited the Pakistan he was publically identified as Murshid by Pir Bakht Ali of combined Chishti-Qadai orders. A few young disciplines started to attract by him in 1966. In 1967 when he was in hospital Lewis said that he heard the voice of God says “I make you the spiritual leader of hippies”. Sufi Ahmed Murad Chishti traveled around the California for the remainder of his life. His basic focus always remained on peace and brotherhood and he developed the Dances of Universal Peace. In December 1970 he falls down from the stairs of his home and after two and a half weeks he died on January 15, 1971.
