I met Iman in the late ’70’s at an Abode summer camp with Pir Vilayat. Iman had an engaging, beautiful spiritual aura which drew me to her. A friendship developed quickly between us. Something she said has stuck with me over the years: that one has to rest, equal to the energy one expends, in order to maintain good health. It was a painful shock to hear of her accident.
Iman and I were the same age. I visited her Manhattan Center which had a huge picture of Murshid on the wall as the elevator doors opened. She led the sufi dancing one night in the alps which was one of the more powerful ones I experienced showing how beautiful the counter point female -male zhikr could become. She also said “Children have a blank check in the Sufi Order”, when commenting on the young ones wandering about the Somet Bucher camp. She also visited Barton Farm in the UK when it was starting up and gave much helpful advice to those interested in community building. Her book “Seven Women” is a treasured part of my collection. She taught me some practices for elevators and before meetings, and shared many humorous and amazing “airport stories” about meeting Pir Vilayat in the NYC airports. When she passed it was so amazing that there was no major marks on her and the car was full of white roses, on the way to Universal Worship. She was an amazingly powerful and positive force within the Order, the first female to learn turning from Sulieman Dede, and she taught us how to do it.
It has been said that Iman worked with Noor-un-Nissa Inayat Khan in the unseen realms with children who had passed over “early” and did not understand what was happening with them.
She will always be in my heart.
Akhbar Quddus Cumming
Iman was a REAL Sufi. We used to visit at Leaders’ Camp in the smoking area; she smoked unfiltered Camel cigarettes. Although I was somewhat fearful of the neighborhood, I visited Iman’s NYC Center many times. I was blessed to see the first presentation of her play, SEVEN WOMEN, at the Abode and was deeply touched by it. I later produced and directed her play in Bala Cynwyd, PA (near Philadelphia; it was a wonderful success. She was planning to lead a weekend at our Mississippi Center but had the auto accident. I think of Iman frequently with love and inspiration, and continue to share her SEVEN WOMEN stories with our university and sufi students.
Love and Blessings to All,
Grandfather Subhan Jim Burton
I just saw the 1980 Merchant-Ivory film “Jane Austen in Manhattan” which includes Iman and the New York group. It made me fondly remember her, even though those scenes aren’t exactly right. She was a powerful force in the Sufi work.
I remember in 1979, Iman posting a countdown;
’13 more Shahabuddin-less days.
To be followed by, Shahabbuddin Less days!
12 more…
11 more…
10 more…’ …
I also remember riding down to her funerary launch with Shems Friedlander. Salik and Betul. Shems was saying,
“I always assumed I would have another fifty years to argue with Iman.”
I concluded that Iman left to be Shamcher’s secretary. His
taking the cap off a volcano (St. Helen’s) seemed a bit much to me, but Shamcher and Iman never let appearences deter them from anything.
I still have a cassette of her singing a zikr/ ilahi, and the
‘Jane Austin’ DVD with Iman, Sufi dancing with Salik, Betul, Mussawir, Khalissa and if I’m not mistaken, John Farrell!
All Blessings, my dear Sister. That your ashes are in the wall of Murshids’ tomb is the perfect metaphor for your life and your legacy. Bodhi svaha!
I met Iman in the late ’70’s at an Abode summer camp with Pir Vilayat. Iman had an engaging, beautiful spiritual aura which drew me to her. A friendship developed quickly between us. Something she said has stuck with me over the years: that one has to rest, equal to the energy one expends, in order to maintain good health. It was a painful shock to hear of her accident.
Iman and I were the same age. I visited her Manhattan Center which had a huge picture of Murshid on the wall as the elevator doors opened. She led the sufi dancing one night in the alps which was one of the more powerful ones I experienced showing how beautiful the counter point female -male zhikr could become. She also said “Children have a blank check in the Sufi Order”, when commenting on the young ones wandering about the Somet Bucher camp. She also visited Barton Farm in the UK when it was starting up and gave much helpful advice to those interested in community building. Her book “Seven Women” is a treasured part of my collection. She taught me some practices for elevators and before meetings, and shared many humorous and amazing “airport stories” about meeting Pir Vilayat in the NYC airports. When she passed it was so amazing that there was no major marks on her and the car was full of white roses, on the way to Universal Worship. She was an amazingly powerful and positive force within the Order, the first female to learn turning from Sulieman Dede, and she taught us how to do it.
It has been said that Iman worked with Noor-un-Nissa Inayat Khan in the unseen realms with children who had passed over “early” and did not understand what was happening with them.
She will always be in my heart.
Akhbar Quddus Cumming
Iman was a REAL Sufi. We used to visit at Leaders’ Camp in the smoking area; she smoked unfiltered Camel cigarettes. Although I was somewhat fearful of the neighborhood, I visited Iman’s NYC Center many times. I was blessed to see the first presentation of her play, SEVEN WOMEN, at the Abode and was deeply touched by it. I later produced and directed her play in Bala Cynwyd, PA (near Philadelphia; it was a wonderful success. She was planning to lead a weekend at our Mississippi Center but had the auto accident. I think of Iman frequently with love and inspiration, and continue to share her SEVEN WOMEN stories with our university and sufi students.
Love and Blessings to All,
Grandfather Subhan Jim Burton
I just saw the 1980 Merchant-Ivory film “Jane Austen in Manhattan” which includes Iman and the New York group. It made me fondly remember her, even though those scenes aren’t exactly right. She was a powerful force in the Sufi work.
I remember in 1979, Iman posting a countdown;
’13 more Shahabuddin-less days.
To be followed by, Shahabbuddin Less days!
12 more…
11 more…
10 more…’ …
I also remember riding down to her funerary launch with Shems Friedlander. Salik and Betul. Shems was saying,
“I always assumed I would have another fifty years to argue with Iman.”
I concluded that Iman left to be Shamcher’s secretary. His
taking the cap off a volcano (St. Helen’s) seemed a bit much to me, but Shamcher and Iman never let appearences deter them from anything.
I still have a cassette of her singing a zikr/ ilahi, and the
‘Jane Austin’ DVD with Iman, Sufi dancing with Salik, Betul, Mussawir, Khalissa and if I’m not mistaken, John Farrell!
All Blessings, my dear Sister. That your ashes are in the wall of Murshids’ tomb is the perfect metaphor for your life and your legacy. Bodhi svaha!
Selams,
Haji rifaat al-Halveti, al-Jerrahi