Sufi Ruhaniat International
Ethics Agreement

Ratified by the Jamiat Khas
Kansas City, Missouri, USA, 1995
(updated October 2002)

Toward the One,
The Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty, The Only Being
United with All the Illuminated Souls
Who Form the Embodiment of the Master, the Spirit of Guidance.

BACKGROUND

We are challenged morally and spiritually to make a clear ethical agreement with one another. Rather than a list of rules, this is a simple statement of

1. our mutual respect and responsibility in spiritual community and in the initiatic relationship
   
2. the processes for resolving ethical dilemmas where they arise, and
   
3. ongoing notice of ethical responsibility for new and continuing Sufi Ruhaniat International members.

DEFINITIONS

Teacher and Functionary

Anyone authorized by the Sufi Ruhaniat International to present classes, seminars, workshops, or in any other way represent the organization

Initiator

A teacher authorized to initiate and guide individual students in the Ruhaniat esoteric school; only the Spiritual Director of the Sufi Ruhaniat International can confirm esoteric school initiators

Mureed

A student in the Ruhaniat esoteric school

Student

Any participant in Sufi Ruhaniat International activities

Dual Relationship

Where the initiatic link is combined with other forms of relationship (business/ financial, counseling, personal/ romantic, etc.). Our ethical goal is to cherish all members of the community. Environmental safety, freedom from peer harassment, and specifically the safety of children are priorities. Organizational representatives are responsible for complying with local laws regarding the prevention and reporting of suspected abuse or neglect.

AGREEMENT

1. Teachers agree to hold in their heart the fulfillment of their student’s Path in life ...”Toward the One, the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty...”
   
2. Both teacher and student agree to keep their relationship clear of sexual, emotional, or financial exploitation and/or abuse.
   
3. Initiators agree not to engage in sexual activity with their mureeds; if an initiator and their mureed choose to develop a sexual relationship, they agree to first dissolve their initiatic link and to wait until the student has formed an initiatic link with another teacher.
   
4. Dual relationship exists in community and carries potential for misunderstanding. Where dual relationship occurs, both teachers and students agree to use caution and discernment; seeking guidance with a third party is encouraged. Dual relationship cannot be a precondition to initiation or to continuing an initiatic relationship.
   
5. Initiators are expected to honor the initiatic covenant by holding confidential and sacred the private communications between themselves and their mureeds, except where to do so 2 could result in harm to the mureed or to another. (The Confidentiality statement was added to the Ethics Agreement on July 5th, 2000.)
   
6. The student accepts responsibility for bringing ethical concerns or ambiguities to the teacher, teacher’s guide, Ruhaniat Mureeds’ Advocate, Ethics Committee or Spiritual Director of the Sufi Ruhaniat International.

RESOLUTION PROCESS

1. Students, teachers, and the community share responsibility for keeping the initiatic relationship free of abuse or exploitation.
   
2. Wherever possible, issues will be resolved by those involved, with or without a mutually agreed-upon mediator. Immediate, local resolution is encouraged; it is recommended that local communities develop their own resolution/ mediation processes.
   
3. Where resolution is not forthcoming, parties may request mediation assistance from the initiator’s supervising guide or Mureeds’ Advocate. Either party may request the assistance of the Ethics Committee.
   
4. An Ethics Committee, composed of three initiators, at least one of whom shall be a trustee, will be elected by the Jamiat Khas. This committee shall :
   
   1. hear and make recommendations on all ethical issues referred to it, and
      
   2. coordinate subsequent revisions of this document with the Jamiat Khas. Terms shall be for three years, commencing at election.
      
5. Decisions on ethical matters ultimately reside with the Sufi Ruhaniat International Spiritual Director.
   
6. Copies of this agreement, along with names and addresses of the current Mureeds’ Advocate and members of the Ethics Committee, shall be published in the Ruhaniat Mureeds’ Handbook available to all mureeds.

ETHICS PROCESS • Murshida Khadija Julia Goforth

This draft agreement reflects ten years of introspection, individual and group process, and dialogue. Insh’Allah, it reflects what we have learned from our mistakes as well as our 3 spiritual ideals. The agreement was a major focus of discussion and work at three annual meetings of the Jamiat Khas and was ratified by the Fall 1995 Jamiat Khas in Kansas City. A week-long email dialogue involving twenty initiators served as a forum for putting suggestions into workable draft form prior to the Jamiat presentation. The following ethical considerations from the founding Pir of the Chishti lineage remind us that we stand at the beginning rather than at the end of our exploration of ethics.

SOME ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS FROM HAZRAT KWAJA MOINUDDIN CHISHTI

The heart was essentially created for making rounds of the love of God. There are no rituals or ceremonies to be performed in Sufism, nor are there academic dissertations which may easily be acquired by reading, but according to those who are lovers of God and the sheikhs of tariqat, Sufism means scrupulously maintained moral behavior which one must observe toward all of God’s creatures. It is a hardened sinner who commits sin yet simultaneously believes oneself to be one of God’s “chosen few.” For a follower of the path of Truth, it is worse than a sin to disdain or look down on anyone. A sin committed does not harm an individual so much as the looking down with contempt on one’s fellow human beings. The best way of evading the fire of hell lies in feeding the hungry, providing water to the thirsty, removing the wants of the needy, and befriending the miserable.

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