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Ethics Council
Updated November 2020
Abraham Sussman
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Munira Elizabeth Reed
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Saladin Frank Pelfrey
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Mureed Advocate
A Mureed Advocate is available to students of The Message who encounter conflicts with others in SRI. The Mureed Advocate is intended to address difficulties that occur within unequal power situations, where the person in the lesser power position may need support to address a problem at hand. While severe ethical concerns (e.g., boundary violations and abuses of power in teacher-student relationships) are referred to the SRI Ethics Council, the Mureed Advocate is available to help mureeds in situations of lesser, yet real, significance. These might involve issues that arise between those working in volunteer positions--where the parties need guidance in speaking and listening to each other in a safe, responsible atmosphere. In most cases, the process will begin by utilizing the Compassionate (Nonviolent) Communication model authored by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D., to help participants to identify and to express their observations, feelings, and needs that arose during and after the problem situation—and then to make clear, respectful requests that would help them to meet their needs and, hopefully, to resolve the problem that occurred. The process is envisioned to be constructive and healing, not judicial or punitive.
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Ethics Agreement
Adopted 1995 Jamiat Khas; updated November 11, 2012; Cherags and Sirajs section added September 2023
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 (SRI) members.
Definitions
Teacher and Functionary: Anyone authorized by SRI to present classes, seminars, workshops, or in any other way represent the SRI organization.
Initiator: A teacher authorized to initiate and guide individual students in the SRI Esoteric School. Only the SRI Spiritual Director can confirm Esoteric School initiators.
Mureed: A student in the SRI Esoteric School.
Student: Any participant in SRI activities.
Dual Relationship: Where the initiatic link is combined with other forms of relationship (business/financial, counseling, personal/romantic, etc.).
Our Ethics Goal
To cherish all, regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or marital status. 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.
Agreements
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 could result in harm to the mureed or to another. (added July 5, 2000)
6. The student accepts responsibility for bringing ethical concerns or ambiguities to the teacher, teacher’s guide, the Mureeds’ Advocate, the Ethics Council, or the SRI Spiritual Director.
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 from within or outside of the Sufi community. 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 the Mureeds’ Advocate. Either party may request the assistance of the Ethics Council.
4. The Ethics Council is composed of SRI initiators who are appointed by the SRI Spiritual Director with the approval of the SRI Board of Trustees. This council shall
(a) hear and make recommendations on all ethical issues referred to it, and
(b) coordinate subsequent revisions of this agreement with the SRI Spiritual Director and the SRI Board of Trustees. Terms shall be for five years, extendable indefinitely.
5. Decisions on ethical matters ultimately reside with the SRI Spiritual Director.
6. A copy of this agreement, along with names and addresses of the current Mureeds’ Advocate and members of the Ethics Council, shall be published in The Ruhaniat Companion, available to all mureeds.
Cherags and Sirajs
Ministry functions and religious services are offered by SRI members who are formally ordained as ministers, known as Cherags and Sirajs. As representatives of SRI, they are subject to all the provisions and goals of the ethics agreement stated above pertaining to teachers, initiators, and other functionaries of the organization.
Cherag responsibilities include maintaining social and professional boundaries. Cherags must also know, understand and abide by the legal regulations in their location that pertain to ordained ministers and to officiating religious and civil services such as weddings and funerals.
Additionally, those serving in chaplaincy positions must adhere to the standards of their legal certifications and contract provisions.
The Ethics Agreement reflects ongoing learning from both mistakes and from spiritual ideals. It was initially ratified in 1995 following three years of Jamiat Khas meetings and online group process and dialogue, chaired by Murshida Khadija Goforth.
Inspirations from Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti invite further consideration concerning ethics:
- 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.
