Happy New Year 2025

A message from Saira Shah

Saira Shah

I wanted to make this update a little bit more personal than we’ve done before. It seems important, in what would have been Idries Shah’s hundred and first year, to put my name beside my words to show that there is family continuity in all that we do.

First of all, I’d like to personally thank all of you who generously donated at the beginning of the year. Regular donations are our lifeblood and really help make it possible for us to keep the works of Idries Shah available online and throughout the world. We’re incredibly grateful to every single one of you, thank you so very much.

This year I’d like to welcome the two new trustees who are joining our team: Sara-Jane Hall and Kri Centofanti. We’ve added their photos and short bios to a new page on our website called ‘Who’s Who at ISF’. Sara-Jane is a BBC radio producer with a head full of ideas and a contact book to match. Kri, who is known to many of you, is a powerhouse of energy and commitment.

Sara-Jane Hall

Sara-Jane Hall

Kristin Centofanti

Kri Centofanti

Dan Whitaker

Dan Whitaker

Clare Maxwell-Hudson

Clare Maxwell-Hudson

They join Dan Whitaker and Clare Maxwell-Hudson, who have proved themselves calm and competent hands, and myself.

Gill Whitworth

Gill Whitworth

 

I’d like to give special thanks to Gill Whitworth, who has – entirely voluntarily – taken on so much of the burden of ISF admin. She’s such a huge support to me and has become indispensable as we continue to cut costs.

For my part, in future newsletters during 2025 I’ll be writing a series of articles on Shah’s contribution to psychology. Shah believed that, for Sufi ideas to be useful for the West, they must be culturally adapted to its needs. He often said that, for Westerners living in today’s secular world, many of these ideas fit best with psychology.

In Shah’s eyes, much of Sufism deals with reducing and looking beyond the ‘commanding self’, which might be called the ego: a mass of often subconscious fears, desires and bits of automatic programming. Shah maintained that only by calming that self, and gently removing it from the driving seat, may a person become free.

In other words, Sufism provides a comprehensive system of self-development. However, as Shah said, this must be firmly rooted in service to others:

“It is on this subject that Saadi of Shiraz wrote the poem, in his Bostan, ‘The Orchard’:
The Path is not other than
the service of the people:
It is not in the rosary, the prayer-rug
and the dervish robe.”

(Learning how to Learn)

Of course, our core work of maintaining Shah’s works online for free and in printed form continues, as do our charitable book distributions (see the utterly charming story of our cooperation with Kashfi’s Children).

Every few years the world turns and people seem interested in what Sufis have to offer. It feels as if one of those rotations is in process. We’re hopeful that we will be able to keep Shah’s enormous contribution in the public eye at this important juncture. His ideas are valuable and must not be lost.

Please watch this space. We’re happy to have you onboard: we simply couldn’t carry on without your support.

Saira