It is clear that Murshida Sharifa came out of this period a changed person. Her mantle of the ascetic, of apparent indifference, now manifested human warmth, and her sympathy filtered through. A little phrase of Wazir's quoted above - which one could easily read over - is significant in its simplicity: "A few days later I received an invitation to come and see her. The only recollection I have of this visit was her loving and extremely sensitive glance." Up to that point who in the Sufi Movement who had met Murshida Sharifa spoke of her feeling and her affection? No doubt these sentiments existed in her, but they remained distant, inaccessible to others because of the extent to which she concentrated on her Murshid and on her work for the Sufi Movement, and the extent to which her meditation was focussed on the depth of the Being.

She had changed; she was now open to the outer world. But one may reflect that, because the objective of her evolution had not yet been fully attained, a last and hard climb awaited her.

The Trial

"The only way to live in the midst of inharmonious influences is to strengthen the will power and endure all things, yet keeping fineness of character and nobility of manner, together with an everlasting heart full of love." (Inayat Khan, Bowl of Saki - thought for 13 September))

One sometimes wonders why nearly all spiritual beings have to suffer so much hereon earth. One sometimes imagines that their spirituality should enable them to become almost insensitive to pain, or to rise above pain by taking refuge in the world within. (There are some examples of this, but they are limited and momentary.) In order to justify the trials endured by those who follow the path of Truth, some say that their suffering is "the will of God" - which leads others to say that in this case God must be a torturer, or else that He is powerless to protect those who serve and love Him. But Hazrat Inayat Khan sees it differently: "God", says he, "wishes for man that which man desires for himself". So the question is: what does a soul desire the most? The answer is not always the one expected by our superficial spirit ...

Les us search for other reasons for these trials, for the question is worthwhile, and the reasons are interwoven.
 

oOo

The universe (to which our sub-lunar world belongs), has its physical and psychic laws. Hazrat Inayat tells us that these are part of its automatic functioning. One of the laws of the animal world of our terrestrial life is that that which is perceived as strange to the group is eliminated. One could feel indignant at the view that the expression "animal kingdom" is seen to include to us humans. But how often do we react as animals rather than as human beings? And the most surprising thing is that we are quite unaware of doing so.

Our human society, like the animal world, has generally tried to reduce to silence those individuals who were too much out of tune with the average (be it in the case of spirituality or of saintliness). Furthermore, our human ego takes offence, is jealous of anyone who seems to it to be too superior; it seems to our ego that such a being puts it in the shade. Often, in addition, spiritual personalities may raise their voice in order to shake up conformity and to awaken conformist souls who are asleep in the comfort of their own good conscience. Without mentioning Christ, how many Christian saints, and in Islam, how many Sufis, had this harsh experience? However, this is only the outer aspect of things.

There is another reason for these trials, which has to do with the necessity of the witnessing of the Spirit, without which, according to the evangelical wisdom, our humanity "would lose its salt". The work of a spiritual being is to bear witness, to remind man by his own example, his own vocation, of the very real call of the Spirit. Without this vocation all civilization would degenerate and die out. So, if the spiritual beings remain in retreat, unknown and silent, they will no doubt reach a very high state, but where would the echo of this be? How would it benefit society? Even outside religion there exists a spiritual functioning of which our current world seems to be terrifyingly unconscious.

To do their work, those who live the divine life must leave their retreat and pay the price for doing so.

And then there is a further aspect. As iron must be heated until it glows and then tempered in order to acquire its strength, or as the dye must work into a fabric for it to endure the aggression of its surroundings, so a spiritual person must be hardened to the trials of the world, must be hardened against the "inharmonious influences" mentioned in the saying quoted at the beginning of this section. But why? So that the virtues of souls, which are proof to others of what these souls have attained, may become stable and solid. Without this process these virtues would have remained hidden and vulnerable. Among these virtues there is the courage and the endurance without which it would be impossible for them to fulfill the mission, big or small, which they are destined to fulfill for the good of the world.

There is a final aspect. A saying of Inayat Khan reads that "the bringers of joy have always been the children of sorrow". Joy must be theirs, so as to enable them to bring it to others. This joy is at the same time uplifting, consoling, understanding. This joy of the soul comes as a sort of reaction to an inner suffering lived in resignation to a Will on high, lived in the consciousness of God, God who by whichever name we use is the supreme Being. All, absolutely all, has its origin in the perspective of this Being.

Thus, to be able to help others towards inner joy, Murshida Sharifa had to pass through this painful trial.

oOo

If we have dealt with the foregoing at length, it is because a drama, whatever it be, has causes which lie much deeper than the apparent "responsibility" of this or that protagonist. Responsibility, the notion of fault or virtue, is linked to the free will which we experience in an immediate, pragmatic way, valid for individual and practical life. As soon as one looks at things from higher up, there is only the immense field of cause and effect, interlinked and stretching out to infinity.

We are saying that the trial of Murshida Sharifa was necessary, that it was the tempering of her courage and of her spiritual integrity.

The theatre of her trial was the Sufi Movement, and the motif was the succession of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan. It is time to set up the decor and relate the prologue.

oOo

The prologue is an imbroglio.

A few years before his departure to India, and his death in February 1927, Hazrat Inayat took great pains to put in place a Constitution for the Sufi Movement, after a revolt of the majority of the leaders who, though they were his disciples, found this constitution to be undemocratic. Murshida Sharifa and the then executive supervisor of the Sufi Movement, Mr Emile de Cruzat Zanetti, were alone in supporting Hazrat Inayat during the discussions. Be that as it may, the Constitution, which was then supposedly imposed by Murshid, stipulated that Pir-o-Murshid, that is to say he himself, should designate his successor.

This is where the imbroglio starts. For when Pir-o-Murshid died in 1927 he had not designated a successor.

Nevertheless, in 1925 he had conferred on Murshida Sharifa the function of "Sufi Silsila", which means that he saw in her a link in the transmission of "baraka", the divine influx, the divine grace which flows from master to master since the prophet Mohamed (and some say since Abraham), in order to reach the disciples, to help them in their progress and to bless their lives. But Murshida Sharifa never expected that she herself would succeed Pir-o-Murshid. What had been conferred on her was the responsibility of transmitting the spiritual current of "baraka" to him who would be capable of taking charge of the Sufi Movement. As evidence of this function, Pir-o-Murshid had given Murshida Sharifa a seal which indicated the function and was engraved with her name.

But who would this leader be?

oOo

During the years following the death of Murshid there were numerous difficulties around the succession of this Representative General, the Pir-o-Murshid of the Movement. It was only in June (or July) 1929, more than two years after Murshid's death, that Khalif Maheboob Khan, brother of Murshid, was established by Murshida Sharifa, under the title of Shaikh-ul-Mashaikh, in the function of Representative General and head of the Sufi Movement. She did this in her capacity as "Silsila Sufian" (see Chapter VII below), which function Pîr-o-Murshid conferred on her in 1925, at the same time giving her the seal engraved with her name. (This seal is reproduced on the cover of this memoir.)

Maheboob was certainly fully qualified to give individual guidance to the mureeds. He had been trained in the spiritual path by Murshid and he was certainly an evolved soul. Besides, his life was beyond reproach and his nature was particularly gentle and kind. But he was an artist, a musician, very reserved in character. He lacked the natural authority which makes leaders indisputable and undisputed. To take over the succession of Pir-o-Murshid would prove to be very hard and very difficult for him, and consequently for certain others, including Murshida Sharifa. But at the time there was no one else on whose shoulders this task could be laid down.

In brief, for the events were complex (photocopies of handwritten correspondence on the subject between Murshida and on the one hand Khalif Maheboob Khan, and on the other the Secretary General of the Movement, Mr Dussac, would fill many pages), this is the chronological order of what was taking place in the background of the Sufi Movement.

Since October 1927 Khalif Maheboob Khan kept in touch with Murshida Sharifa - then in seclusion - by correspondence, to ask her help and her advice when necessary. For example, a letter dated 24 October 1927 reads:
"I’ll be very thankful if you will kindly send me the Esoteric Constitution at your earliest convenience, as it is urgently needed, as I am afraid several things might happen in their own way, not knowing Pir-o-Murshid’s wishes in that line…".
And another dated 5 January 1928:
"... It is a great pity that I was not able to come to Suresnes before going to Geneva; nevertheless I will not take any decision on important matters before seeing you."

Feizi's manuscript for the year 1928 indicates:
For the year 1928 Feizi’s typescript indicates that; “It was asked of Khalif Maheboob Khan to represent Murshida Sharifa Goodenough during the Summer School, which he did”.

And from the same source we find this further indication, in Murshida's hand:
“1- After Maheboob Khan had asked me to make some Shaikhs and Khalifs, seeing me not quick to do so, he asked me to let him make some, saying; 'I need not have the title, but the work must go on'.
"2 - When in the spring of 1929, after esoteric leaders had asked him to 'assume the position of esoteric head and to act in that capacity in the future' and I had been asked by the Headquarters whether 'I approved of this', I said to Khalif Maheboob Khan that I would transmit to him this charge. He replied that he was so pleased that it should 'come from above instead of from below'.
"3 – In the autumn of 1929 I thought that many mistakes had been made and that it would perhaps be better if I held that position. I said to the Shaikh-ul-Mashaikh that it would perhaps be better. He replied, 'You will take Murshid Dussaq as Madar-ul-Maham (Secretary General), and I will go into retirement'.

 Murshid Dussaq (Emilien Talewar). Appointed Secretary General of the Sufi Movement in Geneva by Inayat Khan in 1922, then Khalif in 1924. He was also National Representative for Switzerland. He became a Murshid some years after this.

In fact “this autumn", as the typescript goes on, " a great split had come in the Movement, several very important mureeds – National Representatives appointed by Murshid himself – were put or went out of the Movement." It was clear to Murshida how disastrous it would be for the growth and unity of the Movement if the tendency continued, to put aside everybody that could not give devotion in the way that was expected of him.

From another draft may be seen how she tried to warn against it :
“The Sufi Order is centred in the Messenger. It is to him that devotion goes. No-one can claim devotion, that devotion is his right, it must be given to him. What devotion would that be that is an obligation? Devotion can only come spontaneously, from the heart. If the mureed can have devotion for an Initiator, for a Murshid, for an esoteric head, that is the best thing for the mureed. Devotion for the Messenger will naturally bring about devotion for his representatives, but lack of personal devotion for any particular representative must not be considered as a mark against a person, as a reason for not recognizing his merit, for keeping him aside of the work, if he has devotion for the Messenger and the Message."

“Murshida once told me", comments Feizi, "how Murshid always – however difficult the situation might be - tried to keep his mureeds, and I noticed how she herself tried to do so and paid attention to the feelings of mureeds who were rather troublesome and easily vexed, even though they seemed to be of little or no importance”.

Devotion ... devotion ... taken to mean devoted obedience to the hierarchy of the Sufi Movement (the disciple must blindly obey the guru), had become the watchword, which henceforth gave access to the various positions and to new dignitaries. The enthusiasm for the teachings of the Master, the desire to spread his work and to continue in his spirit, desire which drove most of Murshid's close mureeds, hardly counted any longer. One had to show that one was henceforth cast in the new mould. Some complied yet still saw clear, and used various mental restrictions and taking their distance in order to be able to continue, cost what it may, to work for the ideal their Murshid had showed them. We knew many who did so and later on we learned of their disillusions despite their efforts, dissillusions which only grew with the years. Murshida Sharifa was one of these, and how hard the price she had to pay would be for her!

“I know how Murshida tried to keep harmony", Feizi continues. "However, she felt it as her great responsibility to do whatever she could to keep things going in Murshid’s spirit – which she knew so well. This was also the reason why she could not and did not give out of her hands the sacred trust given to her by Murshid to handle and keep all his manuscripts - (i.e. the typescripts of his teachings concerning esoteric matters that were not yet duplicated). The Shaikh-ul-Mashaikh being an artist, it was not at all in his nature to do this kind of work. Besides, during Murshid’s lifetime he was occupied with his music and had no prominent part in the Movement. If he really had understood the heavy load of this responsibility, he would not have taken it as a personal offence that Murshida did not give him the free disposal of the manuscripts, even though the way in which she did stick to them was rather rigid”.

Be this as it may, at the time it was becoming more and more clear that the leadership of the Movement tolerated her less and less. The type of guardianship which Murshida found it her duty to exercise because of her faithfulness to Pir-o-Murshid, in all areas where she saw appear even just a shadow of a deviation (we know her meticulousness, we know she had an inflexible side to her character), annoyed many. Add to this the dearth of friends she had made among the mureeds, and the tendency to introversion she had always shown and which many took as aristocratic arrogance, and you will understand that in the end one wanted to exclude her from all decision-making.

End of the prologue.

oOo

The consequence was a type of execution. It took place in 1934.

A pretext was needed. This pretext became a lost letter.

In 1925 Murshid had given his trusted co-worker a sealed letter, to be opened only after his death. For one reason or another (she moved house several times between 1927 and 1934, the letter could have been mislaid among the many documents which she had under her care, or destroyed along with various papers she was said to have burned), Murshida forgot about the existence of this letter, even after the death of Murshid.

An assembly of leaders of the Movement took place in Geneva in October 1934. Towards the end of this assembly, Murshida wrote to Feizi:
“Here, every meeting is a test in which I walk through fire. (That is a purification, isn't it?). But progress is being made. It has been a crucifixion for me, but ‘after crucifixion comes resurrection’. There is one more meeting this evening. Perhaps I will stay till Thursday…”

But, reports Feizi: "Thursday evening however I waited in vain, it was only the next evening she came home. And how! Even before she had put off hat and coat, she sat down and told me what had happened in this ‘one more meeting’. She told me how a letter given into her care by Murshid had been lost, how this letter was supposed to contain his last will, and how they suspected her to have embezzled it. It was one of the members of the meeting who by a slip of the tongue, suddenly said it. At first, Murshida did not understand what he meant, until he said, with great emphasis; 'But you were HIS secretary, you know'. Then she understood of what she was suspected, though at the moment she could not remember anything of this letter, the existence of which, as she said 'had passed into oblivion'. But that night, putting her mind on Murshid, the recollection of it came to her in a flash, and also the manner he gave it to her, sealed, without any explanation. She said also that she never opened this letter and that during – most probably – a removal from the Salle Centrale, Geneva, this envelope had disappeared.

"She wrote a letter to the Headquarters (12 October 1934) explaining all these points and giving precisions about some others. And she concluded: 'It is a matter of infinite regret to me that there has been this oblivion on my part, with resultant troubles in the Sufi Movement. And I am extremely sorry that the Shaikh-ul-Mashaikh Maheboob Khan has had to go through difficulties and to suffer in consequence'.

“Shortly after the accusation", writes Feizi again, "the Shaikh–ul-Mashaikh said he did not believe she did it on purpose and would stop the rumour going around. Murshida then hoped so very much – thinking the distrust had gone – that a better understanding and co-operation would be possible. How much she was disappointed in this! … Once she said to somebody ‘Apart from being a Murshida, I would not have been worthy to be a mureed, if I had done such a thing’. For the loss of the letter she felt very guilty and she, with her reserved nature and self-control, even wept before others”.

Did she weep for herself? This was not her nature. She wept because of the harm which was beginning to be done to the spirit of the Sufi message of Hazrat Inayat, harm which henceforth she would no longer be in a position to ward off, in spite of all her efforts towards greater harmony.

For her efforts towards appeasement had no effect. Her letter of 12 October 1934 was not even published. The insane accusation remained. Not only did it remain, but it was greatly amplified. Murshida Sharifa became persona non grata in the Sufi Movement, an undesirable member, pushed away by those faithful to the hierarchy in place, and by those who just believed what was being said. All her powers were withdrawn, and she had to witness, powerless, innovations which she anticipated as being disastrous for the future of the Sufi message of Hazrat Inayat Khan, which she held higher than she held herself.

What can one say of a moral wound? Being unjustly accused by default without this being justified by objective proof was, according to Feizi who witnessed it all, as a death for her. Her honour was denied and scorned, yet she remained silent towards her accusers. Some time later Feizi found a bit of paper on which Murshida had written: "To remain pure, the accused must not only be not above the accusation, but above those who accuse her: the accused must neither accuse, nor despise her accusers".

Higher up I used the expression "insane accusation". It was so for more than one reason. What interest could Murshida have had to make this letter disappear, as was said? To cast a doubt on the legitimacy of the hierarchy now in place? But she herself had appointed it! And she never tolerated any doubt of it. Or had she destroyed the letter out of spite and unfaithfulness to the will of her Murshid? Her whole life proves the opposite. Or was it to give herself importance by having taken the initiative in the nomination she had made? Nothing was more contrary to her character and her line of conduct, and she herself specified that she had every reason to believe that it was the plan of Murshid himself. Is there anything more? There is nothing more. None of her accusers seemed to have reflected on the fact that to consider Murshida Goodenough capable of an act which was not only dishonest but also stupid, meant that their Murshid had been blind in placing his confidence in a collaborator whom he knew better than anyone else. These accusers do not seem to have been aware that they had made one of those accusations which judges its accusers.

We are not alone in calling the said accusation futile. In his obituary of Murshida Goodenough - which we will find further on - Mr de Cruzat Zanetti, who was ex officio present at all the assemblies, wrote as follows: "The serenity with which she attended these meetings was a lesson. Sometimes she would be under attacks which were ridiculous in content and unforgivably vulgar in form. At such times she showed what degree of perfection a disciplined intelligence and a self-controlled spirit may attain".

There was someone else who witnessed all this, but as a mute witness. Our old and revered friend Shanavaz van Spengler had been nominated by Murshid as a sort of assessor of these assemblies: he did not have the right to speak. He too was present on the day of the accusation. Thirty years later he was still indignant. "I was standing behind the chair of Murshida", he said, "and out of anger I drummed my fingers on the back of her chair". "And", he added with candid conviction, "she must have found my reaction very sympathetic."
… ».

 Shanavaz van Spengler – disciple of Murshid Inayat Khan, to whom he was unfailingly loyal. He was generous but obstinate and with a caustic tongue, which caused several breaks with his friends, who, like he himself, suffered from this.

oOo

It is not the intention to put anyone on trial here; besides Murshida herself would never have tolerated an attack on those who spoke ill of her. Nevertheless it is important for the very honour of the Sufi message of Hazrat Inayat Khan that the memory of Murshida Sharifa be totally cleared and that her name may be honoured by those who follow, and will follow this message in the future.

We do not wish to accuse anyone, nor do we wish to show any condescension in our remarks. Who has never committed an error of judgment about someone else, who has always, in all circumstances, conducted himself in the best possible way? Passion is an evil which can blind anyone at a given time, and sometimes at the worst possible time.

And then, as we tried to say in the beginning of this chapter, a high degree of fatalism is at work behind all this. And who would commit the folly of accusing fate or destiny?

oOo

The gift

Yes, in the life of Murshida Sharifa there certainly was a fatality, a destiny which had elements of tragedy. But there was also a strong sense of her free spirit and especially of her powerful will. Thinking only of fate, one could have said that this had made of her, whose health was already diminished, a pitiful target for the malevolence of those around her, who did not understand her, who did not tolerate her exclusive and unsociable nature. Besides, she had become, through the difficult circumstances of- the loss of the letter, a victim of atonement. But looking at it this way would mean not seeing how, in spite of this destiny, and in face of the disgrace and the opposition which surrounded her and which sought to prevent her from working for what was her sole purpose, the unfailing ideal and the uncommon strength of will of Murshida Sharifa prevailed. And so we see once more how contrary circumstances permit a great soul to give in full measure.

Pir-o-Murshid has often spoke about free will in connection with destiny: “Man has two aspects in him", as he says for instance in "Destiny and Free Will – The Smiling Forehead". "One aspect is his mechanical being where he is but a machine controlled by conditions, by his impressions, by outer influences, by cosmic influences, by his actions. Everything working mechanically turns his life accordingly: he has no power over conditions, he is just a tool of influences. The more this aspect is pronounced in man, the less evolved he is. It is a sign of less evolution.

"Another aspect in man is creative, in which he shows the sign of being the representative of the Creator, in which he shows that he is not only linked with God, but part of God; his innermost self is God”.

 The Smiling Forehead - collection of lectures of Hazrat Inayat Khan on various subjects.

During all the years that Murshida lived through this trial, which became worse and worse, that is from 1929 to 1937, she never stopped, not even for a moment, to spread her Murshid's teachings. She did not cease her public speaking. And as for the help she brought to Murshid's individual mureeds, to those who felt disoriented by the departure of the Teacher and who did not find elsewhere the purity of spirit they saw in her alone, it is necessary to hear them speak, as we did, to realise what she meant to them.

We must bear in mind at the same time - let us repeat - that this woman was regarded as suspect, that her reputation - at least in the eyes of some - was tarnished. She was vilified by covert words, defamation was her lot; and one sought to keep away from her those who wished to see her or listen to her. An objective fact will help understand better the type of difficulties this opposition caused her. One dared not, during the Summer Schools, prevent her from speaking in the meeting hall in Suresnes, but a man placed himself at the entrance and approached those who came with the confidential information that the speaker was someone "who was not in the right line and had a harmful influence". Many went away. A certain number of people nevertheless wanted to see for themselves, and they generally stayed.
.

oOo

These included a certain number who subsequently played an important role in the spreading of the Sufi Message of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan. We will come back to this later, but we would like to mention here the principal of these:

There was the oldest son of the Master, Vilayat Khan - who later became Pir Vilayat. Defying the "sanitary cordon" which isolated Murshida Sharifa, he often came to her lectures during the Summer Schools. He was one of the few who tried to be of service to her during her last illness; and he always honoured her memory. There were also a certain number of leading personalities in the Sufi Movement: like Sirkar van Stolk, National Representative for the Netherlands, and Wazir van Essen, who between them later introduced the Sufi message into South Africa, where it flourishes today. There was Shanavaz van Spengler, the philosopher Louis Hoyack and several other Dutch personalities, besides the little group of French mureeds who were close to her for the rest of the year (that is, before and after the Summer Schools).

  Vilayat Khan – (1917- 2004) - elder son of Hazrat Inayat Khan. He played an important role in spreading Sufism after the 1939-1945 war. He concentrated mainly on bringing different religions together, and on revivifying the Sufi Order. He worked mostly in France, the United States and Germany. In France, at Fazal Manzil, he started a Meditation School, and wrote several books on Sufism, in English and in German, notably "The light of truth", "Stufen einer Meditation", "Towards the One", and "Samadhi with open eyes". He trained numerous pupils.

Among the few faithful Netherlanders we wish to cite the case of Antoinette Schamhart, because it typifies the effect Murshida Sharifa had on these people. We speak of her knowingly, as she was the mother of Elise Guillaume Schamhart and a second mother - and spiritual mother - to Michel Guillaume. She was also one of the few friends and close confidants of Murshida Sharifa.

Starting already in her youth, Antoinette Schamhart had searched for the truth all her life. Her religion had not been able, or perhaps did not know how, to bring her what she hoped to find. Her spirit tended towards the philosophical aspect of existence, and she had studied many works, esoteric and spiritual, from hermetic doctrines to the accounts of Vivekananda of the different yogas. She had also frequented several groups with spiritualising claims, from spiritualism to Christian Science. She came out of these experiences with her hopes dashed and with an increasing thirst after a truth she sensed existed even though she was unable to find it.

While she was in this state of mind circumstance brought her to Suresnes and there she heard about Sufism. She entered - without enthusiasm -the hall where Murshida Sharifa was to read a lecture of Murshid Inayat Khan on Spirit and Matter. But this was exactly HER question, the question which had been tormenting her for a long time. For the first time she was fully satisfied with the answer she received. Then she realised that the words to which she had been listening, far from being the fruit of simple intellectual cogitations, seemed to echo a deep experience of their author, and that this experience was shared by the reader. Antoinette was deeply impressed, saw Murshida again, and bonded with her for ever.

Antoinette Schamhart-Scholte later conducted the Sufi centre in Haarlem in the Netherlands with great competence and efficiency.
.

 Christian Science – philosophical spiritualist movement founded in the United States towards the end of the 19th century by Mrs Baker Eddy. It denied illness and held that all could be healed by mental concentration on positive thoughts. Begum, wife of Murshid, was related to this family.

oOo

Murshida Sharifa continued until her death to lecture during Summer Schools in Suresnes and to receive mureeds and interested persons who "forced the barricades" and of whom we have cited some examples. She devoted the rest of her time to speaking about the Sufi message and spreading the teaching of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan among the French public, by giving lectures in Paris and through individual contact. Twice a week at home, or after her lectures in Paris, she met the mureeds, and advised and gave guidance to those who sought this.

Until towards 1932 or 1933 the hierarchy wished her to retain the function of National Representative of the Sufi Movement in France. After this it sought to retire her and install someone else, no doubt deserving, but nearly unknown to the local mureeds, and of course entirely devoted to the hierarchy. These mureeds had to send a petition to Sheikh-ul-Maheboob Khan to ask him to reconsider the nomination he had made. In short, the deaf and saddening opposition to Murshida Sharifa did not diminish.

But Murshida had entirely given herself to the cause of her Master's message, and continued the task with which he had entrusted her, cost what may, through all her health difficulties, her material problems and all sorts of other hazards.