Universal Worship Service

The Universal Worship Service was created by Inayat Khan as a prayer service honoring the religious traditions of the world as equal sources of spirituality.

The service is officiated by the clergy of Universal Sufism who are called Cherags and Cheragas, from the Arabic for 'lamp.' A candle is lit and readings taken on a particular theme from the sacred texts of six of the major world religions and traditions, each evoking a Divine Quality the tradition is said to illustrate:

  • Hinduism (Divine Wisdom)
  • Buddhism (Divine Compassion)
  • Zoroastrianism (Divine Purity)
  • Judaism (Divine Law, or Divine Covenant)
  • Christianity (Divine Self-Sacrifice)
  • Islam (Divine Unity)

Other candles may be lit to honor other world traditions. Some of the more commonly included traditions are:

  • the Goddess Tradition (also called the tradition of the Divine Feminine)
  • Taoism
  • Indigenous Traditions (usually, the indigenous tradition local to the celebration of the service is honored)

The first candle represents the light of Divine Truth, and from it all the other nine candles are lit.

The service also includes Inayat Khan's prayers Saum, Salat, and Khatum.

There are often meditations, sermons, songs, or Dances of Universal Peace following the readings.

The service can be for any theme and is also the background of Universal Sufi weddings, funerals and baby blessings.

Famous quotes containing the words universal, worship and/or service:

    “There is a universal truth that I have found in my work. Everybody longs to be loved. And the greatest thing we can do is let somebody know that they are loved and capable of loving.”
    —Fred Rogers (20th century)

    “A self-denial, no less austere than the saint’s, is demanded of the scholar. He must worship truth, and forgo all things for that, and choose defeat and pain, so that his treasure in thought is thereby augmented.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “The more the specific feelings of being under obligation range themselves under a supreme principle of human dependence the clearer and more fertile will be the realization of the concept, indispensable to all true culture, of service; from the service of God down to the simple social relationship as between employer and employee.”
    —Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)