The Rumi Forum presented “Journey Through Ten Thousand Veils” with Maryam Kabeer Faye.
When she was twelve years old, Maryam Kabeer Faye was given a painted scroll of an ancient wanderer, upon which were inscribed the words: Seek and The Truth Shall Make You Free. This message galvanized her soul and determined the course of her life. Following the call, she set out on the journey, internally and then externally, and was guided around the world many times, from one remarkable being to the next, everywhere collecting messages and clues.
Born in a Jewish family, she was led to live in India and Nepal, and in monasteries in Europe, and then guided to embrace Islam at the hands of an ancient Sufi Master a few minutes away from the tomb of the Prophet Abraham. She then was guided to study intensively with Sufi Masters around the world. Her journey to the holy places and people of the earth, led her finally to Africa and the deep truth that all lives are totally interconnected and united with our own. This profound realization dispelled the great myth that the creations of the One Most Loving Creator can be separated by any racial, national, or cultural distinctions.
This book is a significant and revealing social commentary, also dispelling many other myths and stereotypes such as the proposition, often fostered by the media, that women are inevitably oppressed in Islam. On the contrary, it is by entering into the heart of Islam that the author was liberated, elevated, empowered, and guided to realize the true purpose of her existence.
Sheikha Maryam Kabeer Faye is the author of the prize-winning book, Journey Through Ten Thousand Veils, The Alchemy of Transformation on the Sufi Path. Born Jewish she was guided to live in Christian monasteries in Europe, and then, in 1974, she was guided to embrace Islam at the hands of an ancient Sufi Master five minutes from of the tomb of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him.) Since then she has been continuously engaged in the process of sharing knowledge , both learning and teaching. She has studied Islam and within Islam the path of Sufism with teachers around the world. Her house in Philadelphia is a refuge for spiritual travelers, for those seeking knowledge, awareness, and remembrance of God. She travels extensively across the globe on the mission building bridges of light and understanding
Moderator : The Rev. Dr. Carol M. Flett, has been an Episcopal parish priest for 21 years and is the Interfaith Programs Coordinator at the Washington National Cathedral, where she sustains relations between the Cathedral and other Christian and non-Christian religious communities in the Washington DC area. She facilitates three ongoing interfaith dialogues: an Abrahamic Roundtable of Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars and congregational leaders who meet four times a year to study the sacred texts of each tradition in response to contemporary issues such as “relations with the other” and “God’s creation”; monthly interfaith women’s book groups of lay women who read fiction and non-fiction works and discuss each other’s tradition history and practices; and interfaith dialogues between local religious leaders and international religious leaders hosted by the US Dept of State. Before coming to Washington, DC, Rev. Flett coordinated quarterly interfaith dialogues for the Massachusetts Council of Churches with the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of New England.