Sufi Conference 2026 ~ Milan, Italy
Art as Zikr: Finding divine ecstasy in artistic expression
“The artist’s task is always to deepen the mystery” (Francis Bacon)
When: 25 and 26 April 2026, 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM and 2:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Where: Abbazia Chiaravalle Milanese, Milan, Italy
Interpreter: Italian, English
Contribution: €300 (early booking by the end of February: €250)
Information and registration: salima.inayati.mi@gmail.com
We recommend booking hotels as soon as possible due to the Salone del Mobile furniture fair taking place during the same week.
The Inayatiyya, the interfaith Sufi order of spiritual freedom active throughout the world, invites you to a conference on art and spirituality with international and Italian speakers.
Some great spiritual leaders and visionaries will share their insights on the proposed theme, a contribution in a difficult historical moment in which humanity needs to rise above ignorance.
Artists are revolutionaries just like prophets and sages. Their creativity produces narratives and stimulates new ways of seeing and understanding. Whenever the world is on the brink of change, artists, writers, and thinkers are at the forefront of opening new horizons for human imagination and thought.
An artist is a spokesperson because they convey the message of divine majesty through the grandeur and beauty of their works.
By stimulating deeper thought and intriguing the observer, art has the ability to draw us into the mysterious depths of our soul, where we have the opportunity to encounter the Divine Artist: al-Musawwir.
Can we turn to art to learn the wisdom of harmony, beauty, and mystery in the simultaneous presence of a complexity of colors, lines, shapes, and structures?
Can we read in art the spiritual activity that creates myths that can guide us along the path of Ariadne’s thread? Along a creative path, we must find our way through a labyrinth. We take wrong turns, we bump into walls, we get lost. This happens in order to find the treasure at the center of ourselves, the true magic of creativity.
When we succeed in giving birth to our creativity, we explode with ecstasy because in finding it we have found ourselves. It is the discovery of al-Wajid: “the Seeker: He who has found and obtained everything.”
International speakers:
Murshida Amt-un-Nur
She is the Inayatiyya representative for South Asia and the national representative for Pakistan. With a degree in Comparative Philosophy and Islamic and Western Mysticism, she has been following this spiritual path for twenty-five years. In addition, she has studied and researched Sufism and Islam. She is a speaker at international symposiums on Sufism and regularly holds courses, conferences, and seminars to inspire people to live their full potential through the recovery of the sacred in them and in life.
Cheikh Muhammad Valsan
Born in Paris, he is the son of Michel Valsan (Cheikh Mustafa Abd al-Aziz), the first great interpreter of Ibn Arabi in the West. As editor of the publication Science Sacrée, he continues his father’s work and studies the universal expression of initiatory doctrines. His teachings are part of the legacy of René Guénon. The principles of the sacred texts are fundamental when Cheikh Muhammad Valsan addresses applications in the arts and sciences. He is involved in interfaith dialogue and participates in numerous international conferences.
Dr. Hamdi Ben Aïssa
An artist, researcher, and teacher, he is the founder of the Alchemya Institute for Contemplative Studies, an initiative rooted in the Sufi tradition, open to all those who are searching for truth. The Institute offers a space where ancient wisdom meets the urgencies of the contemporary world: inner healing, coherence, spiritual maturity, and ethical responsibility. It is based on lived experience rather than abstract theories. His work reflects a deep desire to reveal contemplation as an essential practice for all those seeking to reconnect with their true essence.
Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz
Saadi Shakur Chishti holds degrees in religious studies, psychology, and somatic psychology. He is an independent scholar with training in hermeneutics, Middle Eastern languages, and sacred movements. He has been following the Sufi path for over 40 years and is one of the leaders of the International Sufi Association, director of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Edinburgh, and co-chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion.