page_title: Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
section_title: Work in the United States
hierarchical_section_title: Bawa Muhaiyaddeen / Work in the United States
caption_attribution_description: English: Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship at 5820 Overbrook Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
context_page_description: Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, also known as Bawa, was a Tamil-speaking teacher and Sufi mystic from Sri Lanka who emigrated to the United States in 1971, established a following, and subsequently founded the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in Philadelphia. With approximately 1,000 followers there, he developed other followings in the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK — following groups in Jaffna and Colombo, Sri Lanka. He is noted for his writings, discourses, songs and artwork.
context_section_description: In 1971, Bawa was invited to come to the United States and subsequently moved to Philadelphia,  established a following, forming the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship in 1973.  The fellowship meeting house offered weekly public gatherings.
  As in Sri Lanka, Bawa developed a following among people of diverse religious, social and ethnic backgrounds, who came to Philadelphia to listen to him speak. In the United States, Canada and England, he was recognized by religious scholars, journalists, educators and leaders. The United Nation's Assistant Secretary General, Robert Muller, asked for Bawa guidance on behalf of mankind during an interview in 1974. During  the Iranian hostage crisis of 1978–1980, he wrote letters to world leaders including Iran's Khomeini, Prime Minister Begin, President Sadat and President Carter to encourage a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Time Magazine, during the crisis in 1980, quoted Bawa as saying that when the Iranians understand the Koran "they will release the hostages immediately." Interviews with Bawa appeared in Psychology Today, the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and in The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Press. He continued teaching until his death on December 8, 1986.
caption: Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship
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