By the time of his death in 1927, centers had been established throughout Europe and North America, and multiple volumes of his teachings had been published.

His paternal ancestors, comprising yüzkhans (Central Asian lords) and bakshys (shamans), were Turkmen from the Chagatai Khanate who settled in Sialkot, Punjab during the reign of Amir Timur.

[4] Inayat Khan's Sufi sources included both the traditions of his paternal ancestors (remembered as the Mahashaikhan) and the tutelage he received from Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani.

[citation needed] Inayat Khan's teaching emphasized the oneness of God (tawhid) and the underlying harmony of the revelations communicated by the prophets of all the world's great religions.

His discourses treated such varied subjects as religion, art, music, ethics, philosophy, psychology, and health and healing.