Faculty

Dr. Nahid Angha is an Iranian-American Sufi scholar, author, lecturer and human rights activist. She is the co-director and co-founder of the International Association of Sufism, founder of the International Sufi Women Organization, the executive editor of Sufism: An Inquiry. Nahid Angha is the main representative of the IAS to the United Nations (Department of Global Communications). She is the first Muslim woman inducted to the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame Marin and Huffington Post named her as one of the 50 Powerful Women Religious Leaders To Celebrate On International Women’s Day.

Seyyed Dr. Ali Kianfar, Shah Nazar Uwaiysi, is an Iranian American Sufi master of the Uwaiysi Tariqat. In 1983, together with Nahid Angha, he established the International Association of Sufism (IAS), a nonprofit humanitarian organization and United Nations NGO/DGC based in Northern California. IAS was founded to create and provide a global forum for dialogue amongst Sufis, scholars, interfaith leaders, poets, and scientists, and became the first organization of its kind to foster dialogue among Sufi leaders and communities from around the world. In the same spirit, in 1988, under Dr. Kianfar’s leadership as Chief Editor, IAS began publishing Sufism, An Inquiry, which remains the world’s longest-running publication on Sufism. He is also the founder of the Sufism Psychology Forum and the 40 Days Alchemy of Tranquility Program, both of which provide unique opportunities to explore self-awareness, personal growth, and healing for people of all faiths.

Dr. Kianfar graduated from the Police Academy in Tehran and earned a master’s degree in law and a doctoral degree in Sufism and Islamic Philosophy from the University of Tehran. He began his study of Sufism under the guidance of Moulana Shah Maghsoud Sadiq Angha, a 20th-century Persian Sufi master (d. 1980) of the Uwaiysi Tariqa. Dr. Kianfar was among the first of Shah Maghsoud’s students to be given permission to teach and lead Sufi gatherings. He received the title of “Shah Nazar” (The Sight of the King) from Shah Maghsoud, who also has accepted him as a spiritual son. Dr. Kianfar established a Department of Sufism and Islamic Philosophy at Yuin University in Los Angeles in 1980 and has taught continuously in the United States and globally since his arrival in the United States since 1979. He is also the author of a wide variety of books.

Jamal is a licensed psychotherapist in California and New Mexico. He is student of Uwaiysi Sufism under the guidance of Dr. Nahid Angha and Shah Nazar Dr. Seyyed Ali Kianfar. Dr. Granick is a member of IAS and serves on its Executive Committee, and has participated in many of its programs, including presenting on Sufism and Psychology nationally and internationally. He Beyond Identifications program, which brings together practitioners from across modalities to explore the spiritual dimensions of healing. Dr. Granick obtained a Ph.D. from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in 2011. His doctoral research focused on transpersonal aspects of a therapist’s presence in psychotherapy, and Dr. Granick has taught counseling and psychotherapy at the graduate level in multiple academic settings. He also holds a fifth degree black belt in Aikido.

Dr. Arife Hammerle is a student of the Uwaiysi School of Sufism, as guided by Sufi Teachers Dr. Nahid Angha and Shah Nazar Seyyed Dr. Ali. Kianfar. She is a member of the International Association of Sufism and Sufi Women Organization. She sits on the Executive Committee Board of the Institute for Sufi Studies where she teaches classes in Meditation, Psychology and Spirituality, and Workshops with the 40 Days Alchemy of Tranquility® Program. Dr. Hammerle is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and is a psychotherapist with the Community Healing Centers, an integrative psychotherapy non-profit organization.