Dr Sadathullah Khan, who hails from the south Indian state of Bengaluru, is an Engineer by profession. He has conducted more than 450 ‘Discover Yourself’ workshops all over India and across the world. His workshops are conducted from an Islamic perspective towards holistic development and spiritual awakening. This is his story.
Nikhat Fatima | TwoCircles.net
‘Discover Yourself’ workshops conducted by Dr Sadath, are not typical workshops that aim to motivate and inspire. These workshops are conducted from an Islamic perspective towards holistic development and spiritual awakening. Through these workshops, Dr Sadath aims to help his participants connect with God and with themselves.
“I try to connect the Human with being,” he explained. “We live as humans in pursuit of everything material, deeply engrossed in the ‘I, me, myself’ trend of today’s world. Most of us have lost the inner connection with our heart – the ‘qalb’ in Arabic. The Qalb is the seat of the spirit which helps an individual to differentiate between the good and the bad, the truth and falsehood. I try to connect my participants with their Qalb”.
Dr Sadatullah Khan has conducted more than 450 workshops across the length and breadth of India and across the world in Norway, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Lesotho, Botswana, Singapore, Karachi, Singapore and other places in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
How it all began
Dr Sadathullah Khan, who hails from the south Indian state of Bengaluru, is an Engineer by profession. He said that he first worked on himself for several years trying to find answers to troubling questions about Muslims before designing these workshops.
Questions such as, “Why are Muslims associated with all things wrong not just in India but in other parts of the world? Why are Muslims, whose religion propagated peace associated with terrorism? Why do the Muslim youth not harness their potential instead of wasting themselves? Why was there so much chaos surrounding them?”
He sought answers to these and several other questions through the Holy Quran, deep contemplation and keen observance. He realized the missing link was ‘inner peace’ which could be achieved only when one was connected to God.
“While we are busy with the external aspect of Islam like offering namaz, wearing a skull cap, growing a beard, fasting, giving zakat we have ignored the internal aspect. The inner connection, purification of oneself from within is missing. Most of us are not living in Islam which is why we are not at peace with anyone or anything. A sense of incompleteness and dissatisfaction prevails no matter how much of wealth you may have amassed,” he explained.
While every person is taught about the two faculties of logic and reason, the third faculty of realization was often missing. This faculty of realizing the truth about the purpose of life on Earth is directly connected to the heart. Sadathullah Khan began designing methods through which he could help people connect to their Qalb (heart) and connect with ‘Being’.
Workshop series
Dr Sadath started his journey in 1999 by conducting summer camps for High School children and taking sessions in schools run by Muslim management through the ‘Discover Yourself’ workshops.
In 2002, he conducted his first full-fledged 3-day workshop in Kolkata. Since then, there was no turning back. His workshop touched a chord with all the participants and they began inviting him to conduct his unique life-transforming workshops in other places.
2002 was also the year Dr Sadatullah set up ‘Peace For You International Foundation’, a non-profit educational and awareness organization that engages in empowering people through self–introspection workshops and promoting the concept of ‘Discover Yourself’– ‘To know one’s True /Authentic Self’.
At present, he conducts workshops for corporates, colleges, professionals, homemakers, and practically everyone. He also trains people to conduct their own workshops on DYS (Discover Yourself) – TOT (Training of Trainers).
One participant from Hyderabad, who had attended his workshop in Bangalore, was so impressed that for the next workshop he took along with him nearly 20 people to Bangalore from Hyderabad. This was when Dr Sadath gave them the idea of making arrangements in Hyderabad itself so he could come and conduct the workshop.
This is how Dr Sadath’s connection with Hyderabad began. He was recently in Hyderabad for his 448th workshop on ‘Discover Yourself’.
Dr Sadath is also the founder of ‘Islamic Voice’, a monthly digest that focuses on clearing the doubts of young Muslims about Islam and at the same time giving them valuable insights on Islam.
Trivial obstacles
“The title of our workshops wasn’t always ‘Discover Yourself”, Dr Sadath said, adding, “Earlier it was ‘Discover yourself through Islam’. But there were objections and questions from people who think they have copyrights to Islam. They wanted to know which Islam, whose Islam, and if I was qualified to talk about Islam, or was I an Islamic scholar, etc.”
Instead of getting in the wrangle of justifying the name, Dr Sadath simply changed the title of the workshop and continued his work.
Talking to TwoCircles.net, Dr Sadath shared an incident in the UK when the organisers had put up banners days before the workshop. The clergy and some people from a nearby Mosque wanted to know what was going to be taught at the workshop. Was the facilitator going to teach Islamic laws – the Shariah, fiqh? they had inquired.
“Perhaps they saw this workshop as a threat,” Dr Sadath said. “We invited them to the workshop explaining that our workshop merely focused on the Islamic values in character building, relationships, day to day conduct and so on.”
Due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, he had to take a break from conducting regular workshops. However, the requests for conducting the workshop kept coming and he decided to conduct his workshops online, through webinars.
Awards and rewards
Though his work has been recognized by many organisations in India and abroad, Dr Sadathullah said, “My biggest award is the transformation in the person who has attended my workshop. Their feedback through which they convey the kind of change that has come in them after the workshop is worth any reward a human being can give. But the ultimate reward is with Allah, and I am hoping that Allah accepts my work in bringing people close to Him”, he said. “These workshops are my passion and I strive to make them better with every workshop,” he added.
Dr Sadath has been honoured with Doctorate in Personal Excellence & Life Mastery with a specialization in Transformation Leadership.
Many participants in the workshop at Hyderabad were attending the workshop for the second and third time. When asked, they remarked that each time there is something new to learn even though the workshop is the same.
“The Discover Yourself workshop helps the participants free themselves from anger, jealousy, frustration and guides them towards living a peaceful content life, building better relationships with friends and relatives, and being conscious of Allah always in every act and deed,” Khalid Hassan, one of the organizers of the workshop in Hyderabad, told TwoCircles.net.
Hassan’s views were corroborated by the responses TwoCircles.net received from the participants who said that they feel refreshed and ready to take on life with a renewed energy.
Some youngsters who aspire for cracking civil services said that with the help of these workshops, they “discovered the purpose of their life and their ambition to pursue their career has been strengthened.”
Shaikh Ali, who has been working as a spiritual counsellor in an Islamic call centre for the past 9 years said, “This workshop has given me the confidence to be able to answer people’s queries on Islam better, especially questions coming from non-Muslims.”
Many other participants said that by the third day of the workshop they “could feel the change in themselves because they had taken the first step of coming close to Allah in the true sense.”