One example of a medieval khanqah, this one in Isfahan. Esfahān or Isfahan (historically also rendered as Ispahan or Hispahan, Old Persian: Aspadana, Middle Persian: Spahān

A khanqah, khaniqah (also transliterated as khanqa, and khaneqa Persian: خانگاه khanegah and خانقاه khaneghah), ribat, zawiya, or tekke is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood, or tariqa, and is a place for spiritual retreat and character reformation. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف Tariqah ( ar طريقه; pl طرق; Ṭuruq or Persian: Tarighat, Turkish: Tarikat) means "way" In the past, and to a lesser extent nowadays, they often served as hospices for Sufi travelers (Salik) and Islamic students (Talib). Khanqahs are very often found adjoined to Dargahs (shrine of a Sufi saint), mosques and madrasas (Islamic schools). A dargah ( درگه) is a Sufi Shrine built over the grave of a revered religious figure often a Sufi Saint. A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger "Madrasa" and "Medrese" redirect here For the village in Azerbaijan see Mədrəsə. They are found throughout the Persian-influenced Islamic world, especially Iran, Central Asia and South Asia.

In the Arab world, especially North Africa, similar buildings are also found, which are known in Arabic as a zawiya or zaouia (Arabic: زاوية zāwiya). Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Zaouia (Arabic زاوية "corner" also spelled zawiya, zawiyah, zaouiya, zaouïa zwaya, etc is a Maghrebi In Turkey and other formerly Ottoman areas like Albania and Bosnia, similar buildings are called locally tekke or tekye (تكيه). Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Cyrillic script: Босна и Херцеговина is a country on the Balkan

It is not at all clear when Sufism emerged as a movement within Islam, or when the first khanqah was built. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Sufis themselves trace their movement back to Muhammad; academic historians argue for later dates. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ##### For all questions relating to the addition of (pbuh peace be upon him or other honorifics Jonathan Berkey writes:

One of the characteristic features of later medieval Sufism was the spread of institutions, variously known as khanqahs or ribats, complete with buildings and endowments which housed and supported the activities of the mystics. Their origins are quite obscure, but it is likely that their roots lie in ninth- and tenth-century Iran. (Berkey 2003 p. 157)

Khanqahs later spread across the Islamic world, from Morocco to Indonesia. Morocco (المغرب "al-Maghrib" officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia.

Architecture

Haruniyeh tomb, named after Harun al-Rashid. Hārūn al-Rashīd (and Persian: هارون الرشيد) also spelled Harun ar-Rashid; English: Aaron the Upright, Aaron the The present structure, a khanqah, is located in Tus and was probably built in the 13th century. Toos (توس or طوس in Persian) also known as Tous or Tus, is an ancient city in the Iranian province of Razavi Khorasan Ghazali is buried here. Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (1058-1111 ( ابو حامد محمد ابن محمد الغزالی or امام محمد غزالی was born and died

All khanqahs, regardless of size, feature a large central hall. The daily ritual prayers incumbent on all observant Muslims, salat, are held in this hall, as are the specifically Sufi forms of dhikr, meditation and celebration of the divine. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion Ṣalāt ( Arabic: صلاة‎, pl ṣalawāt, Qur'anic Arabic: صلوة ṣalawah) (also munz in Pashto and Dhikr ذکر Plural اذكار Adhkaar ( Zikir in Turkish and Malay, Zikr in Urdu, Jikir in Bengali and Zekr

Large khanqahs often grew up around the tomb of a tariqa's founder or the mausoleum of a Sufi saint. Ordinary Muslims may regard these khanqahs as sites of ascribing partners to god almighty.

Some khanqahs include dwellings for the Sufi sheikh or pir, and his family, or cells for Sufis who wish to pursue their dhikr in quiet and isolation. They may also include lodgings for traveling Sufis and pilgrims and premises for charities such as hospitals.

Sufi movements have been banned in some Muslim-majority countries (such as secular Turkey, Islamist Iran, Salafi Saudi Arabia, or the Communist and post-Communist states of Central Asia). Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Islamism ( Islam + ism; Arabic: al-'islāmiyya) a set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south In these countries, khanqahs have been converted to other purposes, turned into museums or mosques, or allowed to decay. In other countries, Sufism survives and the old khanqahs are still in use. KHANQAH

References

• Nizami, Khaliq Ahmad (1957). "Some Aspects of Khānqah Life in Medieval India". Studia Islamica 8: 51–69. Studia Islamica is an Islamic studies journal focusing on the history religion law literature and language of primarily south-western Asia and Mediterranean  

• Fernandes, Leonor E. (1998). The Evolution of a Sufi Institution in Mamluk Egypt: The Khanqah. Berlin: Klaus Schwarz. ISBN 3922968686.  

• Hattstein, M. and P. Delius -- Islam: Art and Architecture, 2000, ISBN 3-8290-2558-0
• Berkey, Jonathan -- The Formation of Islam, Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-521-58813-8

See also

• Sufism
• Dervishes
• Gosha-e-Durood
• Islamic architecture
• Ottoman architecture
• Architecture of Iran