Question

Write a note on Life in chishti khanquah

Answer 1

Answer:

Life in the Chishti khanqah

The khanqah was the centre of social life. We know about Shaikh Nizamuddin's hospice (c. fourteenth century) on the banks of the river Yamuna in Ghiyaspur, on the outskirts of what was then the city of Delhi. The Shaikh lived in a small room on the roof of the hall where he met visitors.

Answer 2

A khanqah or khaniqah (also transliterated as khankahs , khaneqa, khanegah or khaneqah (Persian: خانقاه‎)), also known as a ribat (رباط) – among other terms – is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood or tariqa and is a place for spiritual retreat and character reformation. In the past, and to a lesser extent nowadays, they often served as hospices for saliks (Sufi travelers), Murids (initiates) and talibs (Islamic students). Khanqahs are very often found adjoined to dargahs (shrines of Sufi saints) and türbes (tombs of notables), mosques and madrasas (Islamic schools).

In the Arab world, especially North Africa, the khanqah is known as a zāwiyah (Arabic: زاویه‎, plural zāwiyāt; also transliterated as zawiya, zāwiya or zaouia). In Turkey, Iran and formerly Ottoman areas like Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, they are locally referred to as tekije (تكيه; also transliterated as tekke, tekyeh, teqe or takiyah). In South Asia, the words khanqah and dargah are used interchangeably for Sufi shrines. In addition, there are lodges in Central and South Asia often referred to as Qalander Khane that serve as rest houses for the unaffiliated malang, dervishes and fakirs.


Tohidkhaneh, a medieval khanqah in Isfahan, Iran.
Khanqahs later spread across the Islamic world, from Morocco to Indonesia.