Takya
Sufi or Shia building / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A takya[lower-alpha 1] (from Classical Persian: تَکْیه, romanized: takya;[1] modern Iranian Persian: تَکْیه, romanized: takye;[2] Azerbaijani: təkyə;[3] Ottoman Turkish: تَکْیه, romanized: tekye;[4] modern Turkish: tekke; Panjabi: تَکْیہ, romanized: takya;[5] Urdu: تَکْیہ, romanized: takya;[6] Uzbek: takya; Kurdish: تەکیە, romanized: tekiye; Arabic: تَكِيَّة, romanized: takiyya, plural تَكَايَا takāyā) or takyakhana (from Classical Persian: تَکْیهخانه, romanized: takya-khāna; Uzbek: takyaxona) was originally a type of building or complex for Sufi gatherings in the Islamic world (which could also provide shelter to pilgrims); under this sense, takyas functioned much like khanqahs, which had appeared earlier and which had flourished in pre-Ottoman Syria and Egypt and in India.
In the Ottoman Empire, many takyas or tekyes/tekkes were built, most notably for use by the Mevlevi Order and the Bektashi Order[7] (see § Ottoman Empire, below).
In South Asia as well, the word takya has been used as a synonym of khanqah (like the Takya of Baba Shah Musafir[8][9][10][11][12][lower-alpha 2] at Aurangabad), but also to refer to the cemetery or graveyard of Sufis[14][5][15][16] (see § South Asia).
In Iran, however, takyas found a different usage. Following the Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam, existing takyas became used as husayniyyas[17] (buildings where Shia Muslims gather to mourn the death of Husayn ibn Ali in the month of Muharram) (see § Iran).
In the modern Arab world, takyas or takiyyas have come to refer to soup kitchens or similar institutions providing food assistance to those in need (see § Modern Arab world).