Khanqah (Persian Monastery)

Khanqah means a house in which Sufis, Dervishes, and elders spend their days and pray. It has been called different names such as convent, temple, Robat(رباط), Tekyeh (تکیه)  and Zawieh (زاویه). The stimulus for the building and formation of this Sufi foundation, regarding the tendency to isolation and austerity of Sufis, is similar to the religions before Islam like Buddhism, Manaeism, Zoroasterism, and Christianity.

The monastery of Christian priests and their manners such as living simple, wearing woolen clothes, building monasteries on the hillside, and brotherly living of priests are known as effective factors in the Sufi lifestyle, and Khanqah principles in Islamic mysticism.

A Khanqah, after the spread of its rituals, has composed of different sections which the most important of them have been the entry of passengers, the place of residents, group activity halls ( e.g Sama and prayer and worship ) , a place for preaching, the special place for Morshed and the manager of Khanqah, dining area, a center for education and the library, the kitchen, the storage room, the bathhouse, a place for nursing patients, a stable, and the lands and gardens of the perimeter. Some of the rituals implemented in Khanqahs are:

Majles Guei (lecturing): the head of Khanqah or another elder would sit on a pulpit or a pad and would speak for the people and the others.

Sama: Dancing with a rhythmic song which in some cases would lead to enigma and dress tearing.

Zawieh Neshini( sitting in a corner): isolating and distancing from the others from an hour up to forty nights and days or even more.

Sofreh: The special manners of Sofreh and dining in Khanqah. Persian Mystics