A Sufi lodge is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood or tariqa and is a place for spiritual practice and religious education. They include structures also known as khānaqāh , zāwiya , ribāṭ , dargāh and takya depending on the region, language and period (see § Terminology ). In Shia Islam , the Husayniyya has a similar function.
131-1229: The Sufi lodge is typically a large structure with a central hall and smaller rooms on either side. Traditionally, the Sufi lodge was state-sponsored housing for Sufis. Their primary function is to provide them with a space to practice social lives of asceticism . Buildings intended for public services, such as hospitals, kitchens, and lodging, are often attached to them. Sufi lodges were funded by Ayyubid sultans in Syria, Zangid sultans in Egypt, and Delhi sultans in India in return for Sufi support of their regimes. Sufi lodges were called by various names depending on period, location and language: mostly, khānaqāh , zāwiya , ribāṭ , dargāh and takya . The word khānaqāh ( Classical Persian : خانَگاه , romanized : xānagāh or خانَقاه , xānaqāh ; Arabic : خَانَقَاه , romanized : khānaqāh ; Azerbaijani : xanəqah ; Ottoman Turkish : خانَقاه , romanized : hanekâh ; Urdu : خانَقاہ , romanized : khānaqāh ; Uzbek : xonaqoh )
262-419: A ḥabs ( حَبْس , plural ḥubūs حُبوس or aḥbās أَحْباس ), or mortmain property, is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law . It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitable purposes with no intention of reclaiming the assets. A charitable trust may hold the donated assets. The person making such dedication
393-451: A waqf must be objects of a valid contract. The objects should not themselves be haram (e.g. wine or pork ). These objects should not already be in the public domain: public property cannot be used to establish a waqf. The founder cannot also have pledged the property previously to someone else. These conditions are generally true for contracts in Islam. The property dedicated to waqf
524-524: A Jina . These austere practices are part of the monastic path in Jainism. The practice of body mortification is called kaya klesha in Jainism and is found in verse 9.19 of the Tattvartha Sutra by Umaswati , the most authoritative oldest surviving Jaina philosophical text. In Jain monastic practice, the monks and nuns take ascetic vows, after renouncing all relations and possessions. The vows include
655-467: A waqf and a trust, "property is reserved, and its usufruct appropriated, for the benefit of specific individuals, or for a general charitable purpose; the corpus becomes inalienable ; estates for life in favor of successive beneficiaries can be created" and "without regard to the law of inheritance or the rights of the heirs; and continuity is secured by the successive appointment of trustees or mutawillis ." The only significant distinction between
786-716: A close relationship with the Ayyubid Sultan, obtained military power and influence, and had the ability to teach at the madrasa s in the area. The Sultan gave a large degree of power to the Sufis in Cairo as part of an important trade off for political support which was incredibly important in solidifying the legitimacy of the Sultan's rule. Scholars in the Mamluk world often did not differentiate between khānaqāh s, ribāṭ s, zāwiya s, and madrasa s. In
917-401: A complete commitment to nonviolence ( Ahimsa ). They travel from city to city, often crossing forests and deserts, and always barefoot. Jain ascetics do not stay in a single place for more than two months to prevent attachment to any place. However, during the four months of monsoon (rainy season) known as chaturmaas , they stay at a single place to avoid killing life forms that thrive during
1048-627: A diverse spectrum of ascetic practices. Asceticism-like practices are hinted in the Vedas , but these hymns have been variously interpreted as referring to early Yogis and loner renouncers. One such mention is in the Kesin hymn of the Rigveda , where Keśins ("long-haired" ascetics) and Munis ("silent ones") are described. These Kesins of the Vedic era, are described as follows by Karel Werner: The Keśin does not live
1179-490: A final vow of Santhara or Sallekhana , a fast to peaceful and detached death, by first reducing intake of and then ultimately abandoning all medicines, food, and water. Scholars state that this ascetic practice is not a suicide, but a form of natural death, done without passion or turmoil or suddenness, and because it is done without active violence to the body. Waqf A waqf ( Arabic : وَقْف ; [ˈwɑqf] , plural awqaf أَوْقَاف ), also called
1310-455: A man dies, only three deeds will survive him: continuing alms, profitable knowledge, and a child praying for him." Islamic law places several legal conditions on the process of establishing a waqf . A waqf is a contract; therefore, the founder (called al-wāqif or al-muḥabbis in Arabic) must be capable of entering into a contract. For this, the founder must: Although waqf
1441-568: A meaning closer to asceticism in Hindu texts is Tapas , but it too spans a spectrum of meanings ranging from inner heat, to self-mortification and penance with austerities, to meditation and self-discipline. The 11th century literary work Yatidharmasamuccaya is a Vaishnava text that summarizes ascetic practices in Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. In Hindu traditions, as with other Indian religions, both men and women have historically participated in
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#17330924982081572-628: A means to legally safeguard properties under conditions of debt. In donating assets to the public, the aristocracy managed to preserve their wealth while providing land, financial support and community spaces such as mosques to the general public. When Zanzibar became a British protectorate in 1890, almost half the island was waqf property. In order to establish control, the British realised that they would either have to privatise waqf or gain administrative control over them. A series of decrees were subsequently issues to incorporate all waqf properties into
1703-503: A more moderated version, the " Middle Way ." According to Hajime Nakamura and other scholars, some early Buddhist texts suggest that asceticism was a part of Buddhist practice in its early days. Further, in practice, records from about the start of the common era through the 19th century suggest that asceticism has been a part of Buddhism, both in Theravada and Mahayana traditions. Textual evidence suggests that ascetic practices were
1834-688: A mystical, somewhat hidden tradition in the mainstream Sunni and Shia denominations of Islam, state Eric Hanson and Karen Armstrong , likely in reaction to "the growing worldliness of Umayyad and Abbasid societies". Acceptance of asceticism emerged in Sufism slowly because it was contrary to the sunnah , states Nile Green , and early Sufis condemned "ascetic practices as unnecessary public displays of what amounted to false piety". The ascetic Sufis were hunted and persecuted both by Sunni and Shia rulers, in various centuries. Sufis were highly influential and greatly successful in spreading Islam between
1965-585: A new government under the helm of the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). An important part of the revolution was the prosecution of the Zanzibari elite of Arabic descent. This left a significant portion of land, much of which was waqf , to be nationalised by the newly independent state as part of their socialist development programme. The revolution highlights a crucial turn point in waqf institutions in Zanzibar, namely
2096-470: A normal life of convention. His hair and beard grow longer, he spends long periods of time in absorption, musing and meditating and therefore he is called "sage" (muni). They wear clothes made of yellow rags fluttering in the wind, or perhaps more likely, they go naked, clad only in the yellow dust of the Indian soil. But their personalities are not bound to earth, for they follow the path of the mysterious wind when
2227-795: A part of the Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka by the third century BC, and this tradition continued through the medieval era in parallel to sangha style monastic tradition. In the Theravada tradition of Thailand , medieval texts report of ascetic monks who wander and dwell in the forest or crematory alone, do austere practices, and these came to be known as Thudong . Ascetic Buddhist monks have been and continue to be found in Myanmar , and as in Thailand, they are known to pursue their own version of Buddhism, resisting
2358-563: A perpetual element; the waqf must specify its beneficiaries in case. The declaration of founding is usually a written document, accompanied by a verbal declaration, though neither are required by most scholars. Whatever the declaration, most scholars (those of the Hanafi, Shafi'i, some of the Hanbali and the Imami Shi'a schools) hold that it is not binding and irrevocable until actually delivered to
2489-531: A place to stay for Sufis who were not from Cairo. It was provided by Saladin based on the exchange of Sufis supporting the Ayyubid dynasty and policies. Saladin also created the role of the Chief Sufi, whose job was to operate activities from day to day and mentor the Sufis that lived in and visited the khānaqāh . There was a lot of competition for this role due to its great degree of influence. The Chief Sufi maintained
2620-576: A portion with other living beings, sprinkling the remainder with water he should eat it as if it were a medicine. Similarly, the Nirvana Upanishad asserts that the Hindu ascetic should hold, according to Patrick Olivelle , that "the sky is his belief, his knowledge is of the absolute, union is his initiation, compassion alone is his pastime, bliss is his garland, the cave of solitude is his fellowship", and so on, as he proceeds in his effort to gain self-knowledge (or soul-knowledge) and its identity with
2751-630: A ruler showed their support for Sufi religious practices and the spreading of Islam. Funding a Sufi building was seen as an act of piety and a way in which the ruler could align themselves with public opinion. Sufi lodges are often associated with tombs of Sufi saints or shaykh s. Typically, they feature a large hall where practitioners could pray and meditate. They also include lodgings for traveling Sufis and pilgrims. In addition to their religious spaces, Sufi lodges also had structures for public services. This included hospitals, kitchens, bathhouses, and schools. Everyone working to provide these services
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#17330924982082882-568: A single meal a day. Neither group will beg for food, but a Jain ascetic may accept a meal from a householder, provided that the latter is pure of mind and body and offers the food of his own volition and in the prescribed manner. During such an encounter, the monk remains standing and eats only a measured amount. A routine feature of Jain asceticism are fasting periods, where adherents abstain from consuming food, and sometimes water, only during daylight hours, for up to 30 days. Some monks avoid (or limit) medicine and/or hospitalization out of disregard for
3013-587: A soup kitchen, and two traveler and pilgrim inns. The earliest pious foundations in Egypt were charitable gifts, and not in the form of a waqf . The first mosque built by ' Amr ibn al-'As is an example of this: the land was donated by Qaysaba bin Kulthum , and the mosque's expenses were then paid by the Bayt al-mal . The earliest known waqf , founded by financial official Abū Bakr Muḥammad bin Ali al-Madhara'i in 919 (during
3144-400: A source of charity and thereby public welfare while doubling as a tool of domination used by the ruling class to maintain the dependence of the lower classes. While the former was somewhat preserved as a scripture-based normative foundation of waqf institutions, the nature and dynamics of the latter was contingent on the nature and dynamics of regime changes in Zanzibar. Under Omani rule, waqf
3275-745: A spectrum of diverse practices, ranging from the mild self-discipline, self-imposed poverty and simple living typical of Buddhism and Hinduism , to more severe austerities and self-mortification practices of monks in Jainism and now extinct Ajivikas in the pursuit of salvation. Some ascetics live as hermits relying on whatever food they can find in the forests, then sleep and meditate in caves; others travel from one holy site to another while sustaining their body by begging for food; yet others live in monasteries as monks or nuns. Some ascetics live like priests and preachers, other ascetics are armed and militant, to resist any persecution—a phenomenon that emerged after
3406-487: A strong Advaita Vedanta outlook. Most of the Sannyasa Upanishads present a Yoga and nondualism ( Advaita ) Vedanta philosophy. The 12th-century Shatyayaniya Upanishad is a significant exception, which presents qualified dualistic and Vaishnavism ( Vishishtadvaita Vedanta) philosophy. These texts mention a simple, ethical lifestyle but do not mention self-torture or body mortification. For example: These are
3537-595: A tradition of asceticism, but its Sufi groups have cherished their own ascetic tradition for several centuries. Islamic literary sources and historians report that during the early Muslim conquests of the Middle East and North Africa (7th–10th centuries), some of the Muslim warriors guarding the frontier settlements were also ascetics; numerous historical accounts also report of some Christian monks that apostatized from Christianity , converted to Islam , and joined
3668-776: A year and a month wore clothes; after that time he walked about naked, and accepted the alms in the hollow of his hand. For more than twelve years the Venerable Ascetic Mahivira neglected his body and abandoned the care of it; he with equanimity bore, underwent, and suffered all pleasant or unpleasant occurrences arising from divine powers, men, or animals. Both Mahavira and his ancient Jaina followers are described in Jainism texts as practicing body mortification and being abused by animals as well as people, but never retaliating and never initiating harm or injury ( ahimsa ) to any other being. With such ascetic practices, he burnt off his past Karma , gained spiritual knowledge, and became
3799-580: Is 33,229. In the 16th century, the Haseki Sultan Complex charitable complex was founded by the wife of Suleyman the Magnificent and serviced 26 villages; the institution also included shops, a bazaar, two soap plants, 11 flour mills and two bathhouses located in Ottoman Syria and Lebanon . For several centuries, the income generated by these businesses contributed in the maintenance of a mosque,
3930-1117: Is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their practices or continue to be part of their society, but typically adopt a frugal lifestyle, characterised by the renunciation of material possessions and physical pleasures, and also spend time fasting while concentrating on the practice of religion , prayer , and/or meditation . Some individuals have also attempted an ascetic lifestyle to free themselves from addictions to things such as alcohol , tobacco , drugs , entertainment , sex , food , etc. Asceticism has been historically observed in many religious and philosophic traditions, most notably among Ancient Greek philosophical schools ( Epicureanism , Gymnosophism , Stoicism , and Pythagoreanism ), Indian religions ( Buddhism , Hinduism , Jainism ), Abrahamic religions ( Christianity , Judaism , Islam ), and contemporary practices continue amongst some of their followers. Practitioners abandon sensual pleasures and lead an abstinent lifestyle, in
4061-435: Is a particular type of waqf , in which the founder reserves the right to dispose of the waqf property. The person making the grant is called al-waqif (or al-muhabbis ) while the endowed assets are called al-mawquf (or al-muhabbas ). In older English-language law-related works in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, the word used for waqf was vakouf ; the word, also present in such French works,
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4192-433: Is an Islamic institution, being a Muslim is not required to establish a waqf , and dhimmis may establish a waqf . Finally, if a person is fatally ill, the waqf is subject to the same restrictions as a will in Islam. Some of the founders of Ottoman waqfs were women, with their establishments having a crucial impact on their communities' economic life. Out of 30,000 waqf certificates documented by
4323-562: Is associated particularly with monks, nuns, and fakirs in Abrahamic religions, and bhikkhus , munis , sannyasis , vairagis, goswamis, and yogis in Indian religions. In the Baháʼí Faith , according to Shoghi Effendi , the maintenance of a high standard of moral conduct is neither to be associated or confused with any form of extreme asceticism, nor of excessive and bigoted puritanism. The religious standard set by Baháʼu'lláh , founder of
4454-413: Is called Sannyasa , and this is not the same as asceticism—which typically connotes severe self-denial and self-mortification. Sannyasa often involved a simple life, one with minimal or no material possessions, study, meditation and ethical living. Those who undertook this lifestyle were called Sannyasi , Sadhu , Yati , Bhiksu , Pravrajita/Pravrajitā and Parivrajaka in Hindu texts. The term with
4585-662: Is certainly well known to Allah." Their formal conception in Islamic society has been derived from a number of hadiths . It is said that during the time of Muhammad, after the Hijrah , the first waqf was composed of a grove of 600 date palms. The proceeds of this waqf were meant to feed Medina's poor. In one tradition, it is said that: "Ibn Umar reported, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab got land in Khaybar , so he came to Muhammad and asked him to advise him about it. Muhammad said, 'If you like, make
4716-691: Is dedicated by the Donor ( Wakif ) for the benefit of their kith and kin and for any purpose recognised by Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable. After the enactment Wakf Act 1954, the Union government directed to all the states governments to implement the Act for administering the wakf institutions like mosques, dargahs , hussainiyas , graveyards, takhiyas , eidgah , anjumans , and various religious and charitable institutions. A statutory body under Government of India, which also oversees State Wakf Boards . In turn
4847-613: Is difficult to pinpoint the historical origins of waqf in East Africa, the practice began to formalize in the 17th Century after the Sultan of Oman, Sayyid Saïd , had cemented his control over Zanzibar and the East African coastline. Until this point, archeological evidence has unearthed several old mosques along the Swahili Coast which are believed to be informal waqf dating as far back as
4978-400: Is generally immovable, such as an estate. All movable goods can also form waqf , according to most Islamic jurists. The Hanafis, however, also allow most movable goods to be dedicated to a waqf with some restrictions. Some jurists have argued that even gold and silver (or other currency) can be designated as waqf . Documents listing endowments (waqfiyyas) often include the name of
5109-448: Is known as a waqif ('donor') who uses a mutawalli ('trustee') to manage the property in exchange for a share of the revenues it generates. A waqf allows the state to provide social services in accordance with Islamic law while contributing to the preservation of cultural and historical sites. Although the waqf system depended on several hadiths and presented elements similar to practices from pre-Islamic cultures, it seems that
5240-796: Is likely either Turkish or Persian in origin. The words zāwiya ( Arabic : زَاوِيَة ; plural زَوَايَا , zawāyā ) and ribāṭ ( Arabic : رِبَاط ; plural: رُبُط , rubuṭ ) were especially used in the Maghreb . The literal meaning of zāwiya is 'corner', while ribāṭ means 'frontier guardpost'. The Classical Persian word دَرگاه dargāh means 'doorway; shrine'. The Classical Persian word تَکْیه takya (whence modern Iranian Persian : تَکْیه , romanized : takye ; Azerbaijani : təkyə ; Panjabi : تَکْیہ , romanized: takya ; Urdu : تَکْیہ , romanized : takya ; Uzbek : takya ) at its core meant "support"; also "cushion" or "pillow". The word
5371-470: Is the institution(s) providing services as committed in the vakıf deed, such as madrasas , public kitchens ( imarets ), karwansarays , mosques, libraries, etc. Generally, the waqf must fulfill three primary constraints: Although there is no direct Quranic injunction regarding waqf , it can be inferred from Surah Al-i'-Imran (3:92): "You will never achieve righteousness until you donate some of what you cherish. And whatever you give
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5502-420: Is unclear if self-immolation was limited primarily to Chinese asceticism tradition, and strong evidence of it being a part of a large scale, comprehensive ascetic program among Chinese Buddhists is lacking. Renunciation from the worldly life, and a pursuit of spiritual life either as a part of monastic community or a hermit, has been a historic tradition of Hinduism since ancient times. The renunciation tradition
5633-434: The waqf during their lifetime. In some cases, however, the number of beneficiaries is quite limited. Thus, there is no need for an administrator, and the beneficiaries themselves can take care of the waqf . The administrator, like other persons of responsibility under Islamic law, must have the capacity to act and contract. In addition, trustworthiness and administrative skills are required. Some scholars require that
5764-503: The jihad , as well as of several Muslim warriors that repudiated Islam , converted to Christianity , and became Christian monks . Monasticism is forbidden in Islam. Scholars in the field of Islamic studies have argued that asceticism ( zuhd ) served as a precursor to the later doctrinal formations of Sufis that began to emerge in the tenth century through the works of individuals such as al-Junayd , al-Qushayrī , al-Sarrāj, al-Hujwīrī and others. Sufism emerged and grew as
5895-542: The Abbasid period ), is a pond called Birkat Ḥabash together with its surrounding orchards, whose revenue was to be used to operate a hydraulic complex and feed the poor. Early references to waqf in India can be found in the 14th-century work Insha-i-Mahru by Aynul Mulk ibn Mahru. According to the book, Muhammad of Ghor dedicated two villages in favor of a congregational mosque in Multan , and, handed its administration to
6026-710: The Bhagavad Gita , verse 17.5 criticize a form of asceticism that diverges from scriptural guidance and is driven by pride, ego, or attachment, rather than for genuine spiritual growth. Verse 17.6 extends the criticism of such ascetic practices, noting that they are considered harmful to both the practitioner's body and the divine within. With these two verses, Krishna emphasizes that true ascetic practices should align with scriptural teachings and aim towards higher spiritual goals. Some people who undertake acts of austerity perform ferocious deeds not sanctioned by scripture. They are motivated by hypocrisy and egotism, and are beset by
6157-557: The Biblical texts within a highly asceticized religious environment. Scriptural examples of asceticism could be found in the lives of John the Baptist , Jesus Christ , the twelve apostles , and Paul the Apostle . The Dead Sea Scrolls revealed ascetic practices of the ancient Jewish sect of Essenes who took vows of abstinence to prepare for a holy war. An emphasis on an ascetic religious life
6288-554: The Essenes . According to Allan Nadler, two most significant examples of medieval Jewish asceticism have been Havoth ha-Levavoth and Hasidei Ashkenaz. Pious self-deprivation was a part of the dualism and mysticism in these ascetic groups. This voluntary separation from the world was called Perishuth , and the Jewish society widely accepted this tradition in late medieval era. Extreme forms of ascetic practices have been opposed or controversial in
6419-700: The Fatimids , who were largely Shi'ite , and the beginning of the Ayyubid period of Sunnism . In 1325, the Mamluk sultan al-Nāṣir Muḥammad relocated the khānaqāh north of the city. Saladin changed the Sa'id al-Su'ada, a Fatimid palace, into a Sufi khānaqāh called al-Khānaqāh al-Ṣalāḥiyya (not to be confused with the Al-Khanqah al-Salahiyya Mosque in Jerusalem). This khānaqāh provided
6550-602: The Gnostikos ( Ancient Greek : γνωστικός , gnōstikos , "learned", from γνῶσις, gnōsis , "knowledge"), also known as The Gnostic: To the One Made Worthy of Gnosis . The Gnostikos is the second volume of a trilogy containing the Praktikos , intended for young monks to achieve apatheia , i.e., "a state of calm which is the prerequisite for love and knowledge", in order to purify their intellect and make it impassible, to reveal
6681-633: The Mourning of Muharram . Asceticism has not been a dominant theme within Judaism , but minor to significant ascetic traditions have been a part of Jewish spirituality. The history of Jewish asceticism is traceable to first millennium BCE era with the references of the Nazirite (or Nazorean, Nazarene, Naziruta, Nazir), whose rules of practice are found in Book of Numbers 6:1–21. The ascetic practices included not cutting
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#17330924982086812-755: The Shaykh al-Islām (highest ecclesiastical officer of the Empire). In the coming years, several more waqf were created, as the Delhi Sultanate flourished. As per the Wakf Act 1954 (later Wakf Act 1995) enacted by the government of India, waqf are categorized as (a) waqf by user such as graveyards, Musafir Khanas (Sarai) and Chowltries etc., (b) waqf under Mashrutul-khidmat (Service Inam) such as Khazi service, Nirkhi service, Pesh Imam service and Khateeb service etc., and (c) Wakf Alal-aulad
6943-451: The khānaqāh was for legal education. Most, including Nur ad-Din's khānaqāh , included hospices. However, there was a deep interconnection between education and religion in Sufi buildings, by the end of the Mamluk period the distinction between religious and educational buildings became blurred. Saladin founded the first khānaqāh in Cairo , Egypt in 1173. This officially marked his defeat of
7074-417: The 'public' ownership of these assets that disposed of the need for a waqif . In this way, waqf was further cemented as a political institution regulated by a centralized state while being managed by mutawallis . It allowed the poorest inhabitants of Stone Town to reside in waqf buildings that were previously reserved for the relatives of waqif families. While this may appear to be an act of good fortune,
7205-694: The 10th and 19th centuries, particularly to the furthest outposts of the Muslim world in the Middle East and North Africa , the Balkans and Caucasus , the Indian subcontinent , and finally Central , Eastern , and Southeast Asia . Some scholars have argued that Sufi Muslim ascetics and mystics played a decisive role in converting the Turkic peoples to Islam between the 10th and 12th centuries and Mongol invaders in Persia during
7336-915: The 13th and 14th centuries, mainly because of the similarities between the extreme, ascetic Sufis ( fakirs and dervishes ) and the Shamans of the traditional Turco-Mongol religion . Sufism was adopted and then grew particularly in the frontier areas of Islamic states , where the asceticism of its fakirs and dervishes appealed to populations already used to the monastic traditions of Hinduism , Buddhism , and medieval Christianity . Ascetic practices of Sufi fakirs have included celibacy , fasting , and self-mortification . Sufi ascetics also participated in mobilizing Muslim warriors for holy wars , helping travelers, dispensing blessings through their perceived magical powers , and in helping settle disputes. Ritual ascetic practices, such as self-flagellation ( Tatbir ), have been practiced by Shia Muslims annually at
7467-485: The 8th Century. The formalization of waqf can be traced back to 1820 when Sultan Said moved the Omani Sultanate to Stone Town, Zanzibar. This marked a shift from waqf as an Islamic scriptural imperative to a local and centralized institutional practice legitimated by the royal family. From this point onward, the urban development of the port city of the East African archipelago was shaped by waqf practices. As such,
7598-712: The 9th century, while a third one dates from the early 10th century, all three within the Abbasid Period. The oldest dated waqfiya goes back to 876 CE and concerns a multi-volume edition of the Qur'an currently held by the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum in Istanbul . A possibly older waqfiya is a papyrus held by the Louvre Museum in Paris , with no written date but considered to be from
7729-449: The Baháʼí Faith, seeks under no circumstances to deny anyone the legitimate right and privilege to derive the fullest advantage and benefit from the manifold joys, beauties, and pleasures with which the world has been so plentifully enriched by God , which Baháʼís regard as an all-loving creator. Notable Christian authors of Late Antiquity such as Origen , St Jerome , John Chrysostom , and Augustine of Hippo , interpreted meanings of
7860-407: The GDPFA ( General Directorate of Pious Foundation in Ankara ), over 2,300 of them were registered to institutions that belonged to women. Of the 491 public fountains in Istanbul that were constructed during the Ottoman period and survived until the 1930s, nearly 30% of them were registered under waqfs that belonged to women. The property (called al-mawqūf or al-muḥabbas ) used to found
7991-399: The Hasidic movement. The Ashkenazi Hasidim ( Hebrew : חסידי אשכנז , romanized : Chassidei Ashkenaz ) were a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland whose practices are documented in the texts of the 12th and 13th centuries. Peter Meister states that this Jewish asceticism emerged in the tenth century, grew much wider with prevalence in southern Europe and
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#17330924982088122-511: The Hindu metaphysical concept of Brahman . Other behavioral characteristics of the Sannyasi include: ahimsa (non-violence), akrodha (not become angry even if you are abused by others), disarmament (no weapons), chastity, bachelorhood (no marriage), avyati (non-desirous), amati (poverty), self-restraint, truthfulness, sarvabhutahita (kindness to all creatures), asteya (non-stealing), aparigraha (non-acceptance of gifts, non-possessiveness) and shaucha (purity of body speech and mind). In
8253-409: The Islamic waqf and English trust was "the express or implied reversion of the waqf to charitable purposes when its specific object has ceased to exist", though this difference only applied to the waqf ahli (Islamic family trust) rather than the waqf khairi (devoted to a charitable purpose from its inception). Another difference was the English vesting of "legal estate" over the trust property in
8384-424: The Islamic waqf law and madrassah foundations were firmly established by the 10th century, the number of Bimaristan hospitals multiplied throughout Islamic lands. By the 11th century, many Islamic cities had several hospitals. The waqf trust institutions funded the hospitals for various expenses, including the wages of doctors, ophthalmologists , surgeons, chemists , pharmacists , domestics and all other staff,
8515-647: The Jataka tales wherein the Buddha in his earlier lives immolates himself to assist other living beings, or by the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabhārāja -related teachings in the Lotus Sutra . Historical records suggest that the self-immolation practices were observed by nuns in Chinese Buddhism as well. The Chinese Buddhist asceticism practices, states James Benn, were not an adaptation or import of Indian ascetic practices, but an invention of Chinese Buddhists, based on their unique interpretations of Saddharmapuṇḍarīka or Lotus Sūtra . It may be an adoption of more ancient pre-Buddhist Chinese practices, or from Taoism . It
8646-454: The Jews returned from the Babylonian exile and the Mosaic institution was done away with, a different form of asceticism arose when Antiochus IV Epiphanes threatened the Jewish religion in 167 BCE. The Essene tradition of the second Temple period is described as one of the movements within historic Jewish asceticism between second century BCE and first century CE. Ascetic Jewish sects existed in ancient and medieval era times, most notably
8777-495: The Maghreb, Sufi lodges have been mostly known as zāwiya s or ribāṭ s. Many takya s ( Ottoman Turkish : تَكْیهلر , romanized : tekyeler ; modern Turkish : tekkeler ) have been built in Turkey and in the countries which came under Ottoman rule . The Ottomans used the words takya (Ottoman Turkish: تَكْیه , romanized: tekye ), dargāh ( دَرگاه , dergâh ) and zāwiya ( زاویه , zâviye ) instead of khānaqāh ( خانَقاه , hanekâh ). Among
8908-400: The Middle East through the Jewish pietistic movement. According to Shimon Shokek, these ascetic practices were the result of an influence of medieval Christianity on Ashkenazi Hasidism. The Jewish faithful of this Hasidic tradition practiced the punishment of body, self-torture by starvation, sitting in the open in freezing snow, or in the sun with fleas in summer, all with the goal of purifying
9039-445: The Middle East were at one time inhabited by thousands of male and female Christian ascetics, hermits and anchorites , including St. Anthony the Great (otherwise known as St. Anthony of the Desert), St. Mary of Egypt , and St. Simeon Stylites , collectively known as the Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers . In 963 an association of monasteries called Lavra was formed on Mount Athos , in Eastern Orthodox tradition. This became
9170-407: The Muslim world. In West Africa, very few examples of the institution can be found, and were usually limited to the area around Timbuktu and Djenné in Massina Empire . Instead, Islamic west African societies placed a much greater emphasis on non-permanent acts of charity. According to expert Illife, this can be explained by West Africa's tradition of "personal largesse." The imam would make himself
9301-433: The Ottoman Sufi orders which had the most takya s were the Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya and the Bektashi Order . The takya s of the Mevlevi Order were called Mawlawī khāna s (Ottoman Turkish: مولوی خانهلر , romanized: Mevlevî haneler , lit. ' Mawlawī houses'). By the 20th century, Istanbul itself counted many takya s. Some were dedicated to certain Muslim communities (for example,
9432-662: The Prophet . Ascetic practices were linked to the Christian concepts of sin and redemption . The Proto-Protestant Waldensian sect originated as an ascetic group within medieval Western Christianity , persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church . Evagrius Ponticus , also called Evagrius the Solitary (345–399 CE ), was a highly educated monastic teacher who produced a large theological body of work, mainly ascetic, including
9563-507: The State Wakf Boards work towards management, regulation and protect the Wakf properties by constituting District Wakf Committees, Mandal Wakf Committees and Committees for the individual Wakf Institutions. As per the report of Sachar Committee (2006) there are about 500,000 registered Wakfs with 600,000 acres (2,400 km ) land in India, and Rs. 60 billion book value. While it
9694-949: The Uzbeks' Takya or the Indians' Takya) which symbolized a certain recognition of these communities by the Ottomans. Ottoman takya s can be found in Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, North Macedonia, and Syria. Many Sufi lodges existed in Iran during the Middle Ages. Examples include the Tohidkhaneh in Isfahan . After the Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam , many Sufi lodges became used as ḥusayniyya s (buildings where Shia Muslims gather to mourn
9825-568: The ability to resist potentially destructive temptations. Asceticism is seen in some ancient theologies as a journey towards spiritual transformation, where the simple is sufficient, the bliss is within, the frugal is plenty. Inversely, several ancient religious traditions, such as Zoroastrianism , Ancient Egyptian religion , the Dionysian Mysteries , vāmācāra , and the modern Western occult left-hand path traditions, abstain from ascetic practices and focus on various types of good deeds in
9956-503: The administrator of this Islamic religious institution be a Muslim, though the Hanafis drop this requirement. A waqf is intended to be perpetual and last forever. Nevertheless, Islamic law envisages conditions under which the waqf may be terminated: The practices attributed to Muhammad have promoted the institution of waqf from the earliest part of Islamic history. The two oldest known waqfiya (deed) documents are from
10087-555: The architectural configuration of Stone Town was entirely managed by the Sultanate and its network of nobility. This effectively allowed elites to practice zakat through waqf while doubling as a means to secure control over the local population. The East African archipelago underwent an economic recession from 1860 to 1880 that threatened the private property of the elite class. In a time when landowners were forced to sell or mortgage their properties to foreign investors, waqf became
10218-553: The arrival of Islam in India. Self-torture is relatively uncommon practice but one that attracts public attention. In Indian traditions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, self-mortification is typically criticized. However, Indian mythologies also describe numerous ascetic gods or demons who pursued harsh austerities for decades or centuries that helped each gain special powers. The historical Siddhartha Gautama adopted an extreme ascetic life in search of enlightenment. However, after enlightenment he rejected extreme asceticism in favor of
10349-528: The ascetic thoughts in Christianity nevertheless, Finn states, have roots in Greek moral thought. Virtuous living is not possible when an individual is craving bodily pleasures with desire and passion. Morality is not seen in the ancient theology as a balancing act between right and wrong, but a form of spiritual transformation, where the simple is sufficient, the bliss is within, the frugal is plenty. The deserts of
10480-412: The beneficiaries or put to their use. Once in their use, however, the waqf becomes an institution in its own right. Usually, a waqf has a range of beneficiaries. Thus, the founder makes arrangements beforehand by appointing an administrator (called nāẓir or mutawallī or ḳayyim ) and lays down the rules for appointing successive administrators. The founder may choose to administer
10611-455: The collector and distributor of charity, thus building his personal prestige. According to Hamas, all of historic Palestine is an Islamic waqf. This belief, a relatively recent one, forms part of the group's mythology. In Southeastern Europe , there are several places in Bosnia and Herzegovina that were originally built under the waqf system, such as Gornji Vakuf , and Donji Vakuf . After
10742-568: The colonial bureaucracy. The Waqf Property Decree which formed the Waqf Commission in 1905 was composed of a majority of British officials and a minority of Islamic authorities to represent the Sultanate who maintained a degree of influence over the island. This shift marked the further formalization of waqf into the state apparatus, a move which allowed the English to directly control the preservation and maintenance of publicly used assets as well as
10873-482: The death of Husayn ibn Ali in the month of Muharram ). In South Asia, the words khānaqāh , jamāʿat-khāna (Urdu: جماعت خانہ ), takya (Urdu: تَکْیہ , lit. 'pillow, bolster'), dargāh (Urdu: درگاہ , lit. 'royal court'), langar (Urdu: لنگر , lit. 'refectory'), and sometimes ʿimārat (Urdu: عمارت , lit. 'building'). are used interchangeably for Sufi lodges. The Madrasa-i-Firozshahi
11004-497: The economic function of the practice. After the British gained control of Zanzibar and further formalized waqf as a political institution, it was used to culturally subvert the local population and gradually rid it off its Arabic origins. This persisted after independence when the newly independent state sought to further eliminate Arabic influence by nationalizing all waqf properties as a means to gain control of private property. The waqf institutions were not popular in all parts of
11135-507: The elite class of the Omani aristocracy. In the context of growing inequality, the nobility used waqf to provide public housing to slaves and peasants as well mosques, madrasahs and land for free habitation and cultivation. For instance, all 66 mosques in Stone Town were waqf privately financed and owned by noble waqif as a display of social status and duty to their neighborhood. Under this system,
11266-503: The endower, the listed property or fiscal unit, the endowed fraction (in 24- qarats ), and a description of its boundary . The boundary descriptions start in Islamic direction of prayer and go counterclockwise by listing different landscape elements. Endowment deeds most often include the conditions of the endowment and its administration. The beneficiaries of the waqf can be individuals and public utilities. The founder can specify which persons are eligible for benefits (such as
11397-495: The extreme ascetic practices of eating only pine needles, resins, seeds and ultimately self-mummification, while alive, or Sokushinbutsu ( miira ) in Japan. In Chinese Buddhism self-mummification ascetic practices were less common but recorded in the Ch'an (Zen Buddhism) tradition there. More ancient Chinese Buddhist asceticism, somewhat similar to Sokushinbutsu are also known, such as
11528-527: The flesh and guarding the flesh (avoiding anything that is a source of temptation). Inner austerities include expiation, confession, respecting and assisting mendicants, studying, meditation and ignoring bodily wants in order to abandon the body. The Jain text of Kalpa Sūtra describes Mahavira's asceticism in detail, whose life is a source of guidance on most of the ascetic practices in Jainism: The Venerable Ascetic Mahavira for
11659-444: The floor without blankets, and sit on wooden platforms. Other austerities include meditation in seated or standing posture near riverbanks in the cold wind, or meditation atop hills and mountains, especially at noon when the sun is at its fiercest. Such austerities are undertaken according to the physical and mental limits of the individual ascetic. When death is imminent from an advanced age or terminal disease, many Jain ascetics take
11790-412: The founder may stipulate that half the proceeds go to their family, while the other half goes to the poor. Valid beneficiaries must satisfy the following conditions: There is dispute over whether the founder themselves can reserve exclusive rights to use waqf . Most scholars agree that once the waqf is founded, it cannot be taken back. The Ḥanafīs hold that the list of beneficiaries includes
11921-459: The founder's family, the entire community, only the poor, travelers). Public utilities such as mosques, schools, bridges, graveyards, and drinking fountains can be the beneficiaries of a waqf . Modern legislation divides the waqf into "charitable causes," where the beneficiaries are the public or the poor, and "family" waqf , where the founder designates their relatives as beneficiaries. There can also be multiple beneficiaries. For example,
12052-429: The fourteenth century, they were more commonly designed as one large structure. This design is typically characterized by one large hall with cells or galleries on either side, allowing more interaction for those working in the lodge. They commonly have domes, mosaics, arches, columns, courtyards, portals, and minarets. The design and incorporation of these aspects varies by region and era. Asceticism Asceticism
12183-431: The gods enter them. He is someone lost in thoughts: he is miles away. The Vedic and Upanishadic texts of Hinduism, states Mariasusai Dhavamony, do not discuss self-inflicted pain, but do discuss self-restraint and self-control. The monastic tradition of Hinduism is evidenced in first millennium BCE, particularly in its Advaita Vedanta tradition. This is evidenced by the oldest Sannyasa Upanishads, because all of them have
12314-427: The hair, abstaining from eating meat or grapes, abstention from wine, or fasting and hermit style living conditions for a period of time. Literary evidence suggests that this tradition continued for a long time, well into the common era, and both Jewish men and women could follow the ascetic path, with examples such as the ascetic practices for fourteen years by Queen Helena of Adiabene , and by Miriam of Tadmor. After
12445-817: The hierarchical institutionalized sangha structure of monasteries in Buddhism. In the Mahayana tradition asceticism with esoteric and mystical meanings became an accepted practice, such as in the Tendai and Shingon schools of Japanese Buddhism. These Japanese practices included penance, austerities, ablutions under a waterfall, and rituals to purify oneself. Japanese records from the 12th century record stories of monks undertaking severe asceticism, while records suggest that 19th century Nichiren Buddhist monks woke up at midnight or 2:00 am daily, and performed ascetic water purification rituals under cold waterfalls. Other practices include
12576-426: The hospitals every day and speak quietly to one another in the patients' hearing, remarking on their improvement and good colour". The waqf in Islamic law , which developed in the medieval Islamic world from the 7th to 9th centuries, bears a notable resemblance to the English trust law . Every waqf was required to have a waqif (founder), mutawillis (trustee), qadi (judge) and beneficiaries. Under both
12707-653: The latter is also to provide shelter and community spaces to the poor, also known as the mawquf 'alayh (beneficiaries). Bahaeddin Yediyıldız defines waqf as a system comprising three elements: hayrat , akarat , and waqf . Hayrat , the plural form of hayr , means 'goodnesses' and refers to the motivational factor behind the vakıf organization; akarat refers to corpus and literally means 'real estates,' implying revenue-generating sources such as markets ( bedestens , arastas , hans , etc.), land, and baths; and waqf , in its narrow sense,
12838-410: The majority of greater Stone Town became waqf property made available for free habitation or cemeteries by noblemen, approximately 6.4% of which was public housing for the poor. It is important to note that economic changes in Zanzibar shaped waqf practices overtime. Under Omani rule slavery and the cash crop industry was booming, specifically because of the exportation of spices, which strengthened
12969-1110: The mid-9th century. The next oldest document is a marble tablet whose inscription bears the Islamic date equivalent to 913 CE and states the waqf status of an inn, but is in itself not the original deed; it is held at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv . By the early 1800's, more than half of all arable land in the Ottoman Empire was classified as a waqf. In relation to present day countries, this figure included 75 percent of arable land in Turkey , one-fifth in Egypt, one-seventh in Iran, one-half in Algeria, one-third in Tunisia, and one-third in Greece. The total number of registered endowments in Saudi Arabia
13100-754: The most important center of orthodox Christian ascetic groups in the centuries that followed. In the modern era, Mount Athos and Meteora have remained a significant center. Sexual abstinence such as those of the Encratites sect of Christians was only one aspect of ascetic renunciation, and both natural and unnatural asceticism have been part of Christian asceticism. The natural ascetic practices have included simple living, begging, fasting and ethical practices such as humility, compassion, meditation , patience and prayer . Evidence of extreme asceticism in Christianity appear in second century texts and thereafter, in both Eastern & Western Christian traditions, such as
13231-447: The nationalisation of all waqf assets led to the loss and destruction of many properties because of a lack of funding because the state did not have the means to preserve waqf as effectively as it were under the private control of waqif nobility. According to Bowen, when practicing Islam, Muslims "engage in a dialogue between potentially conflicting cultural orders: the universalistic imperatives of Islam (as locally understood) and
13362-427: The other micro organisms around the root. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be plucked only when ripe and ready to fall off, or ideally after they have fallen off the plant. In case they are plucked from the plants, only as much as required should be procured and consumed without waste. The monks of Śvetāmbara sub-tradition within Jainism do not cook food but solicit alms from householders. Digambara monks have only
13493-437: The perfect spiritual way of life. According to Clement of Alexandria , philosophy and Scriptures can be seen as "double expressions of one pattern of knowledge". According to Evagrius, "body and the soul are there to help the intellect and not to hinder it". The Arabic term for "asceticism" is zuhd . The Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers practiced asceticism. However, contemporary mainstream Islam has not had
13624-423: The physical body. Śvētāmbara monks and nuns wear only unstitched white robes (an upper and lower garment), and own one bowl they use for eating and collecting alms. Male Digambara sect monks do not wear any clothes, carry nothing with them except a soft broom made of shed peacock feathers ( pinchi ) to gently remove any insect or living creature in their way or bowl, and they eat with their hands. They sleep on
13755-453: The power of desire and passion. Asceticism in one of its most intense forms can be found in Jainism . Ascetic life may include nakedness symbolizing non-possession of even clothes, fasting, body mortification, penance and other austerities, in order to burn away past karma and stop producing new karma, both of which are believed in Jainism to be essential for reaching siddha and moksha (liberation from rebirths, salvation). In Jainism,
13886-416: The practice of chaining the body to rocks, eating only grass, praying seated on a pillar in the elements for decades such as by the monk Simeon Stylites , solitary confinement inside a cell, abandoning personal hygiene and adopting lifestyle of a beast, self-inflicted pain and voluntary suffering, however they were often rejected as beyond measure by other ascetics such as Barsanuphius of Gaza and John
14017-494: The property inalienable and give the profit from it to charity.' It goes on to say that Umar gave it away as alms, that the land itself would not be sold, inherited, or donated. He gave it away for the poor, the relatives, the slaves, the jihad , the travelers, and the guests. It will not be held against him who administers it if he consumes some of its yield in an appropriate manner or feeds a friend who does not enrich himself by means of it." In another hadith, Muhammad said, "When
14148-515: The property of Allah and must be used to "fulfill public of family needs" as a charitable social service. A waqf property can fall into one of two categories: movable or immovable. A 'movable' asset includes money or shares which are used to finance educational, religious or cultural institutions such as madrasahs (Islamic schools) or mosques . The madrasahs and mosques themselves are an example of an 'immovable' asset which refers to land or structures open for public use. An important function of
14279-414: The public self-immolation (self-cremation, as shaoshen 燒身 or zifen 自焚) practice, aimed at abandoning the impermanent body. The earliest-documented ascetic Buddhist monk biography is of Fayu (法羽) in 396 CE, followed by more than fifty documented cases in the centuries that followed including that of monk Daodu (道度). This was considered as evidence of a renunciant bodhisattva , and may have been inspired by
14410-450: The purchase of foods and medicines ; hospital equipment such as beds, mattresses, bowls and perfumes; and repairs to buildings. The waqf trusts also funded medical schools, and their revenues covered various expenses such as their maintenance and the payment of teachers and students. From the more peculiar examples of healthcare-related waqfs, in the city of Tripoli, a man had set up a waqf which employed two people who would "walk through
14541-548: The pursuit of redemption , salvation , and/or spirituality . Many ascetics believe the action of purifying the body helps to purify the soul, and that in doing so, they will obtain a greater connection with the Divine or find inner peace. This may take the form of rituals, the renunciation of pleasure, and/or self-mortification . However, ascetics maintain that self-imposed constraints bring them greater freedom in various areas of their lives, such as increased clarity of thought and
14672-401: The rains. Jain monks and nuns practice complete celibacy. They do not touch or share a sitting platform with a person of the opposite sex. Jain ascetics follow a strict vegetarian diet without root vegetables. Prof. Pushpendra K. Jain explains: Clearly enough, to procure such vegetables and fruits, one must pull out the plant from the root, thus destroying the entire plant, and with it all
14803-402: The soul and turning one's attention away from the body unto the soul. Another significant school of Jewish asceticism appeared in the 16th century led from Safed . These mystics engaged in radical material abstentions and self-mortification with the belief that this helps them transcend the created material world, reach and exist in the mystical spiritual world. A studied example of this group
14934-566: The specific full-fledged Islamic legal form of endowment called waqf dates from the 9th century AD (see § History and location below). In Sunni jurisprudence, waqf , also spelled wakf ( Arabic : وَقْف ; plural أَوْقاف , awqāf ; Turkish : vakıf ) is synonymous with ḥabs ( حَبْس , also called ḥubs حُبْس or ḥubus حُبْوس and commonly rendered habous in French). Habs and similar terms are used mainly by Maliki jurists. In Twelver Shiism , ḥabs
15065-469: The surplus revenues generated from them. It was also part of what Ali Mazrui calls the 'dis-Islamization' and 'de-Arabization' of Swahili culture by British colonialism, a strategy used to rid the territory of Omani influence. While Mazrui speaks of this in the context of the Swahili language, it can also be seen by the way in which the British deviated from the Islamic values underpinning waqf practices. What
15196-508: The trustee, though the "trustee was still bound to administer that property for the benefit of the beneficiaries." In this sense, the "role of the English trustee therefore does not differ significantly from that of the mutawalli ." Personal trust law developed in England at the time of the Crusades , during the 12th and 13th centuries. The Court of Chancery, under the principles of equity, enforced
15327-439: The truth hidden in every being. The third book, Kephalaia Gnostika , was meant for meditation by advanced monks. Those writings made him one of the most recognized ascetic teachers and scriptural interpreters of his time, which include Clement of Alexandria and Origen . The ascetic literature of early Christianity was influenced by pre-Christian Greek philosophical traditions , especially Plato and Aristotle , looking for
15458-725: The ultimate goal of life is to achieve the liberation of soul from endless cycle of rebirths (moksha from samsara ), which requires ethical living and asceticism. Most of the austerities and ascetic practices can be traced back to Mahavira , the twenty-fourth Tirthankara who practiced 12 years of asceticism before reaching enlightenment. Jain texts such as Tattvartha Sutra and Uttaradhyayana Sutra discuss ascetic austerities to great lengths and formulations. Six outer and six inner practices are most common, and oft repeated in later Jain texts. According to John Cort, outer austerities include complete fasting, eating limited amounts, eating restricted items, abstaining from tasty foods, mortifying
15589-438: The values embedded in a particular society". While Bowen analyzes how Islamic rituals are practiced in context, this logic can arguably be applied to how the history of waqf in Zanzibar is shaped by "local cultural concerns and to universalistic scriptural imperatives". In fact, this conflict is evident in the way in which waqf has historically served a dual purpose in Zanzibar; to satisfy the inalienable Islamic law of waqf as
15720-450: The vows a Sannyasi must keep: Abstention from injuring living beings, truthfulness, abstention from appropriating the property of others, abstention from sex, liberality (kindness, gentleness) are the major vows. There are five minor vows: abstention from anger, obedience towards the guru, avoidance of rashness, cleanliness, and purity in eating. He should beg (for food) without annoying others, any food he gets he must compassionately share
15851-663: The world and the importance of family life. The adjective "ascetic" derives from the ancient Greek term áskēsis , which means "training" or "exercise". The original usage did not refer to self-denial, but to the physical training required for athletic events. Its usage later extended to rigorous practices used in many major religious traditions, in varying degrees, to attain redemption and higher spirituality . Dom Cuthbert Butler classified asceticism into natural and unnatural forms: Self-discipline and abstinence in some form and degree are parts of religious practice within many religious and spiritual traditions. Ascetic lifestyle
15982-503: The world. Khānaqāh s had langar-khāna s, which served as free public kitchens for the poor sponsored by endowments from lakhiraj lands. Islamic values of equality and fraternity brought khānaqāh s to provide services for members of the lowest castes . The popularity of khānaqāh s declined in the early 14th century in India. Prior to the Timurid period, Sufi lodges were typically designed as large complexes with several structures. After
16113-447: Was Hayyim ben Joseph Vital , and their rules of ascetic lifestyle ( Hanhagoth ) are documented. Asceticism is found in both non-theistic and theistic traditions within Indian religions . The origins of the practice are ancient, and a heritage shared by the major Indian religions: Buddhism , Hinduism , and Jainism . They are referred by many names such as Sadhu, Pravrajita, Bhikshu, Yati etc. Asceticism in Indian religions includes
16244-516: Was also borrowed in Ottoman Turkish as تَكْیه tekye (modern Turkish : tekke ), eventually making its way into Arabic as تَكِيَّة takiyya (plural تَكَايَا takāyā ) and in languages of the Balkans ( Albanian : teqeja ; Bosnian : tekija ). The patronage of Sufi lodges historically made an important political and cultural statement. The patronage of a Sufi building by
16375-462: Was built by Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq near Hauz-i-Alai . Its architecture was said to be so appealing to locals that they relocated to be closer to the complex. The khānaqāh-madrasa structure had educational opportunities for the pious, and teachers were paid with stipends. Its main purpose was to offer lodging for travelers. The Khanaqah of Sayed Ghulam Ali Shah Mashadi in India was visited by and open to pilgrims from many different cultures around
16506-509: Was evident in both early Christian writings ( see : Philokalia ) and practices ( see : Hesychasm ). Other Christian practitioners of asceticism include saints such as Paul the Hermit , Simeon Stylites , David of Wales , John of Damascus , Peter Waldo , Tamar of Georgia , and Francis of Assisi . According to Richard Finn , much of early Christian asceticism has been traced to Judaism, but not to traditions within Greek asceticism. Some of
16637-416: Was initially intended as a charitable practice that would provide social services was replaced by a focus on profit over public welfare. This ruptured the social and political relations that were formed between the upper and lower classes during Omani rule as the underlying values used to manage waqf were lost in translation. The Zanzibari Revolution which followed a year after independence in 1963 installed
16768-460: Was paid through a waqf . Sufi lodges have been very inclusive. Visitors from different cultures and religions could visit them and receive a blessing. Traditionally, Sufi communal lives of asceticism were seen as pious because solitude and self-sufficiency were believed to lead to ego-centricity. Penitence and suffering were intended to bring Sufis closer to understanding divinity. Nur ad-Din Zangi
16899-442: Was practiced by the aristocratic class as an outward demonstration of Islamic piety while simultaneously serving as a means to control slaves and the local population through social housing, educational facilities and religious institutions like mosques. When an economic recession threatened the position of the elite, noblemen used waqf to maintain ownership of their properties to avoid selling or mortgaging their land thereby altering
17030-588: Was the first large patron of Sufi structures, he built and gifted khānaqāh s to Sufi groups in his dominion. In Damascus , khānaqāh s were located inside as well as outside of the city walls. Under the Zangids, khānaqāh s were very centrally located in Old Damascus , near the Umayyad Mosque . Khanaqahs are very commonly placed near a madrasa that is dedicated to the same patron as the khānaqāh . The main purpose of
17161-462: Was used during the time of the Ottoman Empire, and is from the Turkish vakıf . The term waqf literally means 'confinement and prohibition', or causing a thing to stop or stand still. According to Islamic law, once an asset has been donated as waqf it cannot be sold, transferred or given as a gift. Once a waqif has verbally or in writing declared a waqf property, it is legally conceived as
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