Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, the word takyeh () is mostly used as a synonym of husayniyya (or ''hoseyniyeh'' in Iranian Persian; building where

Shia Muslims Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

gather to mourn the death of Husayn ibn Ali in the month of Muharram), although some takyehs also include a zaynabiyya (or ''zeynabiyeh'', in honor of Husayn's sister

Zaynab bint Ali Zaynab bint Ali (, ), was the eldest daughter of Fatima and Ali, Ali ibn Abi Talib. The former was a daughter of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the latter was his cousin. Ali is also recognized as the fourth ...

) or an abbasiyya (or ''abbasiyeh'', in honor of Husayn's paternal half-brother

Abbas ibn Ali Al-Abbas ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (, 15 May 647 10 October 680 CE), also known by the kunya Abu al-Fadl (), was a son of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashid caliph in Sunni Islam and the first Imam in Shia Islam. His mother was Fatima bint ...

), like the Takyeh Moaven-ol-Molk. Many takyehs are found in

, where there are takyehs in almost every city.

History

In Classical Persian, a

takya 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'' ...

in the religious sense was originally a place for

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

gatherings; Sufis were called or . Following the

Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam Following their rise to power in Iran in the 16th century, the Safavid dynasty initiated a campaign of forced conversion against the Iranian populace, seeking to replace Sunni Islam, whose Shafi'i school of jurisprudence pervaded the country, ...

, existing takyas became used as husayniyyas, and the majority of takyehs built in Iran since Iran's conversion have been built to be used as husayniyyas, like the Takyeh Dowlat built by

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (; ; 17 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external ...

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

alone is said to have had up to 50 takyehs under the

Qajar dynasty The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...

Architecture

Takyehs throughout Iran are usually designed with observable elements of

Persian architecture Iranian architecture or Persian architecture (, ''Me'māri e Irāni'') is the architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history dates back to at least 5,000 BC with characteristic examples distr ...

Usage

Takyehs usually host ta'ziyeh performances.

Notable takyehs

* Takyeh Dowlat in

* Takyeh Mir Chakhmaq in

Yazd Yazd (; ) is a city in the Central District of Yazd County, Yazd province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. At the 2016 census, its population was 529,673. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is rec ...

* Takyeh Moaven-ol-Molk in

Kermanshah Kermanshah is a city in the Central District (Kermanshah County), Central District of Kermanshah province, Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is from Tehran in the western pa ...

* Takyeh Beyglarbeygi in Kermanshah

References

Architecture in Iran {{Iran-stub