The Food of the Khanaqahs in the Culture of Tasawwuf
Abstract
During the early period of tasawwuf the Sufis placed great emphasison zuhd (asceticism) and eating little. However, as a result of theinstitutionalisation of Sufism and the expansion of the Sufi lodges(khanaqahs, tekkes), they were later compelled to identify certain rulesthat needed to be followed in the lodges. The table manners of Sufismalso needed to be determined.The etiquette (âdâb) of eating in Suficulture was expanded even more in the Anatolian (Turkish) lodges ofthe Ottoman period and was transformed into ceremonies in whichcertain special meals were prepared and eaten accompanied by prayerand dhikr (remembering of God) on certain days and nights. The Sufisloaded certain symbolic meanings and religious-Sufi motifs onto theingredients and methods of cooking. As a result they were able to turnthe act of eating, a worldly act, into an act of joyful worship .Thisarticle addresses in short, the historical progress of the etiquette ofeating in tasawwuf and then provides information about the specialmeals that were prepared at certain times in the sufi lodges of Anatoliaduring the Ottoman period. These have been examined under fourcategories, namely soups, sweets, sherberts, and other foods.
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