| Khawaja (Persian: خواجه xʷâjah) is an honorific title used across the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, particularly towards Sufi teachers.
It is also used by Kashmiri Muslims and the Mizrahi Jews—particularly Persian Jews and Baghdadi Jews. The word comes from the Iranian word khwāja (Classical Persian: خواجه khwāja; Dari khājah; Tajik khoja). In Persian, the title roughly translates to 'Lord' or 'Master'.The Ottoman Turkish pronunciation of the Persian خواجه gave rise to hodja and its equivalents such as hoca in modern Turkish, hoxha in Albanian, xoca (khoja) in Azerbaijani, hodža in Bosnian, ходжа (khodzha) in Bulgarian, χότζας (chótzas) in Greek, hogea in Romanian, and хоџа in Serbian.
Other spellings include khaaja (Bengali) and koja (Javanese).The name is also used in Egypt and Sudan to indicate a person with a foreign nationality or foreign heritage. |
