Mosque And The Tower Of The Mosque

Islamic architecture featured domes, mosques, shrines, minarets and columns. The furnishings of Islamic mosques and palaces reflect a love of materials and rich decorative pattern. Islamic artists were very meticulous when it came to the patterns and placement of their work. Muslim artisans used materials

Christianity and Islam are religions are two of world’s most widespread religions. Both religions when founded were not accepted by the people of that time and they have faced great resistance. Early Islamic art and early Christian art both are historically important as both are similar in some ways. The most earliest architecture and first such structure from the Muslims is the Dome of the Rock located in Jerusalem. When the Muslims conquered the city of Jerusalem in they needed a place (Mosque) to worship and offer their prayers in congregation. At the same time they also wanted to build a monument that would show the success of Muslims and their religion Islam. Similarly, Christians used to build their

Two buildings, the Hagia Sophia and the Great Mosque of Cordoba, can show us two separate peoples and their approach to constructing architecture that was devoted to their religions. However, while religion played a huge role, there are similarities as well between the two that show that the rulers who commissioned these buildings were interested in mimicking beauty and showing the world that their building was the most beautiful and perhaps the most elite of its time as well as proving their divinity as a ruler of a great nation.

The most beautiful building among these is the Mosque. The Mosque was built in early 1990's and is American built, almost entirely by local architects and local artists. There is a fountain in front of the Mosque and a second fountain inside the vestibule. These fountains have come from as far away as Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia and are merely for decoration though in older times fountains were used for washing before prayer.

I had the privilege to conduct field research at the Abu Bakr Masjid, also known as the Islamic Center of San Diego on Friday, October 9, 2015. I attended both salat al-Maghrib and a lecture given by Imam Sh. Taha Hassane. Salat al-Maghrib is the “West sun” prayer which takes place five minutes after sunset. Salat al-Maghrib started around 6:37 p.m. Imam Taha Hassane’s lecture started at 7:00 p.m. and ended at 8:01 p.m. before the last prayer of the day: salat al-‘Isha’a. Imam Taha Hassane was already waiting for me outside of the mosque. The first matter he explained was that it was considered proper to enter the masjid (mosque) with my right foot first and exit with my left foot first. Furthermore, I was also explained that in order to enter the prayer hall, I needed to be in a state of ritual purity. This purification consists of ablutions, called wudu’, which involve the washing of the feet, hands, head and face. Once I completed the ablutions, Imam Taha Hassane instructed me to take off my shoes in the designated cabinets in the hallway. This is primarily done to ensure that no outside dirt would violate the sacred space. At Abu Bakr Masjid, like in many other mosques around the Muslim world, genders are separated—men pray in the main prayer hall while women pray upstairs in a separate prayer room. When I asked why, Imam Taha simply explained that it was a matter of modesty and concentration.

The mosque can be identified by its elaborate squinch-supported domes. The Great Mosque of Cordoba is one of the finest surviving examples of Umayyad architecture in Spain. The mosque has marble capitals and columns in the hypostyle prayer hall. A person enters the hall through an open courtyard called a sahn. Its famous horseshoe arches have an alternated pattern of pale stone and red brick voussoirs

In addition to the structure's architectural composition, elaborate Quranic inscriptions further elaborate this message of religious superiority. Carole Hillenbrand alludes to such:

It is also used for meetings of the Muslim community, to discuss matters that may need to be reinforced or ways of improvement that can be applied, as well as a religious school with religious study classes, lectures, and a place where prayers are recited on dead before burial. This multiuse is not only used for Mosques but also Synagogues. Synagogues used for very comparable matters such as religious school for children, study classes for adults, funerals, lectures and meetings. This is all done in order to achieve social justice, which in the contemporary word is equally as important as worship in Judaism.

The Pantheon is an iconic part of architecture, particularly in the mediterranean. Constructed in Imperial Rome, the Pantheon was an incredible piece that forever influenced the basics of architecture. A similar piece, contemporary to the Pantheon, would be the Dome of the Rock. Found in Jerusalem, the Umayyad caliph built the shrine in the seventh century to serve a function as an Islamic shrine. Being the oldest extant Islamic monument known to man, the Dome of the Rock is sacred to both the Muslim and jewish religions.While being in completely different cultures, the Pantheon and the Dome of the Rock share numerous similarities varying from their functionality to the characteristic style of the domes.

prepared to sacrifice Isaac here. Both inside and outside of the mosque holds magnificent beauty,

Architecture comes with many significant meanings, including religious significance. The Pantheon, built from 118 to 125 CE in Rome, Italy, was a temple made to worship the Roman gods and goddesses. This temple is one of the most important buildings both in history and architecture, influencing many other monuments with its form, such as The Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock, built from 687 to 692 CE, was the first great Islamic building. Located in Jerusalem, it is a shrine still very significant to many religions, such as Judaism and Christianity, today. Though not resembling each other in appearance, these buildings are extremely similar, in terms of religious meaning. The Pantheon and the Dome of the Rock, through their own distinctive form and similar location backgrounds, illuminate religion as the most important factor in each society, as these monuments symbolize a sense of unification throughout the city.

The mosque was completed in 1728 AD with three gates, five domes and six minarets constructed of strips of red sandstone which is now painted into white colour. The mosque can accommodate more than 2,500 persons and more or less 107 people can offer Namaz in one row. At the occasion of Eid, Almost 5,000 people offer Namaz at Jama Masjid. There are five domes on the terrace which are surrounded by the four small minarets. It was constructed by more than 5000 workers. Instead of the normal custom of building Jama Masjid is located on high land; it was built at a higher level than the surrounding land so the Devotees have to go up steps to enter it. In addition, instead of one entrance, Jama Masjid has three entrances. The Jama Masjid has a large ‘’Hauz’’ or tank, which consists of Water for the Wudhu of Namazi and into the middle of ‘’Hauz’ there is a fountain which makes the view more beautiful.

Minaret – the “slender tower” with balconies in which a muezzin announces prayer time to Muslims (Dictionary)

I chose to research the Muslim religion for my site visit. I wanted to have in depth experience with this religion since I did my group project about Sikhism and during class we went into great detail about every other religion. I did not know what to expect when visiting a mosque, it was a pretty nerve-wracking experience for me being a non-Muslim. I have been raised with Christian morals my whole life even though I have only gone to church a few times in my whole life. Almost all religions have a house of prayer; Jews have synagogues, Buddhists/Hindus have temples and Catholic and Christians have churches and cathedrals. Muslims have mosques; each religious center has their own different rules, rituals and services that need to be followed. A mosque is a place of prayer for Muslims within the Islamic belief. Another word for mosque in Arabic is Masjid. Kind of like a church, a mosque is where Muslims worship and bow before Allah to declare their obedience and loyalty. Mosques date back till the time of the prophet. In order to find a mosque, I went on the Internet and stumbled upon Masjid Beit El-Maqdes.

A place of worship is a place to stop, think, learn, and pray. Each religion has their own practices, own rituals, and own values. A place of worship may differ in name, but serve the same purpose. In the Christian religion it’s called a Church. In Judaism it is called Synagogue. And, in Islam it’s called a Masjid. Abu Hurairah reported, Muhammad peace be upon him said “A slave becomes nearest to his Rubb when he is in prostration. So increase supplications while prostrating.” The closer that worshiper can be to his lord or his maker is when he is in the position of prostration, which means surrender or submission to God. (Nasr, 38). This prostration solely and only being for the sake of God who made us, this act of worship is so grateful that the place person engages in prostration is known as Masjid/Mosque. It’s derived from the root Sajdah, which means to prostrate for the sake of God. Mosque is the place of prostration, or it is the house of God, but any place of prostration. It is a place where men, women, and children, people of different ages, different race join together as ummah. The very first official Mosque was built in Medina, the house of Prophet Muhammad. (Nasr, 40.) It was a square shaped regular structure with an open roof built around a central lawn. Additionally, when entering into this yard, there were series of numerous rooms in which the wives of Mohammed used to live. There were other rooms too for general gatherings and eating, as well as there were