A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief A stele ' onMouseout='HidePop("62184")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Hebrew_language">Hebrew
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
: ס-ג-ד, meaning "to worship".
The modern-day English word "mosque", like its equivalents in many other
European languagesMost of the many languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. Another major family is the Finno-Ugric. The Turkic family also has several European members. The North and South Caucasian families are important in the southeastern extremity of geographical Europe...
, derives from
masjid via
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
mezquita. The pre-cursors of the word "mosque" in English appeared during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. "Moseak", "muskey", "moschy", and "mos'keh" were just some of the variations that came into use until it was decided that "mosquee", imitating
Middle FrenchMiddle French is an historical division of the French language which covers the period from 1340 to 1611 . It is a period of transition during which:...
,
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
, and
Old SpanishOld Spanish, or Old Castilian , is an early form of the Spanish language that was spoken on the Iberian Peninsula from the 10th century until roughly the beginning of the 15th century, before a consonantic readjustment gave rise to the evolution of Modern Spanish...
, would become the standard spelling. In the early 18th century, the terminal "e" was dropped in popular usage, making the modern spelling ("mosque") the international standard.
History
Grand entryways and tall towers, or minarets, have long been and continue to be closely associated with mosques. However, the first three mosques were very simple open spaces on the Arabian Peninsula. Mosques evolved significantly over the next 1,000 years, acquiring their now-distinctive features and adapting to cultures around the world.
Diffusion and evolution
Mosques were built outside the Arabian Peninsula as Muslims moved to other parts of the world.
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
became occupied by Muslim
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
s as early as 640, and since then so many mosques have appeared throughout the country that its capital city,
CairoCairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab World. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life...
, has acquired the nickname of
city of a thousand minarets. Egyptian mosques vary in amenities, as some have Islamic schools (
madrassas) while others have hospitals or tombs. Mosques in
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
and
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
do not primarily reflect the architecture of Visigothic predecessors, but instead reflect the architecture introduced by the Muslim
MoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
. It is hypothesized, however, that there were some elements of pre-Islamic architecture which were Islamicized into Andalusi and Maghribi architecture, for example, the distinctive horseshoe arch.
The first
ChineseChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
mosque was established in the eighth century in
Xi'anXi'an , is the capital of the Shaanxi province in the People's Republic of China and a sub-provincial city...
. The
Great Mosque of Xi'anThe Great Mosque of Xi'an , located near the Drum Tower on 30 Huajue Lane of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China, is one of the oldest and most renowned mosques in the country....
, whose current building dates from the eighteenth century, does not replicate many of the features often associated with traditional mosques. Instead, it follows traditional
Chinese architectureChinese architecture refers to a style of architecture that has taken shape in Asia over many centuries. The structural principles of Chinese architecture have remained largely unchanged, the main changes being only the decorative details...
. It is distinguished from other buildings by its green roof (Buddhist temples are often built with a yellow roof). Mosques in western
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
incorporate more traditional elements seen in mosques in other parts of the world. Western Chinese mosques were more likely to incorporate
minaretMinarets are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure.-Functions of minarets:The earliest mosques were built without minarets, the adhan...
s and domes while eastern Chinese mosques were more likely to look like
pagodaA pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly...
s.
By the fifteenth century, Islam had become the dominant religion in
JavaJava is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia...
and
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world .-Etymology:Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit...
,
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
's two most populous islands. As with Hinduism and Buddhism before it, the new religion and its accompanying foreign influences were absorbed and reinterpreted, with mosques given a unique Indonesian/Javanese interpretation. At the time, Javanese mosques took many design cues from
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
, Buddhist, and even
ChineseChinese architecture refers to a style of architecture that has taken shape in Asia over many centuries. The structural principles of Chinese architecture have remained largely unchanged, the main changes being only the decorative details...
architectural influences. They lacked, for example, the ubiquitous Islamic
domeA dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
which did not appear in Indonesia until the 19th century, but had tall timber, multi-level
roofA roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium, dwellings being the most numerous....
s not too dissimilar to the pagodas of
BalineseSee:*Bali, an Indonesian island*Balinese art*Balinese people*Balinese language*Balinese script*Balinese mythology*Balinese , a cat breed*Balinese Gamelan, local music*Balinese Room, a famous illegal casino in Galveston, Texas...
Hindu temples still common today. A number of significant early mosques survive, particularly along the north coast of Java. These include the
Mesjid AgungMasjid Agung Demak is one of the oldest mosques in Indonesia, located in the center town of Demak, Central Java Indonesia...
in
DemakDemak is a main town in Central Java, Indonesia. It is the capital of Demak Regency and the location of the former Sultanate of Demak, briefly the strongest power on the island of Java....
, built in 1474, and the Grand Mosque of
YogyakartaYogyakarta is a city in the Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. It is renowned as a center of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows. It is also famous as a center for Indonesian higher education...
that feature multi-level roofs. Javanese styles in turn influenced the architectural styles of mosques among Indonesia's Austronesian neighbors:
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
,
BruneiBrunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
and the southern Philippines.
Mosques diffused into
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
during the reign of the
Mughal empireThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Mughals brought their own form of architecture that included pointed, onion-shaped domes, as seen in
DelhiDelhi, known locally as Dilli , and also by the official name National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India...
's
Jama MasjidThe Masjid-i Jahān-Numā , commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is the principal mosque of Old Delhi in India. Commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, and completed in the year 1656 AD, it is the largest and best-known mosque in India...
.Mughal style became the dominant feature in many of the old mosques in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
,
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
and
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
Mosques first arrived in the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
(mostly present-day
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
) during the eleventh century, when many local
TurksThe Turkish people , also known as the "Turks" are defined mainly as citizens of the Republic of Turkey. An early historic text provided the definition of being a Turk as "any individual within the Republic of Turkey; whatever his/her faith or racial/ethnic background; who speaks Turkish, grows up...
converted to
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. Several of the first mosques in the Ottoman Empire, such as the
Hagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
in present-day
IstanbulIstanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
, were originally churches or
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
s in the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
.
The OttomansThe Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...
created their own design of mosques, which included large central domes, multiple
minaretMinarets are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure.-Functions of minarets:The earliest mosques were built without minarets, the adhan...
s, and open
façadesA facade or façade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
. The Ottoman style of mosques usually included elaborate columns, aisles, and high ceilings in the interior, while incorporating traditional elements, such as the
mihrabA mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
. Today,
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
is still home to many mosques that display this Ottoman style of architecture.
Mosques gradually diffused to different parts of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, but the most rapid growth in the number of mosques has occurred within the past century as more Muslims have migrated to the continent. Major European cities, such as
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, and
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
, are home to mosques that feature traditional domes and
minaretMinarets are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure.-Functions of minarets:The earliest mosques were built without minarets, the adhan...
s. These large mosques in urban centers are supposed to serve as community and
social centerSocial Centers are community spaces. They are buildings which are used for a range of disparate activities, which can be linked only by virtue of being not-for-profit. They might be organizing centers for local activities or they might provide support networks for minority groups such as prisoners...
s for a large group of Muslims that occupy the region. However, one can still find smaller mosques in more suburban and rural regions throughout Europe where Muslims populate, an example of this is the
Shah Jahan MosqueThe Shah Jahan Mosque is the first purpose-built mosque in Britain built 1889 in Woking, 30 miles southwest from London in the Oriental Road.- Construction :...
in
WokingWoking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, England. It is a dormitory town in the London commuter belt and is located south west of Charing Cross in central London...
, the first purpose built mosque in the UK. There are 40,000 to 50,000 mosques in the United States and Islam is the fastest growing religion there. Mosques first appeared in the United States in the early twentieth century, the likely first being one in Maine built by Albanian immigrants in 1915.
http://amp.ghazali.net/html/mosques_in_us.html as more immigrants continue to arrive in the country, especially from
South AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east...
, the number of American mosques is increasing faster than ever before. Whereas only two percent of the country's mosques appeared in the United States before 1950, eighty-seven percent of American mosques were founded after 1970 and fifty percent of American mosques founded after 1980.
Conversion of places of worship
According to early Muslim historians, towns that surrendered without resistance and made treaties with the Muslims gave the Muslims "permission" to take their churches and
synagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer....
s, One of the earliest examples of these kinds of conversions was in
DamascusDamascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and its current population is estimated at about 1,669,000...
,
SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
, where in 705
UmayyadThe Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
caliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
Al-Walid IAl-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik or Al-Walid I was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 705 - 715. He continued the expansion of the Islamic empire that was sparked by his father, and was an effective ruler.His father Abd al-malik had taken the oath of allegiance for Walid I during his lifetime ., As such...
bought the church of
St. JohnJohn the Baptist was a mission preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of Baptism at the Jordan River in expectation of a divine apocalypse that would restore occupied Israel...
from the Christians and had it rebuilt as a mosque in exchange for building a number of new churches for the Christians in
DamascusDamascus is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and its current population is estimated at about 1,669,000...
, overall, Abd al-Malik (Al-Waleed's father) is said to have transformed 10 churches in Damascus into mosques. The process of turning churches into mosques was especially intensive in the villages where most of the inhabitants converted to Islam. The
AbbasidThe Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs from all but Al Andalus....
caliph
al-Ma'munAbū Jaʿfar Abdullāh al-Māʾmūn ibn Harūn was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 813 until his death in 833...
turned many churches into mosques.
Ottoman TurksThe Ottoman Turks were the subdivision of the Ottoman Muslim Millet that dominated the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. Reliable information about the early history of the Ottomans is scarce. According to some sources , the leader of the Kayi tribe of the Oguz Turks, Ertugrul, left Persia in...
converted nearly all churches, monasteries, and chapels in
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
, including the famous
Hagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
, immediately after
capturing the city in 1453The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire which occurred after a siege laid by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Sultan Mehmed II. The siege lasted from Thursday, 5 April, 1453 until Tuesday, 29 May, 1453 , when the city fell to the Ottomans...
into mosques. In some instances mosques have been established on the places of Jewish or Christian sanctuaries associated with
BiblicalThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
personalities who were also recognized by Islam.
Mosques have also been converted for use by other religions, notably in southern Spain, following the conquest of the
MoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
in 1492. The most prominent of them is the
Great Mosque of CordobaThe Mezquita of Córdoba or Cordova is a Roman Catholic cathedral originally built as a mosque in the Andalusian city of Córdoba, Spain. It is regarded as perhaps the most accomplished monument of the Umayyad dynasty of Córdoba...
. The
Iberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
, Southeast
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, and
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
(the Babri Masjid incident) are other regions in the world where such instances occurred once no longer under Muslim rule.
Prayers
All adult Muslims, with exceptions for the infirm, are required to offer
SalatṢalāt is the name given to the formal prayer of Islam. The prayer is one of the obligatory rites of the religion, to be performed five times a day by a practising Muslim...
prayers five times daily. Most mosques will organise a formal time of prayer for each of the daily timeslots. In addition to holding the daily prayers, mosques hold weekly
jumu'ahJumu'ah is a congregational prayer that Muslims hold every Friday, just after noon in lieu of dhuhr...
services which replace the midday prayer on Fridays. While daily prayers can be performed anywhere, it is required to attend Friday prayers at the mosque.
The mosque is the centre of the Islamic community, illustrating the idea of brotherhood and
imanIman is an Islamic term usually translated as "belief or faith" and is often used to refer to the strength of conviction in a Muslim. This refers to faith in Islam requiring a "belief in the unseen," and one who has such faith is called a mu'min...
.
A funeral prayer, or
salat ul-janazahSalat al-Janazah is the funeral prayer held by Muslims before the burial but after the shrouding of the body. The prayer is performed in congregation to seek pardon for the deceased and all dead Muslims...
, is normally held for a deceased Muslim outdoors in a courtyard or square close to the mosque, with all congregants present, including the
imamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question...
, participating. During
eclipseAn eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another. The term is derived from the ancient Greek noun , which is derived from the verb , "to cease to exist," a combination of prefix , from preposition , "out," and of verb , "to be absent"...
s, mosques will host special prayers called eclipse prayers.
There are two large holidays (
Eids) in the
Islamic calendarThe Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar based on 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days, used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which...
,
Eid ul-FitrEid ul-Fitr , often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "to break fast"; and so the holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period...
and
Eid ul-AdhaEid al-Adha "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is a Muslim Holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God....
during which there are special prayers held at mosques in the morning. These
Eid prayersSalat al Eid also known as Salat al Eidain is the special prayer offered to commemorate two Islamic festivals. Both the Eids are collectively known as Eidain in Arabic language...
are supposed to be offered in large groups, and so larger mosques will normally host them for their congregants as well as the congregants of smaller local mosques. Some mosques will even rent
convention centerA convention center, in American English, is an exhibition hall, or conference center, that is designed to hold a convention. In British English very large venues suitable for major trade shows are known as exhibition centres while the term "convention centre" is sometimes used for intermediate...
s or other large public buildings to hold the large number of Muslims who attend. Mosques, especially those in countries where Muslims are the majority, will also host Eid prayers outside in courtyards or
town squareA town square is an open area commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, Platz , plaza , piazza , place , and "maydan" A town square is an open area commonly...
s.
Ramadan events
Islam's holiest month,
RamadanRamadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until sunset...
, is observed through many events. As Muslims must
fastSawm is an Arabic word for fasting regulated by Islamic jurisprudence. In the terminology of Islamic law, Sawm means "to abstain from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse". The observance of sawm during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, but is not confined...
during the day during Ramadan, mosques will host
iftarIftar , refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with Muslims gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is done right after Maghrib time...
dinners after sunset and the fourth required prayer of the day,
maghribMaghrib is the first daily salat in Islam , offered at sunset. The word maghrib is an Arabic term for "of the setting "; from the root "gharaba|غَرَبَ", "to set"; "to be hidden"...
. Food is provided, at least in part, by members of the community, thereby creating nightly
potluckA potluck is a gathering of people where each person or group of people contributes a dish of food to be shared among the group. Synonyms include: potluck dinner, Jacob's join, Jacob's supper, faith supper, covered dish supper, pitch-in, carry-in, bring-a-plate, fuddle.- Etymology :The word...
dinners. Because of the community contribution necessary to serve iftar dinners, mosques with smaller congregations may not be able to host the
iftar dinners daily. Some mosques will also hold
suhoorSuhoor , also called Sehri, Sahari and Sahur in other languages, is an Islamic term referring to the meal consumed early in the morning by Muslims before fasting, sawm, in daylight hours during the Islamic month of Ramadan. The meal is eaten before the fajr or dawn...
meals before
dawnDawn is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight, while the sun itself is still below the horizon...
to congregants attending the first required prayer of the day,
fajrThe Fajr prayer is the first of the five daily prayers after recited by practising Muslims. The five daily prayers collectively form one pillar of the Five Pillars of Islam, in Sunni Islam, and one of the ten Practices of the Religion according to Shia Islam.The Fajr prayer is mentioned by name...
. As with iftar dinners, congregants usually provide the food for suhoor, although able mosques may provide food instead. Mosques will often invite poorer members of the Muslim community to share in beginning and breaking the fasts, as providing
charityAlms or almsgiving is a religious rite which, in general, involves giving materially to another as an act of religious virtue.It exists in a number of religions. In Philippine regions, alms are given as charity to benefit the poor. In Buddhism, alms are given by lay people to monks and nuns to...
during Ramadan is regarded in Islam as especially honorable.
Following the last obligatory daily prayer (
isha* Isha'a, the Fard daily Salah prayers in Islam* a Sanskrit term for "God, deity", see Ishvara** Isha Upanishad, the Hindu religious text*an Indian given name** Isha Ambani, the daughter of Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani...
) special, optional
tarawihTarawih is an Arabic phrase referring to extra prayers given by Sunni Muslims at night in the Islamic month of Ramadan .-Overview:...
prayers are offered in larger mosques. During each night of prayers, which can last for up to two hours each night, usually one member of the community who has memorized the entire Qur’an will recite a segment of the book. Sometimes, several such people (not necessarily of the local community) take turns to do this. During the last ten days of Ramadan, larger mosques will host all-night programs to observe
Laylat al-QadrFor the book by Spider Robinson see Night of Power Laylat al-Qadr , the Night of Power, the Night of Decree or Night of Measures, is the anniversary of two very important dates in Islam that occurred in the month of Ramadan. "Qadr" is Arabic for power / ability...
, the night Muslims believe that Muhammad first received Qur'anic revelations. On that night, between
sunsetSunset is the daily disappearance of the sun below the horizon as a result of the Earth's rotation. The atmospheric conditions created by the setting of the sun, occurring before and after it disappears below the horizon, are also commonly referred to as "sunset".In astronomy the time of sunset is...
and
sunriseSunrise is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. Sunrise should not be confused with dawn, which is the point at which the sky begins to lighten, some time before the sun itself appears, ending twilight...
, mosques employ speakers to educate congregants in attendance about Islam. Mosques or the community usually provide meals periodically throughout the night.
During the last ten days of
RamadanRamadan or Ramadhan or Ramazan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.Ramadan is one of the holy months in the Islamic calendar. Fasting in the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset...
, larger mosques within the Muslim community will host
i'tikafIʿtikāf , also transliterated as Etikaf or E'tikaf or E'tekaf, is a particularly commended pious Islamic practice consisting of a period of retreat in a mosque, for a certain number of days in accordance with the believer's own wish....
, a practice in which at least one Muslim man from the community must participate. Muslims performing i'tikaf are required to stay within the mosque for ten consecutive days, often in worship or learning about
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. As a result, the rest of the Muslim community is responsible for providing the participants with food, drinks, and whatever else they need during their stay.
Charity
The third of the
Five Pillars of IslamThe Five Pillars of Islam is the term given to the five duties incumbent on every Muslim. These duties are Shahada , Salah , Zakah , Saum and Hajj .These five practices are essential to Sunni Islam; Shi'a Muslims subscribe to eight ritual practices which substantially...
states that Muslims are required to give approximately one-fortieth of their wealth to charity as
zakatZakāh or "alms giving", one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is the giving of a small percentage of one's possessions to charity generally to poor and needy Muslims individual...
. Since mosques form the center of Muslim communities, they are where Muslims go to both give zakat and, if necessary, collect it. Prior to the holiday of
Eid ul-FitrEid ul-Fitr , often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "to break fast"; and so the holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period...
, mosques also collect a special zakat that is supposed to assist in helping poor Muslims attend the prayers and celebrations associated with the holiday.
Contemporary political roles
The late twentieth century saw an increase in the number of mosques used for political purposes. Today, civic participation is commonly promoted in mosques in the
Western worldThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
. Because of the importance in the community, mosques are used for preaching
peaceful co-existencePeaceful coexistence was a theory developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was adopted by Soviet-influenced Communist states that they could peacefully coexist with capitalist states. This was in contrast to antagonistic contradiction principle that Communism and capitalism could never...
with non-believers, even in times of adversity.
Advocacy
Countries with a minority Muslim population are more likely than Muslim-majority countries of the
Greater Middle EastThe Greater Middle East is a political term coined by the Bush administration to englobe together various countries, pertaining to the Muslim world, specifically Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Various Central Asian countries and the lower Caucasus and Cyprus and Greece are sometimes also...
to use mosques as a way to promote civic participation. American mosques host
voter registrationVoter registration is the requirement in some democracies for citizens and residents to check in with some central registry specifically for the purpose of being allowed to vote in elections. An effort to get people to register is known as a voter registration drive.-Centralized/compulsory vs...
and civic participation drives that promote involving Muslims, who are often first- or second-generation immigrants, in the political process. As a result of these efforts as well as attempts at mosques to keep Muslims informed about the issues facing the Muslim community, regular mosque attendants are more likely to participate in
protestProtest expresses relatively overt reaction to events or situations: sometimes in favor, though more often opposed. Protesters may organize a protest as a way of publicly and forcefully making their opinions heard in an attempt to influence public opinion or government policy, or may undertake...
s, sign
petitionA petition is a request to change something, most commonly made to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
s, and otherwise be involved in politics.
Nevertheless, a link between
political viewsAn ideology is a set of aims and ideas that directs one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a...
and mosque attendance can still be seen in other parts of the world. Following the al-Askari Mosque bombing in February 2006, imams and other Islamic leaders used mosques and Friday prayers as vehicles to call for calm and peace in the midst of widespread violence.
Social conflict
As they are considered important to the Muslim community, mosques, like other places of worship, can be at the heart of social conflicts.
Babri MosqueThe Babri Mosque , Babri Masjid or Mosque of Babur was a mosque in Ayodhya, constructed by order of Babur, the first Mughal emperor of India in the 16th century. Before the 1940s, the mosque was called Masjid-i Janmasthan...
was the subject of such a conflict up until the early 1990s when it was demolished. Before a mutual solution could be devised, the mosque was destroyed by approximately 200,000 Hindus on December 6, 1992 as the mosque was built by
BaburZahir ud-din Muhammad Jalal ud-din Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of India. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his...
allegedly on the site of a previous
Hindu templeA Hindu temple or Mandir is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism. It can be a separate structure or a part of a building. A picture of most temples is the presence of murtis of the Hindu deity to whom the temple is dedicated. They are usually dedicated to one primary deity, called the...
marking the birthplace of
RamRama or Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India...
. The controversy surrounded the mosque was directly linked to
riotingAlthough numerous riots have occurred in the City of Mumbai, India since Independence, the Bombay Riots usually refers to the riots in Mumbai, in December 1992 and January 1993, in which 900 people died...
in Bombay (present-day
MumbaiMumbai, formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city proper is the most-populous in the world, with approximately 14 million inhabitants. Along with the neighbouring suburbs of Navi Mumbai and Thane, it forms the world's 4th largest urban agglomeration, with around...
) as well as
bombings in 1993The 1993 Bombay bombings were a series of 13 bomb explosions that took place in Bombay , Maharashtra, India on March 12, 1993. The coordinated attacks were the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history. The single-day attacks resulted in up to 250 civilian fatalities and 700 injuries...
that killed 257 people.
A February 2006 bombing that seriously damaged Iraq's al-Askari Mosque, exacerbated tensions that had already existed. Other mosque bombings in
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
, both before and after the February 2006 bombing, have been part of the conflict between the country's groups of Muslims. However, mosque bombings have not been exclusive to Iraq; in June 2005, a
suicide bomberA suicide attack is an attack intended to kill others and inflict widespread damage in the knowledge that oneself will die in the process...
killed at least 19 people at an
AfghanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
mosque. In April 2006,
two explosionsOn April 14, 2006, two explosions occurred in the courtyard of Jama Masjid, a 17th-century mosque in Old Delhi . The first blast took place at 17:26 local time right in the middle of the courtyard next to Wazoo Khana which comprises a pond where worshippers wash their hands and feet before offering...
occurred at
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
's
Jama MasjidJama Masjid also Jami Masjid, refers to the Friday Mosque, where Jummah or weekly Friday noon congregation prayers of Muslims take place...
.
Following the
September 11 attacksThe September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
, several American mosques were targeted in attacks ranging from simple
vandalismVandalism is the behaviour attributed to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
to
arsonArson is the crime of deliberately and maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires caused by lightning for example. The study of the causes is the subject of fire investigation...
. Furthermore, the
Jewish Defense LeagueThe Jewish Defense League is a Jewish organization whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary"....
was suspected of plotting to bomb the
King Fahd MosqueKing Fahd Mosque may refer to:* King Fahd Mosque in Buenos Aires, aka Centro Cultural Islam King Fahd* King Fahd Mosque in Edinburgh, aka Edinburgh Central Mosque* King Fahd Mosque in Sarajevo...
in
Culver City, CaliforniaCulver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 38,816. The community is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also has a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County...
. Similar attacks occurred throughout the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
following the
7 July 2005 London bombingsThe 7 July 2005 London bombings, also known as 7/7, were a series of coordinated suicide attacks on London's public transport system during the morning rush hour...
. Outside the
Western worldThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
, in June 2001, the
Hassan Bek MosqueThe Hassan Bek Mosque , also known as the Hasan Bey Mosque, is considered to be one of the most well-known mosques located in Jaffa, which is now part of the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality in Israel...
was the target of attacks involving hundreds of
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
is angry at
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
s for a previous attack.
Saudi influence
Although the
SaudiSaudi Arabia , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south...
involvement in mosques around the world can be traced back to the 1960s, it was not until later in the twentieth century that the government of Saudi Arabia became a large influence in foreign mosques. Beginning in the 1980s, the Saudi Arabian government began to finance the construction of mosques in countries around the world. An estimated
US$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
45 billion has been spent by the Saudi Arabian government financing mosques and Islamic schools in foreign countries.
Ain al-YaqeenAin al-Yaqeen is an Arab news magazine published weekly that focuses on political topics.-External links:* *...
, a Saudi newspaper, reported in 2002 that Saudi funds may have contributed to building as many as 1,500 mosques and 2,000 other Islamic centers Saudi citizens have also contributed significantly to mosques in the Islamic world, especially in countries where they see Muslims as poor and oppressed. Following the fall of the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
, in 1992, mosques in impoverished
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
saw many contributions from Saudi citizens. The King Fahd Mosque in
Culver City, CaliforniaCulver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 38,816. The community is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also has a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County...
and the Islamic
Cultural CenterCultural Center or Cultural Centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run...
of Italy in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
represent two of Saudi Arabia's largest investments in foreign mosques as former Saudi king Fahd bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud contributed
US$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
8 million and
US$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
50 million to the two mosques, respectively.
Styles
The architecture of mosques are a continuation of pre-Islamic architecture of palaces built during the
ParthianThe Parthian Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in the ancient Near East, and a counterweight to the Roman Empire in the region....
and Sassanian dynasties of Persia. The Sarvestan palace from the Sassanian era is a great example of this. For example, the idea of having an arched entrance and a central dome is clearly one borrowed from pre-Islamic, Persian architecture. After the Arab invasion of Persia, this architecture, as well as elements of Sassanian culture, was used for the new
Islamic world:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
. Many forms of mosques have evolved in different regions of the
Islamic worldThe term Muslim world has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Muslims, adherents of Islam. This community numbers about 1.3-1.5 billion people, roughly one-fifth of the world population. This community is spread across many different nations and ethnic...
. Notable mosque types include the early
AbbasidThe Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs from all but Al Andalus....
mosques, T-type mosques, and the central-dome mosques of
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
. The
oilPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
-wealth of the twentieth century drove a great deal of mosque construction using designs from leading non-Muslim modern architects and promoting the careers of important contemporary Muslim architects.
Arab-plan or
hypostyleIn architecture, a hypostyle hall has a flat ceiling which is supported by columns, as in the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak. In this case the columns flanking the central avenue are of greater height than those of the side aisles, and this allows openings in the wall above the smaller columns,...
mosques are the earliest type of mosques, pioneered under the Umayyad Dynasty. These mosques have square or rectangular plans with an enclosed courtyard and covered prayer hall. Historically, in the warm Mediterranean and Middle Eastern climates, the courtyard served to accommodate the large number of worshippers during Friday prayers. Most early hypostyle mosques had flat roofs on prayer halls, which required the use of numerous
columnA column in structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces. Other compression...
s and
supportSupport may refer to the following:* Sympathy, emotional support;* Support wiki * Technical support - in computer hardware, software or electronic goods;...
s. One of the most notable hypostyle mosques is the Mezquita de Córdoba in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, the building being supported by over 850 columns. Frequently, hypostyle mosques have outer
arcadesAn arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers, or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides....
so that visitors can enjoy the shade. Arab-plan mosques were constructed mostly under the Umayyad and
AbbasidThe Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs from all but Al Andalus....
dynasties; subsequently, however, the simplicity of the Arab plan limited the opportunities for further development, the mosques consequently losing popularity.
The
OttomansThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
introduced
central dome mosques in the fifteenth century. These mosques have a large dome centered over the prayer hall. In addition to having a large central dome, a common feature is smaller domes that exist off-center over the prayer hall or throughout the rest of the mosque, where prayer is not performed. This style was heavily influenced by the
ByzantineThe word Byzantine may refer to:Topics directly related to the Byzantine Empire* A citizen of The Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
religious architectureSacred architecture is concerned with the design and construction of places of worship and/or sacred or intentional space, such as churches, mosques, stupas, synagogues, and temples...
with its use of large central domes.
Iwan mosques are most notable for their domed chambers and
iwanAn iwan is defined as a vaulted hall or space, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open.Iwans were a trademark of the Sassanid architecture of Persia, later finding their way into Islamic architecture...
s, vaulted spaces opening out at one end. In
iwan mosques, one or more iwans face a central courtyard that serves as the prayer hall. The style represents a borrowing from pre-Islamic
Iranian architectureIranian architecture or Persian architecture is the architecture of Greater Iran that has a continuous history from at least 5000 BCE to the present, with characteristic examples distributed over a vast area from Syria to North India and the borders of China, from the Caucasus to Zanzibar...
and has been used almost exclusively for mosques in
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
.
Hajja Soad's mosque took a
pyramidA pyramid is a building where the outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least four faces...
shape which is a creative style in Islamic architecture.
Minarets
A common feature in mosques is the minaret, the tall, slender tower that usually is situated at one of the corners of the mosque structure. The top of the minaret is always the highest point in mosques that have one, and often the highest point in the immediate area. The tallest minaret in the world is located at the
Hassan II MosqueThe Hassan II Mosque , located in Casablanca is the largest mosque in Morocco and the third largest mosque in the world after the Masjid al-Haram of Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina. Designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau and built by Bouygues...
in
CasablancaCasablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean...
,
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
.
The first mosques had no minarets, and even nowadays the most conservative Islamic movements, like
WahhabisWahhabi or Wahhabism is a sect attributed to Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, an 18th century scholar from what is today known as Saudi Arabia, who advocated to purge Islam of what he considered innovations in Islam...
, avoid building minarets, seeing them as ostentatious and unnecessary. The first minaret was constructed in 665 in
BasraAl-Baṣrah is the capital of Basra Province, and had an estimated population of 3,800,200 as of 2009. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it is incapable of deep water access, which is handled at the the port of Umm Qasr...
during the reign of the
UmayyadThe Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
caliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
Muawiyah IMuawiyah I ; is the first Caliph in the Ummayad Dynasty. In Sunni Islam he is perceived as having two main parts to his life which are of major historical note...
. Muawiyah encouraged the construction of minarets, as they were supposed to bring mosques on par with
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
churches with their
bell towerA bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
s. Consequently, mosque architects borrowed the shape of the bell tower for their minarets, which were used for essentially the same purpose — calling the faithful to prayer.
Before the five required daily prayers, a
muezzinA muezzin , or muzim, is a chosen person at the mosque who leads the call to Friday service and the five daily prayers from one of the mosque's minarets .The professional muezzin is chosen to serve at the mosque for his good character, voice...
calls the worshippers to
prayerṢalāt is the name given to the formal prayer of Islam. The prayer is one of the obligatory rites of the religion, to be performed five times a day by a practising Muslim...
from the
minaretMinarets are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure.-Functions of minarets:The earliest mosques were built without minarets, the adhan...
. In many countries like Singapore where Muslims are not the majority, mosques are prohibited from loudly broadcasting the call to prayer (
adhanThe adhān is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin. The root of the word is "to permit", and another derivative of this word is , meaning "ear."...
), although it is supposed to be said loudly to the surrounding community. The adhan is required before every prayer. However, nearly every mosque assigns a muezzin for each prayer to say the
adhanThe adhān is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin. The root of the word is "to permit", and another derivative of this word is , meaning "ear."...
as it is a recommended practice or
sunnahSunnah is an Arabic word that means habit or usual practice. The Muslim usage of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of Muhammad, the main prophet of Islam....
of the
Islamic prophetMuslims regard as prophets of Islam those non-divine humans chosen by Allah . Mere humans rely on revelation or tradition to identify prophets....
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
. At mosques that do not have minarets, the adhan is called instead from inside the mosque or somewhere else on the ground. The
iqamaThe word iqama refers to the second call to Islamic Prayer, given immediately before the prayer begins. Generally speaking, the iqama is given more quickly and in a more monotone fashion, as compared to the adhan...
, which is similar to the
adhanThe adhān is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin. The root of the word is "to permit", and another derivative of this word is , meaning "ear."...
and said immediately before the start of prayer, is usually not said from the minaret even if a mosque has one.
Domes
The domes, often placed directly above the main prayer hall, may signify the vaults of
heavenJannah is the Islamic conception of paradise. The Arabic word Jannah is a shortened version meaning simply "Garden". According to Islamic eschatology, after death, one will reside in the grave until the appointed resurrection on Yawm al-Qiyāmah...
and the sky. As time progressed, dome grew, from occupying a small part of the roof near the
mihrabA mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
to encompassing the whole roof above the prayer hall. Although domes normally took on the shape of a hemisphere, the
MughalsThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
popularized onion-shaped domes in
South AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east...
and Persia. Some mosques have multiple, often smaller, domes in addition to the main large dome that resides at the center.
Prayer hall
The prayer hall, also known as the musalla, has no furniture; chairs and pews are absent from the prayer hall so as to allow as many worshipers as possible to line the room. Some mosques have Arabic calligraphy and
Qur'anThe Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
ic verses on the walls to assist worshippers in focusing on the beauty of Islam and its holiest book, the Qur'an, as well as for decoration.
Usually opposite the entrance to the prayer hall is the
qiblah wall, the visually emphasized area inside the prayer hall. The
qiblah wall should, in a properly oriented mosque, be set perpendicular to a line leading to
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
, the location of the
KaabaThe Kaaba is a cuboidal building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The building predates Islam, and, according to Islamic tradition, the first building at the site was built by Abraham. The building has a mosque built around it, the Masjid al-Haram...
. Congregants pray in rows parallel to the
qiblah wall and thus arrange themselves so they face
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
. In the
qiblah wall, usually at its center, is the
mihrabA mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
, a niche or depression indicating the direction of
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
. Usually the
mihrab is not occupied by furniture either. Sometimes, especially during Friday prayers, a raised
minbarA minbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons or in the Hussainia where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation...
or pulpit is located to the side of the
mihrab for a
khatibKhatib or khateeb is an Arabic term used to describe a person who delivers the sermon , during the Friday prayer or Eid prayers....
or some other speaker to offer a sermon (khutbah). The
mihrabA mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
serves as the location where the
imamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question...
leads the five daily prayers on a regular basis.
Ablution facilities
As ritual purification precedes all prayers, mosques often have
ablutionWudu is the Islamic act of washing parts of the body using water. Muslims are required to be clean in preparation for ritual prayers. The Quran says "For Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean."...
fountains or other facilities for washing in their entryways or courtyards. However, worshippers at much smaller mosques often have to use restrooms to perform their ablutions. In traditional mosques, this function is often elaborated into a freestanding building in the center of a courtyard. This desire for cleanliness extends to the prayer halls where shoes are disallowed to be worn anywhere other than the cloakroom. Thus, foyers with shelves to put shoes and racks to hold coats are commonplace among mosques.
Contemporary features
Modern mosques have a variety of amenities available to their congregants. As mosques are supposed to appeal to the community, they may also have additional facilities, from
health clinicsA clinic is a small private or public health facility that is devoted to the care of outpatients, often in a community, in contrast to larger hospitals, which also treat inpatients. Some grow to be institutions as large as major hospitals, whilst retaining the name clinic...
to
librariesA library is a collection of sources, resources, and services, and the structure in which it is housed; it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. In the more traditional sense, a library is a collection of books. It can mean the collection,...
to
gymThe word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasiums, to serve the community.
"Makeshift" mosques
Most especially in Metro Manila, Philippines area, is common for some Muslim-denominated bazaars (
tiangge) to also have a makeshift mosque. They are made primarily for Muslim tenants, most especially when a mosque is not available on the vicinity. Such mosques can be seen in the Riverbanks Mall in Marikina and on the bazaar in the parking lot between Sta Lucia Mall and Robinsons Metro East in Pasig.
Rules and etiquette
Mosques, in accordance with
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
ic practices, institute a number of rules intended to keep Muslims focused on worshipping
AllahAllah is the standard Arabic word for God. While the term is best known in the West for its use by Muslims as a reference to God, it is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, in reference to "God"...
. While there are several rules, such as those regarding not allowing shoes in the prayer hall, that are universal, there are many other rules that are dealt with and enforced in a variety of ways from mosque to mosque.
Prayer leader
Appointment of a prayer leader is considered desirable, but not always obligatory. The permanent prayer leader (
imamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question...
) must be a free honest man and is authoritative in religious matters. In mosques constructed and maintained by the government, the prayer leader is appointed by the ruler; in private mosques, however, appointment is made by members of the congregation through
majority votingMajority rule is a decision rule that selects one of two alternatives, based on which has more than half the votes. It is the binary decision rule used most often in influential decision-making bodies, including the legislatures of democratic nations...
. According to the
HanafiThe Hanafi school is one of the four schools of law or jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , and his legal views were preserved primarily by his two most...
schoolMadhab is an Islamic school of law, or fiqh . In the first 150 years of Islam, there were many such "schools" - in fact, several of the Sahābah, or contemporary "companions" of Muhammad, are credited with founding their own...
of
Islamic jurisprudenceFiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the Sharia Islamic law—based directly on the Quran and Sunnah—that complements Shariah with evolving rulings/interpretations of Islamic jurists....
, the man who built the mosque has a stronger claim to the title of imam, but this view is not shared by the other schools.
Leadership at prayer falls into three categories, depending on the type of prayer: five daily prayers, Friday prayer, or optional prayers. According to the Hanafi and
MalikiThe Maliki madhhab is one of the four schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the third-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 15% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, United Arab Emirates, some parts of Saudi Arabia.Madhabs are rites not sects. They...
school of Islamic jurisprudence, appointment of a prayer leader for Friday service is mandatory because otherwise the prayer is invalid. The Shafi'i and
HanbaliHanbali is one of the four schools Hanbali is one of the four schools Hanbali is one of the four schools (Madh'habs (rites) of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam (the other three being Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi`i).Salafi creed aqeedah is based on this Madh'hab of Sunni Islam....
schools, however, argue that the appointment is not necessary and the prayer is valid as long as it is performed in a congregation. A slave may lead a Friday prayer, but Muslim authorities disagree over whether the job can be done by a minor. An imam appointed to lead Friday prayers may also lead at the five daily prayers; Muslim scholars agree to the leader appointed for five daily services may lead the Friday service as well.
All Muslim authorities hold the consensus opinion that only men may lead prayer for men. Nevertheless women prayer leaders are allowed to lead prayer in front of all-female congregations.
Cleanliness
All mosques have rules regarding cleanliness, as it is an essential part of the worshipper's experience. Muslims before prayer are required to cleanse themselves in an ablution process known as
wuduWudu is the Islamic act of washing parts of the body using water. Muslims are required to be clean in preparation for ritual prayers. The Quran says "For Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean."...
. However, even to those who enter the prayer hall of a mosque without the intention of praying, there are still rules that apply. Shoes must not be worn inside the carpeted prayer hall. Some mosques will also extend that rule to include other parts of the facility even if those other locations are not devoted to prayer. Congregants and visitors to mosques are supposed to be clean themselves. It is also undesirable to come to the mosque after eating something that smells, such as garlic.
Dress
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
requires that its adherents wear
clothesAdherents of Islam are concerned with clothing in two contexts: clothing for everyday, inside and outside the house, and clothing required in specifically religious contexts....
that portray
modestyStandards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged...
. As a result, although many mosques will not enforce violations, both men and women when attending a mosque must adhere to these guidelines. Men are supposed to come to the mosque wearing loose and clean clothes that do not reveal the shape of the body. Likewise, it is recommended that women at a mosque wear loose clothing that covers to the wrists and ankles, and cover their heads with a
hijabA hijab or ' , as commonly understood in the English-speaking world, is the type of head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women, but can also refer to modest Muslim styles of dress in general. The Arabic word literally means curtain or cover , based on the root حجب meaning "to cover, to veil,...
or other covering. Many Muslims, regardless of their ethnic background, wear
Middle easternThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
clothing associated with
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
ic Islam to special occasions and prayers at mosques.
Concentration
As mosques are
places of worshipA place of worship or house of worship is an establishment or other location where a group of people comes to perform acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion. The form and function of religious architecture has evolved over thousands of years for both changing beliefs and architectural style...
, those within the mosque are required to remain respectful to those in
prayerṢalāt is the name given to the formal prayer of Islam. The prayer is one of the obligatory rites of the religion, to be performed five times a day by a practising Muslim...
. Loud talking within the mosque, as well as discussion of topics deemed disrespectful, is forbidden in areas where people are praying. In addition, it is disrespectful to walk in front of or otherwise disturb Muslims in prayer. The walls within the mosque have few items, except for possibly Arabic calligraphy, so Muslims in prayer are not distracted. Muslims are also discouraged from wearing clothing with distracting
imageAn image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person....
s and
symbolA symbol is something such as an object, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. For example, a red octagon may stand for "STOP". On maps, crossed sabres may indicate a battlefield...
s so as not to divert the attention of those standing behind them during prayer. In many mosques, even the carpeted prayer area has no designs, its plainness helping worshippers to focus.
Gender separation
Islamic law requires men and women to be separated in the prayer hall; ideally, the women must occupy the rows behind the men.
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
preferred women to pray at home rather than at a mosque, and according to the hadith Muhammad said: "The best mosques for women are the inner parts of their houses", although Muhammad told Muslims not to forbid women from entering mosques. The second
caliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
Umar at one time prohibited women from attending mosques especially at night because he feared they may be teased by males, so he required them to pray at home. Sometimes a special part of the mosque was railed off for women; for example, the governor of Mecca in 870 had ropes tied between the columns to make a separate place for women. Many mosques today will put the women behind a barrier or partition or in another room against most Islamic beliefs. Mosques in
SouthSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east...
and
Southeast AsiaManila
Bangkok
Ho Chi Minh City
Kuala Lumpur
Singapore
Yangon
Bandung
Hanoi
Surabaya
Taichung
Kaohsiung
Medan|-|}...
put men and women in separate rooms, as the divisions were built into them centuries ago. In nearly two-thirds of American mosques, women pray behind partitions or in separate areas, not in the main prayer hall; some mosques do not admit women at all due to the lack of space and the fact that some prayers, such as the Friday Jummah, are mandatory for men but optional for women. Although there are sections exclusively for women and children, the
Grand MosqueAl-Masjid al-Ḥarām , is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims turn towards while offering daily prayers and is considered the holiest place on Earth by Muslims...
in
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
is desegregated.
Non-Muslims in mosques
Under most interpretations of
Islamic lawSharia is an Arabic word meaning ‘way’ or ‘path’. In Arabic, the collocation ‘Šarīʿat Allāh’ is traditionally used not only by Muslims, but also Christians and Jews, sometimes translating expressions such as Torat Elōhīm [תורת אלוהים] or ‘ho nómos toû theoû' '’...
, non-Muslims may be allowed into mosques, as long as they do not sleep or eat there. A dissenting opinion is presented by followers of the
MalikiThe Maliki madhhab is one of the four schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the third-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 15% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, United Arab Emirates, some parts of Saudi Arabia.Madhabs are rites not sects. They...
schoolMadhab is an Islamic school of law, or fiqh . In the first 150 years of Islam, there were many such "schools" - in fact, several of the Sahābah, or contemporary "companions" of Muhammad, are credited with founding their own...
of
Islamic jurisprudenceFiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the Sharia Islamic law—based directly on the Quran and Sunnah—that complements Shariah with evolving rulings/interpretations of Islamic jurists....
, who argue that non-Muslims may not be allowed into mosques under any circumstances.
The Qur'an addresses the subject of non-Muslims, and particularly
polytheistsPolytheism is the belief in and worship of multiple deities, called gods and goddesses. These are usually assembled into a pantheon, along with their own mythologies and rituals...
, in mosques in two verses in its ninth chapter,
Sura At-TawbaSurah At-Tawba also known as al-Bara'ah "the Ultimatum" in many ahadith is the ninth chapter of the Qur'an, with 129 verses . It is one of the last Madinan Suras...
. The seventeenth verse of the chapter prohibits those who
join gods with Allah — polytheists — from entering mosques:
- It is not for such as join gods with Allah, to visit or maintain the mosques of Allah while they witness against their own souls to infidelity. The works of such bear no fruit: In Fire shall they dwell. (Yusuf Ali
Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali was a South Asian Islamic scholar who translated the Qur'an into English. His translation of the Qur'an ranks alongside the translation of Marmaduke Pickthall as the most widely-known and used in the world .Ali was born in Bombay, India to a wealthy merchant family with a...
)
The twenty-eighth verse of the same chapter is more specific as it only considers polytheists in the Sacred Mosque, the
Masjid al-HaramAl-Masjid al-Ḥarām , is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims turn towards while offering daily prayers and is considered the holiest place on Earth by Muslims...
in
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
:
- O ye who believe! Truly the Pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque. And if ye fear poverty, soon will Allah enrich you, if He wills, out of His bounty, for Allah is All-knowing, All-wise. (Yusuf Ali
Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali was a South Asian Islamic scholar who translated the Qur'an into English. His translation of the Qur'an ranks alongside the translation of Marmaduke Pickthall as the most widely-known and used in the world .Ali was born in Bombay, India to a wealthy merchant family with a...
)
According to
Ahmad ibn HanbalAhmed ibn Hanbal was an important Muslim scholar and theologian born in Khorassan to a family of Arab origin He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh...
, these verses were followed to the letter at the times of Muhammad, when Jews and Christians, considered
monotheistsIn theology, monotheism is the belief that only one god exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and the Platonic concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite...
, were still allowed to the
Masjid al-HaramAl-Masjid al-Ḥarām , is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims turn towards while offering daily prayers and is considered the holiest place on Earth by Muslims...
. However, the Umayyad caliph
Umar IIUmar ibn Abd al-Aziz was an Umayyad caliph who ruled from 717 to 720. Unlike previous Umayyad caliphs, he was not a hereditary successor to the former caliph, but was elected. He was also a cousin of the former caliph, being the son of Abd al-Malik's younger brother Abd al-Aziz.-Lineage:Umar...
later forbade non-Muslims from entering mosques, and his ruling remained in practice in Saudi Arabia. Today, the decision on whether non-Muslims should be allowed to enter mosques varies. With few exceptions, mosques in the Arabian peninsula as well as
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
do not allow entry to non-Muslims. For example, the
Hassan II MosqueThe Hassan II Mosque , located in Casablanca is the largest mosque in Morocco and the third largest mosque in the world after the Masjid al-Haram of Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina. Designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau and built by Bouygues...
in
CasablancaCasablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean...
is one of only two mosques in Morocco currently open to non-Muslims. However, there are also many other places in the west as well as the Islamic world where non-Muslims are welcome to enter mosques. Most mosques in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, for example, report receiving non-Muslim visitors every month. Many Mosques throughout the United States welcome non-Muslims as a sign of openness to the rest of the community as well as to encourage conversions to Islam.
In modern-day
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south...
, the Grand Mosque and all of
MeccaMecca , sometimes spelled Makkah is the holiest meeting site of the Islamic religion. The city is modern, cosmopolitan and whilst being closed to non-Muslims is nonetheless ethnically diverse.Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants...
are open only to Muslims. Likewise, the Masjid al-Nabawi and the city of
MedinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
that surrounds it are also off-limits to those who do not practice
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. For mosques in other areas, it has most commonly been taken that non-Muslims may only enter mosques if granted permission to do so by Muslims and if they have a legitimate reason. All entrants regardless of
religious affiliation are expected to respect the rules and
decorumDecorum was a principle of classical rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory. The term is also applied to prescribed limits of appropriate social behavior within set situations.-In rhetoric and poetry:...
for mosques.
In modern
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
non-Muslim tourists are allowed to enter any mosque, but there are some strict rules. Visiting a mosque is allowed only between prayers; visitors are required to wear long trousers and not to wear shoes, women must cover their heads; visitors are not allowed to interrupt praying Muslims, especially by taking photos of them; no loud talk is allowed; and no references to other religions are allowed (no crosses on necklaces, no cross gestures etc.)
At different times and places, non-Muslims living under Muslim rule were required to demonstrate deference to mosques. In most cities of Morocco, Jews were required to remove their shoes when passing by a mosque.
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
traveler
Carsten NiebuhrCarsten Niebuhr or Karsten Niebuhr was a German mathematician, cartographer, and explorer.-Biography:...
wrote that in 18th century
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
"Jews and Christians had to dismount before several mosques in veneration of their sanctity."
Dogs
Dogs are usually banned from entering mosques, but on September 24, 2008, the Muslim Law Council UK granted a blind Muslim permission to take his guide dog into the mosque via a Fatwa.
See also
- Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
- Salah
- Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question...
- Mihrab
A mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...
- Minbar
A minbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons or in the Hussainia where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation...
- Eidgah
Eidgah or Idgah is an open-air mosque usually outside of city to perform Eid salah.It was a practice of Prophet Muhammad to perform Eid Salaah in Eidgah at the outskirts of the city...
- Places of worship
- Holiest sites in Islam
Lists of mosques
By location
External links