ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE ENCOMPASSES A WIDE RANGE OF BOTH SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS
STYLES FROM THE EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM TO THE PRESENT DAY. EVERY COUNTRY THAT THE
MUSLIMS CONQUERED IN THE SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURY, INCLUDING ROMAN,
BYZANTINE, PERSIAN, AND OTHER REGIONS, HAD AN INFLUENCE ON THE ARCHITECTURE THAT
IS KNOWN AS ISLAMIC TODAY. AS ISLAM EXTENDED TO SOUTHEAST ASIA, IT ALSO ABSORBED
ELEMENTS OF CHINESE AND INDIAN ARCHITECTURE FURTHER EAST. BUILDINGS AND THE
ORNAMENTATION OF SURFACES WITH GEOMETRIC AND INTERLACE PATTERNS, AS WELL AS
ISLAMIC CALLIGRAPHY, WERE ITS DISTINGUISHING FEATURES. THE MOSQUE, TOMB, PALACE,
AND FORT ARE THE MAIN ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURAL STYLES FOR BIG OR PUBLIC STRUCTURES.
THE LANGUAGE OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IS DERIVED FROM THESE FOUR FORMS AND USED
TO OTHER CONSTRUCTIONS, INCLUDING PUBLIC BATHS, FOUNTAINS, AND RESIDENTIAL
ARCHITECTURE.
SOME ARGUE THAT ISLAM AND ITS BUILDING ELEMENTS, SUCH THE MOSQUE, ORIGINATED IN
THE SEVENTH CENTURY CE, DURING THE LIFETIME OF MUHAMMAD. IN THIS INSTANCE, THE FIRST
MOSQUE TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN ISLAMIC HISTORY WOULD BE EITHER QUBA MOSQUE IN
MEDINA OR THE MOSQUE OF THE COMPANIONS IN THE ERITREAN CITY OF MASSAWA.
ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE, BASED ON QUOTES FROM THE QURAN, HOLDS THAT ISLAM EXISTED
BEFORE MUHAMMAD AND EVEN REPRESENTS EARLIER PROPHETS LIKE ABRAHAM. ISLAM
ATTRIBUTES ABRAHAM'S CONSTRUCTION OF THE KA'BAH ('CUBE') IN MECCA AND ITS
SANCTUARY, WHICH IS REGARDED AS THE WORLD'S FIRST MOSQUE.
EARLY HISTORY
THE JAWATHA MOSQUE IN SAUDI ARABIA IS ONE OF THE FEW STRUCTURES THAT MAY BE
TRACED BACK TO THE TIME OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD. ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE WAS
ORIGINALLY USED BY THE RASHIDUN CALIPHATE (632–661).
BYZANTINE AND SASSANID ARCHITECTURAL COMPONENTS WERE BLENDED THROUGHOUT
THE UMAYYAD CALIPHATE (661–750), BUT NOVEL MIXES OF THESE WESTERN AND EASTERN
STYLES WERE INTRODUCED BY UMAYYAD ARCHITECTURE. THE HORSESHOE ARCH FIRST
APPEARS IN UMAYYAD ARCHITECTURE AND SUBSEQUENTLY DEVELOPS INTO AL-ANDALUS'
MOST SOPHISTICATED FORM. THE QUANTITY AND DIVERSITY OF ORNAMENTATION,
INCLUDING AS MOSAICS, WALL PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES, AND CARVED RELIEFS WITH ISLAMIC
THEMES, SET APART UMAYYAD ARCHITECTURE. THE PRAYER AREA WAS DIVIDED ALONG ITS
SHORTER AXIS BY A TRANSEPT THAT WAS ADDED BY THE UMAYYADS. THEIR DESIGN OF THE
MOSQUE ALSO INCLUDED THE MIHRAB. THE FIRST MIHRAB, A NICHE ON THE QIBLA WALL THAT
APPEARS TO HAVE REFLECTED THE LOCATION WHERE THE PROPHET STOOD WHEN LEADING
PRAYER, WAS FOUND IN THE MOSQUE IN MEDINA CONSTRUCTED BY AL-WALID I. THIS ALMOST
IMMEDIATELY BECAME A STANDARD FEATURE OF ALL MOSQUES.
SASSANID AND LATER CENTRAL ASIAN ARCHITECTURAL STYLES HAD A SIGNIFICANT
INFLUENCE ON ABBASID ARCHITECTURE OF THE ABBASID CALIPHATE (750–1513). THE
COURTYARD DESIGN WAS USED IN ALL OF THE ABBASID MOSQUES. THE FIRST WAS THE
BAGHDAD MOSQUE CONSTRUCTED BY AL-MANSUR. SINCE BEEN DEMOLISHED. ALMUTAWAKKIL CONSTRUCTED THE GREAT MOSQUE OF SAMARRA, WHICH MEASURED 256 BY
139 METERS (840 BY 456 FEET). THERE WERE COLUMNS SUPPORTING A FLAT WOODEN ROOF.
GLASS MOSAICS AND MARBLE PANELS ADORNED THE MOSQUE. THE ABU DULAF MOSQUE IN
SAMARRA FEATURED ARCADES ON RECTANGULAR BRICK PIERS THAT WERE POSITIONED AT
AN ANGLE TO THE WALL FACING THE QIBLA. THE ONLY EXAMPLES OF SPIRAL MINARETS IN
IRAQ ARE FOUND ON THE TWO MOSQUES IN SAMARRA. A MOSQUE AT BALKH IN WHAT IS
NOW AFGHANISTAN WAS ABOUT 20 BY 20 METRES (66 BY 66 FT) SQUARE, WITH THREE ROWS
OF THREE SQUARE BAYS, SUPPORTING NINE VAULTED DOMES.
CENTRAL ASIAN ARCHITECTURAL TRADITIONS EVENTUALLY HAD A SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE
ON ABBASID ARCHITECTURE, WHICH WAS PREVALENT UNDER THE ABBASID CALIPHATE (750–
1513). EVERY ABBASID MOSQUE WAS DESIGNED USING A COURTYARD LAYOUT. THE FIRST
WAS THE MOSQUE IN BAGHDAD THAT AL-MANSUR CONSTRUCTED. AS OF LATE DEMOLISHED.
BUILT BY AL-MUTAWAKKIL, THE GREAT MOSQUE OF SAMARRA MEASURED 256 BY 139 METERS
(840 BY 456 FEET). COLUMNS HELD UP A LEVEL TIMBER ROOF. GLASS MOSAICS AND MARBLE
PANELS WERE USED TO EMBELLISH THE MOSQUE. ARCADES WERE LOCATED ON
RECTANGULAR BRICK PIERS AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE QIBLA WALL IN THE PRAYER HALL OF
THE ABU DULAF MOSQUE IN SAMARRA. THE TWO MOSQUES IN SAMARRA FEATURE SPIRAL
MINARETS, WHICH ARE UNIQUE TO IRAQ.
MOORISH ARCHITECTURE FIRST APPEARED IN NORTH AFRICA AND THE IBERIAN PENINSULA IN
785 CE WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GREAT MOSQUE AT CORDOBA, WHICH IS TODAY A
CATHEDRAL KNOWN AS THE MEZQUITA. THE MOSQUE'S REMARKABLE INTERIOR ARCHES ARE
WELL-KNOWN. THE ALHAMBRA, A SPECTACULAR PALACE/FORTRESS IN GRANADA WITH
WIDE, AIRY INTERIOR AREAS DECORATED IN CRIMSON, BLUE, AND GOLD, REPRESENTS THE
PINNACLE OF MOORISH ARCHITECTURE. THE WALLS ARE COVERED WITH GLAZED TILE AND
ADORNED WITH ARABESQUE PATTERN WORK, ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS, AND STYLIZED PLANT
MOTIFS. THEIR OTHER, LESSER SURVIVORS INCLUDE THE CALIPHAL CITY OF MEDINA AZAHARA
AND THE BAB MARDUM IN TOLEDO. THE ORIGINS OF MOORISH ARCHITECTURE CAN BE
FOUND IN THE ARAB TRADITION OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN, WHICH WAS FORMED IN THE
LEVANT DURING THE FIRST CALIPHATE OF THE UMAYYADS, APPROXIMATELY 660 AD.
DAMASCUS, THE CAPITAL OF THE CALIPHATE, HAS VERY WELL PRESERVED EXAMPLES OF ARAB
ISLAMIC DESIGN AND GEOMETRICS, SUCH AS THE CARMEN, A TYPICAL DAMASCENE HOUSE
THAT OPENS UP INSIDE AND FEATURES A FOUNTAIN AS ITS FOCAL POINT.
IN ADDITION TO ADOPTING TULUNID METHODS AND MATERIALS, FATIMID ARCHITECTURE IN
EGYPT ALSO CREATED ITS OWN. THE EARLIEST CONGREGATIONAL MOSQUE IN CAIRO,
KNOWN AS "THE SPLENDID" AL-AZHAR MOSQUE, WAS ESTABLISHED 969–973 ALONG WITH THE
CITY. IT, TOGETHER WITH THE NEARBY AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY, SERVED AS THE ISMAILI SHIA
COMMUNITY'S SPIRITUAL HUB. A PROMINENT EXAMPLE OF FATIMID ARCHITECTURE AND
ORNAMENTATION, THE MOSQUE OF AL-HAKIM (R. 996–1013) WAS ESSENTIAL TO FATIMID
CEREMONIAL AND PROCESSION, WHICH HIGHLIGHTED THE CALIPH'S RELIGIOUS AND
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITIES. IN ADDITION TO ORNATE GRAVE MONUMENTS, OTHER EXTANT
FATIMID BUILDINGS INCLUDE THE ENORMOUS GATES FOR CAIRO'S CITY WALLS, WHICH WERE
COMMISSIONED BY THE INFLUENTIAL FATIMID VIZIER AND EMIR, BADR AL-JAMALI, AND THE
AQMAR AND AL-HAKIM MOSQUES, BOTH BUILT ABOUT 1125.
THE MOST STRIKING EXAMPLE OF ISLAMIC ART UNDER THE MAMLUK DYNASTY (1250–1517 AD)
IS FOUND IN ANCIENT CAIRO. THEIR FERVENT RELIGIOUS BELIEFS LED THEM TO BE RICH
BENEFACTORS OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE. UNDER MAMLUK AUTHORITY, TRADE AND
AGRICULTURE GREW, AND CAIRO, THE MAMLUK CAPITAL, BECAME THE CENTER OF ARTISTIC
AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE AS WELL AS ONE OF THE RICHEST TOWNS IN THE NEAR EAST. CAIRO
BECAME, AS IBN KHALDUN PUT IT, “THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE GARDEN OF THE
WORLD” AS A RESULT, WITH IMPOSING MINARETS, COURTYARDS, AND DOMES STREWN ALL
OVER THE CITY.
INFLUENCES
ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURES IN ALL OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IS THE DOME
OF THE ROCK, OR QUBBAT AL-SAKHRAH, LOCATED IN JERUSALEM (691). ITS INTRICATE
MOSAICS AGAINST A GOLDEN BACKDROP WERE DESIGNED BY BYZANTINE CHRISTIAN
ARTISTS, WHO DREW INSPIRATION FROM THE NEIGHBORING CHURCH OF THE HOLY
SEPULCHRE. THE PRE-ISLAMIC SYRIAN STYLE SERVED AS THE MODEL FOR THE LARGE
EPIGRAPHIC VINE FRIEZE. THE DOME OF THE ROCK WAS DECORATED WITH STYLIZED
REPEATING ARABESQUE MOTIFS, A CIRCULAR DOME, AND INTERNAL VAULTED AREAS. THE
CALIPHS USED THE DESERT PALACES IN JORDAN AND SYRIA (SUCH MSHATTA, QASR AMRA,
AND KHIRBAT AL-MAFJAR) AS RESIDENCES, SPAS, AND RECEPTION AREAS. THE PALACES
WERE ADORNED TO PROJECT AN IMPRESSION OF OPULENCE.
IN ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE, THE HORSESHOE ARCH GAINED POPULARITY. THERE ARE MANY
WHO ARGUE THAT THE MUSLIMS GOT THIS FROM THE VISIGOTHS IN SPAIN, BUT IT'S ALSO
POSSIBLE THAT THEY GOT IT FROM SYRIA OR PERSIA, WHERE THE BYZANTINES HAD USED
HORSESHOE ARCHES. THE HORSESHOE ARCH'S CURVATURE IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE
PROMINENT IN MOORISH DESIGN. TO FURTHER EMPHASIZE THE SHAPE'S EFFECT, ALTERNATING
COLORS WERE USED. LARGE-SCALE EXAMPLES OF THIS CAN BE FOUND IN THEIR MOST
FAMOUS CREATION, THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CÓRDOBA.
BUILT ON THE SITE OF THE BASILICA OF JOHN THE BAPTIST DURING THE ISLAMIC INVASION OF
DAMASCUS, THE GREAT MOSQUE OF DAMASCUS (FINISHED IN 715 BY CALIPH AL-WALID I)
STILL DISPLAYED STRONG SIMILARITIES TO CHRISTIAN BASILICAS FROM THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH
CENTURIES. A FEW CHANGES WERE MADE, SUCH AS LENGTHENING THE CONSTRUCTION
ALONG THE TRANSVERSAL AXIS TO BETTER ACCOMMODATE THE PRAYER PRACTICES OF THE
ISLAMIC FAITH.
DURING THE ABBASID DYNASTY (750–1258), THE CAPITAL MOVED FROM DAMASCUS TO
BAGHDAD AND THEN FROM BAGHDAD TO SAMARRA. THE MOVE TO BAGHDAD HAD AN
IMPACT ON ART, CULTURE, AND POLITICS. CONSTRUCTED FOR THE NEW CAPITAL, THE GREAT
MOSQUE OF SAMARRA WAS ONCE THE BIGGEST IN THE WORLD. THE ABU DALAF MOSQUE IN
IRAQ, THE GREAT MOSQUE IN TUNIS, AND THE MOSQUE OF IBN TULUN IN CAIRO ARE AMONG
THE OTHER NOTABLE MOSQUES CONSTRUCTED UNDER THE ABBASID DYNASTY. THE FORTRESS
OF AL-UKHAIDIR (C. 775–76), A PRIME EXAMPLE OF ABBASID ARCHITECTURE IN IRAQ,
REVEALED THE "DESPOTIC AND THE PLEASURE-LOVING CHARACTER OF THE DYNASTY" BY ITS
OPULENT SCALE BUT CONSTRAINED DWELLING QUARTERS.
ALL MOSQUES IN THE WESTERN ISLAMIC WORLD ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE THEIR ORIGINS IN
THE GREAT MOSQUE OF KAIROUAN, LOCATED IN TUNISIA. SOME FEATURES HAVE ROMAN
FORM, AND THE ORIGINAL MARBLE COLUMNS AND STATUES WERE MADE BY ROMAN
ARTISANS WHO BROUGHT THEIR SKILLS FROM CARTHAGE. FOUNDED IN 670 AD, AND MOSTLY
DATED TO THE AGHLABID PERIOD (9TH CENTURY), IT IS ONE OF THE MOST NOTABLE AND BEST
PRESERVED EXAMPLES OF EARLY MAJOR MOSQUES. THE GREAT MOSQUE OF KAIROUAN IS
MADE UP OF A SIZABLE HYPOSTYLE PRAYER HALL WITH TWO CUPOLAS COVERING ITS AXIS, A
VAST COURTYARD ENCIRCLED BY PORTICOS, AND A GIANT SQUARE TOWER. WHEN IT WAS
FINISHED IN 847 AD, THE GREAT MOSQUE OF SAMARRA IN IRAQ COMBINED THE HYPOSTYLE
DESIGN OF ROWS OF COLUMNS SUPPORTING A FLAT BASE BENEATH WHICH A MASSIVE
SPIRAL TOWER WAS BUILT.
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE WAS ALSO INFLUENCED BY ISTANBUL'S HAGIA SOPHIA. FOLLOWING
THEIR CONQUEST OF THE CITY FROM THE BYZANTINES, THE OTTOMANS TRANSFORMED THE
BASILICA INTO A MOSQUE, WHICH IS NOW A MUSEUM, AND ADOPTED DOMES AND OTHER
BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES INTO THEIR OWN CREATIONS. NUMEROUS OTTOMAN
MOSQUES, INCLUDING THE SHEHZADE MOSQUE, THE SULEIMAN MOSQUE, AND THE RÜSTEM
PASHA MOSQUE, WERE MODELED AFTER THE HAGIA SOPHIA. ONE OF THE MAIN STRUCTURAL
ELEMENTS OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IS THE DOME. THE DOME OF THE ROCK, AN ALMOST
EXACT DUPLICATE OF THE CURRENT CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE AND OTHER
SURROUNDING CHRISTIAN DOMED BASILICAS, MARKED THE INTRODUCTION OF THE DOME
INTO ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN 691. AS A PROMINENT COMPONENT OF MANY MOSQUES
AND THE TAJ MAHAL IN THE 17TH CENTURY, DOMES ARE STILL IN USE TODAY. EVEN IN THE
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, MOSQUES MAY STILL BE IDENTIFIED BY THEIR CHARACTERISTIC
POINTED DOMES, WHICH ARE A TRADEMARK OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE AND HAVE THEIR
ORIGINS IN BYZANTINE AND PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE.
THE MATHEMATICAL THEMES OF RADIATING STRUCTURES, RHYTHMIC, METRIC PATTERNS, AND
ORGANIZED REPETITION HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF ISLAMIC
ARCHITECTURE. FRACTAL GEOMETRY HAS SHOWN TO BE VERY USEFUL IN THIS REGARD,
PARTICULARLY FOR PALACES AND MOSQUES. COLUMNS, PIERS, AND ARCHES ARRANGED
AND LINKED WITH ALTERNATE SEQUENCES OF NICHES AND COLONNETTES ARE OTHER
NOTEWORTHY CHARACTERISTICS USED AS MOTIFS.