Misplaced Pages

#209790

139-579: The Kutubiyya Mosque or Koutoubia Mosque ( Arabic : جامع الكتبية Arabic pronunciation: [jaːmiʕu‿lkutubijːa(h)] ) is the largest mosque in Marrakesh , Morocco . It is located in the southwest medina quarter of Marrakesh, near the Jemaa el-Fnaa market place, and is flanked by large gardens. The mosque was founded in 1147 by the Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu'min right after he conquered Marrakesh from

278-582: A "T" within the floor plan of the mosque). This layout is found in other Almohad mosques and in all major mosques of the Maghreb for much of the Islamic period; a clear T-plan is present in the 9th-century Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia , for example, and in later Moroccan mosques. In addition to their greater width, the central nave and the southern transverse aisle are architecturally highlighted in other ways. unlike

417-719: A city that housed military garrisons, without being the main citadel. In Fez , for example, there were up to 13 kasbahs built throughout the city in different periods, including the Kasbah an-Nouar and the Kasbah Cherarda . According to architect and restorer Leopoldo Torres Balbás , the Alcazaba of Málaga is the prototype of military architecture in the Taifa period in Al-Andalus , with its double wall and many fortifications. Its only parallel

556-562: A collection of related dialects that constitute the precursor of Arabic, first emerged during the Iron Age . Previously, the earliest attestation of Old Arabic was thought to be a single 1st century CE inscription in Sabaic script at Qaryat al-Faw , in southern present-day Saudi Arabia. However, this inscription does not participate in several of the key innovations of the Arabic language group, such as

695-435: A corpus of poetic texts, in addition to Qur'an usage and Bedouin informants whom he considered to be reliable speakers of the ʿarabiyya . Arabic spread with the spread of Islam . Following the early Muslim conquests , Arabic gained vocabulary from Middle Persian and Turkish . In the early Abbasid period , many Classical Greek terms entered Arabic through translations carried out at Baghdad's House of Wisdom . By

834-1077: A dialect of Arabic and written in the Latin alphabet . The Balkan languages, including Albanian, Greek , Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian , have also acquired many words of Arabic origin, mainly through direct contact with Ottoman Turkish . Arabic has influenced languages across the globe throughout its history, especially languages where Islam is the predominant religion and in countries that were conquered by Muslims. The most markedly influenced languages are Persian , Turkish , Hindustani ( Hindi and Urdu ), Kashmiri , Kurdish , Bosnian , Kazakh , Bengali , Malay ( Indonesian and Malaysian ), Maldivian , Pashto , Punjabi , Albanian , Armenian , Azerbaijani , Sicilian, Spanish, Greek, Bulgarian, Tagalog , Sindhi , Odia , Hebrew and African languages such as Hausa , Amharic , Tigrinya , Somali , Tamazight , and Swahili . Conversely, Arabic has borrowed some words (mostly nouns) from other languages, including its sister-language Aramaic, Persian, Greek, and Latin and to

973-513: A fortified residence ( tighremt in Amazigh languages ), often built of mudbrick , such as the Kasbah of Telouet or the Kasbah Amridil . In southern Tunisia , the term is sometimes applied to a type of fortified granaries (also known as ksour ). The word kasbah may also be used to describe the old part of a city, in which case it has the same meaning as a medina quarter . In Algiers ,

1112-420: A horseshoe profile and their intrados are carved with muqarnas sculpting. Finally, the southern (or qibla) transverse aisle of the mosque is bordered on its north side by an additional row of transverse arches with a polylobed profile , setting it apart from the rest of the mosque. Elsewhere, transverse polylobed or lambrequin arches are also used to demarcate the extensions of the prayer hall on either side of

1251-483: A lesser extent and more recently from Turkish, English, French, and Italian. Arabic is spoken by as many as 380 million speakers, both native and non-native, in the Arab world, making it the fifth most spoken language in the world, and the fourth most used language on the internet in terms of users. It also serves as the liturgical language of more than 2 billion Muslims . In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Arabic

1390-677: A millennium before the modern period . Early lexicographers ( لُغَوِيُّون lughawiyyūn ) sought to explain words in the Quran that were unfamiliar or had a particular contextual meaning, and to identify words of non-Arabic origin that appear in the Quran. They gathered shawāhid ( شَوَاهِد 'instances of attested usage') from poetry and the speech of the Arabs—particularly the Bedouin ʾaʿrāb  [ ar ] ( أَعْراب ) who were perceived to speak

1529-475: A multi-story tower house with figures in the windows: Its design resembles similar dwellings today in Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia ." "Most of the qasabas have a circular plan, although some are square. Sometimes they have a band of quartz stones just below the windows or framing the windows – one well preserved example is at the top of Wadi Ain. The remains of a martello tower -like stone structure are just off

SECTION 10

#1732851089210

1668-463: A reinterpretation of Arabic historical sources and proposes an alternative chronology. They argue that Abd al-Mu'min's commission of the new mosque was not related to the city's conquest but could have been inspired instead by the transfer of Uthman's Qur'an in 1157. In their view, construction on the mosque began in May 1158 and was completed later that same year, a rapid construction that was possible thanks to

1807-548: A result, Abd al-Mu'min decided to build the new mosque right next to the former Almoravid kasbah, the Ksar el-Hajjar, which became the site of the new Almohad royal palace, located west of the city's main square (what is today the Jemaa el-Fnaa ). The issue of the qibla alignment of the Kutubiyya and other Almohad mosques (and of medieval Islamic mosques generally) is a complex one which is often misunderstood. The justification given by

1946-524: A result, many European languages have borrowed words from it. Arabic influence, mainly in vocabulary, is seen in European languages (mainly Spanish and to a lesser extent Portuguese , Catalan , and Sicilian ) owing to the proximity of Europe and the long-lasting Arabic cultural and linguistic presence, mainly in Southern Iberia, during the Al-Andalus era. Maltese is a Semitic language developed from

2085-462: A script derived from ASA attest to a language known as Hasaitic . On the northwestern frontier of Arabia, various languages known to scholars as Thamudic B , Thamudic D, Safaitic , and Hismaic are attested. The last two share important isoglosses with later forms of Arabic, leading scholars to theorize that Safaitic and Hismaic are early forms of Arabic and that they should be considered Old Arabic . Linguists generally believe that "Old Arabic",

2224-426: A second mosque directly adjoined to the southeastern ( qibla ) side of the first mosque. The reasons for this unusual decision are still not fully understood. The most popular historical narrative asserts that Abd al-Mu'min discovered, possibly during its construction, that the initial mosque was misaligned with the qibla (presumably according to Almohad criteria). The second mosque is indeed aligned slightly further to

2363-400: A similar finial), but is nowadays often associated with the Kutubiyya instead. One version of the legend claims that there were at one time only three of them and that the fourth was donated by the wife of Yaqub al-Mansur as penance for breaking her fast for three hours one day during Ramadan . She had her golden jewelry melted down to form the fourth globe. Another version of the legend is that

2502-604: A similar passage that existed between the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the nearby Umayyad palace ). This passage likely passed through the imam's chamber behind the southeastern qibla wall and therefore may have disappeared when the second mosque was built over this area. At some point, Abd al-Mu'min also transferred to his new mosque the Almoravid minbar of the Ben Youssef Mosque, originally commissioned by Ali ibn Yusuf from

2641-465: A single language, despite mutual incomprehensibility among differing spoken versions. From a linguistic standpoint, it is often said that the various spoken varieties of Arabic differ among each other collectively about as much as the Romance languages . This is an apt comparison in a number of ways. The period of divergence from a single spoken form is similar—perhaps 1500 years for Arabic, 2000 years for

2780-475: A square base measuring 12.81 metres (42.0 ft) per side. The second, upper shaft has a square base measuring 6.88 metres (22.6 ft) per side and its top edge (not including the dome and finial) reaches to a height of around 69.5 metres (228 ft) above the ground. The minaret's height-to-width ratio is thus slightly over 5-to-1, which marked a shift in minaret design in the Maghreb, as these proportions made

2919-516: A structure are visible today at the northeastern corner of the first mosque. They were identified by French archeologist Jacques Meunié as the remnants of a gate (referred to as Bab 'Ali or Bab 'Ali ibn Yusuf ) belonging to the palatial expansion of the Almoravid kasbah by Ali ibn Yusuf. This structure might have been converted into the mosque's first minaret or served as the minaret's base. The remains of this minaret may have been visible even as late as

SECTION 20

#1732851089210

3058-480: A three-dimensional geometric composition. Although made with the same technique, the exact geometric composition of each muqarnas cupola in the mosque is slightly different. Most of the constituent niches are smooth, but eight-pointed stars are carved in the upper parts of the geometric alcoves. The mihrab has a form which derives from the style established by the Great Mosque of Cordoba , although with some changes in

3197-503: A type of Arabic. Cypriot Arabic is recognized as a minority language in Cyprus. The sociolinguistic situation of Arabic in modern times provides a prime example of the linguistic phenomenon of diglossia , which is the normal use of two separate varieties of the same language, usually in different social situations. Tawleed is the process of giving a new shade of meaning to an old classical word. For example, al-hatif lexicographically means

3336-499: A variety of regional vernacular Arabic dialects , which are not necessarily mutually intelligible. Classical Arabic is the language found in the Quran , used from the period of Pre-Islamic Arabia to that of the Abbasid Caliphate . Classical Arabic is prescriptive, according to the syntactic and grammatical norms laid down by classical grammarians (such as Sibawayh ) and the vocabulary defined in classical dictionaries (such as

3475-470: A wider audience." In the wake of the industrial revolution and European hegemony and colonialism , pioneering Arabic presses, such as the Amiri Press established by Muhammad Ali (1819), dramatically changed the diffusion and consumption of Arabic literature and publications. Rifa'a al-Tahtawi proposed the establishment of Madrasat al-Alsun in 1836 and led a translation campaign that highlighted

3614-490: A workshop in Cordoba. Modern archeological excavations have also confirmed the existence in the first Kutubiyya Mosque of a near-legendary mechanism which allowed the wooden maqsura (a screen separating the caliph and his entourage from the rest of the crowd during prayers) to rise from a trench in the ground seemingly by itself, and then retract in the same manner when the caliph left. Another semi-automated mechanism also allowed

3753-727: Is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world . The ISO assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic , including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic , which is derived from Classical Arabic . This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā ( اَلعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ "the eloquent Arabic") or simply al-fuṣḥā ( اَلْفُصْحَىٰ ). Arabic

3892-557: Is a combination, although the right position of a watchtower , on a hill top, is the wrong place for a keep or granary ." Archaeologists have found images of similar towers in the ruins of Qaryat al-Fāw , in the Rub' al Khali of Saudi Arabia, that date from between the 3rd century BCE to the 4th century CE. "Homes rose two stories, supported by stone walls nearly two meters (6') thick and boasting such amenities as water-supply systems and second-floor latrines. One eye-catching mural faintly depicts

4031-505: Is a flag pole next to the copper balls forming the spire, which is used for hoisting the religious green flag of the Prophet , which the mu'azzin does every Friday and on religious occasions. A popular legend about the orbs, of which there are variations, claims that they are made of pure gold. The legend was originally associated with the minaret of the Kasbah Mosque further south (which has

4170-535: Is a minimum level of comprehension between all Arabic dialects, this level can increase or decrease based on geographic proximity: for example, Levantine and Gulf speakers understand each other much better than they do speakers from the Maghreb. The issue of diglossia between spoken and written language is a complicating factor: A single written form, differing sharply from any of the spoken varieties learned natively, unites several sometimes divergent spoken forms. For political reasons, Arabs mostly assert that they all speak

4309-542: Is a sister language rather than their direct ancestor. Arabia had a wide variety of Semitic languages in antiquity. The term "Arab" was initially used to describe those living in the Arabian Peninsula , as perceived by geographers from ancient Greece . In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside the Ancient South Arabian family (e.g. Southern Thamudic) were spoken. It

Kutubiyya Mosque - Misplaced Pages Continue

4448-518: Is another example of the term being used for an old city. The Encyclopædia Britannica article on Asir (southwestern province of Saudi Arabia), mentions that "ancient qasaba ("towers") found in the province were used as lookouts or granaries ." Another book describes these towers as follows: "Apparently unique to Asir architecture are the qasaba towers. Controversy surrounds their function – some argue that they were built as lookouts, and others that they were keeps , or even granaries. Perhaps it

4587-469: Is believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages (non-Central Semitic languages) were spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hejaz , Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages. In Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested. In eastern Arabia, inscriptions in

4726-484: Is cited by Jonathan Bloom as the earliest reliably-dated example of zellij in Morocco. Above this zellij band, the top edge of the minaret's main shaft is crowned by stepped merlons . The smaller, secondary shaft of the minaret, which rises from the platform here, is decorated with polylobed arches around a pair of windows on each of its four façades, which are then surmounted by panels of sebka decoration. Around

4865-408: Is credited with establishing the rules of Arabic prosody . Al-Jahiz (776–868) proposed to Al-Akhfash al-Akbar an overhaul of the grammar of Arabic, but it would not come to pass for two centuries. The standardization of Arabic reached completion around the end of the 8th century. The first comprehensive description of the ʿarabiyya "Arabic", Sībawayhi's al - Kitāb , is based first of all upon

5004-468: Is credited with standardizing Arabic grammar , or an-naḥw ( النَّحو "the way" ), and pioneering a system of diacritics to differentiate consonants ( نقط الإعجام nuqaṭu‿l-i'jām "pointing for non-Arabs") and indicate vocalization ( التشكيل at-tashkīl ). Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (718–786) compiled the first Arabic dictionary, Kitāb al-'Ayn ( كتاب العين "The Book of the Letter ع "), and

5143-628: Is decorated with varying geometric arch motifs and topped by a spire and metal orbs. It likely inspired other buildings such as the Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of Rabat , which were built shortly after in the same era. The minaret is also considered an important landmark and symbol of Marrakesh. The mosque's name derives from the Arabic word kutubiyyin ( كُتُبيين ), which means "booksellers". The Koutoubia Mosque, or Bookseller's Mosque, reflects

5282-453: Is evident in more recent mosques – including the current Ben Youssef Mosque, rebuilt in 1819 with a qibla of 88° (slightly too far north but very close to 91°). Medieval Muslims did possess sufficient mathematical knowledge to calculate a reasonably accurate "true" qibla . A more easterly qibla orientation (pointing approximately toward Mecca) was already evident in the royal mosque of Madinat al-Zahra (just outside Cordoba) built later in

5421-452: Is generally built in brick, although sandstone masonry is also used for parts of the outer walls. The same materials and construction methods are also evident in the first mosque. The mosque is located in a large plaza with gardens, and is floodlit at night. The wall on the northern side of the first mosque abutted the old Almoravid fortress wall (the Ksar el-Hajjar ). There are eight entrances to

5560-412: Is it known for certain whether it was consciously demolished at some point or simply abandoned and allowed to deteriorate. Many scholars believe that the two mosques most likely coexisted for a time as one large mosque. If true, then the old qibla (southern) wall of the first mosque, which became the northern wall of the second mosque, was probably opened up in many places to allow easy circulation between

5699-566: Is not present in the spoken varieties, but deletes Classical words that sound obsolete in MSA. In addition, MSA has borrowed or coined many terms for concepts that did not exist in Quranic times, and MSA continues to evolve. Some words have been borrowed from other languages—notice that transliteration mainly indicates spelling and not real pronunciation (e.g., فِلْم film 'film' or ديمقراطية dīmuqrāṭiyyah 'democracy'). The current preference

Kutubiyya Mosque - Misplaced Pages Continue

5838-786: Is official in Mali and recognized as a minority language in Morocco, while the Senegalese government adopted the Latin script to write it. Maltese is official in (predominantly Catholic ) Malta and written with the Latin script . Linguists agree that it is a variety of spoken Arabic, descended from Siculo-Arabic , though it has experienced extensive changes as a result of sustained and intensive contact with Italo-Romance varieties, and more recently also with English. Due to "a mix of social, cultural, historical, political, and indeed linguistic factors", many Maltese people today consider their language Semitic but not

5977-467: Is still active and non-Muslims are not allowed inside. However, it is possible to visit the Tinmal Mosque , built along the same lines, which is inactive but preserved as a historic site south of Marrakesh. On 8 September 2023, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 M w damaged the mosque. Video footage during the earthquake showed the mosque's structure shaking. The building remained standing after

6116-559: Is the third most widespread official language after English and French, one of six official languages of the United Nations , and the liturgical language of Islam . Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities around the world and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, governments and the media. During the Middle Ages , Arabic was a major vehicle of culture and learning, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As

6255-736: Is the castle of Krak des Chevaliers in Syria . Examples of other alcazabas in Spain include the Alcazaba of Almería , the Alcazaba of Antequera , the Alcazaba of Badajoz , the Alcazaba of Guadix , the Alcazaba of Mérida , the Castle of Molina de Aragón , the Alcazaba of Alcalá la Real and in the Alcazaba of the Alhambra in Granada . In Morocco, the term "kasbah" is also used in predominantly Amazigh regions to denote

6394-557: Is the tomb of Fatima Zohra bint al-Kush (also called Lalla Zohra), a female mystic who died in the early 17th century and was buried here near the mosque. The city of Marrakesh was founded around 1070 by the Almoravid dynasty to be their capital, but was captured in 1147 by the Almohads under their leader Abd al-Mu'min . While the Almohads decided to make Marrakesh their capital too, they did not want any trace of religious monuments built by

6533-584: Is the variety used in most current, printed Arabic publications, spoken by some of the Arabic media across North Africa and the Middle East, and understood by most educated Arabic speakers. "Literary Arabic" and "Standard Arabic" ( فُصْحَى fuṣḥá ) are less strictly defined terms that may refer to Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic. Some of the differences between Classical Arabic (CA) and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) are as follows: MSA uses much Classical vocabulary (e.g., dhahaba 'to go') that

6672-413: Is to avoid direct borrowings, preferring to either use loan translations (e.g., فرع farʻ 'branch', also used for the branch of a company or organization; جناح janāḥ 'wing', is also used for the wing of an airplane, building, air force, etc.), or to coin new words using forms within existing roots ( استماتة istimātah ' apoptosis ', using the root موت m/w/t 'death' put into

6811-516: Is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the industrial and post-industrial era , especially in modern times. Due to its grounding in Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic is removed over a millennium from everyday speech, which is construed as a multitude of dialects of this language. These dialects and Modern Standard Arabic are described by some scholars as not mutually comprehensible. The former are usually acquired in families, while

6950-445: The Lisān al-ʻArab ). Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) largely follows the grammatical standards of Classical Arabic and uses much of the same vocabulary. However, it has discarded some grammatical constructions and vocabulary that no longer have any counterpart in the spoken varieties and has adopted certain new constructions and vocabulary from the spoken varieties. Much of the new vocabulary

7089-594: The adhan from the four cardinal directions from the platform at the top of the minaret, calling the faithful to prayer. Many embellishing features of the minaret are also found in other religious buildings in the country, such as a wide band of ceramic tiles near the top and the alternation between different but related motifs on each façade of the minaret. The main shaft is marked by panels of sunken masonry forming blind arches and blind arcades of varying designs, including lambrequin arches and intersecting polylobed arches. These are set within rectangular frames around

SECTION 50

#1732851089210

7228-451: The Almoravids . A second version of the mosque was entirely rebuilt by Abd al-Mu'min around 1158, with Ya'qub al-Mansur possibly finalizing construction of the minaret around 1195. This second mosque is the structure that stands today. It is an important example of Almohad architecture and of Moroccan mosque architecture generally. The minaret tower, 77 metres (253 ft) in height,

7367-561: The Xth form , or جامعة jāmiʻah 'university', based on جمع jamaʻa 'to gather, unite'; جمهورية jumhūriyyah 'republic', based on جمهور jumhūr 'multitude'). An earlier tendency was to redefine an older word although this has fallen into disuse (e.g., هاتف hātif 'telephone' < 'invisible caller (in Sufism)'; جريدة jarīdah 'newspaper' < 'palm-leaf stalk'). Colloquial or dialectal Arabic refers to

7506-527: The bookselling trade practised in the nearby souk. At one time as many as 100 book vendors worked in the streets at the base of the mosque. The mosque is located about 200 metres (660 ft) west of the city's the Jemaa El Fna souq , a prominent market place which has existed since the city's establishment. It is situated on the Avenue Mohammed V, opposite Place de Foucauld. During French occupation,

7645-414: The maqsura . The rectangular sahn or courtyard is in the northern part of the mosque. It is 45 metres (148 ft) wide, the same width as the nine central naves, and 23 metres (75 ft) long or deep. There is an ablution fountain at the center of the courtyard. Nowadays trees are also planted in a grid pattern throughout the courtyard. The decoration is otherwise limited to the arches running along

7784-494: The northern Hejaz . These features are evidence of common descent from a hypothetical ancestor , Proto-Arabic . The following features of Proto-Arabic can be reconstructed with confidence: On the other hand, several Arabic varieties are closer to other Semitic languages and maintain features not found in Classical Arabic, indicating that these varieties cannot have developed from Classical Arabic. Thus, Arabic vernaculars do not descend from Classical Arabic: Classical Arabic

7923-419: The "learned" tradition (Classical Arabic). This variety and both its classicizing and "lay" iterations have been termed Middle Arabic in the past, but they are thought to continue an Old Higazi register. It is clear that the orthography of the Quran was not developed for the standardized form of Classical Arabic; rather, it shows the attempt on the part of writers to record an archaic form of Old Higazi. In

8062-715: The "purest," most eloquent form of Arabic—initiating a process of jamʿu‿l-luɣah ( جمع اللغة 'compiling the language') which took place over the 8th and early 9th centuries. Kitāb al-'Ayn ( c.  8th century ), attributed to Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi , is considered the first lexicon to include all Arabic roots ; it sought to exhaust all possible root permutations —later called taqālīb ( تقاليب ) — calling those that are actually used mustaʿmal ( مستعمَل ) and those that are not used muhmal ( مُهمَل ). Lisān al-ʿArab (1290) by Ibn Manzur gives 9,273 roots, while Tāj al-ʿArūs (1774) by Murtada az-Zabidi gives 11,978 roots. Kasbah The term qasaba

8201-428: The 10th century, as well as in the orientation of the original Almoravid Ben Youssef Mosque (founded in 1126), estimated to be 103°. The Almohads, who rose to power after these periods, apparently chose a qibla orientation which they saw as more ancient or traditional. Whether their interpretation of the qibla was a true and rigorously followed directive or a mostly symbolic argument to differentiate themselves from

8340-454: The 11th and 12th centuries in al-Andalus , the zajal and muwashah poetry forms developed in the dialectical Arabic of Cordoba and the Maghreb. The Nahda was a cultural and especially literary renaissance of the 19th century in which writers sought "to fuse Arabic and European forms of expression." According to James L. Gelvin , " Nahda writers attempted to simplify the Arabic language and script so that it might be accessible to

8479-562: The 4th to the 6th centuries, the Nabataean script evolved into the Arabic script recognizable from the early Islamic era. There are inscriptions in an undotted, 17-letter Arabic script dating to the 6th century CE, found at four locations in Syria ( Zabad , Jebel Usays , Harran , Umm el-Jimal ). The oldest surviving papyrus in Arabic dates to 643 CE, and it uses dots to produce the modern 28-letter Arabic alphabet. The language of that papyrus and of

SECTION 60

#1732851089210

8618-762: The 8th century, knowledge of Classical Arabic had become an essential prerequisite for rising into the higher classes throughout the Islamic world, both for Muslims and non-Muslims. For example, Maimonides , the Andalusi Jewish philosopher, authored works in Judeo-Arabic —Arabic written in Hebrew script . Ibn Jinni of Mosul , a pioneer in phonology , wrote prolifically in the 10th century on Arabic morphology and phonology in works such as Kitāb Al-Munṣif , Kitāb Al-Muḥtasab , and Kitāb Al-Khaṣāʾiṣ    [ ar ] . Ibn Mada' of Cordoba (1116–1196) realized

8757-505: The Almohad minaret taller and more slender in comparison with earlier North African examples. The Kutubiyya minaret subsequently became a model for later minarets built in the regions that passed under Almohad influence. The tower's prominence makes it a landmark structure of Marrakesh, which is maintained by an ordinance prohibiting any high rise buildings (above the height of a palm tree) to be built around it. The mu'azzin traditionally gave

8896-503: The Almohads for the destruction of existing Almoravid mosques was that their qibla was aligned too far toward the east, which the Almohads judged to be incorrect as they preferred a tradition that existed in the western Islamic world (the Maghreb and al-Andalus ) according to which the qibla should be oriented toward the south instead. This alignment was actually further away from the "true" qibla used in modern mosques everywhere today, which points directly towards Mecca (i.e. towards

9035-714: The Almoravids is still questioned by scholars. The Almohad qibla was similar to the qibla orientation of the prestigious Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Qarawiyyin Mosque of Fes , both founded at an early period in the late 8th to 9th centuries. This traditional qibla was based on a saying ( hadith ) of Muhammad which stated that "What is between the east and west is a qibla " (most likely in reference to his time in Medina , north of Mecca), which thus legitimized southern alignments. This practice may also have sought to emulate

9174-461: The Almoravids, their staunch enemies, as they considered them heretics . They reportedly demolished all the mosques in the city, including the main mosque, the Ben Youssef Mosque , arguing that the Almoravid mosques were not aligned with the proper qibla (direction of prayer). Since the former Almoravid grand mosque (i.e. the original Ben Youssef Mosque) was already closely integrated into

9313-471: The Kaaba's northwestern façade, with its main axis parallel to the main axis of the Kaaba structure (which is oriented from southeast to northwest). This architectural alignment was typically achieved by using astronomical alignments to reproduce the appropriate orientation of the Kaaba itself, whose minor axis is aligned with the direction of sunrise at the summer solstice . The most commonly accepted chronology of

9452-412: The Middle East and North Africa have become a badge of sophistication and modernity and ... feigning, or asserting, weakness or lack of facility in Arabic is sometimes paraded as a sign of status, class, and perversely, even education through a mélange of code-switching practises." Arabic has been taught worldwide in many elementary and secondary schools, especially Muslim schools. Universities around

9591-672: The Qur'an is referred to by linguists as "Quranic Arabic", as distinct from its codification soon thereafter into " Classical Arabic ". In late pre-Islamic times, a transdialectal and transcommunal variety of Arabic emerged in the Hejaz , which continued living its parallel life after literary Arabic had been institutionally standardized in the 2nd and 3rd century of the Hijra , most strongly in Judeo-Christian texts, keeping alive ancient features eliminated from

9730-512: The Romance languages. Also, while it is comprehensible to people from the Maghreb , a linguistically innovative variety such as Moroccan Arabic is essentially incomprehensible to Arabs from the Mashriq , much as French is incomprehensible to Spanish or Italian speakers but relatively easily learned by them. This suggests that the spoken varieties may linguistically be considered separate languages. With

9869-470: The Tinmal Mosque, which was built in the same period as the Kutubiyya, and in many later mosques such as the 16th-century Saadian mosques of Bab Doukkala and Mouassine . The minaret is designed in Almohad style and was constructed in rubble masonry using sandstone . It was historically covered with Marrakshi pink plaster , but in the 1990s, experts opted to expose the original stone work and removed

10008-406: The balls were originally made entirely of gold fashioned from the jewellery of the wife of Saadi Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur. Inside the main shaft are six rooms in succession, one above the other. The whole tower can be ascended via a wide interior ramp that allowed the mu'azzin to ride a horse to the top. The different arrangements on the exterior façade of the minaret correspond to the positions of

10147-412: The beginning of the 19th century, when a drawing of the area by Ali Bey el Abbassi appears to show a second tower standing north of the present-day Kutubiyya minaret. Almagro and Jiménez have argued that the remnants visible today belong to the first Almohad minaret and that it was built over a corner tower of the Almoravid fortress rather than a palace gate. At some point, Abd al-Mu'min decided to build

10286-738: The city, like the Kasbah of the Oudayas in Rabat , Morocco , or the Alcazaba of Málaga in Spain . It could also be a large purpose-built royal quarter, protected by its own set of walls, that housed the palace of the ruler and the administration of the state. Examples of this include the Kasbah of Marrakesh and the Kasbah of Tunis , both founded by the Almohads , who built or redeveloped similar palace enclosures in many important cities of their empire. In some cases, kasbahs could be simple fortified enclosures around

10425-406: The construction methods employed (brick and rammed earth) and to the reuse of materials available nearby. Although no longer standing today, the first mosque's layout is well-known thanks to modern excavations starting in 1923. The excavated foundations of the mosque, as well as the outline of its mihrab and qibla wall, are still visible today on the second mosque's northwestern side. Adjoined to

10564-567: The conversion of Semitic mimation to nunation in the singular. It is best reassessed as a separate language on the Central Semitic dialect continuum. It was also thought that Old Arabic coexisted alongside—and then gradually displaced— epigraphic Ancient North Arabian (ANA), which was theorized to have been the regional tongue for many centuries. ANA, despite its name, was considered a very distinct language, and mutually unintelligible, from "Arabic". Scholars named its variant dialects after

10703-421: The corners of the shaft, between these panels, the surfaces are covered in a kind of limewash which is inlaid with a geometric pattern based on an eight-pointed star pattern. The minaret is topped by a traditional finial ( jāmūr ), a pole with three spheres decreasing in size towards the top, with the largest being 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter. The spheres are made of copper plating riveted together. There

10842-441: The courtyard from the rest of the mosque. The southern qibla aisle is further decorated with five elaborate muqarnas cupolas: one in front of the mihrab, one at both southern corners of the prayer hall, and two more in between these (or, specifically, at the southern end of the outermost naves that intersect with the courtyard). Muqarnas consists of honeycomb or stalactite-like sculpting made up of hundreds of small niches arranged in

10981-408: The decorative elements. It consists of a horseshoe arch opening leading to a miniature chamber covered by an octagonal muqarnas dome. Carved decoration covers the wall surfaces around the mihrab arch. The arch is bordered with a scalloped or polylobed molding inside a rectangular alfiz frame, with rosettes in the upper corners. Above this are five false windows forming a blind arcade , with two of

11120-519: The dirt track north of Al-Masnah. It appears to be an interesting antecedent of the Asir farmhouse and perhaps closely related to the qasaba. It is in ruins now, but was once a dwelling and is strongly defensive." One account says about a traditional village in Al-Bahah, Saudi Arabia: "Even the road that leads to the village is impressive, and several historical stone and slate towers dot the way. Al-Bahah Province

11259-486: The earthquake, but cracks have been observed in the minaret. In March 2024, the mosque reopened after completion of renovation work. Architectural details of the first mosque and the second mosque are almost identical except for the orientation. Hence, what is true of one holds true for the other, though the first mosque is now only visible as archaeological remains. The mosque is a characteristic Almohad design, and its various elements resemble those of many other mosques from

11398-441: The edges of the courtyard, with some of the arches are highlighted with a polylobed molding carved around them. The interior prayer hall is a hypostyle hall with more than 100 pillars which support rows of horseshoe arches that divide the hall into 17 parallel naves or aisles which run perpendicular to the southern wall, or roughly north to south. The pillars and arches are made of brick covered in white plaster. The nine naves in

11537-577: The emergence of Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include: There are several features which Classical Arabic, the modern Arabic varieties, as well as the Safaitic and Hismaic inscriptions share which are unattested in any other Central Semitic language variety, including the Dadanitic and Taymanitic languages of

11676-728: The eve of the conquests: Northern and Central (Al-Jallad 2009). The modern dialects emerged from a new contact situation produced following the conquests. Instead of the emergence of a single or multiple koines, the dialects contain several sedimentary layers of borrowed and areal features, which they absorbed at different points in their linguistic histories. According to Veersteegh and Bickerton, colloquial Arabic dialects arose from pidginized Arabic formed from contact between Arabs and conquered peoples. Pidginization and subsequent creolization among Arabs and arabized peoples could explain relative morphological and phonological simplicity of vernacular Arabic compared to Classical and MSA. In around

11815-593: The fact that they participate in the innovations common to all forms of Arabic. The earliest attestation of continuous Arabic text in an ancestor of the modern Arabic script are three lines of poetry by a man named Garm(')allāhe found in En Avdat, Israel , and dated to around 125 CE. This is followed by the Namara inscription , an epitaph of the Lakhmid king Imru' al-Qays bar 'Amro, dating to 328 CE, found at Namaraa, Syria. From

11954-475: The first mosque's completion is unconfirmed, but is estimated to have been around 1157, when it is known with some certainty that prayers were conducted in the mosque, as it was in 1157 that a celebrated copy of the Qur'an attributed to the hand of Caliph Uthman , previously kept in the Great Mosque of Cordoba, was transferred here. A more recent (2022) study by scholars Antonio Almagro and Alfonso Jiménez has argued for

12093-453: The fourth most useful language for business, after English, Mandarin Chinese , and French. Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet , an abjad script that is written from right to left . Arabic is usually classified as a Central Semitic language . Linguists still differ as to the best classification of Semitic language sub-groups. The Semitic languages changed between Proto-Semitic and

12232-579: The inclusion of new words into their published standard dictionaries. They also publish old and historical Arabic manuscripts. In 1997, a bureau of Arabization standardization was added to the Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization of the Arab League . These academies and organizations have worked toward the Arabization of the sciences, creating terms in Arabic to describe new concepts, toward

12371-608: The language. Software and books with tapes are an important part of Arabic learning, as many of Arabic learners may live in places where there are no academic or Arabic language school classes available. Radio series of Arabic language classes are also provided from some radio stations. A number of websites on the Internet provide online classes for all levels as a means of distance education; most teach Modern Standard Arabic, but some teach regional varieties from numerous countries. The tradition of Arabic lexicography extended for about

12510-599: The late 6th century AD, a relatively uniform intertribal "poetic koine" distinct from the spoken vernaculars developed based on the Bedouin dialects of Najd , probably in connection with the court of al-Ḥīra . During the first Islamic century, the majority of Arabic poets and Arabic-writing persons spoke Arabic as their mother tongue. Their texts, although mainly preserved in far later manuscripts, contain traces of non-standardized Classical Arabic elements in morphology and syntax. Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali ( c.  603 –689)

12649-420: The latter is taught in formal education settings. However, there have been studies reporting some degree of comprehension of stories told in the standard variety among preschool-aged children. The relation between Modern Standard Arabic and these dialects is sometimes compared to that of Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin vernaculars (which became Romance languages ) in medieval and early modern Europe. MSA

12788-883: The many national or regional varieties which constitute the everyday spoken language. Colloquial Arabic has many regional variants; geographically distant varieties usually differ enough to be mutually unintelligible , and some linguists consider them distinct languages. However, research indicates a high degree of mutual intelligibility between closely related Arabic variants for native speakers listening to words, sentences, and texts; and between more distantly related dialects in interactional situations. The varieties are typically unwritten. They are often used in informal spoken media, such as soap operas and talk shows , as well as occasionally in certain forms of written media such as poetry and printed advertising. Hassaniya Arabic , Maltese , and Cypriot Arabic are only varieties of modern Arabic to have acquired official recognition. Hassaniya

12927-430: The middle correspond to the width of the courtyard to the north and run the length of six arches, while the four outermost naves run continuously along the east and west sides of the courtyard (corresponding to the length of four extra arches), thus extending the prayer hall around either side of the courtyard. The naves are all covered by berchla or Moroccan wood-frame ceilings on the inside and sloped green-tiled roofs on

13066-436: The mihrab on either side: the one on the right is for the storage room of the minbar, while the one on the left was used by the imam to enter the mosque. Both doors are also flanked with engaged columns with more spolia capitals from Al-Andalus. All of these decorative and architectural elements – the muqarnas cupolas, the mihrab decoration, and the hierarchical arrangement of arches – are found in similar form and placement in

13205-404: The minbar to emerge and move forward from its storage chamber (next to the mihrab ) seemingly by itself. The exact functioning of the mechanism is unknown, but may have relied on a hidden system of counterweights. The new Almohad mosque, with its objects from Cordoba and its proximity next to the palace, was thus imbued with great political and religious symbolism. It was closely associated with

13344-414: The mosque during the early modern period. Based on stylistic grounds, Almagro and Jimnez argue that the mosque's ornate wood ceilings (particularly over the central nave) date to sometime in the 'Alawi period and after the 17th century, most likely during an 18th-century restoration. In the 19th century, records indicate that the 'Alawi sultans Muhammad IV (r. 1859–73) and Hasan I (r. 1873–94) restored

13483-420: The mosque's construction is the one originally proposed by French scholars Henri Terrasse and Henri Basset during their study of Almohad monuments in the first half of the 20th century, with further refinements by Gaston Deverdun in his 1959 book about Marrakesh. According to this view, Abd al-Mu'min began construction of the first Kutubiyya Mosque in 1147, the same year that he had conquered the city. The date of

13622-430: The mosque: four on the west side and four on the east side. The eastern side faces the street where book shops were located, hence the name "Booksellers' Mosque". There is a private entrance for the imam on the south side of the mosque, leading to a door on the left side of the mihrab . Historically, the first Kutubiyya Mosque also had a private entrance next to the mihrab which was used by the ruler to enter directly into

13761-522: The most likely scenario is that the minaret was begun before 1158 and largely built by Abd al-Mu'min, or at the very least designed on his commission. It is plausible, however, that Ya'qub al-Mansur either finished the work during his reign or that he added the small secondary "lantern" tower at its summit in 1195. The second Kutubiyya Mosque was built almost identical to the first except for its adjusted orientation. The layout, architectural designs, dimensions and materials used for construction were almost all

13900-476: The name qasaba originally referred to the upper part of the city which contained the citadel and residence of the rulers. Following the French conquest of the country in 1830, most of the historic lower town of Algiers was demolished and remodeled along European lines. The only part of the old city that remained relatively untouched was the upper town, thus known as the "Casbah" of Algiers . The Casbah of Dellys

14039-768: The need for a lexical injection in Arabic, to suit concepts of the industrial and post-industrial age (such as sayyārah سَيَّارَة 'automobile' or bākhirah باخِرة 'steamship'). In response, a number of Arabic academies modeled after the Académie française were established with the aim of developing standardized additions to the Arabic lexicon to suit these transformations, first in Damascus (1919), then in Cairo (1932), Baghdad (1948), Rabat (1960), Amman (1977), Khartum  [ ar ] (1993), and Tunis (1993). They review language development, monitor new words and approve

14178-415: The network of roads was developed with the mosque as the central landmark, in the ville nouvelle . To the west and south of the mosque is a notable rose garden, and across Avenue Houmman-el-Fetouaki is the small mausoleum of the Almoravid emir Yusuf ibn Tashfin , one of the great builders of Marrakesh, consisting of a simple crenelated structure. In the mosque's esplanade, which backs onto Jemaa el Fna,

14317-417: The new Kasbah , or royal citadel, further south. As part of this citadel, al-Mansur had raised the new Kasbah Mosque , completed in 1190, which subsequently served as the main mosque of the caliph and the ruling elites. This would have thus made the old Kutubiyya less useful – especially the first mosque, which was attached to the former, now abandoned, royal palace. It is also possible that the first Kutubiyya

14456-445: The old and new buildings. This was only sealed up later, as it is today. Additionally, the mosque's current minaret appears to have been integrated into the fabric of both mosques, as evidenced by the remains of an arcade belonging to the first mosque and still attached to the base of the minaret today. Deverdun, in his 1959 study of Marrakesh, suggested the possibility that the first mosque was only abandoned after Ya'qub al-Mansur built

14595-424: The one whose sound is heard but whose person remains unseen. Now the term al-hatif is used for a telephone. Therefore, the process of tawleed can express the needs of modern civilization in a manner that would appear to be originally Arabic. In the case of Arabic, educated Arabs of any nationality can be assumed to speak both their school-taught Standard Arabic as well as their native dialects, which depending on

14734-417: The only surviving examples of such decoration from the Almohad period. The decoration is mostly executed in an ochre yellow over an ochre red background, or otherwise with a dark colour over a light background. In addition to some simple geometric motifs, the most elaborate examples are floral compositions based on a tree-of-life motif. There are also medallions containing stylized Kufic inscriptions with

14873-467: The orientation of the walls of the rectangular Kaaba structure inside the Great Mosque of Mecca , based on another tradition which considered the different sides of the Kaaba as being associated with different parts of the Muslim world. In this tradition, the northwest face of the Kaaba was associated with al-Andalus and, accordingly, the Great Mosque of Cordoba was oriented toward the southeast, as if facing

15012-421: The other naves, The central nave is covered by a series of cupola ceilings instead of a long sloped roof. The central nave, as well as the adjacent nave on either side, is split into bays by five transverse arches (i.e. arches perpendicular to the other arches). The transverse arch right in front of the mihrab, as well as the two parallel arches on either side of the mihrab, have a lambrequin profile instead of

15151-430: The outside. The mihrab , a niche symbolizing the qibla (direction of prayer), is set in the middle of the qibla wall (the southern wall) of the prayer hall and is a central focus of its layout. The prayer hall has a "T"-plan, in that the central nave aligned with the mihrab and another transverse (i.e. perpendicular) aisle running along the qibla wall are wider than other aisles and intersect each other (thus forming

15290-549: The overhaul of Arabic grammar first proposed by Al-Jahiz 200 years prior. The Maghrebi lexicographer Ibn Manzur compiled Lisān al-ʿArab ( لسان العرب , "Tongue of Arabs"), a major reference dictionary of Arabic, in 1290. Charles Ferguson 's koine theory claims that the modern Arabic dialects collectively descend from a single military koine that sprang up during the Islamic conquests; this view has been challenged in recent times. Ahmad al-Jallad proposes that there were at least two considerably distinct types of Arabic on

15429-498: The palace of Ali ibn Yusuf , built next to the fortress and completed in 1126, before being demolished by the Almohads to make way for their new mosque. Directly east of the current mosque is a 19th-century walled residence known as Dar Moulay Ali , which now serves as the French consulate. Also on the same esplanade is a small white domed building, the Koubba (or Qubba) of Lalla Zohra . This

15568-470: The plaster. The design consists of a tall square or cuboid shaft, which takes up about four fifths of its height. At the top of this main shaft is an open-air platform that can reached from inside the tower. On top of this is a second, smaller square shaft, capped by a fluted dome. The full height of the minaret tower, from the ground to the top of its finial , is around 77 metres (253 ft). The main shaft measures 55.68 metres (182.7 ft) tall and has

15707-410: The region may be mutually unintelligible. Some of these dialects can be considered to constitute separate languages which may have "sub-dialects" of their own. When educated Arabs of different dialects engage in conversation (for example, a Moroccan speaking with a Lebanese), many speakers code-switch back and forth between the dialectal and standard varieties of the language, sometimes even within

15846-401: The ruins of the first Kutubiyya Mosque can be seen. A part of the perimeter of the Ksar al-Hajjar, the original stone fortress built in 1070 by Abu Bakr ibn Umar , the Almoravid founder of the city, was also uncovered on the northern side of the original mosque. Also visible today at the northeast corner of these ruins and in other areas around the adjacent plaza are various remains attributed to

15985-428: The ruling Almohad dynasty while also making subtle references to the ancient Umayyad caliphate in Cordoba , whose great mosque was a model for much of subsequent Moroccan and Moorish architecture . It is unclear if the first Kutubiyya Mosque had a minaret , though some historians have suggested that a former bastion or gate of the Almoravid kasbah may have been reused for the mosque's first minaret. Fragments of such

16124-489: The ruling elites while the other was used by the general population. The construction dates of the second mosque are also not firmly established. One historical source, originally written by Ibn Tufayl and reported by al-Maqqari , claims that Abd al-Mu'min began construction on a mosque in May 1158 ( Rabi' al-Thani 553 AH ) and that it was completed with the inauguration of the first Friday prayers in September ( Sha'ban ) of

16263-403: The same period. The mosque's floor plan is a slightly irregular quadrilateral due to the fact that its northern wall corresponds to the former southern wall of the first mosque and its different orientation. The current mosque is roughly 90 metres (300 ft) wide, 57 metres (187 ft) long on its west side, and 66 metres (217 ft) long on its east side. Aside from the minaret, the mosque

16402-458: The same sentence. The issue of whether Arabic is one language or many languages is politically charged, in the same way it is for the varieties of Chinese , Hindi and Urdu , Serbian and Croatian , Scots and English, etc. In contrast to speakers of Hindi and Urdu who claim they cannot understand each other even when they can, speakers of the varieties of Arabic will claim they can all understand each other even when they cannot. While there

16541-512: The same year. Because this construction period seems implausibly short, it is likely that construction either began before May 1158 or (perhaps more likely) continued after September 1158. The minaret of the mosque, which is visible today, is also not conclusively dated. Some historical sources attribute it to Abd al-Mu'min (who reigned up until 1163) while others attribute it to Ya'qub al-Mansur (who reigned between 1184 and 1199). According to French scholar Gaston Deverdun and some later historians,

16680-423: The same. The only architectural differences are in a few details and in the fact that the second mosque was slightly wider than the first. The mosque's floor plan is also slightly irregular due to the fact that its northern wall is still the old southern wall of the first mosque, which is at a slightly different angle (due to the different qibla orientation). The Kutubiyya Mosque, and more specifically its minaret,

16819-515: The shortest possible path across the Earth's surface between the mosque and Mecca). Qibla orientations varied throughout the medieval period of Morocco, but the Almohads generally followed an orientation between 154° and 159° (numbers expressed as the azimuth from the true north ), whereas the "true" qibla in Marrakesh is 91° (nearly due east). This true qibla was eventually adopted in modern times and

16958-458: The sole example of Medieval linguist Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati – who, while a scholar of the Arabic language, was not ethnically Arab – Medieval scholars of the Arabic language made no efforts at studying comparative linguistics, considering all other languages inferior. In modern times, the educated upper classes in the Arab world have taken a nearly opposite view. Yasir Suleiman wrote in 2011 that "studying and knowing English or French in most of

17097-422: The south, at an azimuth of 159° or 161° from the true north, compared to the 154° alignment of the first mosque, which actually makes the second mosque 5 to 7 degrees further out of alignment with respect to the "true" or modern qibla . Why this slightly different alignment was preferred is unclear; it may be that the first mosque was aligned with the walls of the Ksar el-Hajjar and that this was judged sufficient at

17236-556: The standardization of these new terms throughout the Arabic-speaking world, and toward the development of Arabic as a world language . This gave rise to what Western scholars call Modern Standard Arabic. From the 1950s, Arabization became a postcolonial nationalist policy in countries such as Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Sudan. Arabic usually refers to Standard Arabic, which Western linguists divide into Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. It could also refer to any of

17375-494: The surfaces of the walls inside the minaret are also carved with various graffiti in the form of architectural and decorative patterns, possibly left behind by artisans and architects who worked on the mosque over many years. Arabic language Arabic (endonym: اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ , romanized :  al-ʿarabiyyah , pronounced [al ʕaraˈbijːa] , or عَرَبِيّ , ʿarabīy , pronounced [ˈʕarabiː] or [ʕaraˈbij] )

17514-405: The surrounding urban fabric, it was not practical for the Almohads to rebuild an entirely new mosque with a significantly different orientation on the same site. It's possible that they did not even demolish the mosque but merely left it derelict. The Almohads may have also wished to have the city's main mosque located closer to the kasbah and royal palaces, as was common in other Islamic cities. As

17653-408: The time, but that the alignment of the second mosque more closely matched that of the Tinmal Mosque (an important Almohad religious site) which had been built in the meantime. Other possible motivations for the construction of the second mosque may have been to accommodate a growing population, to make it more impressive by doubling its size, or even as an excuse to make one of the mosques exclusive to

17792-437: The tower's windows. Each of the four façades has a different series of these blind arch compositions, but the topmost tier is the same on each façade, featuring a panel of four intersecting polylobed arches. The surface of the tower once featured polychrome decoration that was painted onto a mortar or plaster coating, highlighting some of the blind arches, niches, and spandrels. Although only traces remain today, they are one of

17931-501: The towns where the inscriptions were discovered (Dadanitic, Taymanitic, Hismaic, Safaitic). However, most arguments for a single ANA language or language family were based on the shape of the definite article, a prefixed h-. It has been argued that the h- is an archaism and not a shared innovation, and thus unsuitable for language classification, rendering the hypothesis of an ANA language family untenable. Safaitic and Hismaic, previously considered ANA, should be considered Old Arabic due to

18070-618: The upper part of the minaret. Further restoration was carried out during the 20th century. The mosque's minaret is featured in Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque , a painting by Winston Churchill made after the 1943 Casablanca Conference . The mosque and its minaret were restored at the end of the 1990s. In 2016 the mosque was fitted with solar panels, solar water heaters, and energy-efficient LED lights as part of an effort to make state-run mosques more dependent on renewable green energy. The mosque

18209-417: The walls of the former Almoravid kasbah, the mosque may have been built on top of some of the former Almoravid palace's annexes and maybe even over a royal cemetery or mausoleum. The new mosque was likely connected to the adjacent royal palace via a passage ( sabat ) which allowed the Almohad caliph to enter the prayer hall directly from his palace without having to pass through the public entrances (not unlike

18348-404: The window openings situated at different points along the ascending ramp inside. The chambers inside are also enlivened with varying degrees of decoration and with vault ceilings of different designs. The topmost (sixth) chamber is especially notable for its ornamental ribbed dome ceiling (similar to the domes of the Great Mosque of Cordoba) with muqarnas squinches and geometric patterns. Some of

18487-405: The windows filled with carved arabesques . All of this is surrounded in turn by a frieze of geometric decoration . The sides of mihrab's opening are decorated with six engaged marble columns (three on either side) whose ornately carved capitals are spolia originating from Cordoba in al-Andalus, brought to Marrakesh either by the Almohads or by the Almoravids before them. Two doors also flank

18626-405: The words al-Mulku Lillah (Arabic: الملک للہ , lit.   'Sovereignty belongs to God') and al-'izzu Lillah (Arabic: العز لله , lit.   'Glory to God'). The white and green tiles near the top of the minaret are fastened by nails onto a wooden framework set into the masonry surface behind them. Forming a mosaic with a simple geometric pattern, this tilework

18765-451: The world have classes that teach Arabic as part of their foreign languages , Middle Eastern studies , and religious studies courses. Arabic language schools exist to assist students to learn Arabic outside the academic world. There are many Arabic language schools in the Arab world and other Muslim countries. Because the Quran is written in Arabic and all Islamic terms are in Arabic, millions of Muslims (both Arab and non-Arab) study

18904-454: Was dismantled in order to reuse its materials in the construction of the new kasbah and its mosque. Almagro and Jiménez, in their 2022 study, propose that both the first and second mosques continued to operate as one mosque until the 17th century. They suggest that in the second half of the 17th century, when the Saadi dynasty 's power collapsed and Marrakesh underwent a period of decline, the mosque

19043-427: Was historically flexible but it essentially denotes a fortress, commonly a citadel that protects a city or settlement area, or that serves as the administrative center. A kasbah citadel typically housed the military garrison and other privileged buildings such as a palace, along with other amenities such as a mosque and a hammam (bathhouse). Some kasbahs are built in a strategic elevated position overlooking

19182-494: Was neglected and fell into disrepair. When Marrakesh benefited from a revival in the second quarter of the 18th century, the second part of the mosque was restored and parts of it were rebuilt, but the older section, which was probably more severely ruined, was abandoned instead of restored. At this point, the passages that connected the two sections were sealed off, thus turning the second mosque into its own, stand-alone building, as it appears today. Little documentation exists about

19321-402: Was the forerunner of two other structures built on the same pattern, the Hassan Tower in Rabat (a monumental mosque begun by Ya'qub al-Mansur but never finished) and the Great Mosque of Seville , Spain, whose minaret is preserved as the Giralda . It thus became one of the models for subsequent Moroccan-Andalusian architecture. It is not known when the first mosque was actually deserted, nor

#209790