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144-456: In an architectural and historical context, the term generally refers to a particular kind of institution in the historic Muslim world which primarily taught Islamic law and jurisprudence ( fiqh ), as well as other subjects on occasion. The origin of this type of institution is widely credited to Nizam al-Mulk , a vizier under the Seljuks in the 11th century, who was responsible for building

288-458: A misr (Arabic: مصر , pl. amṣār ). This policy continued up to the Umayyad period. Like frontier colonies, these towns served as bases for further conquests. Initially, they appear to have been modest settlements consisting of an agglomeration of tents, perhaps similar to ancient Roman legionary camps . They were established outside existing non-Muslim cities. They were often unfortified and

432-587: A Sunni institution under Ayyubid rule (today's Al-Azhar University ). By the 900s AD, the Madrasa is noted to have become a successful higher education system. In the late 11th century, during the late ʻAbbāsid period, the Seljuk vizier Niẓām al-Mulk created one of the first major official academic institutions known in history as the Madrasah Niẓāmīyah , based on the informal majālis (sessions of

576-412: A common feature of Islamic domestic architecture due to the warm climates in most countries. One of the mosque recognizable types is the mashrabiya , a wooden lattice screen which projects from the side of a building and which protected privacy by allowed those inside to look outside without being visible from outside. Another type of lattice screen, not restricted to balconies, is the jali , which

720-647: A flat wooden roof supported by columns, and was decorated with marble panels and glass mosaics. The prayer hall of the Abu Dulaf Mosque at Samarra had arcades on rectangular brick piers running at right angles to the qibla wall. Both of the Samarra mosques have spiral minarets, the only examples in Iraq. 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. While

864-424: A future career. He wrote that this was a transitional stage and that there needs to be flexibility regarding the age in which pupils graduate, as the student's emotional development and chosen subjects need to be taken into account. During its formative period, the term madrasah referred to a higher education institution, whose curriculum initially included only the "religious sciences", whilst philosophy and

1008-445: A guide to teachers working at maktab schools. He wrote that children can learn better if taught in classes instead of individual tuition from private tutors , and he gave a number of reasons for why this is the case, citing the value of competition and emulation among pupils, as well as the usefulness of group discussions and debates . Ibn Sīnā described the curriculum of a maktab school in some detail, describing

1152-530: A larger külliye or a waqf -based religious foundation which included other elements like a mosque and a hammam (public bathhouse). The following excerpt provides a brief synopsis of the historical origins and starting points for the teachings that took place in the Ottoman madrasas in the Early Modern Period: Taşköprülüzâde's concept of knowledge and his division of the sciences provides

1296-520: A masterpiece of the Almoravids founded in 1082, has twelve slender ribs and the shell between the ribs is filled with filigree stucco work. Ottoman architecture developed a specific form of monumental, representative building: large central domes were erected on top of a centrally-planned building. After the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, they found a variety of Byzantine Christian churches,

1440-557: A more classical influence. Muqarnas is a three-dimensional sculpted motif created by the geometric subdivision of a vaulting structure into miniature, superimposed pointed-arch substructures or niches, also known as "honeycomb" or "stalactite" vaults. They can be made from different materials like stone, brick, wood or stucco. The earliest monuments to make use of this feature date from the 11th century and are found in Iraq, North Africa, Iran, Central Asia, and Upper Egypt . This apparently near-simultaneous development in distant regions of

1584-465: A mosque building. Its formal function is to provide a vantage point from which the call to prayer, or adhān , is made. The call to prayer is issued five times each day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night. In most modern mosques, the adhān is made directly from the prayer hall and broadcast via microphone to a speaker system on the minaret. The origin of the minaret and its initial functions are not clearly known and have long been

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1728-415: A mosque, a governor's residence ( dār al-imāra ), and a market were likely the first major constructions to appear, located at the center of the town. More often than founding new cities, the new Islamic rulers took over existing towns. Most of the new Arab settlers nonetheless settled into previously existing urban centers throughout the conquered territories. These cities were transformed according to

1872-423: A mosque, and funded by an early charitable trust known as waqf . Madrasas were largely centred on the study of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). The ijāzat al-tadrīs wa-al-iftāʼ ("licence to teach and issue legal opinions") in the medieval Islamic legal education system had its origins in the ninth century after the formation of the madhāhib (schools of jurisprudence). George Makdisi considers

2016-610: A much larger scale. The emergence of the maktab and madrasa institutions played a fundamental role in the relatively high literacy rates of the medieval Islamic world. Under the Anatolian Seljuk , Zengid , Ayyubid , and Mamluk dynasties (11th-16th centuries) in the Middle East, many of the ruling elite founded madrasas through a religious endowment and charitable trust known as a waqf . The first documented madrasa created in Syria

2160-476: A place of worship as they were also utilized as an area to host community transactions of business. It was the center of most of a city's social and cultural life. Along with this came trades of information and teachings. As the mosque was a starting ground for religious discourse in the Islamic world, these madrasas became more common. In this context, a madrasa would be referred to as a localized area or center within

2304-639: A primary or secondary school. For example, in the Ottoman Empire during the Early Modern Period , madrasas had lower schools and specialised schools where the students became known as danişmends . In medieval usage, however, the term madrasah was usually specific to institutions of higher learning, which generally taught Islamic law and occasionally other subjects, as opposed to elementary schools or children's schools, which were usually known as kuttāb , khalwa or maktab . The usual Arabic word for

2448-469: A result of this, Umayyad architecture is distinguished by the extent and variety of decoration, including mosaics , wall painting, sculpture and carved reliefs. While figural scenes were notably present in monuments like Qusayr 'Amra , non-figural decoration and more abstract scenes became highly favoured, especially in religious architecture. The Umayyad period thus played a crucial role in transforming and enriching existing architectural traditions during

2592-504: A separate and protected space where the sultan could perform his prayers (similar to a maqsura ). A similar feature is also found in the Bara Gunbad complex (late 15th century) in Delhi. The qiblah ( قِـبْـلَـة ) is the direction in which Mecca is from any given location, towards which Muslims face during prayers. Within Islamic architecture it is a major component of both the features and

2736-845: A standard feature of all mosques. Several major early monuments of Islamic architecture built under the Umayyads include the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (built by Caliph Abd al-Malik ) and the Great Mosque of Damascus (built by al-Walid I). The Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Al-Aqsa compound, also in Jerusalem, was also rebuilt by al-Walid I, replacing an earlier simple structure built around 670. A number of palaces from this period have also partially survived or have been excavated in modern times. The horseshoe arch appears for

2880-574: A standard feature of mosques until the 11th century. These first minaret towers were placed in the middle of the wall opposite the qibla wall. Among them, the minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia, dating from 836, is one of the oldest surviving minarets in the world and the oldest in North Africa. It has the shape of a massive tower with a square base, three levels of decreasing widths, and

3024-470: A starting point for a study of learning and medrese education in the Ottoman Empire. Taşköprülüzâde recognises four stages of knowledge—spiritual, intellectual, oral and written. Thus all the sciences fall into one of these seven categories: calligraphic sciences, oral sciences, intellectual sciences, spiritual sciences, theoretical rational sciences, and practical rational sciences. The first Ottoman medrese

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3168-467: A starting point for higher education for Muslim India. Babur of the Mughal Empire founded a madrasa in Delhi which he specifically included the subjects of mathematics, astronomy, and geography besides the standard subjects of law, history, secular and religious sciences. Although little is known about the management and inner workings of these places of Islamic higher education, religious studies bore

3312-434: A student "had to study in a guild school of law, usually four years for the basic undergraduate course" and ten or more years for a post-graduate course. The "doctorate was obtained after an oral examination to determine the originality of the candidate's theses", and to test the student's "ability to defend them against all objections, in disputations set up for the purpose." These were scholarly exercises practised throughout

3456-592: A superimposed spherical dome, is the characteristic architectural vault form of the Islamic East. From its beginnings in the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan, this form of vault was used in a sequence of important buildings up to the period of Safavid architecture. Its main characteristics are: While intersecting pairs of ribs from the main decorative feature of Seljuk architecture , the ribs were hidden behind additional architectural elements in later periods, as exemplified in

3600-545: A temporal formwork to guide and center the vault. These ribs, which were left in the structure afterwards, do not carry any load. The ribs were cast in advance on strips of cloth, the impression of which can still be seen in the ribs today. Similar structures are known from Sasanian architecture, for example from the palace of Firuzabad . Umayyad-period vaults of this type were found in Amman Citadel and in Qasr Amra . An iwan

3744-431: A topic of scholarly discussion. The earliest mosques lacked minarets, and the call to prayer was often performed from smaller tower structures. The early Muslim community of Medina gave the call to prayer from the doorway or the roof of the house of Muhammad , which doubled as a place for prayer. The first confirmed minarets in the form of towers date from the early 9th century under Abbasid rule and they did not become

3888-455: A total height of 31.5 meters. Minarets have had various forms (in general round, squared, spiral or octagonal) depending on the period and architectural tradition. The number of minarets by mosques is not fixed; originally one minaret would accompany each mosque, but some architectural styles can include multiple minarets. In the newly-conquered areas of the early Muslim expansion, military settlements were often founded, known individually as

4032-420: A university, however, is جامعة ( jāmiʻah ) . The Hebrew cognate midrasha also connotes the meaning of a place of learning; the related term midrash literally refers to study or learning, but has acquired mystical and religious connotations. In English, the term madrasah or "madrasa" usually refers more narrowly to Islamic institutions of learning. Historians and other scholars also employ

4176-505: Is a hall that is walled on three sides and open on one side. It is typically covered by a vault although this can vary. This feature was present in Sasanian architecture, though its exact origins are older and still debated. It was later incorporated into Islamic architecture. Its usage became more common and widespread under the Seljuks in the 10th century. Iwans were used in a variety of ways and arranged in varying positions in relation to

4320-588: Is common to Indo-Islamic architecture and is made of perforated stone. Other examples of balconies and related structures include the jharokha in Rajasthani and Indo-Islamic architecture and the mirador , a Spanish term applied to a balcony or lookout pavilion in Andalusi palaces like the Alhambra. Balconies also became an architectural element inside some mosques, such as the hünkâr mahfili in Ottoman mosques,

4464-465: Is done". Thus, madrasah literally means "a place where learning and studying take place" or "place of study". The word is also present as a loanword with the same general meaning in many Arabic-influenced languages, such as: Urdu , Pashto , Baluchi , Persian , Turkish , Azeri , Kurdish , Indonesian , Somali and Bosnian . In the Arabic language, the word مدرسة madrasah simply means

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4608-426: Is due to discrepancies in the calculations of the Islamic scientists in the past who determined where Mecca was from their individual locations. Scholars note that these differences come about for a multitude of reasons, such as some misunderstanding the meaning of qibla itself, the fact that the geographic coordinates of the past do not line up with the coordinates of today, and that the determination of this direction

4752-530: Is estimated from the first day of " nabuwwat " to the first portion of the Umayyad Caliphate . At the beginning of the Caliphate period, the reliance on courts initially confined sponsorship and scholarly activities to major centres. In the early history of the Islamic period, teaching was generally carried out in mosques rather than in separate specialized institutions. Although some major early mosques like

4896-522: Is nonetheless considered by many as the starting point for the proliferation of the formal madrasah across the rest of the Muslim world, adapted for use by all four different Sunni Islamic legal schools and Sufi orders . Part of the motivation for this widespread adoption of the madrasah by Sunni rulers and elites was a desire to counter the influence and spread of Shi'ism at the time, by using these institutions to spread Sunni teachings. Dimitri Gutas and

5040-539: Is often regarded as the traditional "Islamic" city, occurred over a long period and was shaped by multiple social and economic causes that varied according to region and period. The arrival of Islamic rule was only one stage in a process that had already begun by the 6th century. The principle of arranging buildings is known as "horizontal spread". Residencies and public buildings as well as private housing tend to be laid out separately, and are not directly related to each other architectonically. Archaeological excavations at

5184-745: Is tied to the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 which set a basis of importance for Muslim education. Under control of the Delhi Sultanate, two early important madrasas were founded. The first was the Mu’zziyya named after Muḥammad Ghuri of the Ghorid Dynasty and his title of Muʿizz al-Dīn and founded by Sultan Iltutmish. The other madrasa was the Nāṣiriyya, named after Nāṣir al-Dīn Maḥmūd and built by Balban. These two madrasas bear importance as

5328-462: The ijāzah to be the origin of the European doctorate. However, in an earlier article, he considered the ijāzah to be of "fundamental difference" to the medieval doctorate, since the former was awarded by an individual teacher-scholar not obliged to follow any formal criteria, whereas the latter was conferred on the student by the collective authority of the faculty. To obtain an ijāzah ,

5472-538: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy consider the period between the 11th and 14th centuries to be the " Golden Age " of Arabic and Islamic philosophy , initiated by al-Ghazali 's successful integration of logic into the madrasah curriculum and the subsequent rise of Avicennism . In addition to religious subjects, they taught the "rational sciences," as varied as mathematics , astronomy , astrology , geography , alchemy and philosophy depending on

5616-573: The Abbasid Caliphate (750–1513) was particularly influenced by Sasanian architecture, which in turn featured elements present since ancient Mesopotamia. Other influences such as ancient Soghdian architecture in Central Asia have also been noted. This was partly a result of the caliphate's political center shifting further east to the new capital of Baghdad , in present-day Iraq. The Abbasids also built other capital cities, such as Samarra in

5760-523: The Andalusian cities of Córdoba , Seville , Toledo , Granada , Murcia , Almería , Valencia and Cádiz during the Caliphate of Córdoba . In the Ottoman Empire during the early modern period, "Madaris were divided into lower and specialised levels, which reveals that there was a sense of elevation in school. Students who studied in the specialised schools after completing courses in the lower levels became known as danişmends ." Mosques were more than

5904-618: The Arab-Muslim conquests of the region. Like madrasas (which referred to higher education), a maktab was often attached to an endowed mosque. In the 11th century, the famous Persian Islamic philosopher and teacher Ibn Sīnā (known as Avicenna in the West), in one of his books, wrote a chapter about the maktab entitled "The Role of the Teacher in the Training and Upbringing of Children", as

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6048-924: The Bab al-Mardum Mosque in Toledo and the minarets added to the Qarawiyyin and Andalusiyyin mosques in Fez (present-day Morocco ) demonstrate the prevalence of the same stylistic elements across the region. After its initial apogee of power, the Abbasid Caliphate became partly fragmented into regional states in the 9th century which were formally obedient to the caliphs in Baghdad but were de facto independent. The Aghlabids in Ifriqiya (roughly modern-day Tunisia ) were notable patrons of architecture themselves, responsible for rebuilding both

6192-653: The Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and the Sasanian Empire . These two empires both cultivated their own major architectural traditions. Occupying the borderlands between these two empires – in the desert and steppe regions of Syria , Palestine , Mesopotamia and northern Arabia – were two Arab tribal client states : the Lakhmids , who were clients of the Sasanians and had their capital at al-Hira (in present-day Iraq ), and

6336-491: The Capilla de Villaviciosa , located several bays before the mihrab. In sections which now supporting these domes, additional supporting structures were needed to bear the thrust of the cupolas. The architects solved this problem by the construction of intersecting arches. The domes themselves are built with eight intersecting stone ribs. Rather than meeting in the centre of the dome, the ribs intersect one another off-center, leaving

6480-664: The Fatimid Caliphate rose to power in Ifriqiya, where it built a new fortified capital at Mahdia . In 970, the Fatimids moved their center of power to Egypt and founded another capital, Cairo . Fatimid architecture in Egypt followed Tulunid techniques and used similar materials, but also developed its own features. The first Fatimid congregational mosque in Cairo was al-Azhar Mosque , founded at

6624-557: The Ghassanids , who were clients of the Byzantines and protected their eastern borders. These two Arab dynasties were significant patrons of architecture in their respective regions. Their architecture is not well understood due to the scarcity of identifiable remains today, but they borrowed and adapted the architecture of their Byzantine and Sasanian suzerains . Some of their buildings are known from archeology or historical texts, such as

6768-502: The Great Mosque of Damascus or the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in Cairo had separate rooms which were devoted to teaching, this distinction between "mosque" and "madrasa" was not very present. Notably, the al-Qarawiyyin ( Jāmiʻat al-Qarawīyīn ), established in 859 in the city of Fes , present-day Morocco , is considered the oldest university in the world by some scholars, though the application of

6912-573: The Great Mosque of Kairouan (originally founded by Uqba ibn Nafi in 670) and the Zaytuna Mosque of Tunis in much of their current forms, as well as for building numerous other structures in the region. In Egypt, Ahmad ibn Tulun established a short-lived dynasty, the Tulunids , and built himself a new capital ( Al-Qata'i ) and a new congregational mosque, known as the Ibn Tulun Mosque , which

7056-581: The Gunbad-i Qabus (1006–1007) in northeastern Iran, and the Duvazdah Imam Mausoleum (1037–1038) in Yazd . From the 12th century onward its usage became common across the Islamic world and different local styles developed over time. In addition to serving as squinches and pendentives , muqarnas was also employed to decorate cornices , portals, mihrabs, windows, arches, and entire domes. Balconies are

7200-763: The Invasion of Banu Mustaliq 'Abdullāh ibn ‘Ubayy, who was referred to as the head of the "Hypocrites" ( munāfiqūn ), was furious for the challenge which the Muslims showed towards the hostile plans and intrigues woven behind closed doors, and swore "the most honourable will expel the meanest out of Madinah," and added: "They (the Muslims) have outnumbered and shared us our land. If you fatten your dog, it will eat you." Zayd ibn Arqam narrated this to Muhammad who then asked for Abdullāh ibn ‘Ubayy 's presence. ibn ‘Ubayy swore oaths denying he had stated something like this and because of this he

7344-565: The Levant since the classical and Nabatean period. They were mainly used to cover houses and cisterns. The architectural form of covering diaphragm arches with barrel vaults, however, was likely newly introduced from Iranian architecture , as similar vaulting was not known in Bilad al-Sham before the arrival of the Umayyads. However, this form was well known in Iran from early Parthian times, as exemplified in

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7488-758: The Ottoman Empire , during the Early Modern Period, the study of hadiths was introduced by Süleyman I . Depending on the educational demands, some madrasas also offer additional advanced courses in Arabic literature , English and other foreign languages, as well as science and world history. Ottoman madrasas along with religious teachings also taught "styles of writing, grammar, syntax, poetry, composition, natural sciences, political sciences, and etiquette." People of all ages attend, and many often move on to becoming imams . The certificate of an ʻālim , for example, requires approximately twelve years of study. A good number of

7632-607: The Roman -style basilica with an adjacent courtyard surrounded by colonnades , like Trajan's Forum in Rome. The Roman type of building has developed out of the Greek agora . In Islamic architecture, the hypostyle hall is the main feature of the hypostyle mosque. One of the earliest hypostyle mosques is the Tarikhaneh Mosque in Iran, dating back to the eighth century. Some scholars refer to

7776-792: The Taj Mahal ( Agra ), and at Humayun's Tomb ( New Delhi ), in India; the Shalimar Gardens ( Lahore , Pakistan ) or at the Alhambra and Generalife in Granada , Spain . As a common feature, Islamic architecture makes use of specific ornamental forms , including mathematically complicated, elaborate geometric patterns, floral motifs like the arabesque , and elaborate calligraphic inscriptions. The geometric or floral, interlaced forms, taken together, constitute an infinitely repeated pattern that extends beyond

7920-447: The de facto rule of the Buyid dynasty , northern Iran was ruled by the Bawandids and Ziyarids , and the northeastern regions of Khurasan and Transoxiana were ruled by the Samanids . It is around this period that many of the distinctive features of subsequent Iranian and Central Asian architecture first emerged, including the use of baked brick for both construction and decoration, the use of glazed tile for surface decoration, and

8064-617: The hypostyle format. In other cities, especially in Syria, new mosques were established by converting or occupying parts of existing churches in existing cities, as for example in Damascus and Hama . These early mosques had no minaret , although small shelters may have been constructed on the roofs to protect the muezzin while issuing the call to prayer . The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) combined elements of Byzantine architecture and Sasanian architecture , but Umayyad architecture introduced new combinations of these styles. The reuse of elements from classical Roman and Byzantine art

8208-411: The mihrab evolved to become the usual focus of architectural decoration in the building. The details of its shape and materials varied from region to region. In congregational mosques, the mihrab was usually flanked by a minbar (pulpit), and some historical mosques also included a nearby maqsura (a protected space for the ruler during prayers). The minaret is a tower that traditionally accompanies

8352-405: The oneness of God (e.g. Qur'an 112 ), and the role of Muhammad as the "Seal of the Prophets", which have been interpreted as an attempt to announce the rejection of the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity and to proclaim the triumph of Islam over Christianity and Judaism. Additionally, foundation inscriptions on buildings commonly indicate its founder or patron, the date of its construction,

8496-480: The qibla wall (the wall standing in the direction of prayer) of a mosque or other prayer space. It symbolized and indicated the direction of the qibla to worshippers. It also acquired ritual and ceremonial importance over time, and its shape was even used as a symbol on some coinage. The very first mosques did not have mihrabs; the first known concave mihrab niche was the one added to the Prophet's Mosque in Medina by Caliph al-Walid I in 706 or 707. In later mosques

8640-461: The secular sciences were often excluded. The curriculum slowly began to diversify, with many later madrasas teaching both the religious and the "secular sciences", such as logic , mathematics and philosophy . Some madrasas further extended their curriculum to history , politics , ethics , music , metaphysics , medicine , astronomy and chemistry . The curriculum of a madrasah was usually set by its founder, but most generally taught both

8784-695: The ḥuffāẓ (plural of ḥāfiẓ ) are the product of the madrasas. The madrasas also resemble colleges, where people take evening classes and reside in dormitories. An important function of the madrasas is to admit orphans and poor children in order to provide them with education and training. Madrasas may enroll female students; however, they study separately from the men. Features Types Types Features Clothing Genres Art music Folk Prose Islamic Poetry Genres Forms Arabic prosody National literatures of Arab States Concepts Texts Fictional Arab people South Arabian deities In

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8928-429: The 15th century, major Timurid monuments like the Gur-i Amir Mausoleum and the Bibi Khanum Mosque (both completed around 1404) were notable in their use of large double-shelled domes. These domes were composed of an inner shell which was visible from the interior and a larger outer shell, visible from the exterior and often of a slightly different shape. The Gur-i Amir Mausoleum's dome, the oldest one to have survived to

9072-404: The 9th century, which is now a major archeological site that has provided numerous insights into the evolution of Islamic art and architecture during this time. During the Abbasid Caliphate's golden years in the 8th and 9th centuries, its great power and unity allowed architectural fashions and innovations to spread quickly to other areas of the Islamic world under its influence. Features from

9216-410: The Ayyubids built many more madrasas across their territories. Not only was the madrasa a potent symbol of status for its patrons but it could also be an effective means of transmitting wealth and status to their descendants. Especially during the Mamluk period, when only former slaves ( mamālīk ) could assume power, the sons of the ruling Mamluk elites were unable to inherit. Guaranteed positions within

9360-468: The Byzantine/Roman worlds to the later Arab Islamic dynasties who established their political centers in the same regions. When the early Arab-Muslim conquests spread out from the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century and advanced across the Middle East and North Africa, new garrison cities were established in the conquered territories, such as Fustat in Egypt and Kufa in present-day Iraq. The central congregational mosques of these cities were built in

9504-477: The Great Mosque of Damascus feature a hypostyle hall in this fashion, with a dome above the space in front of the mihrab , and both were influential in the design of later mosques elsewhere. The Dome of the Rock and the Umayyad Mosque are also notable for their extensive program of mosaic decoration that drew on late Antique motifs and craftsmanship. However, mosaic decoration eventually fell out of fashion in Islamic architecture. The Abbasid architecture of

9648-428: The Iranian tradition. The design of the Tomb of Humayun (completed around 1571–72), including its double-shelled dome, suggests that its architects were familiar with Timurid monuments in Samarqand. The central dome of the Taj Mahal likewise features a bulbous profile and a double-shelled construction. The Great Mosque of Córdoba in Al-Andalus was initially built with a system of double-arched arcades supporting

9792-429: The Islamic West of Al-Andalus and the Maghreb. At around 1000 AD, the Bab al-Mardum Mosque in Toledo was constructed with a similar, eight-ribbed dome, surrounded by eight other ribbed domes of varying design. Similar domes are also seen in the mosque building of the Aljafería of Zaragoza . The architectural form of the ribbed dome was further developed in the Maghreb: the central dome of the Great Mosque of Tlemcen ,

9936-422: The Islamic world has led to multiple scholarly theories about their origin and spread, with one current theory proposing that they originated in one region at least a century earlier and then spread from there. Some of the earliest surviving examples preserved in situ are tripartite squinches used as transitional elements for domes and semi-domes, such as at the Arab-Ata Mausoleum (977–978) in Tim ( Uzbekistan ),

10080-403: The Lakhmid palaces of Khawarnaq and al-Sadir in al-Hira, a Ghassanid church with mosaic decoration at Nitil (near Madaba ), and a Ghassanid audience hall incorporated into the later Umayyad rural residence at ar-Rusafa . The culture and architecture of the Lakhmids and Ghassanids probably played a subsequent role in transmitting and filtering the architectural traditions of the Sasanian and

10224-411: The Latin title licentia docendi 'licence to teach' in the European university may have been a translation of the Arabic, but the underlying concept was very different. A significant difference between the ijāzat al-tadrīs and the licentia docendi was that the former was awarded by the individual scholar-teacher, while the latter was awarded by the chief official of the university, who represented

10368-495: The Parthian buildings of Aššur . The earliest known example for barrel vaults resting on diaphragm arches from Umayyad architecture is known from Qasr Harane in Syria. During the early period, the diaphragm arches are built from coarsely cut limestone slabs, without using supporting falsework , which were connected by gypsum mortar . Later-period vaults were erected using pre-formed lateral ribs modelled from gypsum, which served as

10512-668: The Quran is the core of all learning, it is described in this journal as the “Spine of all discipline” A typical Islamic school usually offers two courses of study: a ḥifẓ course teaching memorization of the Qur'an (the person who commits the entire Qur'an to memory is called a ḥāfiẓ ); and an ʻālim course leading the candidate to become an accepted scholar in the community. A regular curriculum includes courses in Arabic , tafsir (Qur'anic interpretation), sharīʻah (Islamic law), hadith , mantiq (logic), and Muslim history . In

10656-414: The Rock, its layout did not frequently serve as a model for major Islamic monuments after it. In hypostyle mosques, the Umayyads introduced the tradition of making the "nave" or aisle in front of the mihrab wider than the others, dividing the prayer room along its central axis. This innovation was probably inspired by the layout of existing Christian basilicas in the region. Both the al-Aqsa Mosque and

10800-576: The Selimiye Mosque, which came after many spatial and structural experiments in previous works, is Sinan's masterpiece and the pinnacle of Ottoman domed architecture. It optimizes the domed space, making all elements of the building subordinate to it. Ottoman sources boasted that its dome surpassed that of the Hagia Sophia for the first time. Gardens and water have for many centuries played an essential role in Islamic culture, and are often compared to

10944-557: The archaeological excavations at Pasargadae . The gardens of Chehel Sotoun ( Isfahan ), Fin Garden ( Kashan ), Eram Garden ( Shiraz ), Shazdeh Garden ( Mahan ), Dowlatabad Garden ( Yazd ), Abbasabad Garden ( Abbasabad ), Akbarieh Garden ( South Khorasan Province ), Pahlevanpour Garden , all in Iran , form part of the UNESCO World Heritage . Large Paradise gardens are also found at

11088-413: The beginning. It consisted of a simple courtyard structure built in unbaked brick, with a rectangular, almost square, floor plan measuring about 53 by 56 meters. A shaded portico supported by palm trunks stood on the north side of the courtyard, in the direction of prayer (the qibla ), which was initially towards Jerusalem . When the qibla was changed to face towards Mecca in 624, a similar portico

11232-426: The building. In the dome of the Hagia Sophia, the ribs and shell of the dome unite in a central medallion at the apex of the dome, the upper ends of the ribs being integrated into the shell; shell and ribs form one single structural entity. The structural transition below the dome is achieved by four pendentives and the domed space is extended by two semi-domes. This design, along with early Ottoman designs, served as

11376-643: The center of the city. A few cities were founded during the early Islamic Umayyad Caliphate , the outlines of which were based on the Ancient Roman concept of the ideal city . An example of a city planned according to such concepts was excavated at Anjar in Lebanon . Donald Whitcomb argues that the early Muslim conquests initiated a conscious attempt to recreate specific morphological features characteristic of earlier western and southwestern Arabian cities. Zayd ibn Arqam Zayd ibn Arqam ( Arabic : زيد بن أرقم)

11520-471: The central space to be occupied by a smaller cupola. For the domes in front of the mihrab, the ribs form an eight-pointed star and an octagonal cupola in the centre. For the dome over the Capilla de Villaviciosa , the ribs leave a central square space between them, with an octagonal cupola added over this. The ribbed domes of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba served as models for later mosque buildings in

11664-506: The city of Jerash , the Gerasa of Antiquity, have revealed how the Umayyads have transformed the city plan. The antique concept of the architecture of a metropolis is based on a structure of main and smaller roads running through the entire city, and dividing it into quarters. The streets are oriented towards public buildings like a palace, temple, or a public square. Two main roads, ( cardo and decumanus ) cross each other at right angles in

11808-785: The collective faculty, rather than the individual scholar-teacher. Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam . It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic area historically ranging from western Africa and Europe to eastern Asia. Certain commonalities are shared by Islamic architectural styles across all these regions, but over time different regions developed their own styles according to local materials and techniques, local dynasties and patrons, different regional centers of artistic production, and sometimes different religious affiliations . Early Islamic architecture

11952-497: The curricula for two stages of education in a maktab school. Ibn Sīnā wrote that children should be sent to a maktab school from the age of 6 and be taught primary education until they reach the age of 14. During which time, he wrote, they should be taught the Qur'an, Islamic metaphysics , Arabic, literature , Islamic ethics , and manual skills (which could refer to a variety of practical skills). Ibn Sīnā refers to

12096-676: The curriculum of the specific institution in question. The madrasas, however, were not centres of advanced scientific study; scientific advances in Islam were usually carried out by scholars working under the patronage of royal courts. During the Islamic Golden Age , the territories under the Caliphate experienced a growth in literacy , having the highest literacy rate of the Middle Ages , comparable to classical Athens ' literacy in antiquity but on

12240-484: The development of muqarnas from squinches . Hypostyle mosques continued to be built and there is also evidence of multi-domed mosques, though most were modified or rebuilt in later eras. The Jameh Mosque of Na'in , one of the oldest surviving congregational mosques in Iran, contains some of the best-preserved features from this period, including decorative brickwork, Kufic inscriptions, and rich stucco decoration featuring vine scrolls and acanthus leaves that draw from

12384-654: The dome of the Tomb of Ahmed Sanjar in Merv , until they finally disappeared completely behind the double shell of a stucco dome, as seen in the dome of Ālī Qāpū in Isfahan. The use of domes in South Asia started with the establishment of Delhi sultanate in 1204 CE. Unlike Ottoman domes, and even more so than Persian domes, domes in South Asia tend to be more bulbous . Many monumental Mughal domes were also double-shelled and derived from

12528-570: The earlier styles of Samarra. Another important architectural trend to arise in the 10th to 11th centuries is the development of mausolea, which took on monumental forms for the first time. One type of mausoleum was the tomb tower, such as the Gunbad-i-Qabus (circa 1006–7), while the other main type was the domed square, such as the Tomb of the Samanids in Bukhara (before 943). In the 10th century,

12672-519: The earlier vegetal motifs of late antique traditions into more abstract and stylized forms, as exemplified by the so-called "beveled" style. These decorative techniques quickly spread to other regions where stucco decoration played a prominent role. Abbasid mosques all followed the courtyard plan with hypostyle halls. The earliest was the mosque that Caliph al-Mansur built in Baghdad (since destroyed). The Great Mosque of Samarra built by al-Mutawakkil measured 256 by 139 metres (840 by 456 ft), had

12816-463: The early hypostyle mosque with courtyard as the "Arab plan" or "Arab-type" mosque. Such mosques were constructed mostly under the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties; subsequently, however, the simplicity of this type of plan limited the opportunities for further development, and as a result, these mosques gradually fell out of popularity in some regions. In Islamic buildings, vaulting follows two distinct architectural styles: While Umayyad architecture in

12960-497: The east side of the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi mosque. Ubada ibn as-Samit was appointed there by Muhammad as teacher and among the students. In the curriculum of the madrasa, there were teachings of The Qur'an, The Hadith, fara'iz, tajweed , genealogy , treatises of first aid , etc. There was also training in horse-riding, the art of war, handwriting and calligraphy , athletics and martial arts . The first part of madrasa-based education

13104-404: The expansion by al-Hakam II (r. 961–976) introducing important aesthetic innovations such as interlacing arches and ribbed domes, which were imitated and elaborated in later monuments in the region. The construction of Madinat al-Zahra , a new capital and monumental palace-city in the 10th century, also created an important complex of royal architecture and patronage. Smaller monuments such as

13248-491: The first network of official madrasas in Iran, Mesopotamia , and Khorasan . From there, the construction of madrasas spread across much of the Muslim world over the next few centuries, often adopting similar models of architectural design. The madrasas became the longest serving institutions of the Ottoman Empire, beginning service in 1330 and operating for nearly 600 years on three continents. They trained doctors, engineers, lawyers and religious officials, among other members of

13392-549: The first time in Umayyad architecture, later to evolve to its most advanced form in al-Andalus ( Iberian Peninsula ). The Dome of the Rock has a centralized floor plan with an octagonal layout. This was most likely modeled on earlier Byzantine martyria in the region that had a similar form, such as the Church of the Kathisma . Despite the religious and historical importance of the Dome of

13536-463: The flat timberwork ceiling. The columns of the arcades are connected by horseshoe arches which support brick pillars, which are in turn interconnected by semicircular arches. This arcade system was copied during the mosque's subsequent expansions, but the expansion by al-Hakam II after 961 also introduced a series of ornate ribbed domes. Three domes span the vaults in front of the mihrab wall while another one covers an area now known by its Spanish name,

13680-479: The focus amongst most other subjects, particularly the rational sciences such as mathematics, logic, medicine, and astronomy. Although some tried to emphasize these subjects more, it is doubtful that every madrasa made this effort. While " madrasah " can now refer to any type of school, the term madrasah was originally used to refer more specifically to a medieval Islamic centre of learning, mainly teaching Islamic law and theology , usually affiliated with

13824-449: The focus of theology and legal study was utmost, specified law schools began their own development. On the theological side however, these remained mainly at the general madrasa since it was more common and easier for the lower-level students to approach. The requirement of competent teachers to keep a madrasa up and running was also important. It was not uncommon for these scholars to be involved in multiple fields such as Abd al-Latif who

13968-511: The formation of Islam under the leadership of Muhammad in early 7th-century Arabia . The first mosque was a structure built by Muhammad in Medina in 622, right after his Hijrah (migration) from Mecca , which corresponds to the site of the present-day Mosque of the Prophet ( al-Masjid an-Nabawi ). It is usually described as his house, but may have been designed to serve as a community center from

14112-460: The formation of early Islamic society's visual culture. The Umayyads were the first to add the mihrab to mosque design, a concave niche in the qibla wall of the mosque. The first mihrab reportedly appeared at Muhammad's mosque in Medina when it was rebuilt by al-Walid I in 707. It seems to have represented the place where the Prophet stood when leading prayer. This almost immediately became

14256-423: The garden into four sections of equal size: One of the hallmarks of Persian gardens is the four-part garden laid out with axial paths that intersect at the garden's centre. This highly structured geometrical scheme, called the chahar bagh, became a powerful metaphor for the organization and domestication of the landscape, itself a symbol of political territory. A Charbagh from Achaemenid time has been identified in

14400-757: The garden of Paradise . The comparison originates from the Achaemenid Empire . In his dialogue " Oeconomicus ", Xenophon has Socrates relate the story of the Spartan general Lysander 's visit to the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger , who shows the Greek his "Paradise at Sardis". The classical form of the Persian Paradise garden , or the charbagh , comprises a rectangular irrigated space with elevated pathways, which divide

14544-474: The governing and political elite. The madrasas were a specific educational institution, with their own funding and curricula, in contrast with the Enderun palace schools attended by Devshirme pupils. The word madrasah derives from the triconsonantal Semitic root د-ر-س D-R-S 'to learn, study', using the wazn ( morphological form or template) مفعل(ة) ; mafʻal(ah) , meaning "a place where something

14688-477: The largest and most prominent being the Hagia Sophia . The brickwork-and-mortar ribs and the spherical shell of the central dome of the Hagia Sophia were built simultaneously, as a self-supporting structure without any wooden centring . In the early Byzantine church of Hagia Irene , the ribs of the dome vault are fully integrated into the shell, similar to Western Roman domes, and thus are not visible from within

14832-710: The late 13th century, the first madrasas were being built in Morocco under the Marinid dynasty , starting with the Saffarin Madrasa in Fes (founded in 1271) and culminating with much larger and more ornate constructions like the Bou Inania Madrasa (founded in 1350). During the Ottoman period the medrese ( Turkish word for madrasah ) was a common institution as well, often part of

14976-590: The late Umayyad period, such as vaulting, carved stucco , and painted wall decoration, were continued and elaborated in the Abbasid period. The four-centred arch , a more sophisticated form of the pointed arch , is first attested during the Abbasid period in monuments at Samarra, such as the Qasr al-Ashiq palace, and became widely used in some regions at later periods. Samarra also saw the appearance of new decorative styles, particularly in stucco and plasterwork, which rendered

15120-526: The main models for the early mosques built elsewhere. Scholars generally agree that aside from Muhammad's mosque/house, the architecture of the Arabian Peninsula seems to have had only a limited role in the formulation of later Islamic architecture. Prior to the start of the Arab-Muslim conquests of the 7th century, the two major powers in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean world were

15264-412: The medieval Islamic world, an elementary school (for children or for those learning to read) was known as a ' kuttāb' or maktab . Their exact origin is uncertain, but they appear to have been already widespread in the early Abbasid period (8th-9th centuries) and may have played an early role in socializing new ethnic and demographic groups into the Islamic religion during the first few centuries after

15408-402: The medreses which was to continue until the end of the empire. The term "Islamic education" means education in the light of Islam itself, which is rooted in the teachings of the Qur'an - the holy book of the Muslims. Islamic education and Muslim education are not the same. Because Islamic education has epistemological integration which is founded on Tawhid - Oneness or monotheism . To Islam,

15552-630: The model for subsequent development. Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan attempted to solve the structural issues of the Hagia Sophia dome by constructing a system of centrally symmetric pillars with flanking semi-domes, as exemplified by the design of the Süleymaniye Mosque (four pillars with two flanking shield walls and two semi-domes, 1550–1557) and the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (eight pillars with four diagonal semi-domes, 1568–1574). The design of

15696-456: The mosque for studies and teachings relating the Quran. Among the first advanced topics featured at a madrasa was Islamic law . There was a premium fee required to study Islamic law, which was sometimes fronted by state or private subsidiaries. The topics of this higher education also expanded larger than the Islamic time and area. Arab translations of Greco-Roman classical texts were often examined for mathematical and grammatical discourse. Since

15840-657: The name of the reigning sovereign, and other information. These decorative motifs are expressed in a range of mediums, including stone carving , brickwork, carved stucco , tilework, paint, glass mosaics, marble or stone paneling, and stained glass windows. Capitals, the upper part or crowing feature of a column, serve as a transition piece and are often decoratively carved. They range greatly in design and shape in Islamic Architecture. Early Islamic buildings in Iran featured "Persian" type capitals which included designs of bulls heads, while Mediterranean structures displayed

15984-472: The needs of the new Islamic society and Islamic facilities were inserted into the existing urban fabric after the conquest. In the case of Damascus and Aleppo, for example, the cities were largely of Roman-Byzantine heritage and their topography changed slowly. The Islamic presence was signaled at first only by the presence of a mosque (and, in Damascus, the royal palace). This transformation, which resulted in what

16128-572: The new madrasas (and other similar foundations) thus allowed them to maintain some status and means of living even after their fathers' deaths. Madrasas built in this period were often associated with the mausoleums of their founders. Further west, the Hafsid dynasty introduced the first madrasas to Ifriqiya , beginning with the Madrasa al-Shamma῾iyya built in Tunis in 1238 (or in 1249 according to some sources). By

16272-407: The orientation of the building itself. Mosques and religious structures are built to have one side aligned with this direction, usually marked by a visual feature called a mihrab . The layout of some Muslim cities may have also been influenced by this orientation. In practice, however, the qibla alignments of mosques built in different periods and locations do not all point to the same place. This

16416-472: The origins of the minaret are uncertain, it is believed that the first true minarets appeared in this period. Several of the Abbasid mosques built in the early ninth century had minaret towers which stood at the northern ends of the building, opposite the central mihrab . Among the most famous of these is the Malwiyya minaret, a stand-alone tower with a "spiral" form built for the Great Mosque of Samarra. After

16560-803: The overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate in 750 by the Abbasids, a new branch of the Umayyad dynasty succeeded in taking control of Al-Andalus in 756, creating the Emirate of Córdoba and reaching the apogee of its power during the Caliphate of Córdoba in the 10th century. The Great Mosque of Córdoba , built in 785–786, marks the earliest major monument of Moorish architecture in the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus). This style of architecture established in Al-Andalus

16704-545: The powerful vizier Badr al-Jamali (r. 1073–1094), the city walls were rebuilt in stone along with several monumental gates, three of which have survived to the present-day: Bab al-Futuh , Bab al-Nasr , and Bab Zuweila ). In the architecture of the Muslim world courtyards are found in secular and religious structures. A hypostyle , i.e., an open hall supported by columns, is considered to be derived from architectural traditions of Achaemenid period Persian assembly halls ( apadana ). This type of building originated from

16848-517: The present day, features an exterior ribbed profile with a band of muqarnas around its drum. However, domes of this shape and style were likely constructed earlier, as evidenced by the Sultaniyya Mausoleum in Cairo, which was built earlier in the 1350s and appears to have copied this same design from the Iranian tradition. The "non-radial rib vault", an architectural form of ribbed vaults with

16992-449: The region of Iran in the 11th century under vizier Nizam al-Mulk and subsequently spread to other regions of the Islamic world. The first institute of madrasa education was at the estate of Zayd ibn Arqam near a hill called Safa , where Muhammad was the teacher and the students were some of his followers. After Hijrah (migration) the madrasa of "Suffa" was established in Madina on

17136-508: The religious sciences and the physical sciences. Madrasas were established throughout the Islamic world, examples being the ninth century University of al-Qarawiyyin , the tenth century al-Azhar University (the most famous), the eleventh century Niẓāmīyah , as well as 75 madrasas in Cairo, 51 in Damascus and up to 44 in Aleppo between 1155 and 1260. Institutions of learning were established in

17280-479: The residents were organized according to tribal origins. Rather than maintaining their original purpose to serve as a military base, many amṣār developed into urbanized administrative and commercial centers. In particular, this happened in the case of the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Basra (which became known as al-miṣrān , "the two forts" ), as well as Fustat and Kairouan in North Africa. Basic facilities like

17424-451: The rest of the building. They are found in many types of buildings including mosques, madrasas, palaces, and caravanserais. A common layout is the four-iwan plan . The related Persian term, pishtaq , means the entrance portal (sometimes an iwan) projecting from the façade of a building, often decorated with calligraphy bands, glazed tilework , and geometric designs . Because of its long history of building and re-building, spanning

17568-583: The same as school does in the English language, whether that is private, public or parochial school, as well as for any primary or secondary school whether Muslim , non-Muslim, or secular. Unlike the use of the word school in British English, the word madrasah more closely resembles the term school in American English, in that it can refer to a university-level or post-graduate school as well as to

17712-487: The same time as the city (970), which became the spiritual center for the Ismaili Shi'a branch of Islam. Other notable monuments include the large Mosque of al-Hakim (founded in 990 under al-'Aziz but completed around 1013 under al-Hakim ), the small Aqmar Mosque (1125) with its richly-decorated street façade, and the domed Mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya (1133), notable for its mihrab of elaborately-carved stucco. Under

17856-498: The secondary education stage of maktab schooling as a period of specialisation when pupils should begin to acquire manual skills, regardless of their social status. He writes that children after the age of 14 should be allowed to choose and specialise in subjects they have an interest in, whether it was reading, manual skills, literature, preaching, medicine , geometry , trade and commerce , craftsmanship , or any other subject or profession they would be interested in pursuing for

18000-518: The shaykhs). Niẓām al-Mulk , who would later be murdered by the Assassins ( Ḥashshāshīn ), created a system of state madrasas (in his time they were called the Niẓāmiyyahs, named after him) in various Seljuk and ʻAbbāsid cities at the end of the 11th century, ranging from Mesopotamia to Khorasan . Although madrasa-type institutions appear to have existed in Iran before Nizam al-Mulk, this period

18144-418: The student's "career as a graduate student of law." After students completed their post-graduate education, they were awarded ijaza s giving them the status of faqīh 'scholar of jurisprudence', muftī 'scholar competent in issuing fatwās ', and mudarris 'teacher'. The Arabic term ijāzat al-tadrīs was awarded to Islamic scholars who were qualified to teach. According to Makdisi,

18288-455: The term "university" to institutions of the medieval Muslim world is disputed. According to tradition, the al-Qarawiyyin mosque was founded by Fāṭimah al-Fihrī , the daughter of a wealthy merchant named Muḥammad al-Fihrī . This was later followed by the Fatimid establishment of al-Azhar Mosque in 969–970 in Cairo, initially as a center to promote Isma'ili teachings, which later became

18432-483: The term to refer to historical learning institutions throughout the Muslim world , which is to say a college where Islamic law was taught along with other secondary subjects, but not to secular science schools, modern or historical. These institutions were typically housed in specially designed buildings which were primarily devoted to this purpose. Such institutions are believed to have originated, or at least proliferated, in

18576-550: The time from the Abbasids to the Qajar dynasty , and its excellent state of conservation, the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan provides an overview over the experiments Islamic architects conducted with complicated vaulting structures. The system of squinches , which is a construction filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a base to receive an octagonal or spherical dome,

18720-412: The visible material world. Figural motifs, such as animals, humans, and imaginary creatures, have a rich tradition in Islamic art, though they generally more stylized than naturalistic. However, because of the religious taboo on figural representations , non-figural decoration remained more dominant overall and figural motifs were generally excluded from religious buildings entirely. The importance of

18864-405: The west continues Syrian traditions of the sixth and seventh century, eastern Islamic architecture was mainly influenced by Sasanian styles and forms. In their vaulting structures, Umayyad period buildings show a mixture of ancient Roman and Persian architectural traditions. Diaphragm arches with lintelled ceilings made of wood or stone beams, or, alternatively, with barrel vaults, were known in

19008-449: The written word in Islam ensured that epigraphic or calligraphic decoration played a prominent role in architecture. Epigraphic decoration can also indicate further political or religious messages through the selection of a textual program of inscriptions. For example, the calligraphic inscriptions adorning the Dome of the Rock include quotations from the Qur'an that reference the miracle of Jesus and his human nature (e.g. Quran 19 :33–35),

19152-568: Was a Sahabi ("Companion") of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . He was from the tribe of Khazraj and a senior Companion from the Ansar "Helpers" in Madina, he attended 17 campaigns with Muhammad and died in 66 Hijri, which corresponds to 685-686 CE. He was the first person in Islam to give his home for the first Salat (ritual prayer) in Islam, which was led by Muhammad. He gave allegiance to Abu Bakr . After

19296-423: Was added on the south side, facing towards that city. Muhammad and his family lived in separate rooms attached to the mosque, and Muhammad himself was buried in one of these rooms upon his death in 632. Over the rest of the 7th century and in the 8th century the mosque was repeatedly expanded to include a large flat-roofed prayer hall supported by columns (a hypostyle hall) with a central courtyard. It became one of

19440-404: Was already known in Sasanian architecture. The spherical triangles of the squinches were split up into further subdivisions or systems of niches, resulting in a complex interplay of supporting structures forming an ornamental spatial pattern which hides the weight of the structure. The tradition of double-shelled brick domes in Iran has been traced back to the 11th century. At the beginning of

19584-480: Was also largely shared with the architecture of western North Africa (the Maghreb ), from which later empires in the region would also emerge and contribute to its artistic evolution. The original Great Mosque of Cordoba was noted for its unique hypostyle hall with rows of double-tiered, two-coloured, arches, which were repeated and maintained in later extensions of the building. The mosque was expanded multiple times, with

19728-427: Was an expert in medicine, grammar, linguistics, law, alchemy, and philosophy. The choice of freedom in inquiry was also important. Muslim higher education at madrasas offered not only mastery in specified fields but also a more generalized, broader option. In Muslim India , the madrasa started off as providing higher education similarly to other parts of the Islamic world. The primary function for these institutions

19872-427: Was completed in 879. It was strongly influenced by Abbasid architecture in Samarra and remains one of the most notable and best-preserved examples of 9th-century architecture from the Abbasid Caliphate. In Iran and Central Asia, a number of other local and regional dynasties held sway prior to the arrival of the Seljuks in the 11th century. By the 10th century, central Iran and the Abbasid heartland of Iraq were under

20016-409: Was created in İznik in 1331, when a converted Church building was assigned as a medrese to a famous scholar, Dâvûd of Kayseri. Suleyman made an important change in the hierarchy of Ottoman medreses. He established four general medreses and two more for specialised studies, one devoted to the ḥadīth and the other to medicine. He gave the highest ranking to these and thus established the hierarchy of

20160-793: Was influenced by Roman , Byzantine , Iranian , and Mesopotamian architecture and all other lands which the early Muslim conquests conquered in the seventh and eighth centuries. Later it developed distinct characteristics in the form of buildings and in the decoration of surfaces with Islamic calligraphy , arabesques , and geometric motifs . New architectural elements like minarets , muqarnas , and multifoil arches were invented. Common or important types of buildings in Islamic architecture include mosques , madrasas , tombs , palaces , hammams (public baths), Sufi hospices (e.g. khanqahs or zawiyas ), fountains and sabils , commercial buildings (e.g. caravanserais and bazaars ), and military fortifications . The Islamic era began with

20304-400: Was more an astronomical calculation, rather than a mathematical one. Early mosques were constructed according to either the calculations of what direction qibla was approximately, or with the mihrab facing south, as that was the direction that Muhammad was facing when he prayed in Medina, which is a city directly north of Mecca. The mihrab is a niche or alcove, typically concave, set into

20448-508: Was still widely evident because political power and patronage was centered in Syria, a former Roman/Byzantine province. Some former Ghassanid structures also appear to have been reused and modified during this period. However, a significant amount of experimentation occurred as Umayyad patrons recruited craftsmen from across the empire and architects were allowed, or even encouraged, to mix elements from different artistic traditions and to disregard traditional conventions and restraints. Partly as

20592-591: Was the Madrasa of Kumushtakin, added to a mosque in Bosra in 1136. One of the earliest madrasas in Damascus, and one of the first madrasas to be accompanied by the tomb of its founder, is the Madrasa al-Nuriyya (or Madrasa al-Kubra) founded by Nur al-Din in 1167–1172. After Salah ad-Din (Saladin) overthrew the Shi'a Fatimids in Egypt in 1171, he founded a Sunni madrasa near the tomb of al-Shafi'i in Cairo in 1176–1177, introducing this institution to Egypt. The Mamluks who succeeded

20736-472: Was to train and prepare workers for bureaucratic work as well as the judicial system. The curriculum generally consisted of logic, philosophy, law, history, politics, and particularly religious sciences, later incorporating more of mathematics, astronomy, geography, and medicine. Madrasas were often subsidized and founded by states or private individuals, and well-qualified teachers filled in the role for professors. Foundations of Islamic higher education in India

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