Muhammad- the Messenger of

AllahProphet Muhammad was

appointed by Gabriel on

“The Night of Excellence”

during the Holy Month

of Ramadan in 610 c.e.

This miraculous revelation occurred near

Mecca, Saudi Arabia.The revelations comprise the

Islamic Qur’an

The followers of Allah are

Referred to as Muslims

This page is one side of a double-sided sheet

from a copy of the Qur’an, a collection of revelations to the Prophet Mohammed that forms the basis of the Islamic religion. Information within the book indicates that the scribe worked on it for 22 years and completed

it in 1207 A.D. The black letters are in Arabic and the smaller red letters are in Persian. The book was found in Tehran, Iran, in 1952, and this sheet was donated to the Smithsonian Institution

In the Islamic tradition, representations of human or animal figures are discouraged,

resulting in a fluid calligraphic style often incorporating geometric and floral designs.

The Qur’an was transcribed after the

death of Muhammad and assembled in

114 chapters called surahs

Architecture of Islam

• The Umayyad dynasty established the center of the Muslim world as Damascus. Built many shrines, mosques and palaces…

After Mecca and Medina,

Jerusalem was the holiest of sitesIn the center of Jerusalem there is a rock outcropping that is identified

-as the place from which Muhammad ascended to the presence of God on the Night Journey, chapter 17- Qur’an

-as the place where the patriarch Abraham prepared the sacrifice of his son Isaac at the command of God, Genesis- Bible

-as the site of the temple of Solomon

The Dome of the Rock is a shrine constructed from Christian and Byzantine methods at this outcropping

Dome of the Rock

An octagon within an octagon

Concentric aisles allow the devout visitor to circumambulate the rock

Visitors must walk first clockwise then counterclockwise to read the inscriptions in gold mosaic surrounding the rock outcropping

Holy Kaaba

• Located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

• Site of Hajj, or pilgrimage, most holy site for Muslims

• Thought to have been built by Abraham and his son Ismail

• Qibla, the direction that Muslims pray towards is pointed towards the Kaaba

• The Kaaba is cubical with its ends roughly the four cardinal points

Muslims follow the Five Pillars of Islam

sometimes symbolized by an open hand with the five extended fingers

1-There is no god but Allah and Muhammad

is his messenger2-Ritual worship five times a day3-Charity to the poor4-Fasting during the month of

Ramadan5-Pilgrammage to Mecca

Mosques provide a place for regular public worship. The characteristic elements were dictated during the time of the Umayyad.

Adhan was also instated during this time

The Great Mosque of Tunisia although built in the 9th century reflects this early form of

the mosque.

Mosque is divided between a courtyard and a flat-roofed hypostyle hall

Kairawan, Tunisia Damascus Mosque, Syria

All mosques are laid out so that worshippers face Mecca as they pray.

Congregrational worship at a mosques take place on Friday.

A huge tower- a minaret rises from one end of the courtyard. The muezzin or crier will call the faithful to

prayer from the minaret

Designating the direction of Mecca and opposite the

minaret are the qibla wall and mihrabThis continues the tradition of a niche that signify a holy place.

(ie: an apse, or wall with Torah niche)

Minbar is the pulpit or throne by the mihrab

The Mosque at Cordoba, Spain, begun 786.

the Baroque church added in the middle of the structure during

the 17th century

The Cordoba mosque was built on the site of a Christian church. It was expanded three times. The hypostyle prayer hall was assembled with recycled classical parts.

Islamic builders also used repeated horseshoe arches in the prayer

hall or iwan shown here at Cordoba, Spain

Islamic builders used the muqarnas nichelike component shown here at Alahambra, Spain

Muqarnas are used in multiples as interlocking, successive, loadbearing, vaulting units.

Muq

arn

as

The Alahambra was a sophisticated pleasure palace, an attempt to create paradise on earth. It serves as typifying the beauty and luxury of Islamic palace architecture.

Fortified hilltop palace complex with well watered walled gardens and fountains. Believed to be the private retreat for Muhammad V.

At the heart of Alahambra is the Court of the Lions, a rectangular courtyard named for a marble fountain surrounded by stone lions.

LATER ISLAMIC ARTThe Nasrid's red fortress:In the early years of the 11th century, the Umayyad caliphs' power in Spain unraveled, and their palaces fell prey to Berber soldiers from North Africa.

Paradise and heaven:Before the final expulsion of the Muslims from Spain in 1492, the Nasrid rulers in Granada built a huge palace-fortress called the Alhambra.

Sultan Hasan's major building project in Cairo was a huge madrasa (school) complex which housed four theological

colleges devoted to the teaching of Islamic law, as well served as a

mosque, mausoleum, orphanage, hospital, shops, and baths. The iwan

functioned as classrooms.

Al-Azhar University

• Oldest University in the world

• Located in Cairo, Egypt.

• Built during the Shia Fatimid Dynasty

• Built from 969-971 A.D.

• Most prestigious Islamic University

Sinan the Great 1568-75Mosque of Sultan Selim Edirne, Turkey

The minarets that soar 295 feet are only 12.5 feet in diameter at the

base. Only royal mosques were allowed multiple minarets and having more than two was highly unusual

Suleyman Mosque

By: Sinan Pasha

Istanbul, Turkey 1551-1558

Construction Type: Bearing Masonry

Ottoman Style

Sinan’s inspiration came from the Hagia Sophia

Dome has a diameter of 85 feet and a height of 170 feet.

Sinan the Great: A contemporary of Michelangelo and with equal aspirations to immortality, Sinan perfected the Ottoman architectural style.

The central plan of the Mosque of Sultan Selim at Edirne, Turkey:At the Mosque of Selim II at Edrine, Sinan created a structure that made it possible to see the mihrab from almost any spot in the mosque. Dome is larger than

Hagia Sophia

Completed when Sinan was 80

Sinan was credited for more than 300 imperial commissions, including palaces, madrasas, Koran schools, burial chapels, public kitchens, hospitals, treasure houses, baths, bridges, viaducts and 124 large and small mosques.

Unlike the Mosque of Selim II, many major Islamic architectural projects, such as this, were built or remodeled over several centuries. 

Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, eleventh to seventeenth centuries.

Winter prayer hall of the Shahi (Imam) Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 1611-1638.

Some of the masterworks of Arabic calligraphy are found not in manuscripts but on walls. These are mosaic works.

Mihrab from the Madrasa Imami, Isfahan, Iran, ca. 1354. Glazed mosaic tilework, 11' 3" X 7' 6". Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Agra, India built as

mausoleum

reflecting pools and lush

gardens are mean to evoke

a vision of paradise

TAJ MAHAL-1632

The facades are delicately inlaid with inscriptions and arabesques in semi precious stones-carnelian, agate, coral, turquoise, garnet, lapis and jasper.

I.M. Pei and Islam

• Museum of Islamic Arts

• Doha, Qatar• Architect- I.M. Pei• 31,500 sq. miles• Opening in Summer

of ‘07