What makes a mosque special

The Origin of the Mosque The Prophet Muhammad's original house in Medina in present-day Saudi Arabia is thought to be the first mosque and probably served as a model for early mosque architecture.

It was a mud-brick structure with living quarters on one side of an enclosed rectangular courtyard. Since Muhammad's followers would gather at his home for prayer, the side of the courtyard facing the qibla , or the direction of prayer, included a porch covered by palm branches, which offered shelter from the hot desert sun. Most early mosques, as well as the majority of later mosques in Arab lands, follow this general layout see fig. The Role of the Mosque Mosques reflect the size and needs of individual Muslim communities, as their members all worship together on Fridays.

Historically mosques have been at the center of education and intellectual life. Inscriptions from the Qur'an adorn the interiors and exteriors of mosques, establishing a strong link between scripture and the place of prayer.

Mosque decoration almost never includes human or animal forms, which are seen as potentially idolatrous. Instead, geometric, floral, vegetal, and calligraphic designs adorn mosques, symbolically recalling the promise of Paradise. Mosques around the World Mosques throughout the Islamic world use diverse building materials and reflect different regional traditions and styles.

Despite variations in size and design, the special place mosques hold in Muslim communities remains universal. View of the courtyard. Shah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran, 17th century. The qibla entrance as seen from inside the courtyard.

Sheila Canby: Listen to a conversation between Deniz Beyazit and Walter Denny, on the context of the mosque and ritual. Five daily prayers are one of the pillars of Islam. Deniz Beyazit: These five daily prayers are very important for every pious Muslim. Many larger mosques have washrooms set aside for this purpose, with a large central fountain circled by small benches; wudu may also be performed in a pool or fountain outside.

In both cases, the facilities are usually located in the courtyard, and men and women carry out wudu separately. Worshippers enter the prayer hall by stepping with the right foot first and saying, "Oh Allah, open the door of mercy for me. Near the front of the worship space is a structure called the Minbar, the raised steps from which the imam delivers the sermon at the Friday prayer. Near the Minbar stands a roofed niche called the Mihrab. The words of the Quran, the holy book that Muslims hold to be the words of Allah God revealed to the prophet Muhammad in the 7th century, are everywhere in the prayer hall, often in flowing Arabic script.

The hall may also be decorated with intricate patterns running the length of the walls, pillars, ceilings and floors. Pictures or statues are absent, in observation of the warning in the Hadith the sayings, actions or traditions of Muhammad and his companions that are not part of the Quran that depictions of living things can lead to idolatry. Many mosques also have separate areas for performing ritual ablution, and separate sections for women. In many mosques, several rows of columns are used to mark the way for worshipers to line up behind the imam during prayer.

Mosques usually have one or more minarets, or towers, from which the muezzin calls Muslims to prayer five times a day. In addition to their functional use, these minarets have become distinguishing elements of mosque architecture.

In large mosques in particular, minarets have the effect of tempering the enormity and magnificence of the domed structure by conveying to the viewer the elevation of divinity above the pretensions of human grandeur. Most mosques also have a dome, and the line connecting the center of the dome to the niche is supposed to point toward Mecca. Throughout the world there are many mosques that are not actually directed toward Mecca, but such misalignment is due to inaccurate methods for determining the direction of Mecca and does not imply a disregard for this requirement.

The mosque is not a self-contained unit, nor is it a symbolic microcosm of the universe, as are some places of worship in other religions. Rather, the mosque is always built as a connection with Mecca, the ultimate home of Muslim worship that metaphorically forms the center of all mosques.

See Islamic Art and Architecture.