Dr. Spahic Omer, a Bosnian currently residing in Malaysia, is an Associate Professor at the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia. He studied in Bosnia, Egypt and Malaysia. His research interests cover Islamic history and civilization, as well as the history and theory of the Islamic built environment. He can be reached at: spahico@yahoo.com.
In this paper, I shall discuss some major aspects of housing which the Holy Qur’an, the primary source of Islam, deals with, directly or indirectly. Those references are deemed very crucial as they constitute part of Allah’s revelation to man, as well as because they were aimed at contributing to the cleansing of the nascent Islamic society from all the erroneous beliefs and practices that had resulted from people’s earlier rejection of truth and its ways, replacing them with the new ones instead, which were inspired and guided by Allah’s direct intervention, i.e., revelation.
This paper discusses some lessons in architecture that can be gleaned using the Prophet’s Mosque in Madīnah as a case study. The paper deals with the following main themes: the meaning and significance of Islamic architecture; function–form relationship; respect for the environment; cleanliness; comprehensive excellence; promoting just social interactions; safety; and the relationship between the indigenous and foreign influences in the spheres of Islamic architecture. Every theme discussed signifies a permanent feature of Islamic architecture which derives its strength and merit from the Prophet’s experiences. Hence, a close analogy is always drawn in the paper between those architectural features and the Prophet.
Keywords: Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)[1], Madinah, the Prophet’s mosque, Islamic Architectur
In this paper, I shall deal with some of the themes relating to the gradual evolution of the conspicuous identity of Islamic architecture from the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) till approximately the end of the first period of the Abbasid state (861 AC/247 H). It was during this period that Islamic architecture really matured. It reached its pinnacle in both technical and conceptual terms. It finally attained such qualities as artistic comprehensive excellence, universality, internationalism and profundity of styles and meanings that oozed unparalleled genius, innovation and creativity. The end of the first period of the Abbasid state has been pinpointed as the final phase in the evolution of the total identity of Islamic architecture as we know it today for several reasons. The following two reasons perhaps are most significant.
