The 7 Principles of Islamic Architecture
1.Unity (Tawhid)
2.Respect (Ihtiram)
3.Sincerity (Ikhlas)
4.Moderation and Humility (Iqtisad)
5.Modesty (Haya')
6.Pursuit of knowledge (Ilm')
7.Remembrance (Dikr)
Principal 1 : Architecture as Tawhid
Asserting the unity or oneness of Allah, Unity is certainly one of the most outstanding characteristics of Islamic architecture. This unity reveals itself in religious buildings, in dwellings, and in all kinds of private and public edifices, whatever the place or the era.Islam is said to embody a cohesive way of life among ethnically and culturally diverse peoples, this is also a form of unity of mankind.
Architecture as Tawhid (devotion & faith), believing in the unity and Uniquity of Allah. Every Muslim should have faith in the shahada: “There is no god but Allah and Mohammad is his Prophet"
All authentic Islamic art must reflect Divine Unity. There are consequences for that. First is that you must always have an integration of the form. There is a center to it. Islamic art is always a centered art. It has a center from which it speaks – whether architecture, calligraphy, miniature, carpet weaving etc.-and that is a reflection of tawhid. One can extend this principle to great lengths, as it is the most important of all principles of Islamic art. It means to exclude from Islamic art all forms of idolatry.
Architecture as Tawhid can be subdivided into:
- Shahada
- Notion of Tawhid: Learnings of Islam
- Catalyst - Building Community: Mosque: creates a society, used for various purposes such as education, court, gathering spot and the prayers
- Urban planning- proper guidance according the the fiqh law which includes size of street, boundaries, division of commercial and residential.
The Ka'bah
The Ka'bah is the building towards which Muslims face five times a day in prayer. This has been the case since the time of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. over 1460 years ago.The very first construction of the Ka'bah was done by Prophet Adam (PBUH) and Allah said that in the Quran, the first house that was built for humanity to worship Allah. The next prophet to rebuild the Ka'bah was Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail (PBUH) and the measurements of the Kaba's Ibrahimic foundation were:
- The eastern wall was 48 feet and 6 inches
- The Hateem side wall was 33 feet
- The side between the black stone and the Yemeni corner was 30 feet
- The Western side was 46.5 feet
The Reconstruction of the Ka'Bah explained here : http://www.everymuslim.co.za/index.php/articles-menu/hajj-umrah-menu/34-cat-makkah-and-its-virtues/515-the-kaaba-history-and-re-construction
Principal 2 : Architecture as Ithiram
Architecture of Ithiram translates into the presence of showing respect, propriety and good manners (adab) to God, to fellow mankind and to oneself. As a guideline Muslims follow the 5 pillars which are shahada, salat, zakat,fasting and haji which encourages and shows respect to the faith and God. These actions help purify onself in terms of daily conduct and it also builds up inner and outer spiritual fulfillment to finally submit ones own will to that of Allah. Muhammad was the perfect example of propriety and praiseworthy characteristics. The Al Quran is a guide to practice respect as a virtue for the sake of Allah.
Islamic Architecture greatly shows symbolism , harmony and the purity of geometric shapes of the Ka'Bah. These are found in all sacred Islamic architecture throughout the Islamic world. The Ka'Bah represents the traditional , fundamental synthesis of space which is greatly lined to the idea of "center".
Islamic artwork can recreate natural patterns but also in the form of a religious message. In many traditional star related, Islamic artworks for example, The Koran will be represented as the middle of the universe, whereby a complex star pattern will represent neighboring stars and solar systems in a set geometric pattern. These works can be very complex but also demonstrate a simple meaning.
The idea of these patterns is one of creating unity within art. By creating a unity across artworks it demonstrates a connection to a divine design as well as a unity amongst people. Although patterns may interweave in and out of each other, and may change throughout an artwork, in the end they work together to form a unified piece of art, part of a grand design. This is much like the universe and the design of the artwork is to allow people to remember that we are all connected and that the universe was designed with geometry in mind.
-each face of the cube corresponding to the primary directions -zenith and nadir;
- whilst the four corners point towards the cardinal points of the universe.
-Ka`bah represents the underlying point of convergence between essential cosmic principles and mosque architecture in the world.
Architecture as Ihtiram also incorporates to show respect to humanity for example using buildings such as mosques as a sanctuary for those who are of need of it, a fine example which can be seen at Masjidil An Nabawi.
This mosque has undergone a vast amount of change from the time it was built, it was expanded to meet the users needs.
When expanding buildings such as mosques, some sort of conservation must be applied so that :
Principal 2 : Architecture as Ithiram
Architecture of Ithiram translates into the presence of showing respect, propriety and good manners (adab) to God, to fellow mankind and to oneself. As a guideline Muslims follow the 5 pillars which are shahada, salat, zakat,fasting and haji which encourages and shows respect to the faith and God. These actions help purify onself in terms of daily conduct and it also builds up inner and outer spiritual fulfillment to finally submit ones own will to that of Allah. Muhammad was the perfect example of propriety and praiseworthy characteristics. The Al Quran is a guide to practice respect as a virtue for the sake of Allah.
Islamic Architecture greatly shows symbolism , harmony and the purity of geometric shapes of the Ka'Bah. These are found in all sacred Islamic architecture throughout the Islamic world. The Ka'Bah represents the traditional , fundamental synthesis of space which is greatly lined to the idea of "center".
Islamic artwork can recreate natural patterns but also in the form of a religious message. In many traditional star related, Islamic artworks for example, The Koran will be represented as the middle of the universe, whereby a complex star pattern will represent neighboring stars and solar systems in a set geometric pattern. These works can be very complex but also demonstrate a simple meaning.
The idea of these patterns is one of creating unity within art. By creating a unity across artworks it demonstrates a connection to a divine design as well as a unity amongst people. Although patterns may interweave in and out of each other, and may change throughout an artwork, in the end they work together to form a unified piece of art, part of a grand design. This is much like the universe and the design of the artwork is to allow people to remember that we are all connected and that the universe was designed with geometry in mind.
-each face of the cube corresponding to the primary directions -zenith and nadir;
- whilst the four corners point towards the cardinal points of the universe.
-Ka`bah represents the underlying point of convergence between essential cosmic principles and mosque architecture in the world.
Some examples of Pure and divine Islamic Geometrical patterns:
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Architecture as Ihtiram also incorporates to show respect to humanity for example using buildings such as mosques as a sanctuary for those who are of need of it, a fine example which can be seen at Masjidil An Nabawi.
This mosque has undergone a vast amount of change from the time it was built, it was expanded to meet the users needs.
When expanding buildings such as mosques, some sort of conservation must be applied so that :
- the divine meaning and values of Islam must firmly be protected and continuously enriched
- the change or expansion must not hinder growth and change
- to change the physical form of the structure is permissible to meet the challenges of transformation
- the change must not jeopardize meaning and value
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