Mosque Architecture Past and Present

Abstract

The mosque is a symbol of Islam and the most important building type in the Islamic world, which today encompasses 40 countries and a fifth of the world’s population. Of all the Abrahamic religions, it is Islam that is currently expanding most rapidly. So what should a building look like whose name when translated means a “place of prostration”? The task of designing an architectonic form for the worship of a god that is invisible and in addition is prohibited from depiction has never been easy. On the one hand, their creators were afraid to construct glorious constructions for fear of falling into idolatry. On the other hand, their buildings could be no less monumental than those of the Christian faith. The difficulty arises as a result of the Islamic prohibition of figurative representation: the Ha- dith, the book of the words and deeds of the prophet Muhammad, states: “The makers of these pic- tures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said to them, ‘Give life to what you have created.’” Or elsewhere in the same book: “Such people as paint these pictures will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection.” Accordingly, Islam - unlike Christianity - is char- acterised by a lack of visual symbols. A further difficulty is that Islamic architecture, which is highly contextual and predominantly characterised by small elements, does not lend itself to being a source of inspiration for monumentality.

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