Mosque

views updated

MOSQUE

Islamic place of worship. The Arabic word masjid, literally, a place of worship, is derived from the verb sajada, to prostrate one's self; the term is to be compared with Nabataean msgd ', a votive stele, and with Ethiopic mesgad, a church or temple. In Islam the mosque is also called muṣallā, a place where one prays (ṣallā ) and more commonly, jāmi ‘ (pl. jāwāmi ‘), a gathering place.

Plan of the Mosque. The normal mosque consists fundamentally of a large open, quadrangular court (ṣaḥn ) surrounded by a colonnaded portico (muġaṭṭā ) supported by several (often many) rows of columns, the passages between which are called riwāq (pl. ’arwiqa ). In the center of the court stands a large basin (mīḍa‘a ) tain for making ablutions (wuḍū’ ). The covered hall on the side facing mecca is generally much deeper, and in the wall on this side is a large ornamented niche called the miḥrāb, which indicates the qibla or direction in which one is oriented during prayer; in front of this the imĀm stands while leading the prayer. In larger mosques there may be several miḥrābs used by different "rites" (madhāhib ; see islamic law). Near the miḥrāb stands the minbar, an elevated seat from which the Friday sermon (khuṭba ) is preached; this was originally a kind of throne from which the ruler or governor might address the people and was therefore reserved, in the earliest period, for only the chief mosques. Attached to the outside wall of the building, often on the corners, stands one or more towers or minarets (manāra, ma’dhana, mi’dhana ), from which the call to prayer is first sounded by the muezzin (Arabic, mu’adhdhin ), within some larger mosques there is also a raised platform (dakka ), near the minbar. From here he repeats the call at two specified points during the Friday service. There is also a seat (kursī ) with a desk for the recitation of the qur’Ān by the qāri ’ (or qāṣṣ ). Within the riwāq along the qibla side there is in some principal mosques an enclosure (maqṣūra ) near the miḥrāb, reserved for the ruler, where he may pray free from any danger of attack. In larger mosques there are a number of apartments (called also riwāq, or zāwiya ), built within the extended riwāq or in subsidiary buildings, set aside for various purposes. These serve for study and teaching, or as living quarters for Qur’ān readers and other personnel of the mosque, or frequently for students and those making a retreat (i’tikāf ), whether simply during the last ten days of ramaḌĀn or on a more or less permanent basis.

Early Mosques. The most important shrine in Islam is the Holy Mosque (al-masjid al-ḥarām ) of mecca that contains in its enclosure the Ka’aba, a rectangular building 40 feet by 35 feet and some 50 feet high, oriented at its corners toward the cardinal points of the compass and containing in its eastern corner the Black Stone, which has been an object of particular cult from ancient times. Around the Ka’aba is a paved area (maṭāf ) where the ṭawāf (see hajj) is made. The Ka’aba was destroyed during a siege in 64/684 (i.e., a.h. 64=a.d. 684), at which time it was already a reconstructed edifice, dating from 608, of alternating courses of stone and wood; the replacement, entirely of stone, was built by ’Abdallāh ibn al-Zubayr.

The earliest mosques of Islam were little more than open quadrangles. The house of the Prophet in medina, where his followers gathered for prayer, consisted of an open court surrounded by mud-brick walls; against the north wall was a roofed portico (ẓulla ) supported by palm stems; along the east wall there were built, over a period of time, nine little huts for muḤammad's wives. Where preexisting buildings were not simply taken over, as was the case in Damascus, Homs, and elsewhere, the first mosques were no more than quadrangles marked off next to the governor's or commander's residence (dār al-’imāra ) to which walls were later added, as in Baṣrā(founded 14/635) and Kūfa (founded 17/638). In fusṭāṭ, the original mosque was built (21/642) by ‘Amr ibn al'As as a simple walled quadrangle with some kind of roof, possibly a ẓulla. (On the development of the mosque, see islamic art.)

The Mosque and Worship. The mosque was, at the beginning, the center of all aspects of the community life of Islam; thus the first mosques of Medina, Baṣra, Kūfa, Damascus, and Fusṭāṭ were built immediately adjacent to the dār al-’imāra and the dīwān or government offices. The caliph or provincial governor received his investiture in the mosque and there acted as imām and khaṭīb, his khuṭba, or discourse, often consisting in orders for battle, etc., while the faithful were exhorted by the preaching of the qāṣṣ (pl. quṣṣâṣ ). Outside the capital prayers were recited in the mosque for the Caliph or ruler as a kind of oath of loyalty; often it was in the mosque that revolutions were begun, the first open sign thereof being the substitution of another name for that of the ruler. Al-khut

though it was from the outset a place in which people gathered for many purposes, the mosque rapidly took on the character of a sanctuary and came to be called, as in the most ancient Semitic usage regarding sacred shrines, the House of God (bayt Allāh ), a name originally applied in Islam only to the Ka’aba. A particular holiness was, of course, attached to the Mosque of Medina, where the Prophet was buried; also to that of Qubā, just outside Medina, where he stopped and prayed immediately before entering the city in September 622 (see hijra). Prayer in the mosque and the recitation there of the Qur’ān, especially in the mosque of Medina or those associated with some renowned saint, is considered particularly meritorious. A special holiness too is associated by some with the miḥrāb and the minbar, and visitors or pilgrims will often touch them hoping to receive a blessing (baraka ).

The Friday or congregational mosque (al-masjid al-jāmi ‘) is specifically designated within a community for the common Friday service that every male Muslim who has reached the age of reason is obliged to attend. Originally it was a community function in which the ruler led the prayer and preached the khuṭba; for this reason the number of congregational mosques (early called dhât manābir, i.e., having a minbar ) was restricted. According to some authorities there should be no more than one in a particular town; in fact, according to others there should be no congregational mosque save in the chief cities. With the great increase in the number of Muslims, however, and the universal need that was felt for the weekly community service, there came to be Friday mosques even in the villages; the larger centers may have several, often of considerable size. From the beginning there were many mosques besides the congregational mosques. Numerous local and tribal mosques formed the center of both the religious and political activities of particular groups.

Again, following the ancient Arabian custom of honoring the graves of ancestors and important chiefs and the Christian veneration of the saints, a great number of mosques were built as sanctuaries over the tombs of various saints and heroes of Islam, distinguished for their piety, learning, etc., even though the association of a place of prayer with a tomb was frowned upon by many authorities. Numerous mosques were built in Hijaz in association with events in the life of the Prophet; there and elsewhere other mosques arose in particular commemoration of ‘alĪ and his descendants. The site of the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, where the Dome of the Rock now stands, is linked both by Muslim tradition and by the name given its congregational mosque, al-Masjid al-’Aqṣā (the Furthermost Mosque), with a reference in the Qur’ān and with the life of Muḥammad.

While originally the building of mosques and their maintenance were taken as responsibilities of the government, later many were built and endowed by private individuals as pious works. As a result, the number of mosques reported to have existed at certain times in various major cities, even allowing for considerable exaggeration on the part of the sources, is truly astounding.

The Mosque and Education. Teaching in Islam has always been associated with the mosque, as the primary sciences (‘ulūm ) of Islam are concerned with the Qur’ān, the ḥadīth [see islamic traditions (hadith)] and the law (fiqh ). From early times mention is made of the majlis or ḥalqa (circle) of those who came to hear and receive the instruction of learned men and ascetics who taught and preached there. Teaching was done in all the important mosques, several of which had extensive libraries, and in many of the smaller ones, so that finally the term jāmi ‘ became the equivalent of madrasa (school) and riwāq came to mean a student's living quarters. The ’Azhar Mosque was built in Cairo in 361/972, and in 378/988 the Fatimid Caliph, al‘Azīz, endowed 35 chairs of learning; the lecturers not only received ample salaries, but also were housed in rooms adjacent to the mosque. Scholars were attached likewise to the mosques of ‘Amr and Ibn Ṭûlûn, also in Cairo, and to most of the important mosques throughout Islam. In many of these, stipends (some quite high) were available for students who were given lodging in or near the mosque.