ARCHITECTURE BASED ON PRINCIPLES

ARCHITECTURE AS TAWHID

Masjid Al Haram

Masjid Al Haram also known as the Holy Mosque, is located in Saudi Arabia, Makkah. This mosque is the primary destination of the Pilgrimage known as Hajj in Arabic. The focal point being the Ka’bah at its cetre, this is an extremely pronounced example of architecture that is unifying. One of the main reasons why it is so is due to the fact that every Muslim around the world prays facing the Ka’bah in the Mosques central courtyard, making it a place of pilgrimage, which is defined as a holy area. Going back to the five pillars of Islam; one requires every Muslim to perform Hajj – Pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime– a the process which requires the pilgrims to walk seven times around the Ka’bah in a counterclockwise direction – this circumambulation is known as Tawaf. The Ka’bah causing thousands of people to go to it; is what makes Masjid Al Haram an area that is unifying – hence defining that architecture as so. Known as the holiest Mosque it is the only one that has no Kiblah and through modifications made over the years to accommodate pilgrims the entire mosque today covers an area of 356,800 square meters including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces – which can accommodate up to 820,000 worshipers during the Hajj Period.

The Ka’bah is a large cube shaped stone structure constituting of pillars that support the roof, a single room and a marble floor – this is the heart of the Holy Mosque. It is the focal point around which Masjid Al Haram is built. The four walls of the Ka’bah are covered with an extremely heavy cloth known as Kiswah which is fastened by copper rings. The founders of the Ka’bah as written in the Holy Qur’an are Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ishmael – together they built the holy shrine dedicated to the worship of God – Allah. To the eastern corner of this structure lies the black stone - Al Hajar Al Aswad, which predates the birth of Islam, this is the essential part of the Ka’bah. To the north east side of the structure lays a stone – Maqam Ibrahim, which Ibrahim stood on while building the structure and near this lies the well of zamzam. 

Masjid Al Nabawi

This is the second most sacred structure, it is known as the prophets’ mosque, the original mosque was actually built by prophet Muhammad himself, next to the house he settled in after his emigration to Madinah (622). It was built with palm trunks and mud walls; accessed through three doors, to the south west and east. At first the mosque faced the north but when the prayer direction was changed to Makah it was then reoriented to the south. Where this mosque is, is also the area upon which Prophet Muhammad was buried. The most noticeable feature is the green dome of the prophet, which rises higher amongst all the others; this is where the Prophets tomb is located. Volunteers guard this area, to help prevent pilgrims from touching the fence that separates the tomb space.

The mosque served as a community centre, religious school and a court. After considerable reconstruction to accommodate visiting Muslims, the mosque is now 100 times larger than it was when the prophet built it. Both Masjid Al haram and Masjid Al Nabawi are structures that unify the cities they are located in, through adhering to the laws of Islam. Areas that maintain both practical and spiritual character creating a close-knit society in a sense.  They are centers for Muslim social life bringing people together like all mosques around the world – these two being ones that bring the greatest amounts of people together and are considered to be sanctuaries. Though there have been great modifications to each Mosques’ due to expansion; the process should not threaten the meaning or values of the original structures – the changes must be able to protect and continue demonstrating the meaning and values of Islam. The construction of a Mosque is generally considered a form of religious endowment – a voluntary action that portrays irrevocable dedication to Islam, it is a permanent dedication that cannot be given away/inherited; it was made to benefit the community around – providing a place of worship and sanctuary.