2-The Vocabulary of Islamic Religious Architecture

Islamic Architecture: Is taken today to mean the architecture built by or for Muslims, or that built in Islamic lands or under Islamic government, a large corpus indeed.

Formal Typology of the Mosque:

1: The Hypostyle Mosque: Mosque in which the prayer hall is formed of rows of vertical supports, or columns, that can multiply indefinitely. Dominant type in the early period.

2: The Iwan Mosque: Mosque in which the prayer hall is an iwan, or more, up to four iwans, surrounding a courtyard. It was the most popular type in the medieval period, and remained dominant in Iran.

3: The Central-Dome Mosque: Mosque in which the prayer hall's space is dominated by a central dome surrounded by smaller and lower semi-domes. It was introduced by the Ottomans in the 15th century.

Functional Typology of Religious Structures

            - Structures for prayer:

                        - neighborhood mosque (masjid).

                        - congregational mosque (jami‘, or masjid jami‘).

                        - prayer enclosure(musalla or namaz-gah).

            - Structures for religious education

                        - Qur‘anic school for children (kuttab)

                        - religious college (madrasa).

            - Monastic structures:

                        - monastic fortress (ribat).

                        - urban Sufi lodge (khanqah) and/or (takiyya or tekke).

                        - retreat for a famous sheikh (zawiyya).

- Memorial structures:

                        - saint (wali)  tomb or reliquary(maqam or mazar).

                        - memorial of a vision (mashhad).

                        - mausoleum (qubba or turba) with charitable functions attached.

                        -funerary garden or enclosure (rawd).