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The Mosque of the Prophet
Islam: One
of today's global religions and the third monotheistic religion, revealed
after Judaism and Christianity and accepting them both. Brought by the Prophet Muhammad (570-632) in Arabia, it soon
spread all over the southern and eastern Mediterranean, Africa, and south,
east, and central Asia. In Arabic, the word Islam literally means,"to
surrender, to submit" (to the will of God), which is the essence of the
religion.
Mecca: Birthplace
of the Prophet Muhammad and a major trading center in Arabia that linked Byzantine
Syria in the north with Yemen in the south. The tribe of Qureish lived in Mecca and was divided into 40
clans of varying wealth and status.
The Ka‘ba in Mecca: The center of worship and pilgrimage before Islam which
became the axis mundi of Islam's
conception of the universe and the qibla towards which worshippers face when praying. Date of building unknown.
The House and Mosque of the Prophet at Medina: The Islamic prototype of both religious and residential
architecture, built in 622 C. E. (1 A.H.or After Hegire, the emigration of
the Prophet to Medina), and enlarged several times in the first century of
Islam, the most important of which is the enlargement of al-Walid, the Umayyad
caliph, in 707.
Qibla: The
direction of Mecca toward which Muslims are required to face when they perform
their prayer.
The Architectural Repertoire available to the Early
Muslims:
Mecca: The cult and trade center.
The palaces of Yemen: Signs of a sophisticated agrarian
culture.
North Arabian cities (Mada‘in Salih): Trade cities
that connected north and south.
Petra: the Nabatean capital carved in the rock with
hybrid Hellenistic sensitivities.
Palmyra: A caravan city turned imperial center with
heavy Roman influences
Rusafa (Sergiopolis): Capital of the Ghassanids, clients
of Constantinople.
The Iwan Kisra at Ctesiphon: The seat of Sassanian kings,
the other superpower.
Bostra:
a Syrian-Roman city and another capital of the Ghassanids; the illustration
of urban splendor in the eyes of the Prophet Muhammad.