Creswell and the Origins of the Minaret

Bloom, Jonathan M.

doi:10.2307/1523153

Cited by 11 publications

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“…the Ka'ba in Mecca is not a coincidence, but dictated by quite a number of Qur'ānic verses and hadīth instructions [32]. Similarly, the minaret is not simply a loan from preIslamic architectural types [33] [34]. Rather, it could have been inspired by an early Islamic practice to call to prayer from the most elevated point in the mosque vicinity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting K.A.C. Creswell’s Theory on the First Mosque in Islam

Ayyad

2017

JIA

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Professor Keppel Archibald Cameron Creswell (1879-1974, better known as K.A.C. Creswell or simply Creswell, was definitely one of the most prominent and prolific scholars in the field of Islamic art and architecture. His gigantic two-volume Early Muslim Architecture, of which Volume I was first published in Oxford in 1932, remains widely acknowledged as the most important reference for early Islamic architecture so far. Nevertheless, Creswell's hypothesis on the genesis of the mosque type and his perception of the first mosque in Islam betray a considerable amount of dubiety and suffer a myriad of critical deficiencies. As he maintains, the making of the mosque, as defined in the modern sense, was launched not by the Prophet, as commonly believed, but by Ziyād b. Abīh when he reconstructed the mosque of Baṣra in 45/665. Astonishingly, these views of Creswell were adopted and further enhanced by quite a number of notable specialists over eighty-five years. This article will subject such views to scrutiny with the aim of identifying the first mosque in Islam and the religious as well as historical contexts in which it emerged. This discussion becomes more persistent, however, given the dominant misconceptions about the topic in Western as well as Muslim scholarships.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting K.A.C. Creswell’s Theory on the First Mosque in Islam

Ayyad

2017

JIA

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“…This form is based on the case of Pharaoh, the great lighthouse of Alexandria, on the upper floor where the seventh-century Mohammedan conquerors set up a small prayer room. The lighthouse form is practiced in the hills found to be attached to Muhammad's mosques and has probably been a significant factor in converting the Christian church tower [6]. The minaret is usually square from the bottom to the height of the mosque's wall to which it is attached and is usually octagonal above.…”

Section: Evolution and Historical Development Of Minarets In Islamic Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

Minarets as a Vital Element of Indo-Islamic Architecture: Evolution and Morphology

Kamal¹

2021

JIA

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The Minarets are a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic Mosques. The Minarets have become an essential and integral part of the mosque in the Indian sub-continent as like anywhere in the world. The Minarets evolved in Islamic Architecture at very early times. Although it was not an essential part of the mosque during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and even for some time after the period after him, There are, however, many conflicting views as to exactly where, when and by whom were the first mina-rets built. The minarets were constructed for monumental purposes but became symbolic and became the permanent features of the mosque buildings. These minarets are being built in varied geographical and cultural environments. The Muslim architects used forms that have been acclimatized in their traditional cultures. The architects did not invent new forms but preferred to refine the existing ones with the highest proportion and integrity to the main building. Therefore, they had gone through a transition state in adapting the minarets form, keeping their cultural richness and transforming them into a religious identity most suited to the Islamic buildings. This paper reviews the mosque architecture in general, the various functional aspects of minarets, its evolution in history, and the forms that the architects in India had used to determine their roots and the process of transformation by which it had been recognized as a vital element in the Islamic buildings, especially the mosques.

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“…The history of minaret as symbols started as old as the era of prophecy, which continued in the Islamic Caliph. In Ummayah Dynasty, Islam came as a new belief in Europe [15]. Yet, after they conquered Spain, Mu'awiyah as the caliph changed the function of minarets in churches to be minarets of mosques.…”

Section: The History Of Minaret As Symbolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contemporary Meaning and Function of Minaret An Exploration of Grand Mosque Hasyim Asyari

Fatih¹,

Herlily²,

Kurniawan³

2019

Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Sustainable Innovation 2019 – Humanity, Education and Social Sciences (Ico

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This paper has investigated and interrogated the significance and existence of minaret in contemporary urban mosque in Jakarta. Etymologically speaking, minaret derives from the word manara, which means tower. Throughout history, minaret was not built to amplify call prayer and its development in the Middle Eastern context were various among regions. Yet, in Indonesia minaret was only known during the modern Indonesian era following different cultural and historical contexts. In contemporary context, prominent Indonesian architects are still put minaret in their mosques design. Through an exploration of Jakarta Grand Mosque KH Hasyim Asyari, Jakarta and the lens of the architect and the ummah, we will analyze the meaning and function of the minaret and how it transform or not transform the ritual spatial practice of the ummah in contemporary urban context.

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Creswell and the Origins of the Minaret

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Revisiting K.A.C. Creswell’s Theory on the First Mosque in Islam

Revisiting K.A.C. Creswell’s Theory on the First Mosque in Islam

Minarets as a Vital Element of Indo-Islamic Architecture: Evolution and Morphology

Contemporary Meaning and Function of Minaret An Exploration of Grand Mosque Hasyim Asyari

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