View source for Islamic architecture

{{Short description|Architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam}}
{{Infobox art movement
| name = Islamic architecture
|image = {{photomontage
|photo1a= Great Mosque of Cordoba, interior, 8th - 10th centuries (38) (29721130342).jpg
|photo2a= 20180301124354 IMG 4179And6more Interior 3.jpg
|photo3a= Selimiye Mosque, Dome.jpg
|size = 250
|color_border = #AAAAAA
|color = #F9F9F9
}}
| caption = Top: [[Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba]] ([[Spain]]); centre: [[Jameh Mosque of Isfahan|Jameh Mosque]] in [[Isfahan]] ([[Iran]]); bottom: dome of the [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in [[Edirne]] ([[Turkey]])
| yearsactive =
|countries = [[Near East]], [[Arabian Peninsula]], [[North Africa]], [[Iran]], Indian subcontinent, [[Indonesia]]
}}
'''Islamic architecture''' comprises the [[architectural style]]s of [[building]]s associated with [[Islam]]. It encompasses both [[Secularity|secular]] and religious styles from the early [[history of Islam]] to the present day. The [[Muslim world|Islamic world]] encompasses a wide geographic area historically ranging from western Africa and Europe to eastern Asia. Certain commonalities are shared by Islamic architectural styles across all these regions, but over time different regions developed their own styles according to local materials and techniques, local dynasties and patrons, different regional centers of artistic production, and sometimes [[Islamic schools and branches|different religious affiliations]].<ref name=":05223">{{Cite book |last=Tabbaa |first=Yasser |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=Architecture |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref>{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc="Architecture"}}

Early Islamic architecture was influenced by [[Roman architecture|Roman]], [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]], [[Iranian architecture|Iranian]], and [[Architecture of Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian]] architecture and all other lands which the [[early Muslim conquests]] conquered in the seventh and eighth centuries.<ref name=":16">{{harvnb|Petersen|1996|p=295}}: "As the Arabs did not have an architectural tradition suited to the needs of a great empire, they adopted the building methods of the defeated Sassanian and Byzantine empires. Because they ruled from Syria, Byzantine influence was stronger, although Sassanian elements became increasingly important."</ref>{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=7}}<ref name=":24132">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |location= |pages=74, 78 |chapter=Architecture |quote=Although Syria remained the center of the Islamic empire for less than 90 years, its role in the development of Islamic architecture was crucial. The region's own ancient civilization, unified and transformed by Hellenization and overlaid with Roman and Christian elements, provided the basis for the new architectural style. The forms and conventions of Classical architecture were better understood in Syria than in the lands further east, and as a result some of the vocabulary of Umayyad architecture—of column and capital, pointed arch and dome, rib and vault—is familiar to a Western observer. These traditions declined in importance, however, as Muslim builders began to adopt the architectural styles of the newly conquered lands to the east—in Mesopotamia, Iran, Central Asia and even India. (...) The Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, founded in 749, ruled most of the Islamic lands from capital cities in Iraq during a golden age that lasted at least until the end of the 9th century. New styles of architecture were characterized by forms, techniques and motifs of Iraqi and Iranian origin. Some features of these styles, such as brick vaults and stucco renderings, had already appeared in buildings erected late in the Umayyad period (661–c. 750; see §III above), but they became increasingly widespread as a result of the power and prestige of the Abbasid court. In the Islamic lands around the Mediterranean, Late Antique traditions of stone construction roofed with wood continued, although new techniques and styles were eventually introduced from Iraq. |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref><ref name=":152">{{Cite book |last=Grabar |first=Oleg |title=Islam: Art and Architecture |publisher=h.f.ullmann |year=2011 |isbn=9783848003808 |editor-last=Hattstein |editor-first=Markus |location= |pages=36–37 |chapter=Art and Culture in the Islamic World |quote=At this stage of scholarly knowledge, however, it is probably fair to say that Islam's Arabian past, essential for understanding the faith and its practices, and the Arabic language and its literature, is not as important for the forms used by Islamic art as the immensely richer world, from the Atlantic Ocean to Central Asia, taken over by Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries. Even later, after centuries of independent growth, new conquests in Anatolia or India continued to bring new local themes and ideas into the mainstream of Islamic art. |editor-last2=Delius |editor-first2=Peter}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Flood|Necipoğlu|2017|p=30|loc=Frameworks of Islamic Art and Architectural History: Concepts, Approaches, and Historiographies}}: "Thus, it is increasingly being recognized that the mutual Roman–Byzantine architectural heritage of the Mediterranean, which had played an important role in the formation of early Islamic art, continued to mediate the shared histories of European and Islamic art long after the medieval period."</ref> Later it developed distinct characteristics in the form of buildings and in the [[Islamic ornament|decoration]] of surfaces with [[Islamic calligraphy]], [[arabesque]]s, and [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric motifs]].{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Ch.s "Architecture", "Ornament and pattern"}} New architectural elements like [[minaret]]s, ''[[muqarnas]]'', and [[multifoil arch]]es were invented. Common or important types of buildings in Islamic architecture include [[mosque]]s, [[madrasa]]s, [[tomb]]s, [[palace]]s, [[hammam]]s (public baths), [[Sufism|Sufi]] hospices (e.g. [[khanqah]]s or [[Zawiya (institution)|zawiyas]]), [[fountain]]s and [[Sebil (fountain)|sabils]], commercial buildings (e.g. [[caravanserai]]s and [[bazaar]]s), and military [[fortification]]s.{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc="Architecture"}}

==Early history (up to 10th century)==
{{See also|Mosque#History}}

=== Origins ===
[[File:Al-Masjid An-Nabawi (Bird's Eye View).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi|Mosque of the Prophet]], standing on the site of Muhammad's first mosque in [[Medina]]. The present-day building is the result of many reconstructions and expansions up to modern times.<ref name=":2422" />]]
{{Islamic culture}}
The [[History of Islam|Islamic era]] began with the formation of Islam under the leadership of [[Muhammad]] in early 7th-century [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]]. The first mosque was a structure built by Muhammad in [[Medina]] in 622, right after his ''[[Hijrah]]'' (migration) from [[Mecca]], which corresponds to the site of the present-day [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi|Mosque of the Prophet]] (''al-Masjid an-Nabawi'').<ref name=":242">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Mosque''}}</ref><ref name=":2422">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Medina''}}</ref> It is usually described as his house, but may have been designed to serve as a community center from the beginning.<ref name=":242" /> It consisted of a simple [[courtyard]] structure built in unbaked brick, with a rectangular, almost square, floor plan measuring about 53 by 56 meters.<ref name=":242" />{{sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=195–197}} A shaded portico supported by palm trunks stood on the north side of the courtyard, in the direction of prayer (the ''[[qibla]]''), which was initially towards [[Jerusalem]]. When the ''qibla'' was changed to face towards Mecca in 624, a similar portico was added on the south side, facing towards that city.<ref name=":242" /> Muhammad and his family lived in separate rooms attached to the mosque, and Muhammad himself was buried in one of these rooms upon his death in 632.<ref name=":242" /> Over the rest of the 7th century and in the 8th century the mosque was repeatedly expanded to include a large flat-roofed prayer hall supported by columns (a hypostyle hall) with a central courtyard.<ref name=":242" /> It became one of the main models for the early mosques built elsewhere.<ref name=":242" />{{sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=195–197}} Scholars generally agree that aside from Muhammad's mosque/house, the architecture of the Arabian Peninsula seems to have had only a limited role in the formulation of later Islamic architecture.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":0522" /><ref name=":2413" /><ref name=":15" />

Prior to the start of the [[Early Muslim conquests|Arab-Muslim conquests]] of the 7th century, the two major powers in the [[Middle East]] and the eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean world]] were the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire]] and the [[Sasanian Empire]]. These two empires both cultivated their own major architectural traditions. Occupying the borderlands between these two empires – in the desert and [[steppe]] regions of [[Syria (region)|Syria]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], [[Mesopotamia]] and northern Arabia – were two Arab tribal [[client state]]s: the [[Lakhmids]], who were clients of the Sasanians and had their capital at [[Al-Hirah|al-Hira]] (in present-day [[Iraq]]), and the [[Ghassanids]], who were clients of the Byzantines and protected their eastern borders.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=36}} These two Arab dynasties were significant patrons of architecture in their respective regions.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=36}} Their architecture is not well understood due to the scarcity of identifiable remains today, but they borrowed and adapted the architecture of their Byzantine and Sasanian [[Suzerainty|suzerains]].{{Sfn|Shahîd|1995a|pp=401-403}}{{Sfn|Flood|Necipoğlu|2017|p=58}} Some of their buildings are known from archeology or historical texts, such as the Lakhmid palaces of [[Khawarnaq]] and al-Sadir in al-Hira, a Ghassanid church with [[mosaic]] decoration at Nitil (near [[Madaba]]), and a Ghassanid audience hall incorporated into the later Umayyad rural residence at [[Resafa|ar-Rusafa]].{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=36}}{{Sfn|Shahîd|1995b|pp=277-280}}{{Sfn|Shahîd|1995a|p=334}} The culture and architecture of the Lakhmids and Ghassanids probably played a subsequent role in transmitting and filtering the architectural traditions of the Sasanian and the Byzantine/Roman worlds to the later Arab Islamic dynasties who established their political centers in the same regions.{{Sfn|Shahîd|1995a|pp=391, 402}}<ref name="Zahran Lakhmids 20092">Yāsamīn Zahrān. (2009). The Lakhmids of Hira: Sons of the Water of Heaven. Stacey International. p. 179.</ref>{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|pp=4-5}}

When the early Arab-Muslim conquests spread out from the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century and advanced across the Middle East and North Africa, new garrison cities were established in the conquered territories, such as [[Fustat]] in Egypt and [[Kufa]] in present-day Iraq. The central [[congregational mosque]]s of these cities were built in the [[hypostyle]] format.<ref name=":242" /> In other cities, especially in Syria, new mosques were established by converting or occupying parts of existing churches in existing cities, as for example in [[Damascus]] and [[Hama]].<ref name=":242" /> These early mosques had no [[minaret]], although small shelters may have been constructed on the roofs to protect the [[muezzin]] while issuing the [[Adhan|call to prayer]].<ref name=":243">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Minaret''}}</ref>

=== Umayyad era ===
{{Main|Umayyad architecture}}
[[File:Desert Place of Mshatta Facade - Pergamon Museum - Joy of Museums.jpg|thumb|The [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]]-era [[Mshatta Facade]], from a palace near [[Amman]], now in the [[Pergamon Museum]] in Berlin. The decoration displays [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]] and [[Sasanian architecture|Sasanian]] influences.<ref name=":05226">{{Cite book |last=Walmsley |first=Alan |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2020 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=al-Mushattā |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref>]]
The [[Umayyad Caliphate]] (661–750) combined elements of [[Byzantine architecture]] and [[Sasanian architecture]], but [[Umayyad architecture]] introduced new combinations of these styles.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=295}} The reuse of elements from [[Ancient Roman architecture|classical Roman]] and Byzantine art was still widely evident because political power and patronage was centered in Syria, a former Roman/Byzantine province.<ref name=":244">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture (III. 661–c. 750)''}}</ref> Some former Ghassanid structures also appear to have been reused and modified during this period.{{Sfn|Shahîd|1995a|pp=375-377, 387-389}} However, a significant amount of experimentation occurred as Umayyad patrons recruited craftsmen from across the empire and architects were allowed, or even encouraged, to mix elements from different artistic traditions and to disregard traditional conventions and restraints.<ref name=":244" /> Partly as a result of this, Umayyad architecture is distinguished by the extent and variety of decoration, including [[mosaic]]s, wall painting, sculpture and carved reliefs.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=296}}<ref name=":244" /> While figural scenes were notably present in monuments like [[Qusayr 'Amra]], non-figural decoration and more abstract scenes became highly favoured, especially in religious architecture.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=295–296}}<ref name=":244" /> The Umayyad period thus played a crucial role in transforming and enriching existing architectural traditions during the formation of early Islamic society's visual culture.{{Sfn|Flood|2001|pp=22–24}}

[[File:CSC 0190 (5300274180).jpg|left|thumb|[[Great Mosque of Damascus]] (early 8th century)]]
The Umayyads were the first to add the ''[[mihrab]]'' to mosque design, a concave [[Niche (architecture)|niche]] in the ''qibla'' wall of the mosque.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=24}} The first ''mihrab'' reportedly appeared at Muhammad's mosque in Medina when it was rebuilt by [[al-Walid I]] in 707. It seems to have represented the place where the Prophet stood when leading prayer.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=24}} This almost immediately became a standard feature of all mosques.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=24}} Several major early monuments of Islamic architecture built under the Umayyads include the [[Dome of the Rock]] in Jerusalem (built by Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]]) and the [[Umayyad Mosque|Great Mosque of Damascus]] (built by al-Walid I). The [[Qibli Mosque|Al-Aqsa Mosque]] on the [[Al-Aqsa]] compound, also in Jerusalem, was also rebuilt by al-Walid I, replacing an earlier simple structure built around 670.<ref name=":242" /> A number of palaces from this period have also partially survived or have been excavated in modern times.<ref name=":244" />{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=296}} The [[horseshoe arch]] appears for the first time in Umayyad architecture, later to evolve to its most advanced form in [[al-Andalus]] ([[Iberian Peninsula]]).{{sfn|Ali|1999|p=35}}

[[File:Jerusalem DomeoftheRock J65.JPG|thumb|The [[Dome of the Rock]] in [[Jerusalem]] (late 7th century, with later renovations)]]
The Dome of the Rock has a centralized floor plan with an octagonal layout. This was most likely modeled on earlier Byzantine [[Martyrium|martyria]] in the region that had a similar form, such as the [[Church of the Seat of Mary|Church of the Kathisma]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Avner |first=Rina |date=2010 |title=The Dome of the Rock in Light of the Development of Concentric Martyria in Jerusalem: Architecture and Architectural Iconography |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25769691 |journal=Muqarnas |volume=27 |pages=31–49 |doi=10.1163/22118993_02701003 |jstor=25769691 |issn=0732-2992}}</ref><ref name=":05225">{{Cite book |last=Milwright |first=Marcus |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2014 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=Dome of the Rock |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref> Despite the religious and historical importance of the Dome of the Rock, its layout did not frequently serve as a model for major Islamic monuments after it.<ref name=":244" /> In hypostyle mosques, the Umayyads introduced the tradition of making the "nave" or aisle in front of the ''mihrab'' wider than the others, dividing the prayer room along its central axis.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=24}} This innovation was probably inspired by the layout of existing Christian [[basilica]]s in the region.{{Sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=24}}{{Sfn|Grafman|Rosen-Ayalon|1999|pp=10–11}} Both the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Great Mosque of Damascus feature a hypostyle hall in this fashion, with a [[dome]] above the space in front of the ''mihrab'', and both were influential in the design of later mosques elsewhere.<ref name=":242" /> The Dome of the Rock and the Umayyad Mosque are also notable for their extensive program of mosaic decoration that drew on late Antique motifs and craftsmanship.{{Sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|pp=25–26}}{{Sfn|McKenzie|2007|p=|pp=365–367}}{{Sfn|Flood|2001|pp=22–24}}<ref name=":05225" /> However, mosaic decoration eventually fell out of fashion in Islamic architecture.<ref name=":244" />

=== Abbasid era ===
{{Main|Abbasid architecture}}
[[File:حصن_الاخيضر_(3).jpg|thumb|Interior of the [[Al-Ukhaidir Fortress|al-Ukhaidir Palace]] ({{circa|775}}) in Iraq, one of the earliest surviving examples of Abbasid architecture<ref name=":2442" />]]
The [[Abbasid architecture]] of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] (750–1513) was particularly influenced by Sasanian architecture, which in turn featured elements present since ancient Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=1}}<ref name=":2442">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture (IV. c. 750–c. 900)''}}</ref> Other influences such as ancient [[Sogdia|Soghdian]] architecture in [[Central Asia]] have also been noted.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=1}} This was partly a result of the caliphate's political center shifting further east to the new capital of [[Baghdad]], in present-day Iraq.<ref name=":2442" /> The Abbasids also built other capital cities, such as [[Abbasid Samarra|Samarra]] in the 9th century, which is now a major archeological site that has provided numerous insights into the evolution of [[Islamic art]] and architecture during this time.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=|pp=249–251}}<ref name=":2442" /> During the Abbasid Caliphate's golden years in the 8th and 9th centuries, its great power and unity allowed architectural fashions and innovations to spread quickly to other areas of the Islamic world under its influence.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|pp=94–95}}

[[File:Fragment_of_Samarra_stucco_wall_decoration_8361.jpg|left|thumb|Panel of stucco decoration from [[Abbasid Samarra]] (9th century), Iraq, exemplifying the "beveled" style that employed more abstract motifs.<ref name=":244211">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Beveled style''}}</ref>]]
Features from the late Umayyad period, such as vaulting, carved [[stucco]], and painted wall decoration, were continued and elaborated in the Abbasid period.<ref name=":2442" /> The [[four-centred arch]], a more sophisticated form of the [[pointed arch]], is first attested during the Abbasid period in monuments at Samarra, such as the [[Qasr al-'Ashiq|Qasr al-Ashiq]] palace,{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=|pp=24–25, 251}}<ref name=":2442" /> and became widely used in some regions at later periods.<ref name=":244210">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture''}}</ref> Samarra also saw the appearance of new decorative styles, particularly in stucco and plasterwork, which rendered the earlier vegetal motifs of late antique traditions into more abstract and stylized forms, as exemplified by the so-called "beveled" style. These decorative techniques quickly spread to other regions where [[Stucco decoration in Islamic architecture|stucco decoration]] played a prominent role.<ref name=":24428">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Stucco and plasterwork''}}</ref>

[[File:Samarra, Iraq (25270211056) edited.jpg|thumb|The walls and minaret of the [[Great Mosque of Samarra]] built by the Abbasids in the 9th century]]Abbasid mosques all followed the courtyard plan with hypostyle halls. The earliest was the [[Great Mosque of al-Mansur|Great Mosque]] that Caliph [[al-Mansur]] built in Baghdad (since destroyed). The [[Great Mosque of Samarra]] built by al-Mutawakkil measured {{convert|256|by|139|m}}, had a flat wooden roof supported by columns, and was decorated with marble panels and glass mosaics.{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|p=80}} The prayer hall of the [[Abu Dulaf Mosque]] at Samarra had [[Arcade (architecture)|arcades]] on rectangular brick piers running at right angles to the ''qibla'' wall. Both of the Samarra mosques have spiral minarets, the only examples in Iraq.{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|p=80}} A mosque at [[Balkh]] in what is now Afghanistan was about {{convert|20|by|20|m}} square, with three rows of three square bays, supporting nine vaulted domes.{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|p=82}}

While the origins of the minaret are uncertain, it is believed that the first true minarets appeared in this period.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=187}}<ref name=":243" /> Several of the Abbasid mosques built in the early ninth century had minaret towers which stood at the northern ends of the building, opposite the central ''mihrab''. Among the most famous of these is the Malwiyya minaret, a stand-alone tower with a "spiral" form built for the Great Mosque of Samarra.{{sfn|Petersen|1996}}

=== Early regional styles ===
[[File:Mihrab de la mezquita de Córdoba (17060237467).jpg|thumb|The ''mihrab'' and ''[[Maqsurah|maqsura]]'' area of the [[Great Mosque of Córdoba]], added to the mosque by [[al-Hakam II]] (late 10th century)]]
After the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate in 750 by the Abbasids, a new branch of the [[Umayyad dynasty]] succeeded in taking control of al-Andalus in 756, founding the [[Emirate of Córdoba]] and reaching the apogee of its power as self-declared caliphs in the 10th century. The [[Great Mosque of Córdoba]], built in 785–786, marks the earliest major monument of [[Moorish architecture]] in the Iberian Peninsula. This style of architecture established in al-Andalus was also largely shared with the architecture of western North Africa (the [[Maghreb]]), from which later empires in the region would also emerge and contribute to its artistic evolution.<ref name=":022">{{Cite book|last=Marçais|first=Georges|title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident|publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques|year=1954|location=Paris}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{harvnb|Bloom|2020}}</ref> The original Great Mosque of Córdoba was noted for its unique hypostyle hall with rows of double-tiered, two-coloured arches that were repeated and maintained in later extensions of the building. The mosque was expanded multiple times, with the expansion by [[al-Hakam II]] (r. 961–976) introducing important aesthetic innovations such as [[interlacing arches]] and [[Rib vault|ribbed]] domes, which were imitated and elaborated in later monuments in the region.<ref name=":022" /><ref name=":8" /> The construction of [[Madinat al-Zahra]], a new capital and monumental palace-city in the 10th century, also created an important complex of royal architecture and patronage. Smaller monuments such as the [[Mosque of Cristo de la Luz|Bab al-Mardum Mosque]] in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] and the minarets added to the [[Qarawiyyin]] and [[Mosque of the Andalusians|Andalusiyyin]] mosques in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]] (present-day Morocco) demonstrate the prevalence of the same stylistic elements across the region.{{sfn|Bloom|2020|pp=51–81}}

After its initial apogee of power, the Abbasid Caliphate became partly fragmented into regional states in the 9th century which were formally obedient to the caliphs in Baghdad but were ''de facto'' independent.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Hugh|title=The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=9780582405257|edition=2nd}}</ref> The [[Aghlabids]] in [[Ifriqiya]] (roughly modern-day Tunisia) were notable patrons of architecture themselves, responsible for rebuilding both the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]] (originally founded by [[Uqba ibn Nafi]] in 670) and the [[Al-Zaytuna Mosque|Zaytuna Mosque]] of [[Tunis]] in much of their current forms, as well as for building numerous other structures in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Binous|first1=Jamila|title=Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia|last2=Baklouti|first2=Naceur|last3=Ben Tanfous|first3=Aziza|last4=Bouteraa|first4=Kadri|last5=Rammah|first5=Mourad|last6=Zouari|first6=Ali|publisher=Museum With No Frontiers & Ministry of Culture, the National Institute of Heritage, Tunis|year=2010|series=Islamic Art in the Mediterranean|location=}}</ref>{{sfn|Bloom|2020|pp=16–43}} In Egypt, [[Ahmad ibn Tulun]] established a short-lived dynasty, the [[Tulunids]], and built himself a new capital ([[al-Qata'i]]) with a new congregational mosque, known as the [[Mosque of Ibn Tulun|Ibn Tulun Mosque]], which was completed in 879. It was strongly influenced by Abbasid architecture in Samarra and remains one of the most notable and best-preserved examples of 9th-century architecture from the Abbasid Caliphate.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|pp=31–32}}

[[File:Bukhara Samanid mausoleum outside.JPG|left|thumb|The [[Samanid Mausoleum]] in [[Bukhara]] (10th century), built entirely of brick, is one of the oldest monumental tombs in the Islamic world.<ref name=":2436">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Bukhara''}}</ref>]]
In Iran and Central Asia, a number of other local and regional dynasties held sway prior to the arrival of the [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuks]] in the 11th century. By the 10th century, central Iran and the Abbasid heartland of Iraq were under the ''de facto'' rule of the [[Buyid dynasty]], northern Iran was ruled by the [[Bavand dynasty|Bawandids]] and [[Ziyarid dynasty|Ziyarids]], and the northeastern regions of [[Khurasan]] and [[Transoxiana]] were ruled by the [[Samanids]].<ref name=":2435">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture (V. c. 900–c. 1250)''}}</ref> It is around this period that many of the distinctive features of subsequent [[Iranian architecture|Iranian]] and [[Central Asian architecture]] first emerged, including the use of baked brick for both construction and decoration, the use of glazed tile for surface decoration, and the development of ''[[muqarnas]]'' from [[squinch]]es. Hypostyle mosques continued to be built and there is also evidence of multi-domed mosques, though most were modified or rebuilt in later eras.<ref name=":2435" /> The [[Jameh Mosque of Nain|Jameh Mosque of Na'in]], one of the oldest surviving congregational mosques in Iran, contains some of the best-preserved features from this period, including decorative brickwork, [[Kufic]] inscriptions, and rich stucco decoration featuring vine scrolls and acanthus leaves that draw from the earlier styles of Samarra.<ref name=":2435" /><ref name=":2437">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Na῾in''}}</ref> Another important architectural trend to arise in the 10th to 11th centuries is the development of mausolea, which took on monumental forms for the first time. One type of mausoleum was the tomb tower, such as the [[Gunbad-i-Qabus]] (circa 1006–7), while the other main type was the domed square, such as the [[Tomb of the Samanids]] in [[Bukhara]] (before 943).{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1999b|p=100}}<ref name=":2435" />

[[File:Cairo, porte settentrionali, 01.JPG|thumb|[[Bab al-Futuh]] in Cairo, one of the gates built by the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]] vizier [[Badr al-Jamali]] (11th century)]]
In the 10th century, the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] rose to power in Ifriqiya, where it built a new fortified capital at [[Mahdia]]. In 970, the Fatimids moved their center of power to Egypt and founded another capital, [[Cairo]].<ref name=":9" /> [[Fatimid architecture]] in Egypt followed Tulunid techniques and used similar materials, but also developed its own features. The first Fatimid congregational mosque in Cairo was [[al-Azhar mosque|al-Azhar Mosque]], founded at the same time as the city (970), which became the spiritual center for the [[Ismaili|Ismaili Shi'a]] branch of Islam. Other notable monuments include the large [[Al-Hakim Mosque|Mosque of al-Hakim]] (founded in 990 under [[Al-Aziz Billah|al-'Aziz]] but completed around 1013 under [[Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah|al-Hakim]]), the small [[Aqmar Mosque]] (1125) with its richly-decorated street façade, and the domed [[Mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya]] (1133), notable for its ''mihrab'' of elaborately-carved stucco.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|last=Behrens-Abouseif|first=Doris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INsmT6zjAl8C&q=aqmar+mosque+1125&pg=PA72|title=Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction|date=1992|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-09626-4|pages=58–75}}</ref> Under the powerful [[vizier]] [[Badr al-Jamali]] (r. 1073–1094), the city walls were rebuilt in stone along with several monumental gates, three of which have survived to the present-day: [[Bab al-Futuh]], [[Bab al-Nasr (Cairo)|Bab al-Nasr]], and [[Bab Zuweila]]).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XshAEMLqzmAC&dq=false&pg=PA12 |title=David Nicolle (2009), ''Saracen Strongholds 1100–1500: The Central and Eastern Islamic Lands''. Osprey Publishing, p. 12 |isbn=9781846033759 |last1=Nicolle |first1=David |date=22 September 2009 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |access-date=27 October 2022 |archive-date=2 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502072213/https://books.google.com/books?id=XshAEMLqzmAC&pg=PA12&dq=false |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":9" />

== Characteristics ==
=== Courtyards ===
[[File:La grande mosquée de Kairouan 12.jpg|thumb|The ''[[sahn]]'' (courtyard) and [[minaret]] of the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]], [[Tunisia]]]]
In the architecture of the Muslim world [[courtyard]]s are found in secular and religious structures.
# Residences and other secular buildings typically contain a central private courtyard or [[walled garden]]. This was also called the ''wast ad-dar'' ("middle of the house") in Arabic. The tradition of [[courtyard house]]s was already widespread in the [[Classical antiquity|ancient Mediterranean world]] and [[Ancient Near East|Middle East]], as seen in [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman]] houses (e.g. the Roman ''[[domus]]''). The use of this space included the aesthetic effects of plants and water, the penetration of natural light, allowing breezes and air circulation into the structure during summer heat, as a cooler space with water and shade, and as a protected and proscribed place where the women of the house need not be covered in the [[hijab]] clothing traditionally necessary in public.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Brian|title=Courtyard Housing: Past, Present and Future|last2=Sibley|first2=Magda|last3=Land|first3=Peter|last4=Hakmi|first4=Mohammad|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2006|isbn=9780415262729}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Petruccioli|first=Attilio|title=The City in the Islamic World|editor-last=Jayyusi|editor-first=Salma K.|volume=2|chapter=House and Fabric in the Islamic Mediterranean City|editor-last2=Holod|editor-first2=Renata|editor-last3=Petruccioli|editor-first3=Attilio|editor-last4=Raymond|editor-first4=Andre}}</ref>

# A ''[[Sahn|ṣaḥn]]'' ({{langx|ar| صحن|links=no}}) is the formal courtyard found in almost every mosque in Islamic architecture. The courtyards are open to the sky and surrounded on all sides by structures with halls and rooms, and often a shaded semi-open arcade ''[[riwaq (arcade)|riwaq]]''. A mosque courtyard is used for performing [[Wudu|ablution]]s and as a [[patio]] for rest or gathering. ''Sahn''s usually feature a central pool or fountain to aid with ablutions, sometimes sheltered under an open domed pavilion.<ref name=":242" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Mosque|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/learn/educators/curriculum-resources/art-of-the-islamic-world/unit-one/the-mosque|access-date=2020-11-23|website=metmuseum.org}}</ref>{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=247}} Historically, because of the warm Mediterranean and Middle Eastern climates, the courtyard also served to accommodate larger numbers of worshippers during Friday prayers.<ref name="Masdjid1">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Masdjid|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]] Online, Second Edition|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers|last=Hillenbrand|first=R|date=|editor=P.J. Bearman|issn=1573-3912|editor2=Th. Bianquis|editor3=[[Clifford Edmund Bosworth|C.E. Bosworth]]|editor4=E. van Donzel|editor5=W.P. Heinrichs}}</ref>

=== Hypostyle hall ===
A [[hypostyle]], i.e., an open hall supported by columns, is considered to be derived from architectural traditions of [[Achaemenids|Achaemenid period]] Persian assembly halls ([[apadana]]). This type of building originated from the [[Roman architecture|Roman]]-style [[basilica]] with an adjacent courtyard surrounded by [[colonnade]]s, like [[Trajan's Forum]] in Rome. The Roman type of building has developed out of the [[Greek architecture|Greek]] [[agora]]. In Islamic architecture, the hypostyle hall is the main feature of the hypostyle mosque. One of the earliest hypostyle mosques is the [[Tarikhaneh Temple|Tarikhaneh Mosque]] in Iran, dating back to the eighth century.<ref name="Hoag_p7_9" />

Some scholars refer to the early hypostyle mosque with courtyard as the "Arab plan" or "Arab-type" mosque.<ref name="Masdjid1" /><ref name=":242" /> Such mosques were constructed mostly under the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties; subsequently, however, the simplicity of this type of plan limited the opportunities for further development, and as a result, these mosques gradually fell out of popularity in some regions.<ref name="Masdjid1" />

=== Vaulting ===
In Islamic buildings, [[Vault (architecture)|vaulting]] follows two distinct architectural styles: While Umayyad architecture in the west continues Syrian traditions of the sixth and seventh century, eastern Islamic architecture was mainly influenced by Sasanian styles and forms.

==== Umayyad diaphragm arches and barrel vaults ====
[[File:Qasr Amra 21.jpg|thumb|[[Qusayr 'Amra]] in Jordan]]

In their [[Vault (architecture)|vaulting]] structures, Umayyad period buildings show a mixture of ancient Roman and Persian architectural traditions. [[Diaphragm arch]]es with lintelled ceilings made of wood or stone beams, or, alternatively, with barrel vaults, were known in the [[Levant]] since the classical and [[Nabataeans|Nabatean]] period. They were mainly used to cover houses and cisterns. The architectural form of covering diaphragm arches with barrel vaults, however, was likely newly introduced from [[Iranian architecture]], as similar vaulting was not known in [[Bilad al-Sham]] before the arrival of the Umayyads. However, this form was well known in Iran from early [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] times, as exemplified in the Parthian buildings of [[Assur|Aššur]]. The earliest known example for barrel vaults resting on diaphragm arches from Umayyad architecture is known from [[Qasr Al-Kharanah|Qasr Harane]] in Syria. During the early period, the diaphragm arches are built from coarsely cut limestone slabs, without using supporting [[falsework]], which were connected by [[gypsum]] [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]]. Later-period vaults were erected using pre-formed lateral ribs modelled from gypsum, which served as a temporal formwork to guide and center the vault. These ribs, which were left in the structure afterwards, do not carry any load. The ribs were cast in advance on strips of cloth, the impression of which can still be seen in the ribs today. Similar structures are known from Sasanian architecture, for example from the palace of [[Firuzabad, Fars|Firuzabad]]. Umayyad-period vaults of this type were found in [[Amman Citadel]] and in [[Qasr Amra]].<ref>Ignacio Arce (2006): ''Umayyad arches, vaults & domes: Merging and re-creation. Contributions to early Islamic construction history.'' In: Proceedings of the second international congress on construction history Vol. I. Queens' College, Cambridge University 29.03.–02.04.2006, S. 195–220 [http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/Downloads/ichs/vol-1-195-220-arce.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201101122/http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/Downloads/ichs/vol-1-195-220-arce.pdf |date=2016-02-01 }}, accessed 1 February 2016</ref>

==== Iwans ====
[[File:Jama Masjid Isfahan Aarash (136).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|An iwan in the [[Jameh Mosque of Isfahan]]]]
An [[iwan]] is a hall that is walled on three sides and open on one side.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=130}}<ref name=":24423">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Iwan''}}</ref> It is typically covered by a vault although this can vary.<ref name=":24423" /> This feature was present in Sasanian architecture, though its exact origins are older and still debated.<ref name=":24423" /> It was later incorporated into Islamic architecture. Its usage became more common and widespread under the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuks]] in the 10th century.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=130}} Iwans were used in a variety of ways and arranged in varying positions in relation to the rest of the building. They are found in many types of buildings including mosques, madrasas, palaces, and caravanserais.
A common layout is the [[four-iwan plan]].

The related [[Persian language|Persian]] term, {{transliteration|fa|pishtaq}}, means the entrance portal (sometimes an iwan) projecting from the façade of a building, often decorated with calligraphy bands, glazed [[tilework]], and [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric designs]].<ref name="ReferenceA">[https://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.jsp?entry_id=DIA0502 Dictionary of Islamic architecture: Pishtaq] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629172823/https://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.jsp?entry_id=DIA0502|date=2011-06-29}}  archnet.org.</ref><ref name="Pishtaq">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/461774/pishtaq Pishtaq] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503054822/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/461774/pishtaq |date=2015-05-03 }} ''[[Britannica.com]]''.</ref>

=== Domes ===
{{See also|History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes|Qubba}}

==== Domes in Iran and Central Asia ====
Because of its long history of building and re-building, spanning the time from the [[Abbasids]] to the [[Qajar dynasty]], and its excellent state of conservation, the [[Jameh Mosque of Isfahan]] provides an overview over the experiments Islamic architects conducted with complicated vaulting structures.{{sfn|Giese-Vögeli|2007|pp=66–88}}

The system of [[squinch]]es, which is a construction filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a base to receive an [[octagon]]al or [[sphere|spherical]] dome, was already known in Sasanian architecture.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Schippmann| first1=Klaus| title=Die iranischen Feuerheiligtümer = Iranian Fire temples| date=1971| publisher=Walter de Gruyter| location=Berlin| isbn=978-3-11-001879-0| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWwiAAAAQBAJ| access-date=23 January 2016| language=de}}</ref> The [[Spherical trigonometry|spherical triangles]] of the squinches were split up into further subdivisions or systems of niches, resulting in a complex interplay of supporting structures forming an ornamental spatial pattern which hides the weight of the structure.

The tradition of double-shelled brick domes in Iran has been traced back to the 11th century.{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|p=84}}{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|pp=268–269}} At the beginning of the 15th century, major Timurid monuments like the [[Gur-e-Amir|Gur-i Amir Mausoleum]] and the [[Bibi-Khanym Mosque|Bibi Khanum Mosque]] (both completed around 1404) were notable in their use of large double-shelled domes. These domes were composed of an inner shell which was visible from the interior and a larger outer shell, visible from the exterior and often of a slightly different shape. The Gur-i Amir Mausoleum's dome, the oldest one to have survived to the present day, features an exterior ribbed profile with a band of [[muqarnas]] around its drum.{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|pp=40–41}} However, domes of this shape and style were likely constructed earlier, as evidenced by the [[Sultaniyya Mausoleum]] in Cairo, which was built earlier in the 1350s and appears to have copied this same design from the Iranian tradition.{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|p=84}}

The "non-radial rib vault", an architectural form of ribbed vaults with a superimposed spherical dome, is the characteristic architectural vault form of the Islamic East. From its beginnings in the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan, this form of vault was used in a sequence of important buildings up to the period of [[Safavid Iran|Safavid]] architecture. Its main characteristics are:{{sfn|Giese-Vögeli|2007|pp=66–88}}
* four intersecting ribs, at times redoubled and intersected to form an eight-pointed star;
* the omission of a transition zone between the vault and the supporting structure;
* a central dome or [[roof lantern]] on top of the ribbed vault.

While intersecting pairs of ribs from the main decorative feature of [[Great Seljuk architecture|Seljuk architecture]], the ribs were hidden behind additional architectural elements in later periods, as exemplified in the dome of the [[Tomb of Ahmed Sanjar]] in [[Merv]], until they finally disappeared completely behind the double shell of a [[stucco]] dome, as seen in the dome of [[Ālī Qāpū]] in Isfahan.{{sfn|Giese-Vögeli|2007|pp=66–88}}

<gallery class="center" widths="180" heights="180">
File:Ardeshir Palace, Firoozabad, Fars (کاخ اردشیر ساسانی، فیروزآباد، فارس) - panoramio (2).jpg|Dome with [[squinch]]es in the [[Palace of Ardashir]] of pre-Islamic Persia. Squinches are one of the most significant [[Sasanian architecture|Sasanian]] contribution to Islamic architecture.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Huff|first1=D.|title=ARCHITECTURE iii. Sasanian Period – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/architecture-iii|access-date=16 March 2019|website=www.iranicaonline.org|publisher=[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]}}</ref>
File:Detail of Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum - Samarkand - Uzbekistan - 01 (7480314806).jpg|The dome of the [[Gur-e-Amir|Gur-i Amir Mausoleum]] in [[Samarkand|Samarqand]]
File:Friday mosque, isfahan.jpg|Non-radial rib vault in the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan
File:SultanSanjarMausoleum2.jpg|Dome of the tomb of Ahmed Sanjar in Merv
File:Music Room, Ali Qapu Palace, Isfahan (1267170087).jpg|Upper dome of [[Ālī Qāpū]], Isfahan
</gallery>

==== Domes in South Asia ====
{{see also|History of domes in South Asia}}
The use of domes in South Asia started with the establishment of [[Delhi sultanate]] in 1204 CE. Unlike [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] domes, and even more so than Persian domes, domes in South Asia tend to be more [[Onion dome|bulbous]].{{sfn|Nuttgens|1997|p=157}} Many monumental Mughal domes were also double-shelled and derived from the Iranian tradition. The design of the [[Humayun's Tomb|Tomb of Humayun]] (completed around 1571–72), including its double-shelled dome, suggests that its architects were familiar with Timurid monuments in Samarqand.{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|p=270}} The central dome of the [[Taj Mahal]] likewise features a bulbous profile and a double-shelled construction.<ref name=":246">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Agra''}}</ref>

<gallery class="center" widths="180" heights="140">
File:Humayun's tombb.JPG|View of the main dome at [[Humayun's Tomb]] in [[Delhi]]
File:Taj Mahal 2012.jpg|Dome of [[Taj Mahal]] in [[Agra]]
File:"Badshahi Mosque ".jpg|The bulbous domes of the [[Badshahi Mosque]] in [[Lahore]]
File:PK Thatta asv2020-02 img08 Shah Jahan Mosque.jpg|The main dome of [[Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta]] has tiles arranged in a [[Star-shaped|stellate]] pattern to represent the night sky
File:Shahi Hamam interior.jpg|The interior of the main dome of [[Shahi Hammam]] in [[Lahore]]
</gallery>

==== Ribbed domes in Al-Andalus and the Maghreb ====
[[File:Cordoba Mosque 01.jpg|thumb|Ribbed dome in front of the mihrab in the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, added in the 10th century]]
The [[Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba|Great Mosque of Córdoba]] in [[Al-Andalus]] was initially built with a system of double-arched arcades supporting the flat timberwork ceiling. The columns of the arcades are connected by horseshoe arches which support brick pillars, which are in turn interconnected by semicircular arches.<ref name=":14" />{{Rp|pages=40–42}} This arcade system was copied during the mosque's subsequent expansions, but the expansion by al-Hakam II after 961 also introduced a series of ornate ribbed domes.{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|pp=69–70}} Three domes span the vaults in front of the mihrab wall while another one covers an area now known by its Spanish name, the ''Capilla de Villaviciosa'', located several bays before the mihrab. In sections which now supporting these domes, additional supporting structures were needed to bear the thrust of the cupolas. The architects solved this problem by the construction of intersecting arches.{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=72}}{{sfn|Giese-Vögeli|2007}} The domes themselves are built with eight intersecting stone ribs. Rather than meeting in the centre of the dome, the ribs intersect one another off-center, leaving the central space to be occupied by a smaller cupola. For the domes in front of the mihrab, the ribs form an eight-pointed star and an octagonal cupola in the centre. For the dome over the ''Capilla de Villaviciosa'', the ribs leave a central square space between them, with an octagonal cupola added over this.{{sfn|Giese-Vögeli|2007}}{{Sfn|Bloom|2020|p=|pp=70–73}}

The ribbed domes of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba served as models for later mosque buildings in the Islamic West of Al-Andalus and the Maghreb. At around 1000 AD, the [[Mosque of Cristo de la Luz|Bab al-Mardum Mosque]] in Toledo was constructed with a similar, eight-ribbed dome, surrounded by eight other ribbed domes of varying design.{{sfn|Bloom|2020|p=79}} Similar domes are also seen in the mosque building of the [[Aljafería]] of [[Zaragoza]]. The architectural form of the ribbed dome was further developed in the Maghreb: the central dome of the [[Great Mosque of Tlemcen]], a masterpiece of the [[Almoravids]] founded in 1082, has twelve slender ribs and the shell between the ribs is filled with filigree stucco work.{{sfn|Giese-Vögeli|2007}}

==== Ottoman domes ====
[[File:Edirne Selimiye Mosque Central dome in 2018 0170.jpg|thumb|The [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] (1568–74) in [[Edirne]] represents the pinnacle of Ottoman domed architecture. Its massive dome is supported by eight pillars in an octagonal configuration.{{Sfn|Kuban|2010|p=257-258, 295, 301, 307}}]]
[[Ottoman architecture]] developed a specific form of monumental, representative building: large central domes were erected on top of a centrally-planned building.<ref name=":244212">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Ottoman''}}</ref> After the Ottomans [[Fall of Constantinople|conquered Constantinople]] in 1453, they found a variety of Byzantine Christian churches, the largest and most prominent being the [[Hagia Sophia]]. The brickwork-and-mortar ribs and the spherical shell of the central dome of the Hagia Sophia were built simultaneously, as a self-supporting structure without any wooden [[centring]].<ref>{{cite book| first= Auguste |last= Choisy| authorlink= Auguste Choisy | title=L'art de bâtir chez les Byzantins| year=1883| publisher=Librairie de la société anonyme| location=Paris| pages=67–69}}</ref> In the early Byzantine church of [[Hagia Irene]], the ribs of the dome vault are fully integrated into the shell, similar to Western [[Roman architecture|Roman]] domes, and thus are not visible from within the building.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jean Ebersoll |author2=Adolphe Thiers | title=Les églises de Constantinople| date=1913| publisher=Ernest Leroux| location=Paris| page=69}}</ref> In the dome of the Hagia Sophia, the ribs and shell of the dome unite in a central medallion at the apex of the dome, the upper ends of the ribs being integrated into the shell; shell and ribs form one single structural entity.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jean Ebersoll |author2=Adolphe Thiers | title=Les églises de Constantinople| date=1913| publisher=Ernest Leroux| location=Paris| pages=100–117; 178–188; 192–214}}</ref> The structural transition below the dome is achieved by four [[pendentive]]s and the domed space is extended by two semi-domes. This design, along with early Ottoman designs, served as the model for subsequent development.{{sfn|Tabbaa|2017b}}

Ottoman architect [[Mimar Sinan]] attempted to solve the structural issues of the Hagia Sophia dome by constructing a system of centrally symmetric pillars with flanking semi-domes, as exemplified by the design of the [[Süleymaniye Mosque]] (four pillars with two flanking shield walls and two semi-domes, 1550–1557) and the [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in [[Edirne]] (eight pillars with four diagonal semi-domes, 1568–1574).{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|pp=218–226}}<ref name=":21" /> The design of the Selimiye Mosque, which came after many spatial and structural experiments in previous works, is Sinan's masterpiece and the pinnacle of Ottoman domed architecture. It optimizes the domed space, making all elements of the building subordinate to it. Ottoman sources boasted that its dome surpassed that of the Hagia Sophia for the first time.{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|pp=218–226}}<ref name=":21">{{cite book |last=Kuban |first=Doğan |title=Muqarnas IV: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Brill |year=1987 |editor=Oleg Grabar |location=Leiden |pages=72–97 |language=en |chapter=The Style of Sinan's Domed Structures |chapter-url=https://www.archnet.org/publications/4121 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040624170747/http://archnet.org/library/pubdownloader/pdf/3588/doc/dpt0810.pdf |archive-date=2004-06-24 |url-status=live |authorlink=Doğan Kuban}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Necipoğlu |first=Gülru |title=The Age of Sinan. Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-86189-253-9 |location=London |pages=246, 248–252, 255–256 |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery widths="180" heights="150">
File:Penditifkuppel.svg|Schematic drawing of a [[pendentive]] dome
File:InteriorofHagiaSophia msu77.jpg|Central dome and semi-domes of the [[Hagia Sophia]] (6th century)
File:Shezade mosque 9510.jpg|The [[Şehzade Mosque]] (1543''–''8) combines a central dome supported by four pillars and four semi-domes.{{Sfn|Kuban|2010|p=258, 271-272}}
File:Suleymaniye Mosque 1319.jpg|The [[Süleymaniye Mosque]] (1550''–''7), evokes the Hagia Sophia's design with a central dome and two semi-domes.{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|p=224}}
File:Gazi Ahmet Pasha Mosque 2834.jpg|The [[Kara Ahmed Pasha Mosque]] (1554) uses an hexagonal support system for the main dome.{{Sfn|Kuban|2010|p=258}}
File:101N-3442 DSC (4610160431).jpg|The small [[Rüstem Pasha Mosque]] (1561) is an early example of Sinan's use of an octagonal support system.{{Sfn|Kuban|2010|p=257-259}}
</gallery>

=== Gardens ===
{{Main|Islamic garden}}
[[File:Shalimar Gardens.jpg|thumb|right| [[Shalamar Gardens, Lahore|Shalamar Gardens]], a [[Mughal architecture|Mughal]] paradise garden in [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]]]]

Gardens and water have for many centuries played an essential role in Islamic culture, and are often compared to the garden of [[Paradise]]. The comparison originates from the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. In his dialogue "[[Oeconomicus]]", [[Xenophon]] has [[Socrates]] relate the story of the Spartan general [[Lysander]]'s visit to the [[Persian Empire|Persian]] prince [[Cyrus the Younger]], who shows the Greek his "Paradise at Sardis".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Xenephon |title=Oeconomicus |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1173/1173-h/1173-h.htm |via=Gutenberg Press |access-date=11 June 2015|date=January 1998 }}</ref> The classical form of the Persian [[Paradise garden]], or the ''[[charbagh]]'', comprises a rectangular irrigated space with elevated pathways, which divide the garden into four sections of equal size:

<blockquote>One of the hallmarks of Persian gardens is the four-part garden laid out with axial paths that intersect at the garden's centre. This highly structured geometrical scheme, called the chahar bagh, became a powerful metaphor for the organization and domestication of the landscape, itself a symbol of political territory.<ref>[[D. Fairchild Ruggles]], ''Islamic Gardens and Landscapes'', University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008, p.39</ref></blockquote>

A Charbagh from Achaemenid time has been identified in the archaeological excavations at [[Pasargadae]]. The gardens of [[Chehel Sotoun]] ([[Isfahan]]), [[Fin Garden]] ([[Kashan]]), [[Eram Garden]] ([[Shiraz]]), [[Shazdeh Garden]] ([[Mahan, Iran|Mahan]]), Dowlatabad Garden ([[Yazd]]), Abbasabad Garden ([[Abbasabad, Mazandaran|Abbasabad]]), [[Akbarieh Garden]] ([[South Khorasan Province]]), [[Pahlevanpour Garden]], all in [[Iran]], form part of the [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1372|title=The Persian Garden|first=UNESCO World Heritage|last=Centre|website=Whc.unesco.org|access-date=30 December 2017}}</ref> Large Paradise gardens are also found at the [[Taj Mahal]] ([[Agra]]), and at [[Humayun's Tomb]] ([[New Delhi]]), in India; the [[Shalimar Gardens (Lahore)|Shalimar Gardens]] ([[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]]) or at the [[Alhambra]] and [[Generalife]] in [[Granada]], [[Spain]].<ref name="Hoag_p7_9" />

=== Ornamentation ===
{{Main|Islamic ornament}}

As a common feature, Islamic architecture makes use of [[Islamic ornament|specific ornamental forms]], including mathematically complicated, elaborate geometric patterns, floral motifs like the [[arabesque]], and elaborate [[Islamic calligraphy|calligraphic]] inscriptions. The geometric or floral, interlaced forms, taken together, constitute an infinitely repeated pattern that extends beyond the visible material world.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tA9Uuy2cSIcC&dq=%22the+arabesque+is%22&pg=PA26|title=Islamic Art in Detail|first=Sheila R.|last=Canby|date=October 27, 2005|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674023901 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Figural motifs, such as animals, humans, and imaginary creatures, have a rich tradition in Islamic art, though they are generally more stylized than naturalistic.{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc="Ornament and pattern; B. Figural"}} However, because of the religious [[Aniconism in Islam|taboo on figural representations]], non-figural decoration remained more dominant overall and figural motifs were generally excluded from religious buildings entirely.{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc="Architecture"}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Komaroff |first=Linda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yfJkqew1pgIC&dq=islamic+figural+decoration+religious+buildings&pg=PA4 |title=Islamic art in the Metropolitan Museum: The Historical Context |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1992 |pages=3–4 |language=en}}</ref>

The importance of the written word in Islam ensured that epigraphic or calligraphic decoration played a prominent role in architecture.<ref name=":244253">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture; X. Decoration''|last1=|year=}}</ref> Epigraphic decoration can also indicate further political or religious messages through the selection of a textual program of inscriptions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Capilla |first=Susana |date=2018 |title=The Visual Construction of the Umayyad Caliphate in Al-Andalus through the Great Mosque of Cordoba |url=https://www.academia.edu/37218975 |journal=Arts |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=10 |doi=10.3390/arts7030036 |issn=2076-0752|doi-access=free }}</ref> For example, the calligraphic inscriptions adorning the Dome of the Rock include quotations from the Qur'an that reference the miracle of Jesus and his human nature (e.g. [[Quran 19]]:33–35), the [[oneness of God]] (e.g. [[Al-Ikhlas|Qur'an 112]]), and the role of Muhammad as the "Seal of the Prophets", which have been interpreted as an attempt to announce the rejection of the Christian concept of the [[Trinity|Holy Trinity]] and to proclaim the triumph of Islam over Christianity and Judaism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grabar |first=Oleg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDUtEAAAQBAJ&q=grabar+dome+of+the+rock |title=The Dome of the Rock |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-674-02313-0 |pages=91–95, 119 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc="Jerusalem"}}{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=64}} Additionally, foundation inscriptions on buildings commonly indicate its founder or patron, the date of its construction, the name of the reigning sovereign, and other information.<ref name=":244253" />

These decorative motifs are expressed in a range of mediums, including [[stone carving]], brickwork, [[Stucco decoration in Islamic architecture|carved stucco]], tilework, paint, glass mosaics, marble or stone paneling, and [[stained glass]] windows.<ref name=":244253" /> Capitals, the upper part or crowing feature of a column, serve as a transition piece and are often decoratively carved. They range greatly in design and shape in Islamic Architecture. Early Islamic buildings in Iran featured "Persian" type capitals which included designs of bulls heads, while Mediterranean structures displayed a more classical influence.<ref>{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Capitals in Islamic Architecture''}}</ref>

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Capitel compuesto califal, Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico de Córdoba.jpg|Carved marble capital from Caliphal period of Córdoba (10th century)
File:Ardestan-mosque-3.jpg|Vegetal arabesques and inscriptions carved in stucco in the [[Jameh Mosque of Ardestan|Friday Mosque of Ardestan]] (11th century, Seljuk period)
File:Great Mosque of Diyarbakır 2968.jpg|Figural imagery of lion and bull in carved stone at the [[Great Mosque of Diyarbakır|Great Mosque of Diyarbakir]] (12th century, [[Artuqids|Artuqid]] period)
File:Sultanhani - Portal außen 2 Muquarnas.jpg|Stone carving in the entrance portal of the [[Sultan Han]] caravanserai in Turkey (13th century, [[Sultanate of Rum|Anatolian Seljuk]] period)
File:Aleppo Madrasa Firdows 0211.jpg|Polychrome marble mosaic work on the mihrab of the [[Al-Firdaws Madrasa]] in [[Aleppo]] (13th century, [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] period)
File:20151118 Morocco 2477 Fez sRGB (24188205260).jpg|Complex geometric motifs in ''[[zellij]]'' (mosaic tilework) at the [[Bou Inania Madrasa]] in Fez (14th century, [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinid]] period)
File:Alhambra (51949624704).jpg|Calligraphic inscriptions and arabesques carved in stucco in the Alhambra (14th century, [[Emirate of Granada|Nasrid]] period)
File:Topkapi circumcision room tiles DSCF2267.jpg|[[Iznik pottery|Iznik tile]] decoration at [[Topkapı Palace]] in Istanbul (16th century, Ottoman period)
File:Suleymaniye Mosque 1291 (cropped for focus on window).jpg|Stained glass window in the [[Süleymaniye Mosque]] in Istanbul (16th century, Ottoman)
File:Chapai KhaniaDighiMosque 03Jun16 MG 4937.jpg|Terracotta arabesque of [[Khania Dighi Mosque]] in Nawabganj district of Bangladesh (15th century, [[Bengal Sultanate]] period)
File:مسجدامام - panoramio - Farid Atar (3).jpg|Arabesque and calligraphic decoration on tile-covered dome of [[Shah Mosque (Isfahan)|Shah Mosque]] in Isfahan (17th century, Safavid period)
File:PeshawarMahabKhanMosch.jpg|Painted ceiling in the [[Mahabat Khan Mosque]] in [[Peshawar]] (17th century, Mughal period)
</gallery>

=== Muqarnas ===
{{Main|Muqarnas}}
''Muqarnas'' is a three-dimensional sculpted motif created by the geometric subdivision of a vaulting structure into miniature, superimposed pointed-arch substructures or niches, also known as "honeycomb" or "stalactite" vaults.<ref name=":24222">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Muqarnas''|last1=|year=}}</ref> They can be made from different materials like stone, brick, wood or stucco. The earliest monuments to make use of this feature date from the 11th century and are found in Iraq, North Africa, Iran, Central Asia, and [[Upper Egypt]]. This apparently near-simultaneous development in distant regions of the Islamic world has led to multiple scholarly theories about their origin and spread, with one current theory proposing that they originated in one region at least a century earlier and then spread from there.<ref name=":24222" /> Some of the earliest surviving examples preserved ''in situ'' are tripartite squinches used as transitional elements for domes and semi-domes, such as at the [[Arab-Ata Mausoleum]] (977–978) in Tim ([[Uzbekistan]]), the [[Gonbad-e Kavus|Gunbad-i Qabus]] (1006–1007) in northeastern Iran, and the [[Davāzdah Imām|Duvazdah Imam Mausoleum]] (1037–1038) in [[Yazd]].<ref name=":24222" /> From the 12th century onward its usage became common across the Islamic world and different local styles developed over time. In addition to serving as squinches and [[pendentive]]s, muqarnas was also employed to decorate [[cornice]]s, portals, mihrabs, windows, arches, and entire domes.<ref name=":24222" /><gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Topkapi Scroll p294 muqarnas.JPG|Design of a [[muqarnas]] quarter vault from the [[Topkapı Scroll]]
File:Davazdah Emam Mausoleum, Yazd, Iran (بقعه دوازده امام یزد) - panoramio (2).jpg|Early example of basic tripartite muqarnas [[squinch]]es under the dome of the [[Davāzdah Imām|Duvazdah Imam Mausoleum]] in [[Yazd]] (1037–8)
File:قبر زمرد خاتون من الداخل.jpg|Muqarnas dome in the [[Zumurrud Khatun Mosque and Mausoleum|Mausoleum of Zumurrud Khatun]] (before 1202, Abbasid){{sfn|Tabbaa|2017|p=312}}
File:Alhambra (51949919755).jpg|Muqarnas dome in the [[Court of the Lions|Palace of the Lions]] in the [[Alhambra]], Granada (14th century, [[Emirate of Granada|Nasrid period]])
File:Courtyard of the Selimiye Mosque 3172.jpg|Entrance portal with muqarnas at the [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in [[Edirne]] (late 16th century, Ottoman period)
File:Abdullaziz Khan madrasa entrance detail.jpg|Muqarnas in the entrance portal of the Madrasa of 'Abd al-'Aziz in Bukhara (17th century, [[Khanate of Bukhara]])
</gallery>

=== Balconies and screens ===
Balconies are a common feature of Islamic domestic architecture due to the warm climates in most countries. One of the mosque recognizable types is the ''[[mashrabiya]]'', a wooden [[Latticework|lattice]] screen which projects from the side of a building and which protected privacy by allowed those inside to look outside without being visible from outside.<ref name=":24424">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc="Balconies in Islamic Architecture"}} "Wooden balconies projecting at upper levels and constructed with latticed screens to ensure privacy but allow air circulation were a feature of Islamic domestic architecture in many countries, and specific types developed in particular areas over time, such as the wooden screen known as ''[[mashrabiya]]'' in Egypt and the ''shanashil'' in Iraq"</ref>{{sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=177–178}} Another type of lattice screen, not restricted to balconies, is the ''[[jali]]'', which is common to [[Indo-Islamic architecture]] and is made of perforated stone.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=131}} Other examples of balconies and related structures include the ''[[jharokha]]'' in [[Architecture of Rajasthan|Rajasthani]] and Indo-Islamic architecture and the ''[[Mirador (architecture)|mirador]]'', a [[Spanish language|Spanish]] term applied to a balcony or lookout pavilion in Andalusi palaces like the Alhambra.<ref name=":244242">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc="Balconies in Islamic Architecture"}}</ref> Balconies also became an architectural element inside some mosques, such as the ''[[Hünkâr Mahfili|hünkâr mahfili]]'' in Ottoman mosques, a separate and protected space where the sultan could perform his prayers (similar to a ''[[Maqsurah|maqsura]]''). A similar feature is also found in the [[Bara Gumbad|Bara Gunbad]] complex (late 15th century) in Delhi.<ref name=":244242" /><gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:DSC00758-1-2.jpg|''[[Mashrabiya]]'' balcony in [[Bayt Al-Suhaymi|Bayt al-Suhaymi]], [[Cairo]] ([[Egypt]])
File:Die Sultansloge auf antiken Säulen in der Hagia Sophia - panoramio.jpg|''[[Hünkâr Mahfili]]'' (prayer space for the sultan) inside the [[Hagia Sophia]] ([[Turkey]])
File:The three crowns - Lahore Fort.jpg|Use of ''[[jali]]'' screen at [[Lahore Fort]] ([[Pakistan]])
File:Jodhpur Mehrangarh - Palast 4a Jharokha.jpg|''[[Jharokha]]'' balcony at [[Mehrangarh|Mehrangarh Fort]] in [[Jodhpur]] ([[India]])
</gallery>

=== Other elements of religious architecture ===

==== ''Qibla'' orientation ====
{{Main|Qibla}}
The ''qiblah'' ({{langx|ar|label=none|قِـبْـلَـة}}) is the direction in which Mecca is from any given location, towards which Muslims face during prayers. Within Islamic architecture it is a major component of both the features and the orientation of the building itself.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=King|first=David|date=Aug 1, 1995|title=The Orientation of Medieval Islamic Religious Architecture and Cities|journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy|volume=26| issue = 3|pages=253–274|bibcode=1995JHA....26..253K|doi=10.1177/002182869502600305|s2cid=117528323}}</ref> Mosques and religious structures are built to have one side aligned with this direction, usually marked by a visual feature called a ''mihrab''. The layout of some Muslim cities may have also been influenced by this orientation.<ref name=":0" /> In practice, however, the ''qibla'' alignments of mosques built in different periods and locations do not all point to the same place.<ref name=":0" /> This is due to discrepancies in the calculations of the Islamic scientists in the past who determined where Mecca was from their individual locations. Scholars note that these differences come about for a multitude of reasons, such as some misunderstanding the meaning of ''qibla'' itself, the fact that the geographic coordinates of the past do not line up with the coordinates of today, and that the determination of this direction was more an astronomical calculation, rather than a mathematical one. Early mosques were constructed according to either the calculations of what direction ''qibla'' was approximately, or with the ''mihrab'' facing south, as that was the direction that Muhammad was facing when he prayed in Medina, which is a city directly north of Mecca.<ref name=":0" />

==== ''Mihrab'' ====
{{Main|Mihrab}}
The mihrab is a niche or alcove, typically concave, set into the ''qibla'' wall (the wall standing in the direction of prayer) of a mosque or other prayer space. It symbolized and indicated the direction of the ''qibla'' to worshippers. It also acquired ritual and ceremonial importance over time, and its shape was even used as a symbol on some coinage.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=186–187}}<ref name=":24422">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Mihrab''}}</ref> The very first mosques did not have mihrabs; the first known concave mihrab niche was the one added to the Prophet's Mosque in Medina by Caliph al-Walid I in 706 or 707.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=186–187}}{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=24}} In later mosques the ''mihrab'' evolved to become the usual focus of architectural decoration in the building. The details of its shape and materials varied from region to region.<ref name=":24422" /> In congregational mosques, the mihrab was usually flanked by a ''[[minbar]]'' (pulpit), and some historical mosques also included a nearby ''maqsura'' (a protected space for the ruler during prayers).<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Cordoba mihrab DSCF6101.jpg|Mihrab of the Great Mosque of Cordoba (10th century)
File:Oljaytu mihrab.jpg|[[Stucco]]-carved mihrab of [[Öljaitü|Uljaytu]] at the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan (early 14th century)
File:Kairo Sultan Hassan Moschee BW 2.jpg|Mihrab of the [[Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan|Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan]] in Cairo (14th century)
File:49, Iznik-eko azulejoekin eraikitako Rüstem Pasa Camii barrualdetik, Hasircilar Cad. (Europa) (2464450102) (cropped and retouched).jpg|Ottoman mihrab with [[Iznik pottery|Iznik tiles]] in the [[Rüstem Pasha Mosque]], Istanbul (16th century)
File:Delhi Freitagsmoschee - Mihrab groß 1.jpg|Mihrab of the [[Jama Masjid, Delhi|Jama Masjid]] in Delhi (mid-17th century)
</gallery>

==== Minaret ====
{{Main|minaret}}
The minaret is a tower that traditionally accompanies a mosque building. Its formal function is to provide a vantage point from which the call to prayer, or ''{{transliteration|ar|[[adhān]]}}'', is made. The call to prayer is issued five times each day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night. In most modern mosques, the {{transliteration|ar|adhān}} is made directly from the prayer hall and broadcast via [[microphone]] to a [[Loudspeakers in mosques|speaker]] system on the minaret.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|title=Mosque {{!}} place of worship|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/mosque|access-date=2018-12-12|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>

The origin of the minaret and its initial functions are not clearly known and have long been a topic of scholarly discussion.{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994|p=129-137}}{{sfn|Bloom|2013|p=|loc=Chapter 1: The History of Scholarship and the Nature of the Problem}} The earliest mosques lacked minarets, and the call to prayer was often performed from smaller tower structures.{{sfn|Bloom|2013|p=29-46}}<ref>[[Donald Hawley]], ''Oman'', pg. 201. Jubilee edition. [[Kensington]]: [[Stacey International]], 1995. {{ISBN|0905743636}}</ref><ref name="Creswell 1">{{cite journal|last1=Creswell|first1=K. A. C.|author-link1=K. A. C. Creswell|date=March 1926|title=The Evolution of the Minaret, with Special Reference to Egypt-I|journal=[[The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs]]|volume=48|issue=276|pages=134–140|jstor=862832}}</ref> The early Muslim community of Medina gave the call to prayer from the doorway or the roof of the house of [[Muhammad]], which doubled as a place for prayer.{{sfn|Bloom|2013|p=23-30, 46}} The first confirmed minarets in the form of towers date from the early 9th century under Abbasid rule and they did not become a standard feature of mosques until the 11th century.{{sfn|Bloom|2013|p=xvii, 64, 72}}{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=187-188}} These first minaret towers were placed in the middle of the wall opposite the qibla wall.{{sfn|Bloom|2013|p=73-82}} Among them, the minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia, dating from 836, is one of the oldest surviving minarets in the world and the oldest in North Africa.<ref name=":243" />{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=187-188}}{{sfn|Bloom|2013|p=73-75}} It has the shape of a massive tower with a square base, three levels of decreasing widths, and a total height of 31.5 meters.{{sfn|Bloom|2013|p=75}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Qantara - Minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan|url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1287&lang=en|access-date=2021-06-09|website=www.qantara-med.org}}</ref>

Minarets have had various forms (in general round, squared, spiral or octagonal) depending on the period and architectural tradition. The number of minarets by mosques is not fixed; originally one minaret would accompany each mosque, but some architectural styles can include multiple minarets.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Minaret {{!}} architecture|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/minaret-architecture|access-date=2018-12-12|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>
<gallery widths="140" heights="180">
File:Minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia.jpg|Minaret of the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]] (early 9th century)
File:Jam5.jpg|[[Minaret of Jam]], Afghanistan (12th century)
File:Al-Azhar 2019-11-02j.jpg|Minaret of Sultan [[Qaitbay|Qaytbay]] (15th century) at the [[al-Azhar Mosque]] in Cairo
File:DSC04737 Istanbul - La Moschea Blu - Minareti - Foto G. Dall'Orto 29-5-2006.jpg|Ottoman minarets of the [[Sultan Ahmed Mosque]] in Istanbul (early 17th century)
File:Jama Masjid in Delhi 36.jpg|Minaret at the [[Jama Masjid, Delhi|Jama Masjid]] in Delhi (mid-17th century)
</gallery>

== Towns and cities ==
{{Islamic studies sidebar}}

=== Early Muslim garrison towns ===
In the newly-conquered areas of the early Muslim expansion, military settlements were often founded, known individually as a ''[[Amsar|misr]]'' ({{Langx|ar|مصر|links=no}}, pl. {{Transliteration|ar|amṣār}}).{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1999a|pp=59–98}}<ref name=":19">{{Cite book |last=Whitcomb |first=Donald |title=Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, V: Art and Technology throughout the Ages |year=1995 |editor-last=Bisheh |editor-first=G. |location=Amman |pages=277–288 |language=en |chapter=The Misr of Ayla: New Evidence for the Early Islamic City |chapter-url=https://publication.doa.gov.jo/uploads/publications/129/SHAJ_5-277-288.pdf}}</ref> This policy continued up to the Umayyad period.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=295}} Like frontier colonies, these towns served as bases for further conquests. Initially, they appear to have been modest settlements consisting of an agglomeration of tents, perhaps similar to ancient [[Castra|Roman legionary camps]]. They were established outside existing non-Muslim cities.{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1999a|p=|pp=79–80}} They were often unfortified and the residents were organized according to tribal origins.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=295}} Rather than maintaining their original purpose to serve as a military base, many {{Transliteration|ar|amṣār}} developed into urbanized administrative and commercial centers. In particular, this happened in the case of the Iraqi cities of [[Kufa]] and [[Basra]] (which became known as {{Transliteration|ar|al-miṣrān}}, "the two forts"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goitein |first=Shelomo Dov |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cmn8U8uNtFAC&pg=PA159 |title=Studies in Islamic History and Institutions |publisher=Brill |year=2010 |isbn=978-90-04-17931-8 |pages=159 |language=en}}</ref>), as well as [[Fustat]] and [[Kairouan]] in North Africa.{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1999a|pp=80, 92}}{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=295}} Basic facilities like a mosque, a governor's residence ({{Transliteration|ar|dār al-imāra}}), and a market were likely the first major constructions to appear, located at the center of the town.{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1999a|p=|pp=75, 80}}<ref name=":19" />

=== Transformation of conquered towns ===
More often than founding new cities, the new Islamic rulers took over existing towns. Most of the new Arab settlers nonetheless settled into previously existing urban centers throughout the conquered territories.{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1999a|p=82}} These cities were transformed according to the needs of the new Islamic society and Islamic facilities were inserted into the existing urban fabric after the conquest. In the case of Damascus and Aleppo, for example, the cities were largely of Roman-Byzantine heritage and their topography changed slowly. The Islamic presence was signaled at first only by the presence of a mosque (and, in Damascus, the royal palace).{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1999a|p=|pp=82, 92}} This transformation, which resulted in what is often regarded as the traditional "Islamic" city, occurred over a long period and was shaped by multiple social and economic causes that varied according to region and period. The arrival of Islamic rule was only one stage in a process that had already begun by the 6th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kennedy |first=Hugh |date=1985 |title=From Polis to Madina: Urban Change in Late Antique and Early Islamic Syria |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/650637 |journal=Past & Present |issue=106 |pages=3–27 |doi=10.1093/past/106.1.3 |jstor=650637 |issn=0031-2746}}</ref>

The principle of arranging buildings is known as "horizontal spread". Residencies and public buildings as well as private housing tend to be laid out separately, and are not directly related to each other architectonically. Archaeological excavations at the city of [[Jerash]], the Gerasa of Antiquity, have revealed how the Umayyads have transformed the city plan.<ref>Ian Simpson: ''Market building at Jarash. Commercial transformation at the Tetrakionion in the 6th to 9th centuries C.E.'' In: Bartl & Moaz, 2009, pp. 115–124</ref>

=== Experiments with ideal city models ===
The antique concept of the architecture of a metropolis is based on a structure of main and smaller roads running through the entire city, and dividing it into quarters. The streets are oriented towards public buildings like a palace, temple, or a public square. Two main roads, (''[[cardo]]'' and ''[[decumanus]]'') cross each other at right angles in the center of the city. A few cities were founded during the early Islamic [[Umayyad Caliphate]], the outlines of which were based on the Ancient Roman concept of the [[ideal city]]. An example of a city planned according to such concepts was excavated at [[Anjar, Lebanon|Anjar]] in [[Lebanon]].<ref>{{cite book| last= Finster| first=Barbara| title=Anjar: spätantik oder frühislamisch? = Anjar: Late antique or early Islamic? In: Karin Bartl, Abd al-Razzaq Moaz (Eds.): Residences, castles, settlements. Transformation processes from late antiquity to early Islam in Bilad al-Sham| year=2009| publisher=Marie Leidorf GmbH| location=Rahden| isbn=978-3-89646-654-9| pages=229–242}}</ref> Donald Whitcomb argues that the early Muslim conquests initiated a conscious attempt to recreate specific morphological features characteristic of earlier western and southwestern Arabian cities.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Whitcomb|first1=Donald|title=Cities in the Pre-Modern Islamic World|publisher=Routledge|year=2007|isbn=9780415553810|editor-last=Bennison|editor-first=Amira K.|location=London|pages=24|chapter=An Urban Structure for the Early Islamic City: An archaeological hypothesis|quote=The Muslim conquest initiated a conscious attempt to recreate specific morphological features that constituted an urban pattern characteristic of western and south-western Arabian culture. The institutional components of this south Arabian city were adapted to the religious, administrative and commercial needs of the new Islamic polity, a transformation that set a trajectory for medieval cities throughout the Middle East (and perhaps even Europe of the early Middle Ages). Thus an Arabian concept of urbanism lies at the foundation of the early Islamic city; the existence of a distinctive 'Islamic city' from the beginnings of Islam begins to take form with specific archaeological characteristics. This hypothesis is derived from 'Aqaba and other urban plans and can be tested on other sites in Arabia and the Levant.|editor-last2=Gascoigne|editor-first2=Alison L.}}</ref>

The Arab elite of the early Islam were city dwellers of Mecca, Medina, [[Ta'if]] and the highly urbanized society of [[Yemen]] whose Arabian traditions contributed to the urban development of the early Islamic cities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Museum With No Frontiers |title=The Umayyads: The rise of Islamic art. |date=2000 |publisher=Arab Institute for Research and Publishing |page=102 |quote=This is a reminder that the new masters of Syria and Palestine were not cameleers and pastoralists of nomadic origin. They were city dwellers of Mecca, Medina, Tayma, Ta'if and Duma.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Walmsley |first1=A |title=Early Islamic Syria: An Archaeological Assessment |date=2007 |publisher=Bristol Classical Press |page=83 |quote=Especially significant is the identification of a major Arab Islamic contribution to the urban history of Syria-Palestine that originated in pre-Islamic practices in the Arabian Peninsula. The towns were, accordingly, not the product of a solitary lineal process carried forward from late antique Syria-Palestine}}</ref> Outside Arabia, the early military encampments of Kufa, Basra, Fustat, and Kairouan were rapidly transformed into permanent foundations and planned cities. One of the traditions contributing to the early Islamic city was the south Arabian city, such as Sana’a, to which type Mecca and Fustat belonged.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mez |first1=A |date=1922 |title=Die Renaissance des Islams |journal=Heidleberg |volume=38}}</ref> Two urban types based on social organization have been proposed by Walter Dostal. The first is called the San'a-formation, developed from a market center and inhabited by groups of the same tribe with social differentiation based on his "farmer-craftsman" technological specializations. The second urban type is the Tarim-formation, in which quarter organization reflects the social structure of a multi-tribal settlement.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dostal |first1=Walter |date=1984 |title='Towards a Model of Cultural Evolution in Arabia |journal=Studies in the History of Arabia |volume=2 |pages=188–189}}</ref>

=== Urban morphology ===
The architecture of the "[[Orientalism|oriental]]" Islamic town is based on cultural and sociological concepts which differ from those of European cities. In both cultures, a distinction is made between the areas used by the rulers and their government and administration, public places of everyday common life, and the areas of private life. While the structures and concepts of European towns originated from a sociological struggle to gain basic rights of freedom—or [[town privileges]]—from political or religious authorities during the [[Middle Ages]], an Islamic town or city is fundamentally influenced by the preservation of the unity of secular and religious life throughout time.<ref name="Wirth">{{cite book|last1=Wirth|first1=Eugen|title=Die orientalische Stadt im islamischen Vorderasien und Nordafrika: Städtische Bausubstanz und räumliche Ordnung, Wirtschaftsleben und soziale Organisation. = The Oriental town in the Islamic Near East and North Africa. Urban building and spatial order, economic life and social structure|date=2001|publisher=Von Zabern|location=Mainz|isbn=978-3-8053-2709-1|edition= 2nd|language=de}}</ref>

In a Muslim city, palaces and residences as well as public places like charitable or religious complexes (mosques, [[madrasa]]s, and [[bimaristan|hospitals]]) and private living spaces rather coexist alongside each other. The buildings tend to be more inwardly oriented, and are separated from the surrounding "outside" either by walls or by the hierarchical ordering of the streets, or both. Streets tend to lead from public main roads to [[cul-de-sac]] byroads and onwards into more private plots, and then end there. There are no, or very few, internal connections between different quarters of the city. In order to move from one quarter to the next, one has to go back to the main road again.<ref name="Wirth" />

Within a city quarter, byroads lead towards individual building complexes or clusters of houses. The individual house is frequently also oriented towards an inner [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]], and enclosed by walls, which mostly are unadorned, unlike European outward-oriented, representative [[façade]]s. Thus, the spatial structure of a Muslim city essentially reflects the ancient [[nomad]]ic tradition of living in a family group or tribe, held together by ''[[asabiyyah]]'' ("bond of cohesion", or "family loyalty"), strictly separated from the "outside". In general, the morphology of an Islamic city is granting—or denying—access according to the basic concept of hierarchical degrees of privacy. The inhabitants move from public space to the living quarters of their tribe, and onwards to their family home. Within a family house, there are again to be found common and separate spaces, the latter, and most private, usually reserved for women and children. In the end, only the family heads have free and unlimited access to all rooms and areas of their private home, as opposed to the more European concept of interconnecting different spaces for free and easy access. The hierarchy of privacy thus guides and structures the entire social life in a city, from the ruler to the commoner, from the town to the house.<ref name="Bianca">{{cite book| last=Bianca| first=Stefano| title=Die Stadt als Haus. In: Hofhaus und Paradiesgarten. Architektur und Lebensformen in der islamischen Welt = The town seen as a house. In: Atrium house and paradise garden. Architecture and way of life in the Islamic world.| year=2001| publisher=C. H. Beck| location=München| isbn=978-3-406-48262-5| edition= 2nd| language=de| pages=244–255}}</ref>

<gallery widths="180px" heights="180px">
Vue medina fes.jpg|[[Medina quarter]] of [[Fez, Morocco]]
Algier.png|[[Figure-ground diagram]] of [[Algiers]]
Schwarzplan1819.jpg|Figure-ground diagram of a European town (1819)
</gallery>

== Influences ==

=== Greco-Roman and Sasanian influences ===
Early Islamic architecture was influenced by two different ancient traditions:
# '''Greco-Roman tradition:''' In particular, the regions of the newly conquered Byzantine Empire (Southwestern Anatolia, Syria, Egypt and the Maghreb) supplied architects, masons, mosaicists and other craftsmen to the new Islamic rulers. These artisans were trained in Byzantine architecture and decorative arts, and continued building and decorating in Byzantine style, which had developed out of [[Hellenistic art|Hellenistic]] and ancient Roman architecture.<ref name="Hoag_p7_9" />
# '''Eastern tradition:''' Mesopotamia and Persia, despite adopting elements of Hellenistic and Roman representative style, retained their independent architectural traditions, which derived from Sasanian architecture and its predecessors.<ref name="Hoag_p7_9">{{cite book|last1=Hoag|first1=John D.|title=Islamic architecture|date=2004|publisher=Electaarchitecture|location=Milan|isbn=978-1-904313-29-8|pages=7–9}}</ref>

The transition process between late Antiquity, or post-classical, and Islamic architecture is exemplified by archaeologic findings in North Syria and Palestine, the [[Bilad al-Sham]] (Levant region) of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. In this region, late antique, or Christian, architectural traditions merged with the pre-Islamic Arabian heritage of the conquerors.<ref>{{cite book| editor1=Karin Bartl |editor2=Abd al-Razzaq Moaz | title=Residences, castles, settlements. Transformation processes from late antiquity to early Islam in Bilad al-Sham| year=2009| publisher=Marie Leidorf GmbH| location=Rahden/Germany| isbn=978-3-89646-654-9| page=XV}}</ref>

=== Arabian ===
References on Islamic architecture generally agree that pre-Islamic architecture in the Arabian Peninsula had only limited influence on the development of Islamic architecture, at least by comparison with the influences of existing architectural traditions in the conquered territories beyond the peninsula.<ref name=":2413">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780195309911|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|location=|pages=72|chapter=Architecture|quote=During the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632) and the rule of his immediate successors (632–61), the caliphs Abu Bakr, ῾Umar, ῾Uthman and ῾Ali, the political center of the Islamic world remained in western Arabia, in the cities of Mecca and Medina. However, because the capital of the new Islamic empire was moved to Syria immediately after the end of this period, the contribution of the building traditions of these two cities, and of pre-Islamic Arabia in general, to the development of Islamic architecture was limited. Only the Ka῾ba, the pre-Islamic sanctuary at Mecca that became the focus for Muslim prayer and pilgrimage, and the combined residence and mosque that the Prophet built in Medina seem to have made any impact.|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref><ref name=":0522">{{Cite book|last=Tabbaa|first=Yasser|title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three|publisher=Brill|year=2007|isbn=9789004161641|editor-last=Fleet|editor-first=Kate|location=|pages=|chapter=Architecture|issn=1873-9830|quote=Because Islam originated in western Arabia, scholars have looked to the architecture of that region for clues to understanding the earliest Islamic architecture. Overall, the results have been disappointing, for with the exception of the simple structure of the Kaʿba and a few other sites—such as the Ghumdān castle in South Arabia and the structures of Khawarnaq and Sadīr in North Arabia, buildings whose fame may have exceeded their architectural merit—Arabia does not seem to have possessed an important architectural tradition and was not a significant source for the development of Islamic architecture.|editor-last2=Krämer|editor-first2=Gudrun|editor-last3=Matringe|editor-first3=Denis|editor-last4=Nawas|editor-first4=John|editor-last5=Rowson|editor-first5=Everett}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last1=Ettinghausen|first1=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1uWZAzN_VcC&pg=PP1|title=Islamic Art and Architecture: 650–1250|last2=Grabar|first2=Oleg|last3=Jenkins|first3=Marilyn|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780300088670|edition=2nd|pages=7|quote=With the partial and possibly controversial exception of Muhammad's house, it is a question largely of moods and attitudes; forms and motifs came almost exclusively from the lands conquered by Islam.}}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite book|last=Grabar|first=Oleg|title=Islam: Art and Architecture|publisher=h.f.ullmann|year=2011|isbn=9783848003808|editor-last=Hattstein|editor-first=Markus|location=|pages=36–37|chapter=Art and Culture in the Islamic World|quote=Altogether, the Arabian past seems to have played a relatively small role in the development of Islamic art, especially if forms are considered exclusively. Its importance was greater in the collective memories it created and in the Arabic vocabulary for visual identification it provided for future generations. It is, of course, true that the vast peninsula has not been as well investigated as it should be and that surprises may well await archeologists in the future. At this stage of scholarly knowledge, however, it is probably fair to say that Islam's Arabian past, essential for understanding the faith and its practices, and the Arabic language and its literature, is not as important for the forms used by Islamic art as the immensely richer world, from the Atlantic Ocean to Central Asia, taken over by Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries. Even later, after centuries of independent growth, new conquests in Anatolia or India continued to bring new local themes and ideas into the mainstream of Islamic art.|editor-last2=Delius|editor-first2=Peter}}</ref> In western scholarship, a traditional assumption was that the Arabs of the early 7th century, at the time of Muhammad, were nomadic pastoralists who did not have strong architectural traditions. Thanks to more recent studies and archeological investigations, this view has since been revised and is now considered obsolete.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Finster|first1=B|date=2009|chapter=Arabia In Late Antiquity: An Outline Of The Cultural Situation In The Peninsula At The Time Of Muhammad|title=The Qurʾan in Context |pages=61–114|location=Leiden, The Netherlands |publisher=Brill |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004176881.i-864.21|isbn=9789047430322}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Yule|first1=Paul|date=2007|title='Decadence', 'Decline' and Persistence: Zafar and Himyar, Yemen Bridging the Gap between Past and Present|journal=Heidelberg, IWH|doi=|quote=J. Allan's revised edition of K.A.C. Creswell's A Short Account of Early Muslim Architecture first characterized pre-Islamic Arabian architecture as consisting largely of mud huts, a point that he later revoked. Other colleagues were quick to join the criticism of this controversial, wide-spread but obsolete teaching opinion.}}</ref> According to scholar Beatrice Saint Laurent, early academic investigations into the history of Islamic monumental architecture led to the "flawed view that saw the roots of an Early Islamic monumental architecture and art solely in the traditions of the conquered regions".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=St. Laurent|first1=B|date=2020|title=From Arabia to Bilad al-Sham: : Muawiya's Development of an Infrastructure and Monumental Architecture of Early Umayyad Statehood|journal=Journal of Islamic Archaeology|pages=153–186|doi=|quote=This perspective led to a flawed view that saw the roots of an Early Islamic monumental architecture and art solely in the traditions of the conquered regions, notably the Byzantium and Sasanian Iran. Thankfully this picture is changing with recent studies in textual re-evaluation, history, art history and archaeology that reveal strong traditions of architecture in the pre-Islamic period.}}</ref> Scholars now agree that a rich architectural tradition also preceded the appearance of Islam in Arabia and the first Islamic monuments.<ref>{{harvnb|Flood|Necipoğlu|2017|p=84}}: "The foundations of the "new" Islamic art were painting, sculpture, and above all architecture, and all of these were well established in the cultural life of the peninsula."</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Khoury|first1=N|date=1993|title=The Dome of the Rock, the Kaʿba, and Ghumdan: Arab Myths and Umayyad Monuments|journal=Muqarnas|volume=10|pages=57–65|doi=10.2307/1523172|jstor=1523172|quote=A particularly rich repertoire of Arab myths and memories, as well as architecture preceded the appearance of the first Islamic monument.}}</ref>

The major architectural contribution that took place in Arabia during the early Islamic period was the development of a distinctive Muslim mosque.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ettinghausen|first1=R|title=Islamic art and architecture 650-1250|last2=Grabar|first2=O|last3=Jenkins-Madina|first3=M|publisher=New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.|pages=5|quote=As far as later architecture is concerned, the major contribution of early Islam in Arabia was the development of a specifically Muslim masjid}}</ref> The hypostyle mosque constructed by Muhammad in Medina served as a model for early mosque design throughout the Islamic world.<ref name=":242" /> Umayyad religious architecture was the earliest expression of Islamic art on a grand scale<ref>{{cite book|last1=George|first1=A|title=Power, Patronage, and Memory in Early Islam: Perspectives on Umayyad Elites|last2=Marsham|first2=A|date=2018|publisher=New York, NY : Oxford University Press|page=52}}</ref> and the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus reproduced the hypostyle model at a monumental scale.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Akkach |first1=Samer |title=Cosmology and architecture in premodern islam an architectural reading of mystical ideas |publisher=State University of New York Press, Albany |pages=194–195 |quote=It is clear that many subsequent mosques, including the early great Umayyad mosque of Damascus that was first to reproduce the Prophet's model at a monumental scale}}</ref> Moreover, the Umayyads did not come from a cultural void and were aware of their own Arabian cultural history.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rabbat|first1=N|title=Dialogic Dimension of Umayyad Art|date=2003|publisher=Anthropology and Aesthetics, 43, 78–94.|page=80|quote=Seldom emphasized however, is that the Umayyads did not come from a cultural void... They also cultivated a genuine culture with deep roots in the pre-Islamic heritage of the vast area they shared with other Arabs inside and outside Arabia}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Flood|Necipoğlu|2017|p=84}}: "It was decisive for the future that the Umayyad caliphs were to some extent aware of their own cultural history." "The glory of the Himyarite kings (singular tubbaʿ ) was remembered, according to the Kitab al-Tijan fi muluk Himyar (The Book of Crowns on the Kings of Himyar) by Ibn Hisham (d. c. 833), as the "immediate predecessor and pattern of the Umayyads" (Retsö 2005–2006: 232). Perhaps their palaces were distant forerunners of the Umayyad palaces of Syria, such as that at Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi"</ref> Some scholars suggest they sought to continue the pre-Islamic Arabian architectural tradition of building tall palaces to symbolize the ruler's power.<ref>{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|p=98}} "the palace of Muawiya...shows that the early Umayyad palaces continued the pre-Islamic Arabian tradition of tall palaces to signifying the ruler's power."</ref>

== Regional styles (after the 10th century) ==

===Iran and Central Asia===
{{Main|Iranian architecture}}{{See also|Architecture of Central Asia|Architecture of Azerbaijan}}[[File:Damghan7.jpg|thumb|[[Tarikhaneh Mosque]], one of the oldest preserved mosques in Iran{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=110}}|left]]
Starting in the 10th century and especially during the period of [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuk]] domination, the eastern Islamic world – including Iran and Central Asia – generally shared a [[Iranian architecture|common architectural style]].<ref name=":2435" /><ref name=":24353">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Saljuq''}}</ref><ref>{{Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|volume=8|article=Sald̲j̲ūḳids; VI. Art and architecture; 1. In Persia|last=Hillenbrand|first=Robert|pages=959–962}}</ref> This style was characterized by the prominent use of brick as both construction material and decoration, extensive [[Arcade (architecture)|arcades]], glazed tile decoration on the outside of buildings, the privileged use of domes and vaulting, and the increasing use of ''muqarnas''.<ref name=":2435" />
[[File:US agencies seek to preserve Ghazni Minarets DVIDS432801 (cropped and retouched).jpg|thumb|Ghaznavid [[Ghazni Minarets|Tower of Mas'ud III]] near [[Ghazni]] (in present-day Afghanistan), from the early 12th century]]
[[Turkic peoples]] began moving into the Middle East from the 8th century onward and, after converting to Islam, became major political and military forces in the region. The first major Turkic dynasty was the [[Ghaznavids]], who ruled from [[Ghazni|Ghazna]] in present-day [[Afghanistan]] and adopted a [[Persianate society|Persianate culture]]. In the second half of the 12th century the [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]], of uncertain ethnic origin, replaced them as the major power in the region from northern India to the edge of the [[Caspian Sea]].{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=330-331}}{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=134}} Among the most remarkable monuments of these two dynasties are a number of ornate brick towers and minarets that have survived as stand-alone structures and whose exact functions are unclear. They include the [[Ghazni Minarets|Tower of Mas'ud III]] near Ghazna (early 12th century) and the [[Minaret of Jam]] built by the Ghurids (late 12th century).{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=336-337}}{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=150-152}} Around the same time, between the late 10th century and the early 13th century, the Turkic [[Kara-Khanid Khanate|Qarakhanids]] ruled in [[Transoxiana]]. This period is regarded as a "classical" age of [[Architecture of Central Asia|Central Asian architecture]], with many constructions taking place in [[Bukhara]] and [[Samarkand]].{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=354-359}}[[File:Gran Mezquita de Isfahán, Isfahan, Irán, 2016-09-19, DD 43-45 HDR Alt.jpg|thumb|Dome in the [[Jameh Mosque of Isfahan]], Iran, added in 1088–89 by [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]] vizier [[Taj al-Mulk]]|left]]
More significant was the arrival of the Seljuk Turks and the formation of the [[Great Seljuk Empire]] in the 11th century, which conquered all of Iran and other extensive territories in Central Asia and the Middle East. The most important religious monument from the Great Seljuk period is the [[Jameh Mosque of Isfahan]], which was expanded and modified by various Seljuk patrons in the late 11th century and early 12th century. Two major and innovative domed chambers were added to it in the late 11th century. Four large iwans were then erected around the courtyard around the early 12th century, giving rise to the [[four-iwan plan]].<ref name=":172">{{Cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Sheila |title=Islam: Art and Architecture |last2=Bloom |first2=Jonathan |publisher=h.f.ullmann |year=2011 |isbn=9783848003808 |editor-last=Hattstein |editor-first=Markus |location= |pages=368–369 |chapter=The Friday Mosque at Isfahan |editor-last2=Delius |editor-first2=Peter}}</ref>{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=140-144}}<ref name="O'Kane">O'Kane, Bernard (1995). [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/domes Domes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511220458/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/domes|date=2022-05-11}}. ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'', Online Edition. Retrieved 28 November 2010.</ref> The four-iwan plan revolutionised the form and function of the mosques in the region and introduced new types of buildings involving madrasas and caravanserais which spread through Iran, Anatolia, and Syria.<ref name="muslimheritage.com">[https://muslimheritage.com/uploads/Main%20-%20Seljuk%20Architecture1.pdf Muslim Architecture Under Seljuk Patronage (1038-1327)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128182528/https://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/Main%20-%20Seljuk%20Architecture1.pdf|date=2022-01-28}} - Rabah Saoud, Professor Salim Al-Hassani, Husamaldin Tayeh.</ref>
[[File:Solt_dome_1.JPG|thumb|[[Dome of Soltaniyeh|Mausoleum of Uljaytu]] at [[Soltaniyeh]] (early 14th century)]]

Iran and Central Asia were conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century, which led to the establishment of the [[Ilkhanate]]. The Ilkhanate period provided several innovations to the design of domed structures and advancements in techniques of tile decoration.<ref name=":25" /><ref name=":05227">{{Cite book |last=Kamola |first=Stefan |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |date=2019 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=Īlkhānids |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref> The pinnacle of [[Ilkhanid architecture]] was the construction of [[Dome of Soltaniyeh|Uljaytu's mausoleum]] in [[Soltaniyeh]], Iran, which features a multi-level octagonal structure topped by a massive dome.<ref name=":05223" /> The dome measures almost {{Convert|25|m|ft}} in diameter and about {{Convert|50|m|ft}} high, making it the largest dome in historical Iranian architecture<ref name=":25" /> and the largest domed space at the time of its construction.<ref name=":05227" /> Its thin, double-shelled construction was reinforced by arches between the layers. The addition of an external vaulted gallery wrapping around the upper part of the building was a feature that would be further developed in later periods and ultimately be perfected in the Taj Mahal.<ref name=":25">{{cite web |last=O’Kane |first=Bernard |date=2013 |orig-date=1995 |title=Domes |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/domes |access-date=30 December 2017 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref>[[File:RegistanSquare Samarkand.jpg|thumb|The [[Registan]] is an ensemble of three [[madrasa]]s in [[Samarkand]], [[Uzbekistan]]. The [[Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand|Ulugh Beg Madrasa]] (left) dates from the [[Timurid Empire|Timurid period]] (15th century).|left]]Iranian architecture and city planning also reached an apogee under the [[Timurids]], the dynasty founded by [[Timur]] ({{Reign|1370|1405}}). [[Timurid architecture]] is marked by its grand scale, prominent double-shelled domes, extensive use of ceramic tiles on the outside, and elaborate geometric vaulting on the inside.<ref name=":24356">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture (VI. c. 1250–c. 1500)''}}</ref>{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|pp=416–417}}<ref name=":05223" /> It drew on the previous developments of Ilkhanid architecture and refined them,<ref name=":05223" /> developing an imperial style that was influential beyond its original borders, such as in the early Ottoman Empire to the west and the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent.{{Sfn|Flood|Necipoğlu|2017|pp=734, 746, 805–806}}<ref name=":17" /> The monuments erected by Timur and [[Timurid dynasty|his successors]] are found across the region but concentrated especially in Samarkand and [[Herat]], the main capitals.<ref name=":24356" />[[File:Isfahan_Royal_Mosque_general.JPG|thumb|[[Shah Mosque (Isfahan)|Shah Mosque]] at [[Naqsh-e Jahan Square]], in [[Isfahan]], Iran, built by [[Abbas the Great|Abbas I]] during the [[Safavid Iran|Safavid period]]]]

The renaissance in Persian mosque and dome building came during the [[Safavid dynasty]], when [[Abbas I of Persia|Shah Abbas]], in 1598 initiated the reconstruction of Isfahan, with the [[Naqsh-e Jahan Square]] as the centerpiece of his new capital.<ref>Savory, Roger; Iran under the Safavids, p. 155</ref> The distinct feature of Persian domes, which separates them from those domes created in the Christian world or the Ottoman and Mughal empires, was the colorful tiles, with which they covered the exterior of their domes, as they would on the interior. These domes soon numbered dozens in Isfahan, and the distinct, blue-colored shape came to dominate the skyline of the city. This distinct style of architecture was perfected during the Safavid period, which saw the advent of the ''haft-rangi'', or seven-colour style of tile burning, a process that enabled them to apply more colours to each tile, creating richer patterns, sweeter to the eye.<ref>Blake, Stephen P.; Half the World, The Social Architecture of Safavid Isfahan, 1590–1722, pp. 143–144</ref> The colours that the Persians favoured were golden, white and turquoise patterns on a dark- blue background.<ref>Canby, Sheila R.; Shah Abbas, The Remaking of Iran, p. 30.</ref> The extensive inscription bands of calligraphy and arabesque on most of the major buildings where carefully planned and executed by [[Reza Abbasi|Ali Reza Abbasi]], who was appointed head of the royal library and Master calligrapher at the Shah's court in 1598,<ref>Canby, Sheila R.; Shah Abbas, The Remaking of Iran, p. 36.</ref> while [[Shaykh Bahai]] oversaw the construction projects. Reaching 53 meters in height, the dome of the [[Shah Mosque (Isfahan)|Shah Mosque]] would become the tallest in the city when it was finished in 1629. It was built as a double-shelled dome, with 14&nbsp;m spanning between the two layers, and resting on an octagonal dome chamber.<ref>Hattstein M., Delius P.; Islam, Art and Architecture; pp. 513–514</ref>

=== Post-Seljuk Syria and Mesopotamia ===
{{See also|Ayyubid dynasty#Architecture}}
As the Seljuk Empire began to break up in the 12th century, various Seljuk elites established autonomous local dynasties throughout the Middle East, particularly in the western half of the empire, which included Iraq and Syria.{{Sfn|Peacock|2015|p=|pp=72–75}} Under [[Zengid]] and [[Artuqid]] rule, cities like [[Mosul]], [[Diyarbakır|Diyarbakir]], [[Hasankeyf]], and [[Mardin]] in [[Upper Mesopotamia]] (or {{Transliteration|ar|al-Jazira}} in Arabic) became important centers of architectural development that had a long-term influence in the wider region.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=217}}{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=380}} One of the most notable monuments is the [[Great Mosque of Diyarbakır|Great Mosque of Diyarbakir]], founded in the 7th century but rebuilt under the Seljuks and the Artuqids in the 12th century.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=66}}<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Huebner |first=Jeff W. |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Southern Europe |publisher=Fitzroy & Dearborn Publishers |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-884964-02-2 |editor-last=Ring |editor-first=Trudy |pages=190–193 |language=en |chapter=Diyarbakır (Diyarbakır, Turkey) |editor-last2=Salkin |editor-first2=Robert M. |editor-last3=La Boda |editor-first3=Sharon |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74JI2UlcU8AC&dq=diyarbakir+walls&pg=PA190}}</ref> It is similar in form to the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus and has ornate [[Classical architecture|Classical]]-like elements on its courtyard façade.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=218}}<ref name=":24">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780195309911|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|location=|pages=|chapter=Architecture; V. c. 900–c. 1250; B. Central Islamic lands|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref> The city walls of Diyarbakir also feature several towers built by the Artuqids and decorated with a mix of calligraphic inscriptions and figurative images of animals and mythological creatures carved in stone. One of the culminations of later Artuqid architecture is the [[Sultan Isa Medrese|Zinciriye or Sultan Isa Madrasa]] in Mardin, dating from 1385.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=381}} In Mosul, the Zengid ruler [[Nur al-Din Zengi]] built the [[Great Mosque of al-Nuri, Mosul|al-Nuri Mosque]] (1148 and 1170–1172), of which only the original minaret was preserved up to modern times.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=218}} (The minaret and the rebuilt mosque were recently destroyed in the [[Battle of Mosul (2016–2017)|Battle of Mosul]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=2018-12-17|title=Iraq begins rebuilding of Mosul landmark Great Mosque of al-Nuri|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46595328|access-date=2021-10-02}}</ref>)

Zengid rule helped to spread architectural forms from the eastern Islamic world to the region of Syria.{{Sfn|Peacock|2015|p=75}} Damascus regained some prominence after it came under Nur al-Din's control in 1154. That same year, Nur al-Din founded a hospital complex, the [[Nur al-Din Bimaristan|Maristan al-Nuri]] or Bimaristan of Nur al-Din, which was highly influential in the Islamic world and is notable for the muqarnas vaulting of its entrance portal and a muqarnas dome of Mesopotamian influence over the vestibule.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=227}}<ref name=":247">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780195309911|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|location=|pages=|chapter=Damascus|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Burns|first=Ross|title=The Monuments of Syria: A Guide|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2009|isbn=9781845119478|orig-year=1992}}</ref> The Zengids and their successors, the Kurdish [[Ayyubid dynasty]], built many more madrasas, fortifications, hammams, and other charitable buildings in the cities of Syria. Unlike Seljuk and Iranian madrasas, the Syrian madrasas are smaller and more diverse in their layouts, adapted to the dense urban fabric of cities like Damascus and [[Aleppo]] (e.g. [[Al-Adiliyah Madrasa|Adiliya Madrasa]] in Damascus and [[Firdaws Madrasa]] in Aleppo).{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=|pp=225-227}}{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=192}}

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Aleppo Great Mosque minaret from courtyard 8973.jpg|alt=The minaret of the Great Mosque of Aleppo (prior to its destruction in 2013), built circa 1090 during the Great Seljuk period[116]|The minaret of the [[Great Mosque of Aleppo]] (prior to its destruction in 2013), built circa 1090 during the Great Seljuk period<ref name=":05224">{{Cite book |last=Tabbaa |first=Yasser |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2011 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=Aleppo, architecture |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref>
File:DİYARBAKIR ULU CAMİİ 2009 - panoramio.jpg|Courtyard façade of the [[Great Mosque of Diyarbakır|Great Mosque of Diyarbakir]], founded in the 7th century and rebuilt by the Seljuks and [[Artuqids]] in the 11th–12th centuries
File:منارة الحدباء (cropped).jpg|Minaret of the [[Great Mosque of al-Nuri, Mosul|al-Nuri Mosque]] in [[Mosul]] (before its destruction in 2017), dating from the 12th century
File:Al-BIMARISTAN AN-NOURI 17.jpg|[[Nur al-Din Bimaristan|Hospital of Nur al-Din]] in Damascus (1154)
File:Diyarbakır old walls Yedi Kardeş Burçu 2601.jpg|[[Yedi Kardeş Tower]] in the city walls of [[Diyarbakır|Diyarbakir]], built by Artuqid sultan Nasir al-Din Mahmud in 1208–1209
File:Aleppo Madrasa Firdows 0207.jpg|[[Firdaws Madrasa]] in Aleppo (1236), built under the [[Ayyubids]]
File:Mardin P1030366 20080423110249.JPG|[[Sultan Isa Medrese|Zinciriye or Sultan Isa Madrasa]] in [[Mardin]] (1385), built by the Artuqids
</gallery>

=== Anatolian Seljuks and Beyliks ===
{{Main|Anatolian Seljuk architecture}}
[[File:Divrigi Mosque north portal DSCF2438 edit.jpg|thumb|Portal of the [[Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital|Great Mosque of Divriği]] (1228–1229)|left]]
The Anatolian Seljuks ruled a territory that was multi-ethnic and only newly settled by Muslims. As a result, their architecture was eclectic and incorporated influences from other cultures such as Iranian, [[Armenian architecture|Armenian]], and local Byzantine architecture.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=234}}<ref name=":2428">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780195309911|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|location=|pages=|chapter=Architecture; V. c. 900–c. 1250; C. Anatolia|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref>{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=371}} In contrast with Seljuk constructions further east, Anatolian architecture was largely built of stone.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=371}} The golden age of their Anatolian empire, with its capital at [[Konya]], was in the early 13th century. Seljuk authority declined after their [[Battle of Köse Dağ|defeat by the Mongols in 1243]]. The Mongol Ilkhanids then ruled eastern Anatolia indirectly through Seljuk vassals until 1308, when they took direct control.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=370}}<ref name=":248">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780195309911|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|location=|pages=|chapter=Architecture; VI. c. 1250–c. 1500; B. Anatolia|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref> Smaller principalities and local emirates, known collectively as the [[Anatolian beyliks|Beyliks]], progressively emerged. Despite this decline, the Seljuk tradition of architecture largely persisted and continued to evolve under these new rulers.<ref name=":248" />

Decoration in Anatolian Seljuk architecture was concentrated on entrance portals, windows, and mihrabs. Stone-carving was one of the most accomplished techniques, with motifs ranging from earlier Iranian stucco motifs to local Byzantine and Armenian motifs. The madrasas of [[Sivas]] and the [[Ince Minareli Medrese]] (c. 1265) in Konya are among the most notable examples, while the Great Mosque and Hospital complex of [[Divriği]] is distinguished by some of the most eclectic and extravagant stone-carving in the region. Syrian-style ''[[ablaq]]'' striped marble also appears on some entrance portals in Konya. Anatolian architecture innovated further in the use of tile revetments to cover entire surfaces independently of other forms of decoration, as seen in the [[Karatay Medrese]] (1251–1252) in Konya and evidenced by the mosaic tiles recovered from the [[Kubadabad Palace]] (c. 1236 or early 13th century).{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=241}}<ref name=":2428" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Kubadabad Palace - Discover Islamic Art - Virtual Museum|url=http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;tr;Mon01;5;en|access-date=2021-10-03|website=islamicart.museumwnf.org}}</ref>

Anatolian Seljuk mosques included more conservative hypostyle constructions alongside less traditional floor plans. An important hypostyle example is the [[Alâeddin Mosque|Alaeddin Mosque]] of Konya (built between 1156 and 1235, with later additions).<ref name=":2428" />{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=234-235}} Mosques in the later Beylik period were more diverse in form, such as the [[Sarukhanids|Saruhanid]] congregational mosque in [[Manisa]] (1371), the [[İsa Bey Mosque|Isa Bey Mosque]] in [[Selçuk]] (1374), and the [[İlyas Bey Mosque]] in [[Miletus]] (1304).<ref name=":248" /> Madrasas were typically centered around either a traditional open courtyard bordered by a varying number of iwans (e.g. [[Çifte Minareli Medrese (Erzurum)|Çifte Minareli Medrese]] in [[Erzurum]] and the [[Gök Medrese (Sivas)|Gök Medrese]] in Sivas) or a central court covered by a dome (e.g. the Karatay and Ince Minareli madrasas in Konya).{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=235-239}}<ref name=":2428" />{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=373}} Monumental caravanserais were also built along trade routes, typically with a fortified exterior appearance, a tall entrance portal decorated with carved stone, and an interior courtyard that sometimes contained a cubic prayer room elevated in the center (e.g. the [[Sultan Han]] southwest of Aksaray and [[Sultan Han (Kayseri)|another Sultan Han]] northeast of [[Kayseri]]).{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=240-241}}<ref name=":2428" />

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Turkey, Konya - Alaeddin Mosque 02.jpg|Hypostyle interior of the [[Alâeddin Mosque]] in [[Konya]] (12th-13th centuries)
File:Konya Karatay Ceramics Museum Kubad Abad Palace find 2405.jpg|Seljuk mosaic tile decoration from the [[Kubadabad Palace]] (early 13th-century Anatolia)
File:Sultanhani Caravanserai, Turkey (23944555856).jpg|Courtyard of the [[Sultan Han]] caravanserai, built in 1229 on the road between [[Aksaray]] and Konya
File:Çifte Minareli Medrese (Erzurum) Courtyard 026.jpg|Interior of the [[Çifte Minareli Medrese (Erzurum)|Çifte Minareli Medrese]] in [[Erzurum]] ({{circa|1250}})
File:Konya Karatay Ceramics Museum 2826.jpg|Entrance portal of the [[Karatay Madrasa, Konya|Karatay Madrasa]] in Konya (c. 1251), with ''muqarnas'' and ablaq decoration
File:Konya Karatay Ceramics Museum 2445.jpg|Tile decoration inside the [[Karatay Madrasa, Konya|Karatay Madrasa]] in Konya (c. 1251)
File:Ince minare entrance.jpg|Stone-carved decoration in the entrance portal of the [[Ince Minaret Medrese|Ince Minareli Medrese]] in Konya (c. 1265)
File:GÖk Medrese before restoration 044.jpg|Entrance and minarets of the [[Gök Medrese (Sivas)|Gök Medrese]] in Sivas (1271–2)
File:Döner Kümbet 2380.jpg|Döner Kümbet in [[Kayseri]] (1276), the tomb of a Seljuk princess
File:Beyşehir Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior east side 4341.jpg|[[Eşrefoğlu Mosque]] in [[Beyşehir]] (1297), an example of a wooden hypostyle mosque
</gallery>

=== Mamluk ===
{{Main|Mamluk architecture}}
The Mamluks were a military corps recruited from slaves that served under the Ayyubid dynasty and eventually took over from that dynasty in 1250, ruling over Egypt, the [[Levant]], and the [[Hejaz|Hijaz]] until the [[Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17)|Ottoman conquest of 1517]]. Despite their often tumultuous and violent internal politics, the Mamluk sultans were prolific patrons of architecture and contributed enormously to the repertoire of monuments in [[Islamic Cairo|historic Cairo]], their capital.{{sfn|Williams|2018}}{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|p=70}} Some long-reigning sultans, such as [[Al-Nasir Muhammad]] ({{Reign|1293|1341}}, with interruptions) and [[Qaitbay|Qaytbay]] ({{Reign|1468|1496}}), were especially prolific. While Cairo was the main center of patronage, Mamluk architecture also appears in other cities of their realm such as Damascus, Jerusalem, Aleppo, and Medina.{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|pp=70, 85–87, 92–93}}

Mamluk architecture is distinguished in part by the construction of multi-functional buildings whose floor plans became increasingly creative and complex due to the limited available space in the city and the desire to make monuments visually dominant in their urban surroundings.{{sfn|Behrens-Abouseif|2007}}{{sfn|Williams|2018}}{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|p=70}} Patrons, including sultans and high-ranking emirs, typically set out to build mausoleums for themselves but attached to them various charitable structures such as madrasas, [[khanqah]]s, [[Sebil (fountain)|sabils]], or mosques.{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|p=70}}{{sfn|Behrens-Abouseif|2007}} The cruciform or four-iwan floor plan was adopted for madrasas and became more common for new monumental complexes than the traditional hypostyle mosque, although the vaulted iwans of the early period were replaced with flat-roofed iwans in the later period.{{sfn|Behrens-Abouseif|2007|pp=73–77}}{{sfn|Williams|2018|p=30}} The decoration of monuments also became more elaborate over time, with stone-carving and colored marble paneling and mosaics (including ''ablaq'') replacing stucco as the most dominant architectural decoration. Monumental decorated entrance portals became common compared to earlier periods, often carved with ''muqarnas''. Influences from the [[Syria (region)|Syrian region]], Ilkhanid Iran, and possibly even [[Venice]] were evident in these trends.{{sfn|Williams|2018|pp=30–31}}{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|pp=83–84}} Minarets, which were also elaborate, usually consisted of three tiers separated by balconies, with each tier having a different design than the others.{{sfn|Williams|2018|p=31}}{{sfn|Behrens-Abouseif|2007|p=79}} Domes also transitioned from wooden or brick structures, sometimes of bulbous shape, to pointed stone domes with complex geometric or arabesque motifs carved into their outer surfaces.{{sfn|Behrens-Abouseif|2007|pp=80–84}} The peak of this stone dome architecture was achieved under the reign of Qaytbay in the late 15th century.{{sfn|Williams|2018|p=34}}

After the Ottoman conquest of 1517, new Ottoman-style buildings were introduced, however the Mamluk style continued to be repeated or combined with Ottoman elements in many subsequent monuments.{{sfn|Williams|2018|p=17}} Some building types from the late Mamluk period, such as sabil-kuttabs (a combination of sabil and ''[[kuttab]]'') and multi-storied [[caravanserai]]s (''wikala''s or ''khan''s), actually grew in number during the Ottoman period.{{sfn|Williams|2018|p=17}} In modern times, from the late 19th century onwards, a [[Neo-Mamluk style]] was also used, partly as a nationalist response against Ottoman and European styles, in an effort to promote local "Egyptian" styles (though the architects were sometimes Europeans).<ref name=":04">{{Cite book|last=Sanders|first=Paula|title=Creating Medieval Cairo: Empire, Religion, and Architectural Preservation in Nineteenth-century Egypt|publisher=American University in Cairo Press|year=2008|isbn=9789774160950|pages=39–41}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Avcıoğlu|first1=Nebahat|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgpDwAAQBAJ&q=neo-mamluk+architecture&pg=PP1|title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture|last2=Volait|first2=Mercedes|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|year=2017|isbn=9781119068570|editor-last=Necipoğlu|editor-first=Gülru|pages=1140–1142|chapter="Jeux de miroir": Architecture of Istanbul and Cairo from Empire to Modernism|editor-last2=Barry Flood|editor-first2=Finbarr}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite web|title=Neo-Mamluk Style Beyond Egypt|url=https://rawi-magazine.com/articles/neomamluk/|access-date=2021-06-10|website=Rawi Magazine}}</ref> Examples of this style are the [[Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo|Museum of Islamic Arts]] in Cairo, the [[Al-Rifa'i Mosque]], the [[Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque]] in [[Alexandria]], and numerous private and public buildings such as those of [[Heliopolis, Cairo|Heliopolis]].<ref name=":04" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":32" />{{sfn|Williams|2018|pp=172–173}}<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Madrasa al-Zahiriyya, Damascus (دمشق), Syria - Burial chamber mihrab looking southwest - PHBZ024 2016 1317 - Dumbarton Oaks (edited).jpg|''Mihrab'' of the [[Al-Zahiriyah Library|Mausoleum of Sultan Baybars]] in Damascus (built 1277–1281)
File:Minaret of the Qalawun complex.jpg|[[Qalawun complex|Complex of Sultan Qalawun]] in Cairo (built in 1284–85). It included a mausoleum, a madrasa, and a highly important [[Bimaristan|maristan]] (hospital).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Raymond|first=André|title=Le Caire|publisher=Fayard|year=1993|isbn=9782213029832}}</ref>
File:Cairo Citadel15.JPG|[[Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque|Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad]] (built in 1318 and modified in 1335) at the [[Cairo Citadel|Citadel of Cairo]]
File:Sultan-Hassan-Moschee 2015-11-14zc.jpg|The [[Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan|Madrasa-Mosque of Sultan Hasan]] (built between 1356 and 1361), the largest Mamluk monument{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|p=82}}{{sfn|Williams|2018|p=78}}
File:Cairo, madrasa del sultano barquq, 01.JPG|Projecting entrance portal of the [[Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Barquq|Madrasa-Mosque of Sultan Barquq]] (built between 1384 and 1386)
File:القبة الضريحية فرج بن برقوق.jpg|Interior of a mausoleum in the [[Khanqah of Faraj ibn Barquq|Khanqah-Mosque of Faraj ibn Barquq]] (built between 1400 and 1411)
File:Cairo, moschea di al-muayyad, tetti, con cupola del mausoleo e minareti di bab zuweila, 17.JPG|Twin minarets of [[Bab Zuweila]], built between 1415 and 1420 for the nearby [[Mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad|Mosque of al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh]]
File:Qaitbey4 (2133768658).jpg|Carved stone dome of the [[Complex of Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay|Funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay]] (completed in 1474) in the [[City of the Dead (Cairo)|Northern Cemetery]] of Cairo
File:ISR-2015-Jerusalem-Temple Mount-Fountain of Qayt Bay.jpg|[[Fountain of Qayt Bay|Sabil of Qaytbay]] (1482) at [[Al-Aqsa]], Jerusalem
File:Cairo, wikala di al-ghouri 02.jpg|[[Wikala of Al-Ghuri|Wikala of Sultan al-Ghuri]] (1505), example of an urban caravanserai in Cairo
File:Cairo, sabil di abdel katkhuda 04.JPG|[[Sabil-Kuttab of Katkhuda|Sabil-Kuttab of Abd ar-Rahman Katkhuda]] (1744), which combines Mamluk and Ottoman elements{{sfn|Williams|2018|p=230}}
File:Mezquita abu el abbas-alejandria-2007.JPG|[[Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque]] in [[Alexandria]], built in the 1940s in a neo-Mamluk style
</gallery>

=== Ottoman ===
{{Main|Ottoman architecture}}
The architecture of the [[Ottoman Empire]] developed from earlier [[Great Seljuk architecture|Seljuk architecture]], with influences from [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]] and [[Iranian architecture|Iranian]] architecture along with architectural traditions of the [[Balkans]] and other parts of [[Middle East]].<ref>"Seljuk architecture", ''Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture'', ed. Cyril M. Harris, (Dover Publications, 1977), 485.</ref><ref>"Architecture (Muhammadan)", H. Saladin, ''Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics'', Vol. 1, Ed. James Hastings and John Alexander, ([[Charles Scribner's Sons]], 1908), 753.</ref><ref name="muqarnas12">{{cite book|last=Necipoğlu|first=Gülru|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RtbeBrAHhxgC&q=Ottoman+Architecture&pg=PA60|title=Muqarnas: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture. Volume 12|publisher=Leiden : E.J. Brill|year=1995|isbn=978-90-04-10314-6|page=60|oclc=33228759|access-date=2007-08-20}}</ref>{{sfn|Freely|2011|p=35}}{{sfn|Ostergren|Le Boss|2011|pp=215–216}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Grabar|first=Oleg|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xu_L_FJRvUIC&q=Ottoman+Architecture&pg=PA92|title=Muqarnas: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture. Volume 3|publisher=Leiden : E.J. Brill|year=1985|isbn=978-90-04-07611-2|access-date=2007-08-20}}</ref> The [[Classical Ottoman architecture|classical architecture of the Ottoman Empire]] was a mixture of native Turkish tradition and influences from [[Hagia Sophia]].{{sfn|Freely|2011|p=35}}{{sfn|Ostergren|Le Boss|2011|pp=215–216}} One of the best representatives of this period is [[Mimar Sinan]], whose works include the [[Süleymaniye Mosque]] in [[Istanbul]] and the [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in [[Edirne]].<ref name="AgostonMasters2010">{{cite book|author1=Gábor Ágoston|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC|title=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire|author2=Bruce Alan Masters|date=21 May 2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1025-7|page=50}}</ref>{{Sfn|Kuban|2010|p=177-180}}

Beginning in the 18th century, Ottoman architecture was influenced by the [[Baroque architecture]] in [[Western Europe]].{{sfn|Freely|2011|p=355}} [[Nuruosmaniye Mosque]] is one of the surviving examples from this period.{{sfn|Freely|2011|p=355}} The last Ottoman period saw more influences from Western Europe, brought in by architects such those from the [[Balyan family]].{{sfn|Freely|2011|p=393}} This period also saw the development of a new architectural style called neo-Ottoman or Ottoman revivalism, also known as the [[First national architectural movement|First National Architectural Movement]],<ref name="BloomBloom2009">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|p=379}}</ref> by architects such as [[Mimar Kemaleddin]] and [[Vedat Tek]].{{sfn|Freely|2011|p=393}}

While Istanbul was the main site of imperial patronage for most of the empire's history, the early capitals of [[Bursa]] and Edirne also contain a concentration of Ottoman monuments. Ottoman architecture is also found across the empire's provinces, ranging from Eastern Europe to the Middle East to North Africa.{{Sfn|Kuban|2010}}{{Sfn|Sumner-Boyd|Freely|2010}}{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1995|pp=}} Major religious monuments, such as those sponsored by sultan and his family, were typically architectural complexes, known as a ''[[külliye]]'', which had multiple elements providing various charitable services. These complexes were governed and managed with the help of a ''[[Waqf|vakif]]'' agreement (Arabic ''waqf'').{{Sfn|Kuban|2010}} For example, the [[Fatih Mosque, Istanbul|Fatih Mosque]] in Istanbul was part of a very large ''külliye'' founded by [[Mehmed the Conqueror|Mehmed II]], built between 1463 and 1470, which also included: a ''tabhane'' (guesthouse for travelers), an ''[[imaret]]'' (charitable kitchen), a ''[[Bimaristan|darüşşifa]]'' (hospital), a [[caravanserai]], a ''[[Kuttab|mektep]]'' (primary school), a library, a [[hammam]] (bathhouse), a cemetery with the founder's mausoleum, and eight madrasas along with their annexes. The buildings were arranged in a regular, partly symmetrical layout with the monumental mosque at its center, although not all the structures have survived to the present day.{{Sfn|Kuban|2010|p=177-180}}{{Sfn|Sumner-Boyd|Freely|2010}}
<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Iznik Green mosque 8159.jpg|The [[Green Mosque, İznik|Green Mosque]] in [[Iznik]] (late 14th century)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goodwin|first=Godfrey|title=A History of Ottoman Architecture|publisher=Thames & Hudson|year=1971|isbn=0500274290|location=New York|pages=20}}</ref>
File:71 Bursa la Grande Moschea (Edited).jpg|The [[Grand Mosque of Bursa]] (end of 14th century)
File:Bursa Yeşil Camii - Green Mosque (25).jpg|Tiled ''mihrab'' of the [[Green Mosque, Bursa|Green Mosque]] in Bursa (early 15th century)
File:Bayezid II Mosque courtyard DSCF1149.jpg|Courtyard of the [[Bayezid II Mosque, Istanbul|Bayezid II Mosque]], Istanbul (late 15th century)
File:Suleymaniye Mosque domes.jpg|[[Süleymaniye Mosque]], Istanbul (16th century), designed by [[Mimar Sinan]]
File:Istanbul asv2020-02 img27 Topkapı Palace.jpg|One of the chambers of the [[Topkapı Palace]]
File:Mosque in Istanbul internal view 3 (retouched).jpg|Interior of [[Sultan Ahmed Mosque]], Istanbul (early 17th century)
File:Nuruosmaniye Mosque Mars 2013.jpg|[[Nuruosmaniye Mosque]], Istanbul (mid-18th century), an example of the Ottoman Baroque style
File:Abdulhamit I sebil.jpg|The [[Sebil (fountain)|sebil]] of Abdülhamid I, Istanbul (late 18th century)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goodwin|first=Godfrey|title=A History of Ottoman Architecture|publisher=Thames & Hudson|year=1971|isbn=0500274290|location=New York}}</ref>
File:Dolmabahce Tor-2008-31-07.jpg|Entrance gates of the [[Dolmabahçe Palace]], Istanbul (19th century)
File:Istanbul Erkek Lisesi.jpg|[[Istanbul High School]] (19th century)
File:Wooden building on the Bosphorus.jpg|A historic ''[[yalı]]'', a residence constructed along the shores of the [[Bosporus|Bosphorus]] near Istanbul
File:Safranbolu walk about town 8230.jpg|Traditional Ottoman domestic architecture in [[Safranbolu]]
</gallery>

=== Iberian Peninsula and western North Africa ===
{{Main|Moorish architecture}}
The architectural style which developed in the westernmost territories of the historic Muslim world is often referred to as "Moorish architecture",<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last1=Barrucand|first1=Marianne|title=Moorish architecture in Andalusia|last2=Bednorz|first2=Achim|publisher=Taschen|year=1992|isbn=3822876348}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ching |first=Francis D. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TqTlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA134 |title=A Visual Dictionary of Architecture |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-470-64885-8 |pages=134 |language=en}}</ref> though scholars often refer to it as "Western Islamic architecture" or "architecture of the Islamic west".<ref name=":022" /><ref name=":8" /> This architectural style developed primarily in [[al-Andalus]] (present-day Spain and Portugal) and in the [[Maghreb]] (mostly present-day Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia).<ref name=":022" /><ref name=":8" /> Its most recognizable features include the [[horseshoe arch]], ''[[Moroccan riad|riad]]'' gardens (symmetrically divided courtyard gardens), and elaborate geometric and arabesque motifs in wood, stucco, and tilework (notably ''[[Zellige|zellij]]'').<ref name=":022" /><ref name=":122">{{Cite book|last=Parker|first=Richard|title=A practical guide to Islamic Monuments in Morocco|publisher=The Baraka Press|year=1981|location=Charlottesville, VA}}</ref><ref name=":14" /><ref name=":23">{{Cite book|last=Bennison|first=Amira K.|title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2016|isbn=9780748646821}}</ref> Major centers of this artistic development included the main capitals of the empires and Muslim states in the region's history, such as [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]], [[Kairouan]], [[Fez, Morocco|Fes]], [[Marrakesh]], [[Seville]], [[Granada]] and [[Tlemcen]].<ref name=":022" /><ref name=":8" /> Among the best-known monuments from these areas are the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]], the [[Great Mosque of Cordoba]], the palace-city of Madinat al-Zahra (near Cordoba), the [[University of al-Qarawiyyin|Qarawiyyin Mosque]] (in Fes), the [[Great Mosque of Tlemcen]], the [[Kutubiyya Mosque]] (Marrakesh), the [[Giralda|Giralda tower]] (Seville), and the fortified palace-complex of the [[Alhambra]] (Granada).<ref name=":022" /><ref name=":8" />

Even after the [[Reconquista|Christian conquests]] of Al-Andalus the legacy of Moorish architecture was still carried on in the [[Mudéjar art|Mudéjar style]] in Spain, which made use of Moorish techniques and designs and adapted them to [[Christianity|Christian]] patrons.<ref>López Guzmán, Rafael. Arquitectura mudéjar. Cátedra. {{ISBN|84-376-1801-0}}.</ref><ref name=":42">{{Cite book|title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|year=1992|isbn=0870996371|editor-last=Dodds|editor-first=Jerrilynn D.|location=New York}}</ref> In North Africa, the medieval Moorish style was perpetuated in [[Moroccan architecture]] with relatively few changes, while in Algeria and Tunisia it became blended with Ottoman architecture after the Ottoman conquest of the region in the 16th century.<ref name=":022" /><ref name=":8" /> Much later, particularly in the 19th century, the Moorish style was frequently [[Pastiche|imitated]] or emulated in the [[Moorish Revival architecture|Neo-Moorish or Moorish Revival style]] which emerged in Europe and [[United States|America]] as part of the [[Romanticism|Romanticist]] [[Orientalism|interest in the "Orient"]] and also, notably, as a recurring choice for new [[Jews|Jewish]] [[Synagogue]] architecture.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Giese|first1=Francine|last2=Varela Braga|first2=Ariane|last3=Lahoz Kopiske|first3=Helena|last4=Kaufmann|first4=Katrin|last5=Castro Royo|first5=Laura|last6=Keller|first6=Sarah|date=2016|title=Resplendence of al-Andalus: Exchange and Transfer Processes in Mudéjar and Neo-Moorish Architecture|journal=Asiatische Studien – Études Asiatiques|volume=70|issue=4|pages=1307–1353|doi=10.1515/asia-2016-0499|s2cid=99943973|url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/134280/1/%5B%5D_Resplendence_of_al-Andalus_.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Cite web|date=2017-04-27|title=Why Moorish? Synagogues and the Moorish Revival|url=https://www.eldridgestreet.org/art-architecture/moorish-revival-synagogues/|access-date=2019-11-17|website=Museum at Eldridge Street|archive-date=2019-09-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901073949/https://www.eldridgestreet.org/art-architecture/moorish-revival-synagogues/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In addition to the general Moorish style, some styles and structures in North Africa are distinctively associated with areas that have maintained strong Berber populations and cultures, including but not limited to the [[Atlas Mountains|Atlas Mountain]] regions of Morocco, the [[Aurès]] and [[M'zab]] regions of Algeria, and southern Tunisia.<ref name=":22">L. Golvin, « Architecture berbère », ''Encyclopédie berbère'' [online], 6 (1989), document A264, published online on December 1, 2012, accessed on April 10, 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2582</ref> They do not form one single style but rather a diverse variety of local vernacular styles.<ref name=":22" /> In Morocco, the largely Berber-inhabited [[Rural area|rural]] valleys and oases of the Atlas and the south are marked by numerous [[kasbah]]s (fortresses) and ''[[Ksar|ksour]]'' (fortified villages), typically flat-roofed structures made of [[rammed earth]] and decorated with local geometric motifs, as with the famous example of [[Aït Benhaddou|Ait Benhaddou]].<ref name=":22" /><ref name=":43">{{Cite book|last=Naji|first=Salima|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=00k3iCkYYEQC&q=Art+et+Architectures+berb%C3%A8res+du+Maroc&pg=PP1|title=Art et Architectures berbères du Maroc|publisher=Editions la Croisée des Chemins|year=2009|isbn=9782352700579|location=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/444/|access-date=2020-04-16|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}</ref> Likewise, southern Tunisia is dotted with hilltop ''ksour'' and multi-story fortified granaries (''[[ghorfa]]''), such as the examples in [[Medenine]] and [[Ksar Ouled Soltane]], typically built with loose stone bound by a mortar of [[clay]].<ref name=":22" /> The island of [[Djerba|Jerba]] in Tunisia has a traditional mosque architecture featuring low-lying structures built in stone and covered in whitewash. Their prayer halls are domed and they have short, round minarets.<ref name=":245">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Berber''}}</ref><ref name=":22" /> The [[M'zab]] region of Algeria (e.g. [[Ghardaïa]]) also has distinctive mosques and houses that are completely whitewashed, but built in rammed earth. Its structures also make frequent use of domes and barrel vaults. Unlike Jerba, the distinctive minarets here are tall and have a square base, tapering towards the end and crowned with "horn"-like corners.<ref name=":245" /><ref name=":22" /><gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:MA Salón de Abd al-Rahman III (Salón Rico).jpg|Reception Hall of [[Abd al-Rahman III|Abd ar-Rahman III]] at Madinat al-Zahra (10th century, [[Caliphate of Córdoba|caliphal period]])
File:La Aljafería 14092014 125853 05773.jpg|[[Aljafería|Aljaferia Palace]] in [[Zaragoza]] (11th century, ''[[Taifa]]'' period)
File:Cúpula almorávide (Marrakech).jpg|[[Almoravid Qubba]] in Marrakesh (early 12th century, [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid period]])
File:Koutoubia DSCF8279.jpg|[[Kutubiyya Mosque]] in Marrakesh (12th century, [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad period]])
File:Giralda de Sevilla 1.jpg|Giralda tower in Seville: former Almohad minaret (12th century) converted into a Christian [[bell tower]]
File:Castell d'Alèdua.jpg|Alèdua castle, [[Ribera Alta (comarca)|Ribera Alta]] (12th-13th century)<ref>{{Cite web |title=CASTLE OF ALEDUA (LLOMBAI) |url=https://riberana.es/en/castillo-aledua |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Riberana: digital library of the heritage of Ribera Alta |language=en}}</ref>
File:Mosquée de la Kasba 1 (retouched).jpg|[[Kasbah Mosque (Tunis)|Kasbah Mosque]] in [[Tunis]] (13th century, [[Hafsid dynasty|Hafsid period]])
File:Bou Inania Madrasa IMG 5619 (17689350964).jpg|Bou Inania Madrasa in Fes (14th century, Marinid period)
File:Fountain in Patio de los Leones, Alhambra, 16.08.14.jpg|The [[Court of the Lions]] at the Alhambra, Granada (14th century, [[Emirate of Granada|Nasrid period]])
File:Sevilla - Alcázar de Sevilla 03 2015-12-05.jpg|Dome of the Hall of Ambassadors in the [[Alcázar of Seville|Alcazar of Seville]] (14th century): an example of [[Mudéjar art|Mudejar]] architecture
File:MinaretMosquéeSidiYousefDey.JPG|[[Youssef Dey Mosque]] in Tunis (17th century): an example of Ottoman influence blended with local styles
File:Bounora Mosque .jpg|Central mosque of [[Ghardaïa]]: an example of local architecture in the M'zab region (Algeria)
</gallery>

=== Yemeni ===
{{Main|Architecture of Yemen}}
[[File:Bab ul Yemen, Sana'a (2286039117).jpg|thumb|The ''[[Bab al-Yaman|Bāb al-Yaman]]'' ({{langx|ar|label=none|بَاب ٱلْيَمَن}}, Gate of the Yemen) in the Old City of [[Sanaa|Sana'a]], Yemen]]Yemeni architecture can be characterized as "conservative", as it combines both pre-Islamic and Islamic features.<ref name=":24425">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture; V. c. 900–c. 1250; B. Central Islamic lands; 4. Yemen''}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last1=Finster |first1=Barbara |year=1992 |title=An Outline of the History of Islamic Religious Architecture in Yemen |journal=Muqarnas |volume=9 |pages=124–147 |doi=10.2307/1523140 |jstor=1523140}}</ref> In Antiquity, Yemen was home to several wealthy city-states and an indigenous tradition of South Arabian architecture.<ref name=":05222">{{Cite book |last=Finster |first=Barbara |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2009 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |chapter=Arabian Peninsula, art and architecture |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref><ref name=":24426">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Yemen, Republic of''}}</ref> By the 5th century AD, there is evidence that the indigenous styles were being influenced by Byzantine and Late Antique Mediterranean art.<ref name=":05222" /> Yemen was Islamized in the 7th century, but few buildings from the early Islamic period have been preserved intact today. It is only from the 10th century onward that distinctive Islamic architectural styles can be documented.<ref name=":24425" /> 
One type of mosque attested during the early period of [[Sulayhid dynasty|Sulayhid]] and [[Rasulid dynasty|Rasulid]] rule consisted of a large cubic chamber with one entrance, which had antecedents in the pre-Islamic temple architecture of the region.<ref name=":24425" /><ref name=":05222" /> Another type consisted of a rectangular chamber with a transverse orientation, with multiple entrances and supporting columns inside, sometimes preceded by a courtyard.<ref name=":24425" /> The hypostyle mosque with courtyard, common elsewhere, was comparatively rare in early Islamic Yemen.<ref name=":24425" /> The [[Great Mosque of Sanaa]], originally commissioned by the Umayyad caliph al-Walid (r. 705–15) and reconstructed at later times, was one of the few mosques of this type in the region.<ref name=":24425" /><ref name=":05222" /> The mosque's decoration reflects Yemeni techniques of carved and painted wood, carved stone, and carved stucco.<ref name=":24427">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''San῾a''}}</ref>
[[File:Mousq in taiz.jpg|thumb|Central dome of the [[Ashrafiya Mosque|Ashrafiyya Mosque]] in [[Taiz|Ta'izz]] (circa 1397)|left]]
The Ayyubids introduced domed mosque types as well as Sunni-syle madrasas to the region, but none of their buildings in Yemen have survived. The Rasulids who followed them (13th–15th centuries) were prolific patrons of architecture and perpetuated these new building types, influenced by their political links with Egypt.<ref name=":24425" /><ref name=":244252">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture; VI. c. 1250–c. 1500; C. Central Islamic lands; 2. Yemen''}}</ref> During the same period, the Zaydi imams in northern Yemen were buried in richly-decorated domed tombs.<ref name=":244252" /> With the advent of [[Yemen Eyalet|Ottoman rule in Yemen]] after 1538, Rasulid-style architecture continued to be the local norm in Sunni-controlled areas, but elements of Ottoman architecture began to be introduced in the late 16th century.<ref name=":05222" />[[File:Shibam, Yemen 34.jpg|thumb|[[Shibam]], an example of a historic fortified village]]
Yemen is also notable for its historic tower-houses, built on two or more floors. These houses vary in form and materials from region to region. They are typically built of mud (rammed earth or sun-dried [[Mudbrick|mud-brick]]), stone, or a combination of both, with timber used for roofs and floors.<ref name=":24426" /><ref name=":24429">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Vernacular architecture; VII. Yemen''}}</ref> While these structures are repaired and restored over time, this architectural style has remained generally unchanged for hundreds of years.<ref name=":24426" /> The old city of Sanaa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site today, contains many examples.<ref name=":24427" /><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Old City of Sana'a |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/385/ |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en}}</ref> Some villages and towns, such as [[Radda District|Rada'a]], were built around a fortified citadel (e.g. the [[Citadel of Rada'a]]), others were encircled by a high mud-brick wall (e.g. Shibam), and some were built so that the houses themselves formed an outer wall along the perimeter (e.g. Khawlan).<ref name=":24429" />

=== Indian subcontinent ===
{{Main|Indo-Islamic architecture|Mughal architecture}}
[[File:Taj Mahal Eternal 2, Agra, India.jpg|thumb|The [[Taj Mahal]] in [[Agra]] (1632–1647),{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture}} the most famous building of [[Mughal architecture]]]]
[[Indo-Islamic architecture]] on the [[Indian subcontinent]] began in [[Sindh]] in the 8th century, where remains of a congregational mosque at [[Banbhore]] dating to 725 have been uncovered.{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture; IV. c. 750–c. 900; A. Eastern Islamic lands; 3. Iran, Central Asia and India}} The Ghurids laid the foundations of the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and built monuments in northern India in the 12th and 13th centuries. The most notable monument of this period is the [[Qutb Minar complex|Quwwat al-Islam Mosque complex]] and the [[Qutb Minar]], which were begun in the 1190s by Sultan [[Qutb ud-Din Aibak|Qutb al-Din Aybak]]. The mosque's initial construction reused [[spolia]] from [[Hinduism|Hindu]] and [[Jainism|Jain]] temples and the complex became a prototype for many mosques built in the region afterwards.{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture}}{{sfn|Porter|Degeorge|2009|p=36}} The progress of [[Islamization]] in the region during the 14th and 15th centuries resulted in the emergence of a more distinctive Indo-Islamic style around this time, as exemplified by the monuments built under the [[Tughlaq dynasty|Tughluq dynasty]] and other local states. Among other features, this style made increased use of arches, vaulted spaces, domes, and water features, while also integrating them with indigenous [[Architecture of India|Indian architectural]] elements.{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture; VI. c. 1250–c. 1500; A. Eastern Islamic lands; 3. India}} In the northwestern part of the subcontinent, some notable examples from this period include the [[Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam|Tomb of Rukn-i Alam]] in [[Multan]] and the [[Jama Mosque, Ahmedabad|congregational mosque of Ahmedabad]] (1423), the latter of which is a particularly harmonious example of Islamic and indigenous Indian elements combined in one building.{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture; VI. c. 1250–c. 1500; A. Eastern Islamic lands; 3. India}}<ref name="O'Kane 2017 610">{{Cite book |last=O'Kane |first=Bernard |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |pages=610 |language=en |chapter=Architecture and Court Cultures of the Fourteenth Century |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru}}</ref>

The best known style of Indo-Islamic architecture is [[Mughal architecture]], mostly built between about 1560 and 1720. Early Mughal architecture developed from existing Indo-Islamic architecture but also followed the model of Timurid architecture, due in part to the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] ancestry of the [[Mughal dynasty]]'s founder, [[Babur]].{{Sfn|Asher|1992|pp=1-2}}{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture; VII. c. 1500–c. 1900; D. India}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vaughan |first=Philippa |title=Islam: Art and Architecture |publisher=h.f.ullmann |year=2011 |isbn=9783848003808 |editor-last=Hattstein |editor-first=Markus |location= |pages=464–483 |chapter=Indian Subcontinent: from Sultanate to Mughal Empire |editor-last2=Delius |editor-first2=Peter}}</ref><ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last=Asher |first=Catherine B. |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2020 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |chapter=Mughal architecture |issn=1873-9830 |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref> Mughal architecture's most prominent examples are the series of imperial mausolea, which started with the pivotal [[Tomb of Humayun]]. The most famous is the [[Taj Mahal]] in Agra, completed in 1648 by emperor [[Shah Jahan]] in memory of his wife [[Mumtaz Mahal]] who died while giving birth to their 14th child. The Taj Mahal is completely symmetrical except for Shah Jahan's [[sarcophagus]], which is placed off center in the crypt room below the main floor. This symmetry extended to the building of an entire mirror mosque in black marble to complement the Mecca-facing mosque placed to the west of the main structure. Another slightly later imperial mausoleum is the [[Bibi Ka Maqbara]] in [[Aurangabad]] (1678) which was commissioned by the sixth Mughal emperor, [[Aurangzeb]], in memory of his wife.{{sfn|Porter|Degeorge|2009|p=277}}

The Mughals also built monumental palaces and mosques. A famous example of the charbagh style of Mughal garden is the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, where the domeless [[Tomb of Jahangir]] is also located. The [[Red Fort]] in Delhi and the [[Agra Fort]] are huge castle-like fortified palaces, and the abandoned city of [[Fatehpur Sikri]], 26 miles (42&nbsp;km) west of Agra, was built for [[Akbar]] in the late 16th century.<ref>[[John F. Richards]] (1996), [https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA29 ''The Mughal Empire'', Cambridge University Press, p. 29]</ref> Major mosques built by Mughal emperors and their family include the Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) in Delhi, the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, and other mosques of similar form which were often built near or within other imperial complexes. Even the Mughal nobility were able to build relatively major monuments, as with the example of the [[Wazir Khan Mosque]] in Lahore (1635), built by [[Wazir Khan (Lahore)|Wazir Khan]] when he was governor of the [[Punjab]] under Shah Jahan.{{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture; VII. c. 1500–c. 1900; D. India}}{{sfn|Porter|Degeorge|2009|p=250}} In the later Mughal period some local governors became semi-autonomous, prompting them to build their own monuments and embellish their own regional capitals with highly-creative local styles of architecture. The [[Bara Imambara]] complex ({{circa|1780}}) built by [[Asaf-ud-Daula|Asaf al-Dawla]] in [[Lucknow]] is an example of this.{{sfn|Porter|Degeorge|2009|p=282-285}}

The [[Deccan sultanates]] in the southern regions of the Indian subcontinent also developed their local Indo-Islamic [[Architecture of the Deccan sultanates|Deccani architectural styles]], exemplified by monuments such as the [[Charminar]] in [[Hyderabad]] (1591) and [[Gol Gumbaz]] in [[Bijapur]] (1656).<ref name="michell_77">Michell, George and Mark Zebrowski. Architecture and Art of the Deccan Sultanates (The New Cambridge History of India Vol. I:7), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999, {{ISBN|0-521-56321-6}}, p. 14 & pp. 77–80.</ref>{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Hyderabad}}{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=῾Adil Shahi}} In the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, the [[Bengal]]i region developed a distinct regional style under the independent [[Bengal Sultanate]], which flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries. It incorporated influences from Persia, Byzantium and North India,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Architecture |title=Architecture |website=Banglapedia |access-date=30 December 2017 }}</ref> which were with blended indigenous Bengali elements, such as curved roofs, corner towers and complex [[terracotta]] ornamentation. One feature in the sultanate was the relative absence of minarets.<ref name="Hasan, Perween 2007 p. 23-27">Hasan, Perween (2007). Sultans and Mosques:The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh. United Kingdom: I.B. Tauris. pp. 23–27. {{ISBN|1-84511-381-0}}.</ref> Many small and medium-sized medieval mosques, with multiple domes and artistic niche mihrabs, were constructed throughout the region.<ref name="Hasan, Perween 2007 p. 23-27" /> The grand mosque of Bengal was the [[Adina Mosque]] (1374–75), the largest mosque in the Indian subcontinent, though partially ruined today. Built of stone demolished from temples, it featured a monumental ribbed barrel vault over the central nave, the first such giant vault used anywhere in the subcontinent. The mosque was modeled on the imperial [[Sasanian]] style of Persia.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal |title = BENGAL – Encyclopaedia Iranica |website = Iranicaonline.org |access-date=30 December 2017 }}</ref> Another exceptional example which survives in present-day [[Bangladesh]] is the [[Sixty Dome Mosque|Sat Gumbaz ("Sixty-Dome") Mosque]] in [[Mosque City of Bagerhat|Bagerhat]] ({{circa|1450}}).{{sfn|Porter|Degeorge|2009|p=120}} Later, a provincial style influenced by North India evolved in [[Mughal Bengal]] during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Mughals also copied the Bengali ''[[do-chala]]'' roof tradition for mausoleums in North India.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=33–35}}

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Qutb minar 04.jpg|alt=|The [[Qutb Minar]] and [[Qutb Minar complex|Quwwat al-Islam Mosque complex]] in Delhi, begun in the 1190s and expanded in the 13th to 14th centuries{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture}}
File:Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam ( Sunrise).jpg|[[Tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam]] in [[Multan]] (circa 1335–1340), built under the Tughluq dynasty<ref name="O'Kane 2017 610"/>
File:Jama Masjid-Ahmedabad.jpg|The [[Jama Mosque, Ahmedabad|Friday Mosque]] of [[Ahmedabad]] (1423), which prominently combines Islamic and indigenous Indian architectural forms{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture; VI. c. 1250–c. 1500; A. Eastern Islamic lands; 3. India}}
File:Sixty Dome Mosque,Bagerhat.jpg|[[Sixty Dome Mosque]] in [[Mosque City of Bagerhat|Bagerhat]] (circa 1450){{sfn|Porter|Degeorge|2009|p=120}}
File:Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, India 2019.jpg|[[Humayun's Tomb]] in Delhi, the first fully developed Mughal imperial tomb (1560–1570){{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture}}
File:Anup Talao 04.jpg|alt=|[[Fatehpur Sikri]], a palatial complex begun in the 1560s by [[Akbar]]{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Fatehpur Sikri}}
File:Charminar-Pride of Hyderabad.jpg|[[Charminar]] in [[Hyderabad]] (1591), an example of [[Architecture of the Deccan sultanates|architecture in the Deccan Sultanates]]{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Hyderabad}}
File:India 2015-167 (16977396170).jpg|Room with fountain in the [[Musamman Burj (Agra Fort)|Muthamman Burj]] (1628–30), added by Shah Jahan inside the [[Agra Fort]] built by Akbar{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Agra}}
File:Wazir khan iwan.jpg|[[Wazir Khan Mosque]] in Lahore (1635), notable for its tile-decorated surfaces{{sfn|Porter|Degeorge|2009|p=250}}
File:Red Fort in Delhi 03-2016 img3.jpg|The Red Fort in Delhi, built between 1639 and 1648 as the citadel of Shah Jahan's new capital{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Delhi}}
File:Gol Gumbaz -4, Bijapur, Karnataka.jpg|[[Gol Gumbaz]] in [[Bijapur]] (1656), another example built by a Deccan sultanate{{Sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=῾Adil Shahi}}
File:Badshahi Mosque 33 (edited).jpg|alt=|[[Badshahi Mosque]] in Lahore ({{circa|1673}}–1674){{sfn|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=Architecture; VII. c. 1500–c. 1900; D. India}}
File:Aurangabad, Bibi Ka Maqbara, mausoleo per la prima moglie di aurangzaeb Dilras Banu Begum, 1660-69 ca., corpo centrale e minareti 04.jpg|alt=|[[Bibi Ka Maqbara]] at [[Aurangabad]] (1678){{sfn|Porter|Degeorge|2009|p=277}}
File:Imambara of Asa-Ud-Daula.jpg|The Asfi Mosque of the [[Bara Imambara]] complex in [[Lucknow]] ({{circa|1780}}){{sfn|Porter|Degeorge|2009|p=285}}
</gallery>

=== Malay-Indonesian ===
{{More citations needed|section|date=February 2025}}

Islam spread gradually in the [[Malay Peninsula]] and the surrounding [[Indonesian archipelago]] from the 12th century onwards, and especially during the 15th century as the [[Sultanate of Malacca]] and its surrounding [[Malay world|cultural sphere]] politically dominated the region. The introduction of Islam was slow and gradual. The advent of Islam did not lead to the introduction of a new building tradition but saw the appropriation of existing architectural forms, which were reinterpreted to suit Muslim requirements. Existing architectural features in Malay-Indonesia such as the [[candi bentar]] gate, [[paduraksa]] (normally marks the entrance to the most sacred precincts), balai nobat (a tower supposedly used to store royal musical instruments) and the sacred pyramidal roof was used for Islamic architecture. Prayer times are often signalled in advance by striking a large drum known as [[beduk]], thus minarets weren't of need to these mosques let alone domes which multi-layered pyramidal roofs.  One rare example of an old mosque with a minaret is that of the [[Menara Kudus Mosque]].

Malay-Indonesian mosque architecture also features strong influence from the Middle Eastern architecture styles.<ref name="heritage 88">Tjahjono, Gunawan (1998). ibid. Singapore: Archipelago Press. pp. [https://archive.org/details/architecture00indo/page/88 88–89]. ISBN 978-981-3018-30-3.</ref>{{contradictory inline|date=December 2024}} This style of architecture can be found on the design of mosques in [[Brunei]], [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], the [[Philippines]] and [[Thailand]]. Today, with increasing Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Malay-Indonesian mosques are developing a more standard, international style, with a dome and minaret.{{citation needed|reason=Are you sure mosques now have domes because the hajis and hajjahs wanted them?|date=December 2024}}

==== Indonesia ====
{{Main|Mosque architecture in Indonesia}}
The oldest surviving mosque in Indonesia is the [[Demak Great Mosque|Great Mosque of Demak]] which is the royal mosque of the [[Sultanate of Demak]], although this is not the oldest Islamic structure. The oldest Islamic structure in Indonesia are parts of the royal palace in [[Kraton Kasepuhan|Sultanate of Cirebon]], [[Cirebon]]. The palace complex contains a [[chronogram]] which can be read as the Saka equivalent of 1454 CE. Early Islamic palaces retain many features of pre-Islamic architecture which is apparent in the gates or drum towers. The [[Keraton Kasepuhan|Kasepuhan Palace]] was probably begun in the late pre-Islamic period and continued to grow during the Hinduism-to-Islam transitional period. The complex contains clues to the stages of the process of the gradual changes as Islam become incorporated into Indonesian architecture. Two of the Hindu features adopted into Islam in the palace is the two types of gateways - the split portal (''[[candi bentar]]'') which provides access to the public audience pavilion and the lintel gate (''paduraksa'') which leads to the frontcourt.

<gallery widths="180" heights="140">
File:Masjid demak.jpg|[[Demak Mosque]] One of the oldest surviving mosques in Indonesia.<ref name="heritage 86">{{cite book |first=Gunawan | last=Tjahjono |title=Indonesian Heritage-Architecture |url=https://archive.org/details/architecture00indo/page/86 |year=1998 |publisher=Archipelago Press |location=Singapore |isbn=981-3018-30-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/architecture00indo/page/86 86–87] }}</ref>
File:Banten Masjid Agung Banten.jpg|[[Great Mosque of Banten]], the construction of the mosque was started around 1552 and was completed in 1566, its 24 meter high minaret was added in 1632, one of the few oldest mosques in Indonesia.
File:"+arya+" Masjid Agung Sang Cipta Rasa 2014.jpg|Arch gate of the [[Great Mosque of Cirebon]], built during the 15th century.
File:Masjid Agung Palembang.jpg|The [[Great Mosque of Palembang]] in Sumatra built in 1738, together with other post-[[Demak Sultanate|Demak]] regions, adopted a mix of Islamic Javanese and Chinese mosque architecture.
File:Masjid Menara Kudus.jpg|The [[Menara Kudus Mosque]] employs a [[Hindu temple|Hindu]]-[[Buddhist architecture|Buddhist]] [[Candi of Indonesia|temple]]-like structure.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schoppert |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AHHRaLFrMxMC&pg=PA42 |title=Java Style |publisher=Editions Didier Millet |year=2012 |isbn=978-981-4260-60-2 |pages=42 |language=en}}</ref>
</gallery>

==== Malaysia ====
The original mosque in Malaysia had a basic architectural style and structure: four support pillars or one large one (''saka guru'' or ''tiang macu'') for the main foundation, and palm fronds for the pyramidal roof.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Azizul Azli Ahmad |author2=Aizan Ali@Mat Zin |author3=Ezrin Arbi  |title=Typology of Interior Architecture for Traditional Mosques in Peninsular Malaysia from 1700 - 1900 AD |journal=Al-Tamaddun |publisher=[[University of Malaya]] |date=December 2013 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=89–100 |url=https://ejournal.um.edu.my/index.php/JAT/article/view/8664  |issn=2289-2672}}</ref> In [[Malacca]], the architectural design is a cross between local Malay, Indian and Chinese architecture. Traditionally, the minaret resembles a pagoda with the style of a ''balai nobat'', a special building where [[Regalia of Malaysia#Nobat|traditional palace music instruments]] are stored. An ancient cemetery also usually lies next to the mosque where notable local preachers and teachers are buried.

<gallery widths="180px" heights="180px">
Masjid Kampung Laut, Nilampuri, Kelantan, Malaysia.jpg| [[Masjid Kampung Laut]]
MasjidZahir.jpg| [[Masjid Zahir]]
Kampung Hulu Mosque.JPG| [[Kampung Hulu Mosque]]
MASJID DIRAJA SULTAN ALA'EDDIN 04.JPG| Sultan Alaeddin Royal Mosque
Paloh Mosque.JPG|Paloh Mosque
</gallery>

=== Chinese ===
{{Main|Chinese Islamic architecture}}
[[File:Chinese-style minaret of the Great Mosque.jpg|upright|thumb|right|The [[Great Mosque of Xi'an]], China]]

As in other regions, Chinese Islamic architecture reflects local architecture in its style. Some Chinese mosques, especially in eastern China, resemble traditional [[Chinese temples]], with flared [[Buddhist architecture|Buddhist-style]] roofs and minarets resembling [[pagoda]]s. In western China, mosques resemble those of the Middle East, with slender minarets, arches, and domed roofs. In northwest China, the Chinese [[Hui people|Hui]] built their mosques in a combination of eastern and western styles. The mosques are set in walled courtyards entered through archways and they feature flared roofs, miniature domes, and minarets.<ref name=":18" />

The first Chinese mosque was established in the seventh century during the [[Tang dynasty]] in [[Xi'an]]. The [[Great Mosque of Xi'an]], whose current buildings date from the [[Ming dynasty]], does not replicate many of the features often associated with traditional mosques. Instead, it follows traditional [[Chinese architecture]].<ref name=":18">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198504/muslims.in.china-the.mosques.htm|access-date=2006-04-08|last=Cowen|first=Jill S.|date=July–August 1985|pages=30–35|magazine=Saudi Aramco World|title=Muslims in China: The Mosque|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060322154300/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198504/muslims.in.china-the.mosques.htm|archive-date=2006-03-22|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Volga Tatar ===
{{Main|Tatar mosque}}
[[Tatars|Tatar]] architecture has evolved through the periods of the [[Golden Horde]], the Tatar [[khanate]]s and under the rule of the [[Russian Empire]]. Many traditional [[Tatar mosque]]s built by the [[Volga Tatars]] have a gabled roof and a minaret placed in the center of the mosque, above the roof, rather than at the side or corner of the building. Examples of such mosques survive from the 18th and 19th centuries and were restored in modern times.<ref name=":10">{{cite journal |last1=Nadyrova |first1=Khanifa G. |last2=Nadyrova |first2=Dilyara A. |date=2020 |title=Identity of the architecture of mosques in Russia in the late XX-early XXI century (as exemplified by Tatarstan) |journal=IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering |volume=890 |issue=1|page=012023 |doi=10.1088/1757-899X/890/1/012023 |bibcode=2020MS&E..890a2023N |s2cid=225378507 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This style is also found among the wooden mosques of the [[Lithuanian Tatars]], whose mosque architecture was influenced by the Kazan (Volga) Tatars.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chervonnaya |first1=Svetlana Mikhailovna |title=The architecture of the wooden mosques of the Lithuanian Tatars |journal=Tatarica |date=2014 |volume=2 |pages=179–194 |url=https://kpfu.ru/portal/docs/F2069614186/11.pdf}}</ref> Another type of mosque, with a domed roof and a minaret standing above the entrance, appeared in the mid-19th century.<ref name=":10" />

=== Sahel and West Africa ===
{{Main|Sudano-Sahelian architecture}}
[[File:Old Towns of Djenné-107952.jpg|thumb|[[Great Mosque of Djenné]] in [[Mali]] (c. 1907), a large mud-brick building in "Neo-Sudanese" style<ref name=":24232">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Mali, Republic of''}}</ref>|left]]
In [[West Africa]], Muslim merchants played a vital role in the western [[Sahel]] region since the 9th century through [[trans-Saharan trade]] networks.<ref name=":2423">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Africa''}}</ref> While the Islamic architecture of this region shares a certain style, a wide variety of materials and local styles are evident across this wide geographic range.<ref name=":2423" />{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=306–308}} In the more arid western Sahara and northern Sahel regions, stone predominates as a building material and is often associated with Berber cultures. In the southern Sahel and savannah regions mud-brick and rammed earth are the main material and is now associated with the most monumental examples of West African Islamic architecture. In some places, like [[Timbuktu]] and [[Oualata]], both building materials are used together, with stone constructions either covered or bound with a mud plaster.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|pp=306–307}}[[File:مسجد شنقيط التاريخي.jpg|thumb|[[Chinguetti Mosque]] in [[Mauritania]] (13th century), built of [[sandstone]] with a flat wooden roof{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=|pp=37, 53–55}}]]The earliest mosques discovered in sub-Saharan Africa are at [[Kumbi Saleh]] (in present-day southern [[Mauritania]]), the former capital of the [[Ghana Empire]].<ref name=":2423" /> Here, a mosque has been discovered which consisted of a courtyard, a prayer hall, and a square minaret, built in dry stone covered in red mud used as plaster. On both the exterior and interior of the mosque, this plaster was painted with floral, geometric, and epigraphic motifs. A similar stone mosque from the same period has been found at [[Awdaghust]].{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=|pp=51–52}} Both mosques are dated generally between the 9th and 14th centuries.{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=|pp=51–52}} At Kumbi Saleh, locals lived in domed-shaped dwellings in the king's section of the city, surrounded by a great enclosure. Traders lived in stone houses in a section which possessed 12 mosques (as described by [[Al-Bakri]]), one centered on [[Friday prayer]].<ref>Historical Society of Ghana. Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, The Society, 1957, p. 81</ref>
[[File:2007 Sankore Mosque Timbuktu 01.jpg|left|thumb|[[Sankore mosque|Sankore Mosque]] in [[Timbuktu]] (16th century with later renovations)<ref name=":24233">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Timbuktu''}}</ref>]]
As Islamization progressed across the region, more variations developed in mosque architecture, including the adoption of traditional local forms not previously associated with Islamic architecture.<ref name=":2423" /> Under Songhai influence, minarets took on a more pyramidal appearance and became stepped or tiered on three levels, as exemplified by the tower of the [[Tomb of Askia|mosque–tomb]] of [[Askia Muhammad I|Askia al-Hajj Muhammad]] in [[Gao]] (present-day [[Mali]]). In Timbuktu, the [[Sankore Madrasah|Sankoré Mosque]] (established in the 14th-15th centuries{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=63}} and rebuilt in the 16th century, with later additions<ref name=":24233" />), had a tapering minaret and a prayer hall with rows of arches.<ref name=":2423" /> The presence of tapering minarets may also reflect cultural contacts with M'zab region to the north,<ref name=":2423" /> while decoration found at Timbuktu may reflect contacts with Berber communities in what is now Mauritania.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=307}} [[File:Moschee von Bobo-Dioulasso.jpg|thumb|[[Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso]] in [[Burkina Faso]] (built 1817''–''1832, with later renovations){{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=89}}]]
In the earthen (mud) architecture of the region, scholar Andrew Petersen distinguishes two main styles: a "western" style that may have its roots in [[Djenné]] (present-day Mali), and an "eastern" style associated with [[Hausa architecture]] that may have its roots in [[Kano (city)|Kano]] (present-day [[Nigeria]]).{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}} The eastern or Hausa style is generally more plain on the exterior of buildings, but is characterized by diverse interior decoration and the much greater use of wood.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}} Mosques often have prayer halls with pillars supporting flat or slightly domed roofs of wood and mud.<ref name=":2423" />{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=84}} An exceptional example is the 19th-century Great Mosque of [[Zaria]] (present-day Nigeria), which has [[Parabolic arch|parabolic]] arches and a roof of shallow domes.<ref name=":2423" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Archnet > Site > Friday Mosque at Zaria |url=https://www.archnet.org/sites/4180 |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=www.archnet.org}}</ref> The western or "Sudan" style is characterized by more elaborate and decorated exterior façades whose compositions emphasize verticality. They have tapering buttresses with cone-shaped summits, mosques have a large tower over the mihrab, and wooden stakes (''toron'') are often embedded in the walls ''–'' used for scaffolding but possibly also for some symbolic purpose.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}} 
[[File:Mosquée de Dinguiraye.jpg|thumb|The "circular" mosque of [[Dinguiraye]] in Guinea, first built in 1850, a hybrid of traditional mosque and local hut architecture{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|pp=96–99}} (photo circa 1900)]]
More hybrid styles also arose further south and on the edge of Islamized areas.<ref name=":2423" /> In the [[Fouta Djallon]] region, in the [[Guinea Highlands]], mosques were built with a traditional rectangular or square layout, but then covered by a huge conical [[Thatching|thatched]] roof which protects from the rain. This type of roof was an existing feature of the traditional circular huts inhabited by the locals, re-adapted to cover new rectangular mosques when the mostly Muslim [[Fula people]] settled the region in the 18th century.{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|pp=98–99}}{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}} A good example is the Friday mosque of [[Dinguiraye]] in [[Guinea]], built in 1850 (with later restorations). Many others are attested in the same region overlapping with southern [[Senegal]], western Mali, and [[Burkina Faso]].{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|pp=96–99}}

During the French colonial occupation of the Sahel, French engineers and architects had a role in popularizing a "Neo-Sudanese" style based on local traditional architecture but emphasizing symmetry and monumentality.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}}<ref name=":2423" /><ref name=":24232" /> The [[Great Mosque of Djenné]], which was previously established in the 14th century but demolished in the early 19th century,<ref name=":2423" /> was rebuilt in 1906–1907 under the direction of Ismaila Traoré and with guidance from French engineers.<ref name=":24232" />{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}} Now the largest earthen building in sub-Saharan Africa, it served as a model for the new style and for other mosques in the region, including the [[Grand Mosque of Mopti]] built by the French administration in 1935.<ref name=":24232" />{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=308}} Other 20th-century and more recent mosques in West Africa have tended to replicate a more generic style similar to that of modern Egypt.<ref name=":2423" />

=== East Africa ===
{{Further|Swahili architecture|Somali architecture}}[[File:Fakr Ud Din Mosque.jpg|thumb|The 13th-century [[Fakhr al-Din Mosque]] in Mogadishu|left]]

East African architecture lacks some features typical of Islamic architecture, such as the construction of hammams.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=73}} Historic mosques were generally rectangular in plan, lacked courtyards, and featured side rooms.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=74}} Along the East African coast, common construction materials included coral stone, [[Mudbrick|sundried bricks]], and [[limestone]].<ref name=":20">{{Cite book |last=Abdullahi |first=Mohamed Diriye |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOPEEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA102 |title=Culture and Customs of Somalia |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-313-07329-8 |pages=102 |language=en}}</ref>{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=73}} in the Somali coastal towns, local architecture reflected a certain degree of influence from Islamic architecture in other regions. New buildings were often built on the ruins of older structures, a practice that continued for centuries.<ref name=":20" />

The oldest known mosques in the region were excavated at [[Shanga, Pate Island|Shanga]] in present-day Kenya, where a succession of mosques on one site were built and rebuilt from the 9th to 14th centuries.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=73}} Other early mosques include the [[Great Mosque of Kilwa]] (described below), the [[Kizimkazi Mosque]] in [[Zanzibar]] (rebuilt in the 18th century over 12th foundations), and three 13th-century mosques in [[Mogadishu]].{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=74}} Ruins of early mosques and other structures are also found at Gedi.{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=227}}

The [[Fakhr al-Din Mosque]] in Mogadishu, dated to 1269, is the most architecturally sophisticated mosque in East Africa.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=192}}<ref name="Thames & Hudson">{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/01isart |title=Architecture of the Islamic World: Its History and Social Meaning |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=1978 |isbn=9780500278475 |editor-last=Michell |editor-first=George |pages=278 |language=en}}</ref> It consists of a courtyard leading to a square hypostyle prayer of nine bays, with a dome over the central bay which resembles the conical domes of Anatolian Seljuk architecture. The mihrab is carved from marble from northern India.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=192}}<ref name="Thames & Hudson"/> It also features the oldest known minaret in East Africa, a feature which did not become common in the region until the 19th century.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=|pp=190, 192}}
[[File:Great mosque large prayer hall 3.jpg|thumb|Interior of the [[Great Mosque of Kilwa]]]]
[[Kilwa Kisiwani|Kilwa]], off the coast of Tanzania, hosts the remains of multiple historic mosques and palaces.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=151}} The Great Mosque is most impressive, the largest in East Africa before the 19th century. It was built and modified in multiple phases, with the oldest surviving section dating possibly to the 11th century, to which was later added a courtyard with porticos of coral stone columns and a side chamber with the largest historic dome on the East African coast (5 meters in diameter).{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=|pp=74, 151}} The courtyard is the only known medieval example of its kind in the region, though it was rebuilt and covered with domes and barrel vaults in the 15th century.{{Sfn|Pradines|2022|p=|pp=249–250}}

Apart from mosques, the most common type of historic building to have survived, even if only partially, are palaces. Monumental palaces have been excavated at Shanga and at [[Manda Island|Manda]] which date from before 1000 CE.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=75}} The largest pre-19th-century palace along the coastal region is [[Palace of Husuni Kubwa|Husuni Kubwa]] at Kilwa, dating possibly to the 13th century, which has an imposing entrance and multiple sections arranged around internal courtyards.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=75}} Starting in the early 19th century, the Omanis introduced a new type of palace with multiple stories.{{Sfn|Petersen|1996|p=75}}

== In modern times ==

[[File:Faisal_mosque2.jpg|thumb|[[Faisal Mosque]] at [[Islamabad]], [[Pakistan]] designed by [[Vedat Dalokay]].]]
[[File:Doha, Museo de Arte Islámico 02.jpg|thumb|[[Museum of Islamic Art, Doha|Museum of Islamic Art]] at [[Doha]], [[Qatar]] designed by [[I. M. Pei]].]]

In modern times, the architecture of Islamic buildings, not just religious ones, has gone through some changes. The new architectural style doesn't stick with the same fundamental aspects that were seen in the past, but mosques for the most part still feature the same parts—the ''miḥrāb'' ({{langx|ar|label=none|مِـحْـرَاب}}), the minarets, [[four-iwan plan]], and the ''pishtaq''. A difference to note is the appearance of mosques without domes, as in the past mosques for the most part all had them, but these new dome-less mosques seem to follow a function over form design, and are created by those not of the Islamic faith, in most cases. The influence of Islam still pervades the style of creation itself, and provides a 'conceptual framework',<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=OMER|first=SPAHIC|date=2008|title=Towards Understanding Islamic Architecture|journal=Islamic Studies|volume=47|issue=4|pages=483–510|doi=10.52541/isiri.v47i4.4267 |jstor=20839141}}</ref> for the making of a building that exemplifies the styles and beliefs of Islam. It has also been influenced by the now meeting of many different cultures, such as European styles meeting Islamic styles, leading to Islamic architects incorporating features of other architectural and cultural styles.<ref>{{Cite report|last=Abdelmonem|first=Mohamed|date=2003-10-22|title=Contemporary Islamic Architecture in the Arab World|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320556990}}</ref>

=== Urban design and Islam ===
Urban design and the tradition of Islamic styled architecture have begun to combine to form a new 'neo-Islamic' style, where the efficiency of the urban style meshes with the spirituality and aesthetic characteristics of Islamic styles.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=ELARABY|first=KADRI M.G.|date=1996|title=Neo-Islamic Architecture and Urban Design in the Middle East: From Threshold to Adaptive Design|journal=Built Environment|volume=22|issue=2|pages=138–150|jstor=23288987}}</ref> Islamic Architecture in itself is a style that showcases the values and the culture of Islam, but in modern times sticking to tradition is falling out of practice, so a combination style formed. Examples showing this are places such as the [[Marrakesh Menara Airport]], the Islamic Cultural Center and Museum of Tolerance, ''Masjid Permata Qolbu'', the concept for The Vanishing Mosque, and the ''[[Mazar-e-Quaid]].'' All of these buildings show the influence of Islam over them, but also the movements of things like minimalism which are rising to popularity in the architectural field. Designers that use the aspects of both modern styles and the Islamic styles found a way to have the Western-inspired modernism<ref name=":2" /> with the classical cultural aspects of Islamic architecture. This concept though brings up the controversy of the identity of the traditional Islamic community within a space that doesn't follow the way they knew it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=ALSAYYAD|first=NEZAR|date=1996|title=Islamic Architecture and Urbanism: Middle Eastern Perspectives|journal=Built Environment|volume=22|issue=2|pages=88–90|jstor=23288982}}</ref>

=== Debates on status as a style of architecture ===
There are some who also debate whether Islamic architecture can truly be called a style, as the religious aspect is seen as separate and having no bearing on the architectural style,<ref name=":12"/> while on the other side people also argue that the newfound trend and divergence from the style of old Islamic Architecture is what is causing the style to lose its status. There are scholars that also believe that the distinguishing features of the Islamic architecture style were not necessarily found within the architecture, but were rather environmental markers, such as the sounds of prayer, the city around it, the events that occurred there.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Al-Jasmi|first1=Abdullah|last2=Mitias|first2=Michael H.|date=2004|title=Does an Islamic Architecture Exist?|journal=Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia|volume=60|issue=1|pages=197–214|jstor=40338415}}</ref> The example given is that we can only truly know that a building is a mosque by what happens there, rather than by visual cues.<ref name=":3" /> Specific features that are notably related to Islamic architecture – the mihrab, the minaret, and the gate<ref name=":3" /> – are seen in multiple locations and do not always serve the same use, and symbolism for being Islamic in nature is seen to be demonstrated more culturally than it is architecturally. Islamic architecture is also sometimes referred to as a 'hidden architecture', one that doesn't necessarily show the physical traits of the style, rather it is something that is experienced.<ref>Nawawi, N. (2009). ''ISLAMIC INFLUENCE ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE MALAY WORLD''.</ref>

=== Contemporary Muslim architects ===
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Fazlur Khan]]
* [[Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil]]
* [[Vedat Dalokay]]
* [[Kamran Afshar Naderi]]
* [[Abdulhusein M. Thariani]]
* [[Muzharul Islam]]
* [[Nabih Youssef]]
* [[Bashirul Haq]]
* [[Zaha Hadid]]
* [[Nayyar Ali Dada]]
* [[Habib Fida Ali]]
* [[Hassan Fathy]]
{{div col end}}

== Connections and deeper meanings ==
[[File:Портал Соборной мечети, Санкт-Петербург.jpg|thumb|right|[[Islamic geometric patterns]] in [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russia]]]]

=== Difficulty forming connections ===
Islamic architecture is a neglected subject within historical studies of world architecture. Many scholars that study historical architecture often gloss over, if not completely ignore Islamic structures. This is caused by multiple elements, one being that there are little historic literary works that express an Islamic architect's motives with their structures.{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994}}<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Ghasemzadeh |first=Behnam |date=2013 |title=Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=5581576 |journal=European Review of Artistic Studies |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=62–78 |doi=10.37334/eras.v4i3.86 |s2cid=132531146|doi-access=free }}</ref> Due to the wide geographic range of the Islamic religion, there is a large variation between thousands of existing mosques with little consistency between them. Lastly, since it is against the Islamic faith to idolize earthly beings, any depictions of earthly beings lack religious connection. These characteristics combine to make it difficult for historians to form symbolic connections from architecture in Islamic places of worship.<ref name=":5" /> Some authors have attempted to ascribe mystical or mathematical symbolisms to various aspects Islamic architecture. However, while these symbolic meanings may be plausible for certain specific buildings, they are not necessarily applicable to the rest of Islamic architecture.<ref name=":2415">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |location= |pages=71 |chapter=Architecture |quote=Some authors have found hidden mystical meanings in all the components of Islamic architecture, such as color, light and shade, and particular geometric shapes. Mysticism was an important element in Islamic society, but its practice was by no means universal, and all buildings do not have mystical meaning. Others have sought to explain all Islamic architecture with principles of geometric harmonization derived from mathematical treatises and the careful measurement of buildings. Although this may work in individual cases, such as the shrine of Ahmad Yasavi in Turkestan (see §VI, A, 2 below), these principles cannot be ascribed indiscriminately to all buildings at all times. |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref>

=== Religious and societal connections ===
Unlike [[Christian art|Christianity]], Islamic art tends to not depict living beings because it is viewed as a conflict with the Qur'an. From an Islamic viewpoint, anything created by God is under his order and thus should not be [[idolized]].{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994}} This leaves typical religious Western symbols out of the picture, and replaces them with an emphasis on complex geometrical shapes and patterns.{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994}}

There are several aspects of Islamic architecture that to modern knowledge lack a symbolic religious meaning, but there are connections that do exist. A repeated and significant motif in mosques is calligraphy. Calligraphy plays a huge role in delivering religious connections through artistic design.{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994}} Calligraphy, in a mosque setting, is specifically used to reference excerpts from both the Qur'an and Muhammad's teachings. These references are one of the few religious connections architects include within their work.{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994}}<ref name=":5" />

==== Status and hierarchy ====
Islamic architecture varies vastly across the world. Specifically, some mosques have different goals and intentions than others. These intentions often highlighted religious and social hierarchies within the mosque. Mosques are designed to have the least significant portions of the layout closest to the entrance, as people move deeper into the building more significant religious areas are revealed.<ref name=":5" /> Hierarchy is also present because certain Islamic architects are tasked to design specifically for the presence of royalty, although in Islamic belief all Muslims in the mosque are equal. Designated locations had been carefully chosen in the mosque to highlight an individual's position in society. This emphasis could be made by being within view to all attendees, by being placed in the focal point of artistry, or with a [[maqsurah]]'''.'''<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/architecture/4-614-religious-architecture-and-islamic-cultures-fall-2002/lecture-notes/glossary/|title=Glossary of Terms {{!}} Lecture Notes {{!}} Religious Architecture and Islamic Cultures {{!}} Architecture {{!}} MIT OpenCourseWare|last=Nasser|first=Rabbat|website=ocw.mit.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-07-25}}</ref>

Maintaining a sociological hierarchy within a mosque would typically represent a recognition by a higher being aware of a delegation of power. This hierarchy does exist but not with any sort of religious message as Hillenbrand points out, "in neither case is this hierarchy employed for especially portentous ends."{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994|p=14}} Hierarchy exists in the church in different forms, but is meant for purely functional purposes.{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994}}

=== Structural intentions ===
Deeper meanings in Islamic architecture often take form as functional purposes. For example, mosques are built around the idea that it should not just be a place of mesmerizing aesthetics, but a place where the aesthetics' fluidity guide the person into proper worship.{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994}}

A key feature of the mosque is the mihrab, a universal part of any Islamic place of worship.<ref name=":6" /> The mihrab is easily identifiable through a receding wall and a gable overhead often consisting of intricate patterns. Upon entering, the most crucial religious function the architecture of the mosque serves to deliver is the ''qibla''.{{Sfn|Hillenbrand|1994}} The ''qibla'' is necessary for proper Islamic worship, and is revealed through architectural means.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.al-islam.org/philosophy-islamic-laws-nasir-makarim-shirazi-jafar-subhani/question-7-why-face-qibla-prayers|title=Question 7: Why To Face The Qibla In Prayers?|website=Al-Islam.org|date=10 December 2012|language=en|access-date=2018-07-25}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Architecture|Islam}}
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Archnet]], database of Islamic architecture
* [[Gozo Farmhouse]]
* [[Turbah]]
* [[Well House]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
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* {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=9781119068662 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru}}
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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Fletcher |first= Banister |editor-last=Cruickshank |editor-first= Dan |author-link=Banister Fletcher |editor-link= Dan Cruickshank |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gt1jTpXAThwC |title=Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture |publisher=Architectural Press |edition= 20th |year=1996 |orig-year=1896 |isbn=978-0-7506-2267-7}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Yahya |last1=Abdullahi |first2=Mohamed Rashid |last2=Bin Embi |title=Evolution of Islamic geometric patterns |journal=Frontiers of Architectural Research |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=243–251 | year=2013 |doi=10.1016/j.foar.2013.03.002 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |first1=Yahya |last1=Abdullahi |first2=Mohamed Rashid |last2=Bin Embi |title=Evolution Of Abstract Vegetal Ornaments on Islamic Architecture |journal=International Journal of Architectural Research: ArchNet-IJAR |volume=9 |pages=31 |year=2015 |doi=10.26687/archnet-ijar.v9i1.558 |doi-access=free }}

== External links ==
* [http://www.ne.jp/asahi/arc/ind/engl.htm ARCHITECTURE OF ISLAM by Takeo Kamiya] (Half in English and half in Japanese)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080516013538/http://archnet.org/ ARCHNET] Open access, online resource on architecture and art of Muslim societies, globally and throughout history to our times
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111114213156/http://archive.cyark.org/bab-albarqiyya-intro Fatimid-era Ayyubid Wall of Cairo Digital Media Archive] ([[creative commons]]-licensed photos, laser scans, panoramas), data from an [[Aga Khan Foundation]]/[[CyArk]] research partnership
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170708023138/http://islamic-arts.org/ Islamic Arts and Architecture website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121114074909/http://tehranimages.org/ Tehranimages. Contemporary photos taken in some of the oldest districts of Tehran.]
* [http://spmarchitecture.com/islamic-art-and-architecture 10,000+ Architectural collections worldwide ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507184242/http://spmarchitecture.com/islamic-art-and-architecture/ |date=2020-05-07 }} Islamic Art And Architecture designs worldwide.

{{Islamic architecture}}
{{Islamic art}}
{{Islamic studies}}
{{Archhistory}}
{{Mathematics and art}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamic Architecture}}
[[Category:Islamic architecture| ]]
[[Category:Islamic art]]
[[Category:Islamic architectural elements]]