Mosque Project
Since pre-Islamic times Mecca has always been known as a sacred site, however due to mass construction and modernization, the sacredness of this holy city may be slowly dying. Mecca contains the Holy Mosque and the Kaaba. The Kaaba is a tall, box-like structure which stands in a courtyard in the center of the Holy Mosque, and it became established as the main object of pilgrimages to Mecca (Dictionary of Islamic Architecture). Mecca is the birth place of the prophet Muhammad and contains a lot of important historical sites such as the site where Muhammad was born, the house of the prophet’s wife Khadijah and the house of Abu Bakr, as well as Muhammad’s grandson’s house which was flattened by the King’s palace. All of these historical sites were demolished and replaces with hotels or even public bathrooms (The Guardian).
The main building that towers over the Holy Mosque is Abraj al-Bait, which houses an array of apartments and luxury hotels. This building is the second tallest building in the world. Sami Angawi, architect and founder of the Hajj Research Center, says that “They are turning the holy sanctuary into a machine, a city which has no identity, no heritage, no culture and not natural environment (The Guardian).” Many sites that are important to not only Islam but also the history of the prophet have been demolished and replaced with new buildings. Eventual the Holy Mosque will be surrounded by high rise buildings and hotels. Residents were evicted with only a weeks notice and many of which still haven’t received compensation from the government. Irfan al-Alawi, executive director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, stated that “locals who have lived here for generations, are being force...
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...onstruction around the mosque takes away from the seriousness, holiness, and sacredness of the mosque which I think will effect later generations by making the pilgrimage not seem as serious and spiritual, and eventual could even damage the meaning of the Hajj.
Ashley Fleetwood
Word Count: 1,236
Bibliography
Ankara. “Kaaba like imprisoned with construction: turkey’s top religion official”. Hurriyet Daily News. 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. http://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.jsp?entry_id=DIA0463&mode=full
Butt, Riazat. “Mecca’s mega architecture casts shadow of hajj”. The Guardian. 23 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/oct/23/mecca-architecture-hajj1
ArchNet Digital Library. “Mecca”. Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. http://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.jsp?entry_id=DIA0463&mode=full
In the article “Modern-Day Witch Hunts”, Jamie Dailey focuses the attention on problems that Muslim Americans commonly face on a day-to-day basis. He first paints a picture by comparing the violent acts performed on Muslims to the Salem Witch trial in 1692. The Salem Witch trials resulted in 19 deaths of innocent individuals, because they were accused of witchcraft. Dailey goes on to explain in America, the type of persecution Muslims endure has many forms. A more recent controversy towards this religion involves the building of the Ground Zero Mosque in central New York. The name of this building is very misleading, especially to the eyes of an American. Even though this structure is actually built a few blocks away from where the former World Trade Center stood, problems have still risen from the public. Americans often mistake Muslims as the group of people who had performed acts of terrorism on American soil, when it was actually an Islamic group known as Al Qaeda. Mosques all across the United States started being vandalized by people protesting against their religion. This article shows how irrational fear can corrupt the thoughts of people.
This shows that Mecca is in the middle of many trade cities, as a result of this trade moves through the city. Trade allows people to interact and move around, when they move around they bring their religious beliefs with them. Mecca was also the home to the most famous pagan shrine, the Ka’ba(Document A).This proves that many people come to Mecca, they came seeking the Ka’ba for their own religions that were important to them. , while they were in the city they began to trade. The people came seeking the Ka’ba but they may hear some Islamic people talking about their own religion.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, no one imagined that the next great world power would emerge from Saudi Arabia. Especially, because ancient empires thought that the land was worthless, but they didn’t know that it had great trade routes. Trade brought them in connection with other civilizations and that’s how the city of Mecca, located in Saudi Arabia, became known. The city of Mecca was a mix of religious beliefs, they used to worship many gods and had their own rituals. The world of Islam took place in Mecca, where Muhammad was born in 570 CE.
Springfield, IL: Charles Thomas Publishers, 2009. Print. Necipoglu, Gulru. Muqarnas, Vol 25: Frontiers of Islamic Art and Architecture.
The Hagia Sophia and the Dome of the Rock are two of some of the greatest and most important monuments in the Eastern and the modern world. The Hagia Sophia is an amazing depiction of the Byzantine architecture. It symbolizes the “Golden era” of the Byzantine Empire and is a symbol of modern day Istanbul. The Dome of the Rock is located in Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock is currently a shrine for Islamic believers and some Jews that believe the grounds are sacred. It holds a great religious significance to the rise of Islam in Jerusalem. Even though these major achievements in architecture were built at different times and were built with different styles, they hold many similarities. These similarities include such fascinating examples of
One distinct structure that played a role in the Hindu and Muslim conflict was the famously known Taj Mahal. In respect to the Islamic tradition, there were verses from the Quran that were inscribed on the arched entrances, and other arched entrances of the mausoleum. Also, there was a moon with its points that pointed to the heavens in a U-shape, thus resembling a trident that represents the traditional symbol of the Hindu god Shiva. The Hindus’ architectural styles had great influence on the building and designing of the Taj Mahal, and as a result the ruler of the Munghal Empire in the year 1658, Aurangzeb, neglected this beautiful building. Aurangzeb had many militant policies whereby he destroyed the temples and shrines of the Hindus, and prohibited the construction and repair of old or new Hindu temples. He also ensured that in the year 1668 that the Hindu religious fairs became outlawed, and did everything in his power to discriminate against the Hindus in order to make their lives difficult. On December 7, 1992 the Hindus destroyed the Mosque of Babar because according to them the mosque was built on a sacred piece of land whereby the Hindu God Ram was born. However, the Muslims did not want to regain control of the mosque after its destruction because they feared that it would lead
The Lodhi Gardens, in India, contain a mosque, a place for Muslims to worship God. The famous mosque, “built… by the Saiyads and the Lodhis…have been beautifully maintained and preserved” (Gupta). The mosque contains inscriptions of the Qur’an with floral patterns on the ceiling (Gupta). The mosque, one can argue, may represent Islam as a whole, with beauty and symmetry, inscribing verses from the Qur’an. One can say the mosque at the Lodhi Gardens makes an argument. Because of the objective beautiful aesthetic of the mosque, people are drawn to it, often the site for school trips and tourism, and the mosque presents itself, winning people over and making the mosque a site to see; however without the inscriptions of the Qur’an, the Lodhi Gardens
When walking around a city, you may notice that the architecture and art look similar to other works. Many of these designs have changed along the course of history and time whilst others have not. The designs that many people still see in society and day to day living is from two of the many cultures of the old civilizations, Roman and Islamic. The art and architecture forms from the Islamic and Roman cultures have many comparisons and contrasts between them. They, the Islamic and Roman nations, have both adopted from other cultures and have made their own discoveries in the art and architecture worlds. The Roman and Islamic architecture and art vary drastically from each other and yet have varying comparisons between the two.
Mecca is also known as Makkah and its full name is Makkah al-Mukkaramah. Mecca is a city in the Hijaz region of western Saudi Arabia. It is known as the holiest site in the Islamic religion. The history of Mecca goes back as early as the fifth century. It was an independent and powerful city in pre-Islamic times. It is the religious center for Islamic people and it houses the Kaaba and the Great Mosque. It is also the birthplace of Muhammad, the first capital of caliphate, and the center of present day mosques. In 630 Muhammad and some of his followers went into the city of Mecca and captured it. Mecca is said to have started one of the most important religions in the world and it brings together the Islamic religion.
To complicate things even more is the controversy that surrounds Ayodhya, a holy place in Gujarat claimed by both groups. The Babri Masjid, a Muslim temple in Ayodhya, was burned to the ground by Hindu extremists in 1992 and caused a wave of violence that resulted in the loss of over two thousand lives. These Hindu extremists believe the temple rests on the birthplace of Ram, one of the Hinduism’s most revered deities. They want a temple built on the site to commemorate Ram’s birth. Muslims in turn want the Babri Masjid rebuilt in the same spot.
The Taj Mahal, which translates to “Crown Palace” is a very significant monument and regarded as one of the best in the world. It is actually a mausoleum where both the bodies of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal are found. It was built from 1631 till 1648 AD in Agra, India (History of Taj Mahal). Architects from all around the world were ordered to come to India and build this Taj Mahal by the order of the Mughal, Shah Jahan (History of Taj Mahal). He built this to honor his wife after her death while she was giving birth to their child (History of Taj Mahal). Her last words for Shah Jahan was to build a tomb in her memory that the world has never seen before, and so he did what she asked for (History of Taj Mahal). Later on, the grave of Shah Jahan was added to the Taj Mahal.
Inc, E. T. (2003). A monument of Imeasurable beauty & love. Retrieved Feb 11, 2012, from Taj Mahal: http://www.tajmahal.travel/
I think a gigantic funerary mosque of white marble, built in Agra by order of the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, the Taj Mahal is the most perfect jewel of Moslem art in India and is one of the universally admired architectures of the world’s heritage. Not only see the beautiful Taj Mahal from the video, I also knew the history of itself and its country. A white marble tomb sums up many of the formal themes that have played through Islamic architecture. The video did talk a lot of how much Shah Jahan himself and his father loved art and made many gorgeous artworks. Taj Mahal’s refined style is a conspicuous contrast to the Hindu architecture of pre-Islamic India, with its thick walls, arches, and heavy supports. Even though Taj Mahal is the symbol of grief and sadness, it still has it beauty looks from marble and sand stone.
A 27-acre part of land is estimated to border Burj Khalifa formulated by the architects of the SWA group. Besides the core scheme Burj Khalifa is based on the symmetries and the triple-lobed design of desert
Different people have different views of the Taj but it would be enough to say that the Taj has a life of its own that leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of love. As an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or subtracted from it. I think everyone should visit Taj Mahal at least once in their life, if they get a chance.