The Muslim architect always exerts himself to ensure that a new structure serves a noble purpose, regardless of whether it is a mosque, school, dwelling, caravansary, hospital, fountain, mausoleum, etc., whereby God alone is meant to be worshiped and adored.
– Function of Islamic Architecture
Instead of standing alone amidst the marvels of God’s creation, quite alien to them, a structure rather integrates itself with them as much as its plan, design and utility are able to suggest, identifying its status vis-à-vis the otherworldliness with that of the natural sensations around it.
Building materials and substances used in building processes are normally taken or “borrowed” from nature. The same materials heretofore belonged to the flawlessly executed universal web singing God’s praises and celebrating His glory. Although they have been removed from their original contexts, the building materials from nature are still utilized for some other perfectly fitting goals related to man, thereby causing their intrinsic “holy pursuit” to remain unaffected or perturbed. As a result of the Muslim’s restricted and controlled intervention in nature, only did the original condition and context of natural building materials and substances change, which is nevertheless expected, needed and in full accordance with God’s universal will and plan. The inherent functions of those building materials and substances remain the same.
Before they are used in buildings, building materials from nature worship God in unison with the rest of nature’s components. It is thus only fair that they are used in those buildings where God is worshipped as well, so that their unremitting acts are still performed in peace and without interruption. It sounds strange but it would be an act of injustice towards nature if some of its ingredients were used for erecting buildings wherein the authority of God will be disrespected and His words contravened. Besides, such a deed would also denote that a contribution toward upsetting the fine equilibrium in nature has been made. When the Prophet (pbuh) declared that “there is neither harming nor reciprocating of harm”, he had in mind not only human beings but also the natural world with all its components. And surely, it is a form and degree of harm when the spiritual paradigms of nature are perturbed, just as it is harmful to abuse the physical aspects on nature’s kingdom. The mentioned words of the Prophet (pbuh) implied, furthermore, that our built environments must be sustainable, that is, that they do not generate any harm to either people or their natural surroundings. A built environment is to be an asset, not a liability, to all of its users.
Surely, it stands to reason that as man is very much capable of perturbing the physical laws of nature by his actions, so is he in a position to get in the way of the covert aspects of nature’s existence, as much as God allows it. Therefore, while creating buildings, that is to say, while creating frameworks and fields for their activities, God’s vicegerents wish not to contravene any of the universe’s spiritual laws and patterns. On the contrary, they wish to enhance them forever remaining on friendly terms with them. Certainly, a building can be either a “friend” or an “antagonist” to its animate and inanimate neighbors.
Indeed, as the vicegerent on earth endowed with free will, man while interacting with his surroundings, taking and giving, is in a position both to sustain and damage the existing natural equilibrium. It is up to what choice and life orientation and purpose man chooses. This is applicable not only to the physical aspects of the natural world, but also to the metaphysical or spiritual paradigms of whole existence. That is to say, Islam does not speak only about physical sustainability on earth, but also about a spiritual one throughout the realms of the vast universe, which God’s vicegerents on earth must be fully aware of and must readily aim for. Such, it could be inferred, is the supreme goal of man’s divine mission. Such, furthermore, is a clear measure of man’s success or failure in his vicegerency undertaking.
Finally, Islamic buildings, as the Qur’an confirms, are erected and sustained upon a foundation of piety to God and His good pleasure, because the lives of their benefactors too are built on piety and hopes for God’s pleasure. Whereas the buildings of those who turn away from God are erected upon a foundation of suspicion, faithlessness and false hopes and fears, just as their lives are built upon the like foundation. While the lives and buildings of believers, in spiritual terms, are strong and firm for the obvious reasons, the lives and buildings of nonbelievers, for obvious reasons too, are weak, insecure and shaky. God then asks: “Is he who founded his building upon duty to Allah and His good pleasure better; or he who founded his building on the brink of a crumbling, overhanging precipice so that it toppled with him into the fire of hell? Allah guides not wrongdoing folk. The building which they built will never cease to be a misgiving in their hearts unless their hearts be torn to pieces. Allah is Knower, Wise.”
(Surah al-Tawbah, 109, 110)
– Form
As regards the form of erected structures, the Muslim architect, powered with the spirit of tawhid and a desire to fulfill the will of a higher order or cause, always tries his best to make his edifices come into sight adhering to the existing spiritual paradigms of the natural environment. Nature is the perceptible sign of the Creator’s will and presence, which is as evident in the most trivial as in the most splendid. Thus, every new component of built environment ought to become, in a way, a “sign” itself, lest they become irreconcilable with both nature and the spiritual and psychological disposition of their users. Islamic architecture is to be seen as a man-made “sign” amid the signs of God in nature.
Humans must live on friendly terms with nature, as much as such an arrangement is possible, beneficial and needed. Under no circumstances can man in any endeavor of his declare a war on the natural environment, because, on account of many a physical, mental and emotional weakness of his and his actual total dependence on environment, man and nobody else is bound to emerge at all times as a dire loser. The natural environment is simultaneously an obstruction and help, and architects seek both to invite its aid and to drive back its attacks. If rightly conceived and seriously pondered, the placement and form of edifices in relation to their sites with arrangement of their axes and spaces may well be turned into a device for controlling natural light, ventilation, heating, cooling, insulation, acoustics, etc. The same philosophy is to be attached — perhaps in a more forceful and compelling mode — to the spiritual dimension of the relationship between the built and natural environment, as it concerns one’s well-being in both this world and in the Hereafter. Because it goes along with the objectives of the Islamic Sharî’ah (Law), peaceful and harmonious coexistence with nature, in the spiritual sense of the term, was, furthermore, at the core of the Muslim’s religious existence.
In view of the fact that Islamic architecture bears a strong spiritual impression and is one of the means for espousing the cause of Islam, it did not really always matter in the history of Islamic civilization who were the builders, planners and developers of many a project. What actually mattered was whether the ultimate roles and utility of such projects were justifying the time, effort and capital spent on them, as well as what their impact was on the existing state of the community and on its future progress. Although architecture as a profession was extremely important and honored, architects, most of the time, have not been excessively venerated, neither by their patrons nor by the public. It was for this that on most of Islamic buildings no names of their builders were inscribed. If there was anything imprinted on them, then it was the date of their commencement or completion, or the name of the ruler or the patron. Except in cases of insincere undertakings, never were the architects, planners or developers concerned about promoting their name or status, about their position in history, about what some shortsighted people would say about their work, about how some members of the ruling elite would react during and after construction, and so forth.
This indicates that buildings in Islam are erected to serve together with their occupants the only Creator and Lord of the universe. As a result, buildings in Islamic architecture are heavily transfigured aiming to negate their mundane worldly ingredients and stand out as the man-made “signs” of God’s oneness and greatness. Also, Muslim architects and structural engineers turned down a prospect of drawing attention to themselves, their careers and their works of art. They feared that such an act would somewhat impinge on and, in the worst scenario, debilitate the promotion of the idea of total spirituality underlining the total identity of Islamic architecture. Nothing was to stand between God and a building’s users and observers. Through the planning and organization of spaces in buildings, through the handling of buildings’ forms, through the methods and styles of ornamentation and beautification in buildings, and through the envisioned functions of buildings — through all these channels and means Muslim architects and structural engineers go all-out to put on view the signs of the Creator’s presence, infinite authority and greatness, on the one hand, and to display the signs of men’s fragility, dependence and smallness, on the other. This way, every building in Islamic architecture is transformed into a kind of a house of God, baytullah, so to speak, thus translating onto reality the implications of the Prophet’s tradition (hadith) that the earth has been made as pure and a place of worship (masjid) to the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Tradition No. 323)
Also Check Out Part I and Part II Here
– PART I
– PART II
By: Dr. Spahic Omer
Assoc. Prof. Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design
International Islamic University Malaysia
Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
E-mail: spahico@yahoo.com
Posted on: September 15, 2011
