History And Theory Of Islamic Architecture

Author: Spahic Omer

Publisher: IIUM Press

ISBN: 9789674910037

Pages: 275pp

Year: 2019

Weight: 0.447kg

Price: RM77

Islamic architecture is a misunderstood subject. Quite often, as elementary -- and even trivial -- themes as defining Islamic architecture, the relationship between Muslim and Islamic architecture, and the prospect of existence of un-Islamic architectural expressions hijack the entire intellectual discourses on Islamic architecture. This is so despite the fact that Islamic architecture existed since the dawn of Islamic culture and civilization approximately fourteen centuries ago. Islamic architecture, more often than not, was the most recognizable feature of that cultural and civilizational consciousness, serving at once as its face and epitome. Some of the reasons behind such misunderstandings could be due to the absence of a comprehensive and appropriate theory of Islamic architecture.

This book intends to fill somewhat the glaring intellectual gap in the sphere of authentic Islamic architecture. It provides a theoretical or philosophical framework for studying and teaching Islamic architecture on the basis of some of the most authentic sources of Islamic scholarship. Against the backdrop of such a broad framework, various Islamic architecture themes and dimensions could be more accurately studied and understood. The book is also envisaged as an invitation to other researchers and scholars from across the spectrum of especially Islamic scholarship to embark on similar undertakings and do justice to the fascinating phenomenon of Islamic architecture, enriching in the process academic communities and their libraries.

The book is divided into seven chapters. Each chapter represents an individual study on a vital subject relating to the theoretical and epistemological foundation of Islamic architecture. Those chapters are as follows:

1. The Qur’an and Sunnah as a conceptual foundation of Islamic architecture;
2. The form and function of the Prophet’s Mosque during the time of the Prophet (pbuh);
3. God as the only Creator: some implications for conceptualizing Islamic architecture;
4. A conceptual framework for sustainability in Islamic architecture;
5. Rationalizing the permissibility of mosque decoration;
6. Towards an Islamization of housing and housing education;
7. Al-Wasatiyyah and Islamic built environment.