Limelight: Song of the minaret By Lubna Abdel-Aziz Regardless of where it stands, a mosque is a thing of beauty. While the controversy still rages on in New York over the building of a mosque on Ground Zero "Sacred Ground," our sentiments vacillate between opponents and proponents of the project. On the one hand, Americans cherish the principle of tolerance and freedom of worship, a pillar of the American Constitution. On the other hand the sensibility of family members, who lost their loved one on 9/ 11, cannot be ignored. A horrific act of reckless Islamic terrorists, it still fills our hearts with pain and our eyes with tears, and will never be forgotten or forgiven. Our purpose here is the exquisite shape and noble elegance of Muslim's place of worship called the Mosque. The Arabic name for the English word mosque is masjid, which literarily means "place of prostration." Muslims bow, kneel and prostrate on the bare grounds as they pray in humility before God. The common word gameh is a gathering place for worshipers interchangeable with masjid. The mosque serves not only as a place for Muslims coming together to prays, but often serves as a center for education, information, or for settling disputes. Some modern mosques, like many churches, may include a library, a health clinic and even a gymnasium. Mosques are as diverse and varied as are the cultures which conceived them. They have developed greatly from the open air spaces of the early Muslim such as the masjid el nabawi of the 7th century. Mosques originated in the Arab peninsula but spread rapidly through a vast territory, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Over the next 1,000 years they acquired new characteristics and distinctive feature of the regions where they sprang. Unlike churches, which were given ample time to develop more common architectural styles because of the centuries of suppression of Christianity, the spread of Islam was so rapid that places of worship assumed native local colours, shapes, and forms. According to early Muslim historians, the towns that surrendered to Muslim invaders without resistance gave their conquerors permission to take over their churches and synagogues. A prominent and early example of this kind of conversion is the Church of St. John in Damascus, which was rebuilt as the Omayyad mosque. Some ecclesiastical elements are still evident in these reconstructed mosques. The reverse is also true when one of the earliest mosques in Jerusalem, Al Aqsa, was used as the royal palace of the Crusader kings after the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. Although it was not introduced until the 15th century, the most striking, most visible, most graceful and most spiritual feature of a mosque is the minaret. Towering above all else, it stand solitary and sorrowful, looking up to the heavens for forgiveness and guidance. This high point of the structure was used to call the faithful to prayer. Early mosques did not have minarets and the azzan, or call to prayer, was simply called from any high point near the mosque. With the addition of the minaret, a powerful and lyrical voice lured the faithful to gather together and offer their prayers in unity and humility. Prayers are performed five times a day, and while they can be certainly done privately indoors or outdoors, million find it more desirable to leave their homes, place, playgrounds or coffee shops in order to assemble behind an imam for communal congregational prayer. Minarets vary in height and style. Attached to a mosque, they may be square round or octagonal, usually covered with a pointed roof. Mosques may have one or more minaret, just as churches may have one or more domes. Modern technologies afford us microphone and speakers that can reach a larger number of worshipers, but the minaret remains the crown jewel in Islamic mosque architecture throughout the world. What is the inspiration of the minaret? There were no minarets during the time of the Holy Prophet Mohamed and there were no mosques. The azzan was issued form the top of his house in Medina. Many elements of a mosque duplicate the prophet's Medina home, but the minaret is not one of them; so from where hence did the concept originate? It remains a mystery although according to some scholars, the minaret may be based on one of the Zoroastrian symbolic fire towers. Others believe coastal lighthouses, Roman watch towers, or even church towers could have inspired the minaret; but regardless what the inspiration was, the minaret remains a symbol of Islamic architecture. Although it may have outgrown its original purpose, it still remains the symbol of Islamic architecture. Besides the minarets, most mosques share other architectural features, such as grand or arched entrances, fountains and domes. The dome is said to be borrowed from pre-Islamic Persian architecture. Mosque architecture, while replicating features associated with traditional mosques, has evolved wherever Islam was practiced. The first Chinese mosque established in the 18th century, relates more to Chinese architecture. Indonesian/Javanese mosques look more like pagodas, and Indian mosques acquired onion-shaped domes, now seen all over India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Mosques in Sicily and Spain reflect the architecture introduce by the Moors, with a distinguished horseshoe arch. In whichever country you may be, all mosques share that awe-inspiring, spiritual aura, which arouse the feeling that one is on sacred ground. If you are in Cairo, you are in "the City of Thousand Minarets." Egyptian mosques date as far back as the earliest period of Islam. They include any number of styles, Abbasids, Fatimid, Ayyoubid, Mamaluke, and by all means the more distinct modern architecture. Cairo is home of several of the major mosques of Islam. Some are open to tourists. If you have never been in one, it is a visit that is well worth your while. The Amr Ibn El-Ass mosque, the oldest of them all, is ironically located in Old Cairo, known as the Coptic or Christians Cairo. Two of the most beautiful towering minarets are right here in Cairo attached to the Ibn Tulun mosque and Mohamed Aly mosque. Make sure you have your cameras to take your myriad pictures. Ramadan is a unique time for mosques and minarets. Muslims devote most of their time in prayer and doing God's work. Mosques are crowded all day and all night. If you are lucky enough, you may be there at a time when a mo'azzen, endowed with a gift of magical cords, sings his lyrical call to prayer that will move you to the core, whether you are Muslim or not. Better still, a song of the minaret at dawn in the silence of the still dark sky, is more moving than the strains of a thousand orchestras, unrivaled in its splendour and majesty. You pray in your distress and in your need: would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance... -- THE PROPHET: Khalil Gibran (1883 -- 1931)
