ISLAM.  Islam founded in Arabian peninsula early 7C CE under leadership of its prophet, Muhammad [c. 571-632], whose move from his native city of Mecca to Yathrib (later renamed al-Madina/The City) in 622 was called the hijra or hegira:  Muslim dates count from that year.  Islam means surrender (to God); a Muslim is one who has surrendered.  A religion based on learning, literacy, the word, in its holy book, the Quran; manifested in architecture in fondness for calligraphy as a form of decoration.  Islam as completion of Jewish and Christian revelations. 

The Ka'aba, Mecca, Islamís holy site:  a pre-Islamic shrine rebuilt in 608 and again in 683, toward which Muslims face when praying. [Mecca view (1600 CE), plan of precinct on tile]

The effort to spread Islam throughout the world:  conquests of Muhammad and his successors, the Umayyad [661-750] and Abbasid [750-1258] dynasties; the jihad or holy war.  Islamic admiration for and hostility to Christian society and architecture; awareness of roots in Mediterranean classical political and cultural tradition. 

THE MOSQUE.  Islam as a religion stressing community:  the need for a communal gathering place.  Mosque = masjid/place of prostration, but also a communal center for transaction of all sorts of business.  Muhammadís house at Madina as the prototypical mosque.  Parts of the mosque:  liwan/prayer hall; qibla/wall toward Mecca; mihrab/niche in qibla; minbar/seat for announcements and sermons; sahn/courtyard; fountain for ritual washing; minaret/tower for calling Muslims to prayer. 

Variations on the Arabian hypostyle mosque:  architectural embellishments.  Great Mosque of Samarra (Abbasid) in present-day Iraq 847 Note:  ruined wall of hypostyle mosque, with separate freestanding minaret.  Great Mosque at Kairouan, Tunisia, 836, 862, 875.  A T-plan mosque with dome.  Note:  plan, minaret, horseshoe arches, classical details [mihrab, prayer hall].  Great Mosque at Cordoba, Spain, 785-87, c. 833-48, 961-65, 987-88.  A hypostyle mosque enlarged several times.  Note:  Patio de los Naranjos (sahn); arched structure; domes on ribbed supports; maqsurah/princeís enclosure; decoration. [interior prayer hall , mihrab]

The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, 689-91.  Constructed on the Haram esh-Sharif, the Jewish Temple Mount, also known as Mount Moriah, over the reputed site of Adamís tomb and possibly the cornerstone of Solomonís temple.  Note:  symbolism (the rock as omphalos), site, domed martyrium form, mosaic decorations (ìthe jewelsî) calligraphic decoration. [exterior, exterior (691 CE), interior cupola]

THE ISLAMIC CITY. What is the Muslim city?  Plans: circular city of Bagdad, 762 planned by Abbasids, initiated by Caliph al-Mansur, destroyed by Mongols.  Organic city plans: Cordoba and Sevilla, Spain [plan (961CE)];  Ghardaia, Algeria 10c. The dismemberment of the classical city.  Ex.:  Damascus, where the Roman colonnaded street was transformed to the suq, and the orthagonal plan was obliterated.  The city as an imperial political center.  The city as a religious community:  the madrasa, a religious/legal academy (ex.:  Mustansiriya madrasa, Baghdad, Iraq, founded 1233).  The mosque and the citadel as signs of the empire.  The city as a collection of individual quarters.  The city as an economic entity.  The caravanserai as sign of connection to the economic world. The suq (exs.:  Aleppo and Damascus). 

ISLAMIC PALACES AND GARDENS: The Alhambra, Granada, Spain.  Most of the familiar parts were built in the 14C by Yusuf I and Muhammad V within the walls of an 11C citadel.  Note: planning around courts (e.g., Court of the Myrtles, Court of the Lions), use of water and gardens, muqarnas and other decoration, Solomonic imagery.[exterior 1987]