MOSQUE

A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims. Any act of worship that follows the Islamic
rules of prayer can be said to create a mosque, whether or not it takes place in a
special building. The mosque, masjid in Arabic, is the Muslim gathering place for
prayer. Masjid simply means “place of prostration.” Mosques are also used throughout
the week for prayer, study, or simply as a place for rest and reflection. The main
mosque of a city, used for the Friday communal prayer, is called a jami masjid, literally
meaning “Friday mosque,” but it is also sometimes called a congregational mosque in
English.

MADRASAH

a school or college, especially a school attached to a mosque where young

men study theology.

MAIDAN
A Persian word for a town square or public gathering place.It is an open space in or near a town,
used as a parade ground or for events such as public meetings and polo matches.
ZIYADA
The extra or empty space between the mosque and the surrounding buffer wall.

ISLAM
Islam is an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah), and that
Muhammad is a messenger of God. The word “Islam” means “submission to the will of God.

MUSLIM
Muslims are people who follow or practice Islam
MUHAMMAD
Muhammad was an Arab religious, social and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to
Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet, sent to present and confirm the monotheistic teachings preached
previously by Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets.
KORAN

The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims
believe to be a revelation from God. It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic
literature.
IWAN
A vaulted open hall with a rectangular or arched facade. The iwan is a Persian invention and its origins can be traced
back to the palaces of Achaemenid Iran. The iwan worked well as an entrance of a mosque, an entrance to the
prayer hall or the prayer hall itself.

MINARET

Minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets serve multiple
purposes. While they provide a visual focal point, they are generally used for the Muslim call to
prayer. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, a cap and head.
MIMBAR
A minbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons or in the Hussainia
where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation.
QIBLA
The Qibla is the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays during ṣalāh.

MIHRAB
Mihrab is a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla;
MECCA
Mecca, in a desert valley in western Saudi Arabia, is Islam’s holiest city, as it’s the birthplace of the
Prophet Muhammad and the faith itself. Only Muslims are allowed in the city,
KA’ BA

a small, cubical building in the courtyard of the Great Mosque at Mecca

containing a sacred black stone: regarded by Muslims as the House of God
and the objective of their pilgrimages.
MELON DOME
a hemispherical dome with a circular base and a ribbed vault divided into
individual webs, each of which has a baseline curved segmentally in plan and
also curved in elevation.
STALACTITE WORK
(in Islamic architecture) intricate decorative corbeling in the form of brackets,
squinches, and portions of pointed vaults.
PENDENTIVE BRACKETING
Corbeling in the general form of a pendentive; common in Moorish and Muslim architecture.

MAKSOORAH

n.

1. (in a mosque) a screen or partition enclosing an area for prayer or a tomb.

Maqsurah, an enclosure, a box or wooden screen near the mihrab or the center of the qibla wall,
which was originally designed to shield a worshipping ruler from assassins.
MOORISH ARCHITECTURE
Moorish architecture is the articulated Islamic architecture of North Africa and parts of Spain and
Portugal, where the Moors were dominant between 711 and 1492.
MOOR
The term "Moors" refers primarily to the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula,
Sicily, and Malta during the Middle Ages. The Moors initially were the indigenous Maghrebine
Berbers. The name was later also applied to Arabs.

MOZARABIC STYLE