Mosque

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Mosque; Aswan, Egypt.

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. Masǧid or Masjid (pl. masajid) (Arabic: مسجد—pronounced: /mas.ˈɡʲid/ or /mas.ˈʤid/) is one of two Arabic terms for a mosque. This term is used widely throughout the Islamic world, and the word masjid is widely preferred by many Muslims. Mosques were known to the English-speaking world before being called "mosques" but in the 15th, 16th and 17th century there were many variations of the word such as: "moseak", "muskey", "moschy", "mos'keh", until it was decided to use "mosquee", imitating the Middle French. This however had originally come from Italian and Old Spanish from the Arabic word for "temple", "masjid". This comes from the Arabic root sajad which means to prostrate; Islamic prayers require prostration. In the early 1700s, the modern spelling was used more and so became the standard spelling for this word. The other Arabic term is: جامع / (jāmi`) assembly; it is used for Friday-mosques, which must have a pulpit—most mosques do not.

The first masjid in the world was the Kaaba in Mecca. The first masjid in Medina, a city north of Mecca, was the house of the Prophet Muhammad, Masjid al-Nabawi, to which the followers of Muhammad had withdrawn in 622. The reconstructions of Muhammad's house show a large courtyard containing a relatively small house. After many worshippers complained about the heat of the midday sun, Muhammad had a row of palm trunks erected on one side of the courtyard and a roof of palm fronds laid between the columns and the outer wall, creating a shaded prayer space. He himself stood at one end of this simple arcade to preach.

Shakh-i Zindeh Mosque in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

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Typical parts of a mosque and their functions

Muslims are commanded to offer Salah (Prayer) five times a day: morning (Fajr), midday (Dhuhr), afternoon (Asr), sunset (Maghrib), and evening (Isha)—see the Five Pillars of Islam for details. A muezzin calls the worshippers to prayer from the minaret (Arabic manara). Many mosques do not admit non-Muslims into the buildings.

Because Islamic prayer must be preceded by ritual purification, mosques have ablution fountains or other facilities for washing in their entryways or courtyards. In many mosques this function is elaborated into a freestanding building in the center of a courtyard.

Entry into the mosque from the ablution area—courtyard or vestibule—leads to an open room without furniture. The architecture of this prayer hall is typically undifferentiated—often a forest of columns or a grid filled with adjacent domes covers the space. The visually emphasized area is usually the wall opposite the entry, the qibla wall. The qibla wall should, in a properly oriented mosque, be set perpendicular to a line leading to Mecca (Arabic, "Makkah"). The faithful kneel in rows parallel to the qibla wall and thus have arranged themselves to face Mecca. In the qibla wall, usually in its center, is the Mihrab, a niche or depression indicating that this is the qibla wall. The mihrab is not occupied by any furniture, unlike the apse often found around the altar of Christian churches. If there is a raised minbar, or pulpit for Friday sermons (qutba), it is to the side of the mihrab.

Mihrab at a mosque in Cairo

Many forms of mosque have evolved in different regions of the Islamic world. Notable mosque-types include the early Abbasid mosques, T-type mosques, and the central-dome mosques of Anatolia. The oil-wealth of the 20th century drove a great deal of mosque construction using designs from leading non-Muslim modern architects and promoting the careers of important contemporary Muslim architects. Some of the world's most famous buildings, such as the Santa Sophia in Istanbul and the Parthenon in Athens, Greece have been mosques.

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