Moreover, in his attempt to establish the validity of his claims, Grube focuses attention on the Umayyad Great Mosque of Damascus as a typical example of hidden architecture, in contrast to the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as an exception to the hiddenness of the Islamic mosque. But is the Great Umayyad Mosque a typical Islamic mosque while the Aqsa Mosque is an exception? Again, is it the case that the Islamic people borrowed their architectural structures from non-Islamic and pre-Islamic cultures? We are inclined to think that Grube’s characterization of Islamic architecture is simplistic, naïve, and in fact mistaken, mainly because it strongly resists empirical verification and sound critical analysis of the mosque as a manifestation of Islamic
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John Church, in the sense that it is hidden from its exterior, which, in turn, was erected on the structure of a Roman temple; it is also true that the mosque is co-extensive with souqs and bazaars around it, although there is a big square in front of the façade—but does this two-fold aspect make it (a) hidden, in the sense that it is hidden from its exterior, and (b) un-Islamic, in the sense that it does not embody Islamic culture? First, we should remember that Damascus is the oldest inhabited city in the world. If we take into consideration, as we pointed out earlier, the economic, security, technological, political, and natural factors that prevailed during the time of its erection during the reign of Caliph Al-Walid I, it would be logical not only for the mosque but for any religious building to be erected in the midst of an urban setting. But this necessity is exactly what makes the Umayyad Great Mosque an atypical example of “hiddenness,” mainly because the mosques that were built later on in Iraq, Egypt, Persia, and North Africa were not hidden in Grube’s sense of the word. On the contrary, to a large extent and in principle, they followed the example of the Aqsa Mosque, which was and remains a model in the design and construction of the mosque (Bloom, 2012; Hilllenbrand, 1999; Ruggles, 2011; Leaman, …show more content…
No. We should recognize that when Islam moved from the Arabian peninsula northward into Syria, Byzantine culture was the established culture of the land. The architectural vocabulary that prevailed in the Near East was a continuation of the architectural tradition begun in ancient Greece and continued in Rome. It was only logical, indeed realistic, that Muslim architects would employ this vocabulary, not only because it was readily available but also because there was not a better alternative. However, the mere employment of such a vocabulary is not what gives the architectural work its cultural or religious identity or character. These are the stuff out of which the building is given its particular structure. What gives it its particular identity is the way this stuff is formed or structured; put differently, the locus of this identity is not merely the kind of vocabulary the architect employs in the erection of the architectural work, but the creative activity in which the design of the building comes into being. Artistic creation is the ultimate source of the design and, consequently, of the cultural or religious identity of
John Church, in the sense that it is hidden from its exterior, which, in turn, was erected on the structure of a Roman temple; it is also true that the mosque is co-extensive with souqs and bazaars around it, although there is a big square in front of the façade—but does this two-fold aspect make it (a) hidden, in the sense that it is hidden from its exterior, and (b) un-Islamic, in the sense that it does not embody Islamic culture? First, we should remember that Damascus is the oldest inhabited city in the world. If we take into consideration, as we pointed out earlier, the economic, security, technological, political, and natural factors that prevailed during the time of its erection during the reign of Caliph Al-Walid I, it would be logical not only for the mosque but for any religious building to be erected in the midst of an urban setting. But this necessity is exactly what makes the Umayyad Great Mosque an atypical example of “hiddenness,” mainly because the mosques that were built later on in Iraq, Egypt, Persia, and North Africa were not hidden in Grube’s sense of the word. On the contrary, to a large extent and in principle, they followed the example of the Aqsa Mosque, which was and remains a model in the design and construction of the mosque (Bloom, 2012; Hilllenbrand, 1999; Ruggles, 2011; Leaman, …show more content…
No. We should recognize that when Islam moved from the Arabian peninsula northward into Syria, Byzantine culture was the established culture of the land. The architectural vocabulary that prevailed in the Near East was a continuation of the architectural tradition begun in ancient Greece and continued in Rome. It was only logical, indeed realistic, that Muslim architects would employ this vocabulary, not only because it was readily available but also because there was not a better alternative. However, the mere employment of such a vocabulary is not what gives the architectural work its cultural or religious identity or character. These are the stuff out of which the building is given its particular structure. What gives it its particular identity is the way this stuff is formed or structured; put differently, the locus of this identity is not merely the kind of vocabulary the architect employs in the erection of the architectural work, but the creative activity in which the design of the building comes into being. Artistic creation is the ultimate source of the design and, consequently, of the cultural or religious identity of