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Mihrab

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Mehrab" redirects here. For other uses, see Mehrab (disambiguation).
Mihrab in the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba
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Mihrab (Arabic: محراب, miḥrāb, pl. محاريب maḥārīb) is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a mihrab appears is thus the "qibla wall".

The minbar, which is the raised platform from which an imam (leader of prayer) addresses the congregation, is located to the right of the mihrab.

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Transcription

Voiceover: Normally when you see a niche, you expect a sculpture to be in it. However, we are looking at a prayer niche, a Mihrab. Voiceover: This is really just a directional pointer. Voiceover: It is a pointer. In the Islamic faith, you are supposed to pray five times a day and you're supposed to pray towards Mecca. So knowing where you are meant to be pointing and where you are meant to be praying is really a fundamental thing so all of the mosques anywhere in the world are set up to do this. Voiceover: And so they'd have this Mihrab in a wall which is known as the Qibla Wall. Voiceover: Correct. Voiceover: And that just basically faces towards Mecca. It's not oriented east or north or south or west, but in the direction of Mecca, whatever that might be. Voiceover: And there's no altar, no religious edifice that stands in front of it so some of the things that you might be expecting to see as you would see in a Western church or cathedral don't exist here. Voiceover: And so people wouldn't pray towards this niche, they would just pray in the direction that this niche was set. Voiceover: That's exactly right. If you imagine this back into its mosque, into its context, you could see people in rows facing the Qibla Wall praying towards Mecca. Mecca was the home of the prophet Muhammad. He lived in Mecca until 620 when he was forced out and he went to Medina. His house in Medina had a large courtyard. His house was more a civic center than really just a domestic space and it was oriented towards Mecca. Now we have no evidence, physical evidence of the house, it's long gone, but that is what the Hadiths and early sources tell us. Voiceover: So this basic architectural form which is now found in every mosque may have in fact been based on perhaps an archway within the courtyard of the prophet's home in Medina and it's interesting that you say that his house was the civic center because that's the way that we think about mosques. That is, that they're not just religious spaces, but they're really cultural centers. Voiceover: One of my favorite experiences was going to the Great Mosque in Damascus and you go into the courtyard and it is social. Families are there, children are there, people are talking, meeting up, having a good time. It's a place of community. We've also seen that with the Arab Spring that Friday prayers and people going to the mosques was a kind of flashpoint for many people to then go and protest their governments so the mosques hold this very important political and social place in the Islamic world. Voiceover: Let's put this particular Mihrab back in its historical context. This is from the city of Isfahan and its brilliant blues that we see in these tiles is not distinct just to this Mihrab, but was really distinct to the entire city. Voiceover: Oh, Isfahan is the blue city. It is spectacular. Really you have to imagine blue tile, light blue, dark blue, turquoise blue, everywhere. A vibrant glowing city that would have shimmered. Voiceover: This Mihrab would have been within not a public mosque but a Madrasa, part of a school. Voiceover: Yes, and is believed to have come from, I think it's called the [Minani] Madrasa in Isfahan so this is where people who were enrolled at the school studying theology would have come to pray and often they would hear a sermon, not dissimilar to what people would hear in a church or in other religious spaces. Voiceover: But in this context, you don't really even need the sermon because it's written into the tile work itself. Voiceover: Yes, and that's one of the things that makes this so gorgeous. On the exterior rectangular frame, we have a verse from the Quran. Voiceover: This is Arabic and it is read from right to left, the opposite direction that we read in English. Voiceover: Right, the Quran was always in Arabic and the Quran should always be learned, and studied, and recited in Arabic because it is the word of God, it is divinely revealed. Muhammad is believed to have been a conduit for the word of God, not the person who created it so it has to be in Arabic. Voiceover: That outer frame that you were pointing out, the script is so fluid, and so beautiful, and so decorative it almost seems to be a pure abstraction. The inner frame is really distinct. This is not that kind of fluid script that we see on the outer part of the Mihrab. This seems much harder edged and much more geometric. Voiceover: This is called [Kuthic] script and it's one of the most well known scripts throughout the entire Islamic world. We have [Kuthic] script written on the dome of the rock that was finished in 691, 692. This is also really interesting. It stands out partially because you have the blue on the white as opposed to on the rest of the niche where you have white on blue. Blue is your dominant background color. But what's also particularly interesting about this inscription is what it says and it basically lists the five pillars of Islam. Voiceover: So these are the five rules that any adherent to Islam must follow. Voiecover: That's right and it's very simple. You have to believe in the confession of faith, there is only one God but God and Muhammad is his prophet, he is His messenger. You have to give alms. You have to pray five times a day. If you are able, you should undertake a pilgrimage, the Haj to Mecca. And lastly, Ramadan, the month of fasting. And those are the five basic things that you should try to achieve in your life if you are to be a good Muslim. Voiceover: So this is a really didactic statement and seems so appropriate that it's within a Madrasa within a school. Voiceover: Yeah, it's a constant reminder. You also would have had a literate population. You have people that who studying the Quran for hours upon end. Voiceover: I see that there's a third area within the niche that has text within it. It's low so it would be visible when one was praying. Voiceover: It says in Arabic, "The prophet peace be upon him, "the mosque is the dwelling place of the pious" so it's another nice reminder that you should be contemplative but also invoking Muhammad, that he is the kind of beacon to which all Muslims should be looking to live their lives.

Etymology

The origin of the word miḥrāb is complicated and multiple explanations have been proposed by different sources and scholars.[1][2] It may come from Old South Arabian (possibly Sabaic) 𐩣𐩢𐩧𐩨 mḥrb meaning a certain part of a palace,[3] as well as "part of a temple where 𐩩𐩢𐩧𐩨 tḥrb (a certain type of visions) is obtained,"[4][5] from the root word 𐩢𐩧𐩨 ḥrb "to perform a certain religious ritual (which is compared to combat or fighting and described as an overnight retreat) in the 𐩣𐩢𐩧𐩨 mḥrb of the temple."[4][5] It may also possibly be related to Ethiopic ምኵራብ məkʷrab "temple, sanctuary,"[6][7] whose equivalent in Sabaic is 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 mkrb of the same meaning,[4] from the root word 𐩫𐩧𐩨 krb "to dedicate" (cognate with Akkadian 𒅗𒊒𒁍 karābu "to bless" and related to Hebrew כְּרוּב kerūḇ "cherub (either of the heavenly creatures that bound the Ark in the inner sanctuary)").

Arab lexicographers traditionally derive the word from the Arabic root ح ر ب (Ḥ-R-B) relating to "war, fighting or anger," (which, though cognate with the South Arabian root,[8] does not however carry any relation to religious rituals) thus leading some to interpret it to mean a "fortress", or "place of battle (with Satan),"[9] the latter due to mihrabs being private prayer chambers. The latter interpretation though bears similarity to the nature of the 𐩢𐩧𐩨 ḥrb ritual.

The word mihrab originally had a non-religious meaning and simply denoted a special room in a house; a throne room in a palace, for example. The Fath al-Bari (p. 458), on the authority of others, suggests the mihrab is "the most honorable location of kings" and "the master of locations, the front and the most honorable."[full citation needed] The Mosques in Islam (p. 13),[full citation needed] in addition to Arabic sources, cites Theodor Nöldeke and others as having considered a mihrab to have originally signified a throne room.

The term was subsequently used by the Islamic prophet Muhammad to denote his own private prayer room.[citation needed] The room additionally provided access to the adjacent mosque, and Muhammad entered the mosque through this room. This original meaning of mihrab – i.e. as a special room in the house – continues to be preserved in some forms of Judaism where mihrabs are rooms used for private worship.[citation needed] In the Qur'an, the word (when in conjunction with the definite article) is mostly used to indicate the Holy of Holies. The term is used, for example, in the verse "then he [i.e. Zechariah] came forth to his people from the mihrab"[19:11].[10]: 4 

History

8th-century marble mihrab found in the al-Khassaki Mosque in Baghdad, now housed at the Iraq Museum

The earliest mihrabs generally consisted of a simple stripe of paint or a flat stone panel in the qibla wall.[a] They may have originally had functions similar to a maqsura, denoting not only the place where the imam led prayers but also where some official functions, such as the dispensation of justice, were carried out.[2] In the Mosque of the Prophet (Al-Masjid al-Nabawi) in Medina, a large block of stone initially marked the north wall which was oriented towards Jerusalem (the first qibla), but this was moved to the south wall in the second year of the hijra period (2 AH or 624 CE), when the orientation of the qibla was changed towards Mecca.[11] This mihrab also marked the spot where Muhammad would plant his lance ('anaza or ḥarba) prior to leading prayers.[2]

During the reign of the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (Al-Walid I, r. 705–715), the Mosque of the Prophet was renovated and the governor (wāli) of Medina, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, ordered that a niche be made to designate the qibla wall (which identifies the direction of Mecca), which became the first concave mihrab niche.[12]: 24 [11] This type of mihrab was called miḥrāb mujawwaf in historical Arabic texts.[2][1] The origin of this architectural feature has been debated by scholars.[2] Some trace it to the apse of Christian churches, others to the alcove shrines or niches of Buddhist architecture.[11][2] Niches were already a common feature of Late Antique architecture prior to the rise of Islam, either as hollow spaces or to house statues. The mihrab niche could have also been related to the recessed area or alcove that sheltered the throne in some royal audience halls.[2]

The next earliest concave mihrab to be documented is the one that was added to the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus when it was built by Al-Walid between 706 and 715.[12]: 24  This was then followed by a mihrab added to the Mosque of 'Amr ibn al-'As in Fustat in 710–711.[11] Subsequently, concave mihrabs became widespread across the Muslim world and were adopted as a standard feature of mosques.[11][12]: 24  The oldest surviving concave mihrab today is a marble mihrab housed at the Iraq Museum. It is believed to date from the 8th century, possibly made in northern Syria before being moved by the Abbasids to the Great Mosque of al-Mansur in Baghdad. It was then moved again to the al-Khassaki Mosque built in the 17th century, where it was later found and transferred to the museum.[11][2][13]: 29  This mihrab features a combination of Classical or Late Antique motifs, with the niche flanked by two spiral columns and crowned by a scalloped shell-like hood.[11][13]: 29 [10]: 5 

Pair of candlesticks from an Ottoman Turkish mosque, late 16th century

Eventually, the niche came to be universally understood to identify the qibla wall, and so came to be adopted as a feature in other mosques. A sign was no longer necessary. Today, mihrabs vary in size, but are usually ornately decorated.[citation needed] It was common for mihrabs to be flanked with pairs of candlesticks, though they would not have lit candles.[14] In Ottoman mosques, these were made of brass, bronze or beaten copper and their bases had a distinctive bell shape.[15]

In exceptional cases, the mihrab does not follow the qibla direction, such as is the Masjid al-Qiblatayn, or the Mosque of the Two Qiblas, where Muhammad received the command to change the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca, thus it had two prayer niches. In 1987 the mosque was renovated, the old prayer niche facing Jerusalem was removed, and the one facing Mecca was left.[16]

Architecture

Mihrabs are a relevant part of Islamic culture and mosques. Since they are used to indicate the direction for prayer, they serve as an important focal point in the mosque. They are usually decorated with ornamental detail that can be geometric designs, linear patterns, or calligraphy. This ornamentation also serves a religious purpose. The calligraphy decoration on the mihrabs are usually from the Qur'an and are devotions to God so that God's word reaches the people.[17] Common designs amongst mihrabs are geometric foliage that are close together so that there is no empty space in-between the art.[17]

Great Mosque of Córdoba

The mihrab in the Great Mosque of Cordoba is a highly decorated piece of art that draws one's attention. It is a contribution made by Al-Hakam II that is not just used for prayer.[18] It is used as a place of convergence in the mosque, where visitors could be amazed by its beauty and gilded designs. The entrance is covered in mosaics "which links to the Byzantium tradition, produced by the craftsmen sent by Emperor Nicephorus II. These mosaics extend along the voussoirs with a geometric and plant-based design, but also in the inscriptions which record verses from the Koran".[18] This mihrab is also a bit different from a normal mihrab due to its scale. It takes up a whole room instead of just a niche.[19] This style of mihrab set a standard for other mihrab construction in the region.[20] The use of the horseshoe arch, carved stucco, and glass mosaics made an impression for the aesthetic of mihrabs, "although no other extant mihrab in Spain or western North Africa is as elaborate."[20]

Great Mosque of Damascus

Mihrab in the Great Mosque of Damascus

The Great Mosque of Damascus was started by al-Walid in 706.[21] It was built as a hypostyle mosque, built with a prayer hall leading to the mihrab, "on the back wall of the sanctuary are four mihrabs, two of which are the mihrab of the Companions of the Prophet in the eastern half and the great mihrab at the end of the transept".[21] The mihrab is decorated similarly to the rest of the mosque in golden vines and vegetal imagery. The lamp that once hung in the mihrab has been theorized as the motif of a pearl, due to the indications that dome of the mihrab has scalloped edges.[22] There have been other mosques that have mihrabs similar to this that follow the same theme, with scalloped domes that are "concave like a conch or mother of pearl shell.[22] The original main mihrab of the mosque has not been preserved, having been renovated many times, and the current one is a replacement dating from renovations after a destructive 1893 fire.[22][23][11]

Gallery

Mihrabs

See also

Notes

  1. ^ K. A. C. Creswell and some later scholars argued that the oldest surviving mihrab is a flat marble panel, known as the Mihrab of Sulayman, found in the rock-cut chamber under the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which he attributed to the construction of Abd al-Malik in the late 7th century.[11] However, more recent scholarship has dated this mihrab to the 9th or 10th centuries based on stylistic, paleographic, and other historical grounds.[2] Flat mihrabs were occasionally popular in these periods under the Tulunid and Fatimid dynasties.[11][2]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mihrabs.
  1. ^ a b Khoury, Nuha N. N. (1998). "The Mihrab: From Text to Form". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 30 (1): 1–27. doi:10.1017/S0020743800065545. S2CID 161470520.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j M. Bloom, Jonathan; S. Blair, Sheila, eds. (2009). "Mihrab". The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195309911.
  3. ^ Lipiński, Edward (2001). Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar. Peeters Publishers. p. 224. ISBN 978-90-429-0815-4. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Biella, Joan Copeland (2018). Dictionary of Old South Arabic, Sabaean Dialect. BRILL. ISBN 9789004369993.
  5. ^ a b American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language - mihrabs (5th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 2016. ISBN 978-0544454453.
  6. ^ Dillmann, August; Munzinger, Werner (1865). Lexicon linguae aethiopicae cum indice latino. Lipsiae, T.O. Weigel. pp. 835–836. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  7. ^ Nöldeke, Theodor (1910). Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft / von Theodor Nöldeke. Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner. p. 52. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Semitic Roots Repository - View Root". www.semiticroots.net. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  9. ^ Sheikho, Mohammad Amin (October 2011). Unveiling the Secrets of Magic and Magicians. Amin-sheikho.com. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  10. ^ a b Kuban, Doğan (1974). Muslim Religious Architecture, Part I: The Mosque and Its Early Development. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-03813-4.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Fehérvári, G. (1960–2007). "Miḥrāb". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill. ISBN 9789004161214.
  12. ^ a b c Ettinghausen, Richard; Grabar, Oleg; Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn (2001). Islamic Art and Architecture: 650–1250 (2nd ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300088670.
  13. ^ a b Brend, Barbara (1991). Islamic Art. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-46866-5.
  14. ^ Rogers, J. M. (2008). The arts of Islam : treasures from the Nasser D. Khalili collection (Revised and expanded ed.). Abu Dhabi: Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC). p. 295. OCLC 455121277.
  15. ^ Khalili, Nasser D. (2005). The timeline history of Islamic art and architecture. London: Worth. p. 117. ISBN 1-903025-17-6. OCLC 61177501.
  16. ^ "Masjid al-Qiblatain - Madain Project (en)". madainproject.com. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
  17. ^ a b Terasaki, Steffie. "Mihrab". courses.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  18. ^ a b "Mihrab". Mihrab. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  19. ^ "Mezquita de Córdoba | The Meaning of the Great Mosque of Cordoba in the Tenth Century". Archnet. p. 83. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  20. ^ a b Bloom, Jonathan M.; Sheila S., Blair (2009). Bloom, Jonathan M; Blair, Sheila S (eds.). "The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture". doi:10.1093/acref/9780195309911.001.0001. ISBN 9780195309911. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  21. ^ a b Grafman, Rafi; Rosen-Ayalon, Myriam (1999). "The Two Great Syrian Umayyad Mosques: Jerusalem and Damascus". Muqarnas. 16: 8. doi:10.2307/1523262. JSTOR 1523262.
  22. ^ a b c Flood, Finbarr Barry (2001). The Great Mosque of Damascus: Studies on the Makings of an Ummayyad Visual Culture. BRILL. ISBN 9789004116382.
  23. ^ Flood, Finbarr Barry (1997). "Umayyad Survivals and Mamluk Revivals: Qalawunid Architecture and the Great Mosque of Damascus". Muqarnas. 14. Boston: Brill: 57–79. doi:10.2307/1523236. JSTOR 1523236.
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