Everything about Minaret totally explained
» For the mountain formation, see Minarets (California).
Minarets (
Arabic manara (lighthouse) منارة, but more usually مئذنة) are distinctive architectural features of
Islamic
mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with
onion-shaped crowns, usually either free standing or much taller than any surrounding support structure.
Functions of Minaret
As well as providing a visual cue to a Muslim community, the call to prayer is traditionally given from the top of the minaret. In some of the oldest mosques, such as the
Great Mosque of Damascus, minarets originally served as watchtowers illuminated by torches (hence the derivation of the word from the Arabic
nur, meaning "light"). In more recent times, the main function of the minaret was to provide a vantage point from which the
muezzin can call out the
adhan, calling the faithful to prayer. In most modern
Mosques, the
adhan is called not in the minaret, but in the
musallah, or
prayer hall, via a
microphone and
speaker system.
In a practical sense, these are also used for natural air conditioning. As the sun heats the dome, air is drawn in through open windows and up and out of the shaft, thereby causing a natural ventilation.
Minarets have been described as the "gate from heaven and earth", and as the
Arabic language letter
alif (which is a straight vertical line).
The world's tallest minaret (at 210
meters) is located at the
Hassan II Mosque in
Casablanca,
Morocco. The world's tallest brick minaret is
Qutub Minar located in
Delhi,
India. There are two 230 meter tall minarets under construction in
Tehran,
Iran.
Construction
Minarets basically consist of three parts: a base, shaft, and a gallery. For the base, usually the ground underneath the towering minarets is excavated until a hard foundation is reached.
Gravel and other supporting materials may be used as a foundation, and it's rare that one is built directly upon ground-level soil. Single minarets within an elongated body are either conical (tapering at the top), cylindrical (a circular shaft) or polygonal (with edges, as opposed to cylindrical). Stairs circle the shaft in a counter-clockwise fashion, providing the necessary structural support for highly elongated shafts. The gallery is a balcony which encircles the upper section where the muezzin will give the call to prayer. It is covered by a roof-like canopy and adorned with ornamentation, such as decorative brick and tile work,
cornices, arches and inscriptions. Originally plain in style, a minaret's origin in time can be determined by the level of the gallery's ostentation.
Local Styles
Styles and
architecture can vary widely according to region and time period. Here are a few styles and the localities from which they derive:
Turkish (11th cen) : 1,2,4 or 6 minarets related to the size of the mosque. Slim, circular stickwise minarets. Equal cross-section.
Egypt (7th cen) / Syria (until 13th century) : Low square towers sitting at the four corners of the mosque.
Iraq : Free-standing conical minaret surrounded by a spiral staircase.
Egypt (15th century) : Octagonal. Two balconies, the upper smaller than the lower, over projecting friezes of stalactite vaulting, surmounted by an elongated finial.
Persia (17th century) : Generally two pairs of slim towers flanking the mosque entrance, terminating in covered balconies and encased in blue tile.
Tatar (18th century): A sole minaret is used, placed at the center of a gable roof. (See Marjani Mosque for the image and ).
Morocco: Generally a single minaret, which is normally square. The only octagonal minaret known is located in Chefchaouen.
Examples
Image:Charminar Hyderabad.jpg|The Charminar in Hyderabad, India
Image:Minaret Al Muhdhar Mosque Tarim Yemen.jpg|The minaret of the Al Muhdhar
Mosque at Tarim, Yemen, is measured 53 metres (175 ft) high
Image:Blue Mosque, Istanbul 2007.JPG|The six minareted Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.
Image:Jamia Mosque Sialkot.jpg|Jamia Mosque Minaret, Sialkot, Pakistan
Opposition to minarets
See also:
Minaret controversy in Switzerland
As a symbolic marker of Muslim presence, minarets have occasionally elicited political and religious opposition in traditionally non-Muslim countries. Notably, in 2007
Swiss right-wing politicians, including leaders of the co-governing
Swiss People's Party, announced the launch of a
people's initiative that would amend the
constitution to prohibit the building of minarets (but not of mosques themselves). Switzerland has currently only two minarets, in
Zürich and
Geneva, but the construction of several others is being planned.
Further Information
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