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Khanqah Al-Farafira
Khanqah al-Farafira ( ar, خانقاه الفرافرة) is a 13th-century Sufi monastery located in "al-Farafira district at the heart of the Ancient City of Aleppo, Syria. The khanqah was built in 1237 by the efforts of Dayfa Khatun the regent ruler of Aleppo from 1237 to 1244 and the wife of Az-Zahir Ghazi. The building was a centre for sufis and dervishes. The original name of the building was ar-Ribat al-Nasiri ( ar, الرباط الناصري). Architecture The entrance of the building is topped with oriental motifs and decorated with traditional Islamic muqarnas. The entrance is followed with a corridor leading to the main courtyard. The square-shaped courtyard has a fountain in the centre used for wudu. To the east of the main courtyard, there is a narrow corridor leads to a small courtyard surrounded with an iwan and three rooms for the visitors of the khanqah. The western staircase of the main courtyard leads up to the roof where many rooms are designated to host the sufi ...
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Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ritualism, asceticism and esotericism. It has been variously defined as "Islamic mysticism",Martin Lings, ''What is Sufism?'' (Lahore: Suhail Academy, 2005; first imp. 1983, second imp. 1999), p.15 "the mystical expression of Islamic faith", "the inward dimension of Islam", "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam", the "main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization" of mystical practice in Islam, and "the interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice". Practitioners of Sufism are referred to as "Sufis" (from , ), and historically typically belonged to "orders" known as (pl. ) – congregations formed around a grand who would be the last in a chain of successive teachers linking back to Muham ...
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Muqarnas
Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of Islamic architecture, integral to the vernacular of Islamic buildings that originated in the Abbasid Empire. The muqarnas structure originated from the squinch. Sometimes called "honeycomb vaulting" or "stalactite vaulting", the purpose of muqarnas is to create a smooth, decorative zone of transition in an otherwise bare, structural space. This structure gives the ability to distinguish between the main parts of a building, and serve as a transition from the walls of a room into a domed ceiling. Muqarnas is significant in Islamic architecture because its elaborate form is a symbolic representation of universal creation by God. Muqarnas architecture is featured in domes, half-dome entrances, iwans and apses. The two main types of muqarnas a ...
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Museums In Syria
This is a list of museums in Syria. *National Museum of Damascus *National Museum of Aleppo *National Museum of Latakia * National Museum of Tartous * National Museum of the Arts and popular Traditions of Syria * Palmyra Museum *Deir ez-Zor Museum *Raqqa Museum *Homs Museum *Idleb Museum *Suweida Museum (Municipality Building) * Ma'arrat al-Nu'man Museum (Mossaic Museum) * Qalaat al-Madiq (Citadel) * Arwad Museum (Citadel) * Bosra Museum (Citadel) * Archeological Museum of Shahba * Apamea Museum * Ebla Museum * Amrit Museum *Khan As'ad Pasha *Azm Palace *Azm Palace (Hama) * Aleppo Citadel Museum *Beit Ghazaleh (Memory Museum, Aleppo) *Beit Achiqbash (Museum of Popular Traditions, Aleppo) *Beit Junblatt (Aleppo) *Al-Shibani Church *Khanqah al-Farafira *Maktab Anbar *Nur al-Din Bimaristan *Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Damascus) *Al-Khatt al-Arabi (Arabic Calligraphy, Damascus) *Museum of Epigraphy (Damascus) *Al-Bayt al-Shami (Historical museum of Damascus) * Damascus Museum of A ...
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Religious Buildings And Structures Completed In 1237
Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements; however, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacred things, faith,Tillich, P. (1957) ''Dynamics of faith''. Harper Perennial; (p. 1). a supernatural being or supernatural beings or "some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life". Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. Religions have ...
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Islamic Architecture
Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic area historically ranging from western Africa and Europe to eastern Asia. Certain commonalities are shared by Islamic architectural styles across all these regions, but over time different regions developed their own styles according to local materials and techniques, local dynasties and patrons, different regional centers of artistic production, and sometimes different religious affiliations. Early Islamic architecture was influenced by Roman, Byzantine, Iranian, and Mesopotamian architecture and all other lands which the Early Muslim conquests conquered in the seventh and eighth centuries.: "As the Arabs did not have an architectural tradition suited to the needs of a great empire, they adopted the building methods of the defeated Sassan ...
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French Mandate For Syria And The Lebanon
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning Syria and Lebanon. The mandate system was supposed to differ from colonialism, with the governing country intended to act as a trustee until the inhabitants were considered eligible for self-government. At that point, the mandate would terminate and an independent state would be born. During the two years that followed the end of the war in 1918—and in accordance with the Sykes–Picot Agreement signed by Britain and France during the war—the British held control of most of Ottoman Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and the southern part of Ottoman Syria ( Palestine and Transjordan), while the French controlled the rest of Ottoman Syria, Le ...
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Mihrab
Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') 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. Etymology The origin of the word ''miḥrāb'' is complicated and multiple explanations have been proposed by different sources and scholars. It may come from Old South Arabian (possibly Sabaic) ''mḥrb'' meaning a certain part of a palace, as well as "part of a temple where ''tḥrb'' (a certain type of visions) is obtained," from the root word ''ḥrb'' "to perform a certain religious ritual (which is compared to combat or fighting and described as an overnight retreat) in the ''mḥrb'' of the temple." It may also possibly be related to Ethiopic ''məkʷrab'' "temple, sanctua ...
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Iwan
An iwan ( fa, ایوان , ar, إيوان , also spelled ivan) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting from the facade of a building, usually decorated with calligraphy bands, glazed tilework, and geometric designs. Since the definition allows for some interpretation, the overall forms and characteristics can vary greatly in terms of scale, material, or decoration. Iwans are most commonly associated with Islamic architecture; however, the form is Iranian in origin and was invented much earlier and fully developed in Mesopotamia around the third century CE, during the Parthian period of Persia. Etymology ''Iwan'' is a Persian word which was subsequently borrowed into other languages such as Arabic and Turkish. Its etymology is unclear. A theory by scholars like Ernst Herzfeld and W. B. Henning proposed that the root of this term is Old ...
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Wudu
Wuḍūʾ ( ar, الوضوء ' ) is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The 4 Fardh (Mandatory) acts of ''Wudu'' consists of washing the face, arms, then wiping the head and the feet with water. Wudu is an important part of ritual purity in Islam. It is governed by ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence), which specifies rules concerning hygiene and defines the rituals that constitute it. It is typically performed before prayers ('' salah or salat''). Activities that invalidate ''wudu'' include urination, defecation, flatulence, deep sleep, light bleeding, menstruation, postpartum and sexual intercourse. ''Wudu'' is often translated as 'partial ablution', as opposed to '' ghusl'' as 'full ablution' where the whole body is washed. It also contrasts with ''tayammum'' ('dry ablution'), which uses sand or dust in place of water, principally due to water scarcity or other harmful effects on the person. Purification of the bod ...
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Motif (visual Arts)
In art and iconography, a motif () is an element of an image. The term can be used both of figurative and narrative art, and ornament and geometrical art. A motif may be repeated in a pattern or design, often many times, or may just occur once in a work. A motif may be an element in the iconography of a particular subject or type of subject that is seen in other works, or may form the main subject, as the Master of Animals motif in ancient art typically does. The related motif of confronted animals is often seen alone, but may also be repeated, for example in Byzantine silk and other ancient textiles. Where the main subject of an artistic work such as a painting is a specific person, group, or moment in a narrative, that should be referred to as the "subject" of the work, not a motif, though the same thing may be a "motif" when part of another subject, or part of a work of decorative art such as a painting on a vase. Ornamental or decorative art can usually be analysed i ...
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Ancient City Of Aleppo
The Ancient City of Aleppo ( ar, مدينة حلب القديمة, Madīnat Ḥalab al-Qadīma) is the historic city centre of Aleppo, Syria. Before the Syrian Civil War, many districts of the ancient city remained essentially unchanged since its construction during the 12th to the 16th century. Being subjected to constant invasions and political instability, the inhabitants of the city were forced to build cell-like quarters and districts that were socially and economically independent. Each district was characterized by the religious and ethnic characteristics of its inhabitants. The Old City of Aleppo – composed of the ancient city within the walls and the old cell-like quarters outside the walls – has an approximate area of , housing more than 120,000 residents. Characterized by its large mansions, narrow alleys, covered souqs and ancient caravanserais, the Ancient City of Aleppo became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. Many sections in the Al-Madina Souq and other ...
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Dervish
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ... (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persian and Turkish language, Turkish (''derviş'') as well as in Berber languages, Amazigh (''Aderwish''), corresponding to the Arabic term ''Fakir, faqīr''. Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego (''nafs'') to reach God in Islam, God. In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practice ''dhikr'' through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God. Their most popular practic ...
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