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R'cif Mosque
The R'cif Mosque (; also transliterated as ''R'sif'', ''Ercif'', ''er-Rsif'', or ''Rasif'') is a Friday mosque in Fes el-Bali, the old city (medina) of Fez, Morocco. It has one of the tallest minarets in the city and overlooks Place R'cif in the heart of the medina. Location and name The mosque is located just west of Place R'cif, a large public square created in the 20th century to provide easier access to the interior of the medina (it is one of the only places inside the medina that can be reached by car). Its name means "Mosque of the Paved Road". It was built on a cliffside along the shore of the Bou Khrareb River (''Oued Bou Khrareb'') which passes through the center of the city, though the river is now hidden underground between Place R'Cif and the south edge of the city. The mosque is also near the central souqs (markets) of the city, stretching downhill from the Qarawiyyin area. History Construction The mosque was built in the 18th century during the reign of t ...
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Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Muslim community, being appointed at the meeting of Saqifa. This contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad appointed Ali ibn Abi Talib () as his successor. Nevertheless, Sunnis revere Ali, along with Abu Bakr, Umar () and Uthman () as ' rightly-guided caliphs'. The term means those who observe the , the practices of Muhammad. The Quran, together with hadith (especially the Six Books) and (scholarly consensus), form the basis of all traditional jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. Sharia legal rulings are derived from these basic sources, in conjunction with consideration of public welfare and juristic discretion, using the principles of jurisprudence developed by the four legal schools: Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki ...
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Square Metre
The square metre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square meter ( American spelling) is the unit of area in the International System of Units (SI) with symbol m2. It is the area of a square with sides one metre in length. Adding and subtracting SI prefixes creates multiples and submultiples; however, as the unit is exponentiated, the quantities grow exponentially by the corresponding power of 10. For example, 1 kilometre is 103 (one thousand) times the length of 1 metre, but 1 square kilometre is (103)2 (106, one million) times the area of 1 square metre, and 1 cubic kilometre is (103)3 (109, one billion) cubic metres. SI prefixes applied The square metre may be used with all SI prefixes used with the metre. Unicode characters Unicode has several characters used to represent metric area units, but these are for compatibility with East Asian character encodings and are meant to be used in new documents. * * ...
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Arabic Calligraphy
Arabic calligraphy is the artistic practice of penmanship, handwriting and calligraphy based on the Arabic alphabet. It is known in Arabic language, Arabic as ''khatt'' (), derived from the words 'line', 'design', or 'construction'. Kufic is the oldest form of the Arabic script. From an artistic point of view, Arabic calligraphy has been known and appreciated for its diversity and great potential for development. In fact, it has been linked in Arabic culture to various fields such as Islam, religion, Islamic art, art, Islamic architecture, architecture, education and craftsmanship, which in turn have played an important role in its advancement. Although most Islamic calligraphy is in Arabic and most Arabic calligraphy is Islamic, the two are not identical. Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Coptic or other Christianity in the Middle East, Christian manuscripts in Arabic, for example, have made use of calligraphy. Likewise, there is Islamic Persian calligraphy, calligraphy in ...
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Saadi Dynasty
The Saadi Sultanate (), also known as the Sharifian Sultanate (), was a state which ruled present-day Morocco and parts of Northwest Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was led by the Saadi dynasty, an Arab Sharifism, Sharifian dynasty. The dynasty's rise to power started in 1510, when Abu Abdallah al-Qaim, Muhammad al-Qa'im was declared leader of the tribes of the Sous valley in southern Morocco in their resistance against the Kingdom of Portugal, Portuguese who occupied Agadir and other coastal cities. Al-Qai'm's son, Ahmad al-Araj, secured control of Marrakesh by 1525 and, after a period of rivalry, his brother Mohammed ash-Sheikh, Muhammad al-Shaykh captured Agadir from the Portuguese and eventually captured Fez, Morocco, Fez from the Wattasid dynasty, Wattasids, securing control over nearly all of Morocco. After Muhammad al-Shaykh's assassination by the Ottoman Empire, Ottomans in 1557 his son Abdallah al-Ghalib enjoyed a relatively peaceful reign. His successors, ho ...
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Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (Layered intrusion, layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed limestone, but its use in stonemasonry more broadly encompasses unmetamorphosed limestone. The extraction of marble is performed by quarrying. Marble production is dominated by four countries: China, Italy, India and Spain, which account for almost half of world production of marble and decorative stone. Because of its high hardness and strong wear resistance, and because it will not be deformed by temperature, marble is often used in Marble sculpture, sculpture and construction. Etymology The word "marble" derives from the Ancient Greek (), from (), "crystalline rock, shin ...
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Engaged Column
An engaged column is an architectural element in which a column is embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, which may or may not carry a partial structural load. Sometimes defined as semi- or three-quarter detached, engaged columns are rarely found in classical Greek architecture, and then only in exceptional cases, but in Roman architecture they exist in abundance, most commonly embedded in the cella walls of pseudoperipteral Roman temples and other buildings. In the temples it is attached to the cella walls, repeating the columns of the peristyle, and in the theatres and amphitheatres, where they subdivided the arched openings: in all these cases engaged columns are utilized as a decorative feature, and as a rule the same proportions are maintained as if they had been isolated columns. In Romanesque work the classic proportions were no longer adhered to; the engaged column, attached to the piers, has always a special function to perform, e ...
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Mihrab
''Mihrab'' (, ', 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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Horseshoe Arch
The horseshoe arch (; ), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the arch's full span. Evidence for the earliest uses of this form are found in Late antique, Late Antique and Sasanian architecture, and it was then used in Spain by the Visigoths. But in the 19th century, perhaps when these earlier uses had not been realized, it became emblematic of Islamic architecture, especially Moorish architecture and Mozarabic art in Iberia. It also made later appearances in Moorish Revival architecture, Moorish Revival and Art Nouveau styles. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or Multifoil arch, lobed form. History Origins and early uses The origins of the horseshoe arch are complicated. It appeared in pre-Islamic Sasanian architecture such as the Taq Kasra, Taq-i Kasra in present-day Iraq and the Palace ...
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Wudu
''Wuduʾ'' ( ) is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The steps of wudu are washing the hands, rinsing the mouth and nose, washing the face, then the forearms, then wiping the head, the ears, then washing or wiping the feet, while doing them in order without any big breaks between them. Wudu is an important part of ritual purity in Islam that is governed by fiqh, which specifies hygienical jurisprudence and defines the rituals that constitute it. Ritual purity is called ''tahara''. Wudu is typically performed before Salah or reading the Quran. Activities that invalidate wudu include urination, defecation, flatulence, deep sleep, light bleeding (depending on madhhab), menstruation, postpartum status, and sexual intercourse. Wudu is often translated as "''partial ablution"'', as opposed to ghusl, which translates to "''full ablution",'' where the whole body is washed. An alternative to wudu is tayammum or "''dry ...
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Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or Pier (architecture), piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians; they include many loggias, but here arches are not an essential element. An arcade may feature arches on both sides of the walkway. Alternatively, a blind arcade superimposes arcading against a solid wall. Blind arcades are a feature of Romanesque architecture that influenced Gothic architecture. In the Gothic architectural tradition, the arcade can be located in the interior, in the lowest part of the wall of the nave, supporting the triforium and the clerestory in a cathedral, or on the exterior, in which they are usually part of the walkways that surround the courtyard and cloisters. A different, related meaning is "a covered passage with shops on one or both sides". Many medieval open arcades housed shops or stalls, either in the arcaded space itself, or set into the mai ...
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Zellige
Zellij (), also spelled zillij or zellige, is a style of mosaic tilework made from individually hand-chiseled tile pieces. The pieces were typically of different colours and fitted together to form various patterns on the basis of tessellations, most notably elaborate Islamic geometric motifs such as radiating star patterns composed of various polygons. This form of Islamic art is one of the main characteristics of Moorish architecture, architecture in the western Islamic world. It is found in the architecture of Morocco, the architecture of Algeria, early Islamic Architecture of Tunisia, sites in Tunisia, and in the historic monuments of al-Andalus (in the Iberian Peninsula). From the 14th century onwards, ''zellij'' became a standard decorative element along lower walls, in fountains and pools, on minarets, and for the paving of floors. After the 15th century the traditional mosaic ''zellij'' fell out of fashion in most countries except for Morocco, where it continues to be prod ...
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Arabesque
The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ornament, used in the Islamic world, typically using leaves, derived from stylised half-palmettes, which were combined with spiralling stems". It usually consists of a single design which can be ' tiled' or seamlessly repeated as many times as desired. Within the very wide range of Eurasian decorative art that includes motifs matching this basic definition, the term "arabesque" is used consistently as a technical term by art historians to describe only elements of the decoration found in two phases: Islamic art from about the 9th century onwards, and European decorative art from the Renaissance onwards. Interlace and scroll decoration are terms used for most other types of similar patterns. Arabesques are a fundamental element of Isla ...
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