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Sidi El Haloui Mosque
The Sidi El Haloui Mosque (or Sidi el-Halwi Mosque) is a historic mosque and religious complex in Tlemcen, Algeria. History The mosque is dedicated to Abou Abdallah Echoudsy, known as Sidi el Haloui, a ''qadi'' from Seville who came to Tlemcen in the late 13th century. He was later accused of sorcery, probably as part of a defamatory plot, and executed either in 1305 or 1337. Following the rehabilitation of his reputation, the Marinid sultan Abu Inan erected this religious complex next to his mausoleum in 1353 or 1354 (754 AH). Architecture The historical complex consists of a mosque, the tomb of Sidi el Haloui built next to it, and an ablutions facility across the road. The complex also formerly included a madrasa and a zawiya, but this has not survived. The mausoleum is a modest structure. The ablutions hall, still standing today, is covered by a central dome and contained latrines. The mosque's design is highly similar to the Sidi Boumediene Mosque, built by Abu Ina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagreement over the succession to Muhammad and subsequently acquired broader political significance, as well as theological and juridical dimensions. According to Sunni traditions, Muhammad left no successor and the participants of the Saqifah event appointed Abu Bakr as the next-in-line (the first caliph). This contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad appointed his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor. The adherents of Sunni Islam are referred to in Arabic as ("the people of the Sunnah and the community") or for short. In English, its doctrines and practices are sometimes called ''Sunnism'', while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites and Ahlus Sunnah. Sunni Islam is sometimes referred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abu Al-Hasan Ali Ibn Othman
Abu Al-Hasan 'Ali ibn 'Othman (c. 1297 – 24 May 1351), () was a sultan of the Marinid dynasty who reigned in Morocco between 1331 and 1348. In 1333 he captured Gibraltar from the Castilians, although a later attempt to take Tarifa in 1339 ended in fiasco. In North Africa he extended his rule over Tlemcen and Hafsid Ifriqiya, which together covered the north of what is now Algeria and Tunisia. Under him the Marinid realms in the Maghreb briefly covered an area that rivaled that of the preceding Almohad Caliphate. However, he was forced to retreat due to a revolt of the Arab tribes, was shipwrecked, and lost many of his supporters. His son Abu Inan Faris seized power in Fez. Abu Al-Hasan died in exile in the High Atlas mountains. Early years Abu al-Hassan was the son of Marinid ruler Abu Sa'id Uthman II and an Abyssinian mother. He had a dark complexion, and was known as the 'Black Sultan' of Morocco. He succeeded his father Abu Sa'id Uthman II in 1331. Abu al-Hassan married Fat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
14th-century Mosques
As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was a century lasting from 1 January 1301 ( MCCCI), to 31 December 1400 ( MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Europe and the Mongol Empire. West Africa experienced economic growth and prosperity. In Europe, the Black Death claimed 25 million lives wiping out one third of the European population while the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France fought in the protracted Hundred Years' War after the death of Charles IV, King of France led to a claim to the French throne by Edward III, King of England. This period is considered the height of chivalry and marks the beginning of strong separate identities for both England and France as well as the foundation of the Italian Renaissance and Ottoman Empire. In Asia, Tamerlane (Timur), established the Timurid Empire, history's third largest empire to have been ever establ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sebka
''Sebka'' () refers to a type of decorative motif used in western Islamic ("Moorish") architecture and Mudéjar architecture. History and description Various types of interlacing rhombus-like motifs are heavily featured on the surfaces of minarets and other architectural elements in Morocco and al-Andalus during the Almohad period (12th–13th centuries). They continued to spread to other decorative mediums such as carved stucco over the walls of various buildings in Marinid and Nasrid architecture, eventually becoming a standard feature in the western Islamic ornamental repertoire, often in combination with arabesque elements. George Marçais, an important 20th-century scholar on the architecture of the region, argues that this motif originated with the complex interlacing arches in the 10th-century extension of the Great Mosque of Cordoba by Caliph al-Hakam II. It was then miniaturized and widened into a repeating net-like pattern that can cover surfaces. This motif, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer ('' adhan''), but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can have a variety of forms, from thick, squat towers to soaring, pencil-thin spires. Etymology Two Arabic words are used to denote the minaret tower: ''manāra'' and ''manār''. The English word "minaret" originates from the former, via the Turkish version (). The Arabic word ''manāra'' (plural: ''manārāt'') originally meant a "lamp stand", a cognate of Hebrew '' menorah''. It is assumed to be a derivation of an older reconstructed form, ''manwara''. The other word, ''manār'' (plural: ''manā'ir'' or ''manāyir''), means "a place of light". Both words derive from the Arabic root ''n-w-r'', which has a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mansoura, Tlemcen
Mansourah ( ar, المنصورة - „victorious“) is a town and commune in Tlemcen Province in Northwestern Algeria. The town is the seat of Mansourah District. Population According to the 2008 census the town has population of 49,007 inhabitants and totally its commune has 49,150 inhabitants. The town is effectively a suburb of the provincial capital Tlemcen. Mansourah and Tlemcen form together an intercommunal urban agglomeration with 173,531 inhabitants. History The settlement was founded by the Marinids in 1303 AD as a fortified base for their siege of Tlemcen. The site quickly grew into a large city with tens of thousands of inhabitants. Landmarks The main landmark of Mansourah is the Tlemcen National Park with the ruins of the fortified city and the Mansourah Mosque Mansourah Mosque ( ar, مسجد المنصورة) is a ruined historic mosque in the city of Mansourah, Algeria, dates back to the Marinid dynasty. It consists of a part of the Mansourah Castle. The e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horseshoe Arch
The horseshoe arch (; Spanish: "arco de herradura"), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is an emblematic arch of Islamic architecture, especially Moorish architecture. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form. History Origins and early uses The origins of the horseshoe arch are controversial. It appeared in pre-Islamic Sasanian architecture such as the Taq-i Kasra in present-day Iraq and the Palace of Ardashir in southwestern Iran (3rd century CE). It also appeared in Late Roman or Byzantine architecture in pre-Islamic Syria, where the form was used in the Baptistery of Saint Jacob at Nusaybin (4th century CE) and in Qasr Ibn Wardan (564 CE). However, the horseshoe arch allowed more height than the classical (semi-circular) arch as well as better aesthetic and decorative use. Muslims used this arch to develop their famous ultra-semicircular arch, around which the whole of Islamic architecture evolved, thus more likely suggesting that the hor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riwaq (arcade)
A riwaq (or ''rivaq'', ar, رواق or ) is an arcade or portico (if in front of entrances) open on at least one side. It is an architectural design element in Islamic architecture and Islamic garden design. A riwaq often serves as the transition space between interior and outdoor spaces. As portico or arcade structure, it provides shade and adjustment to sunlight in hot climates, and cover from rain in any locale. Arcade As an arcade element the structure is often found surrounding and defining the courtyards of mosques and madrasas, and used for covered circulation, meeting and rest, and ritual circumambulation. The arcade element is also found along principal walkways of larger bazaars. Examples Riwaq arcade examples include: *Surrounding the Kaaba in the Masjid al-Haram mosque courtyard in Mecca, and the Mosque of Uqba courtyard in Tunisia. *Along the main avenues of the Bazaar of Kashan, in present-day Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians. The walkway may be lined with retail stores. 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. Many medieval arcades housed shops or stalls, either in the arcaded space itself, or set into the main wall behind. From this, "arcade" has become a general word for a group of shops in a single building, regardless of the architectural f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahn
A ''sahn'' ( ar, صَحْن, '), is a courtyard in Islamic architecture, especially the formal courtyard of a mosque. Most traditional mosques have a large central ''sahn'', which is surrounded by a ''Riwaq (arcade), riwaq'' or arcade (architecture), arcade on all sides. In traditional Islamic design, residences and neighborhoods can have private ''sahn'' courtyards. The ''sahn'' is a common element in religious buildings and residences throughout the Muslim world, used in urban and rural settings. The cloister is its equivalent in European medieval architecture and its religious buildings. Etymology The word Sahn (صَحْن) means a courtyard in Arabic. History Originally, the ''sahn'' was used for dwellings, as a secure and private setting within a residence compound's walls. Ruins of houses in Sumerian Ur with have been found, from the Third Dynasty of Ur (2100–2000 BCE). Most mosque courtyards (sahn) contained a public fountain where Muslims performed Wudu a ritual pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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