Minaret

For the mountain formation, see Minarets (California).

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Minarets (Turkish: minare,^[1] from Arabic manāra (lighthouse) منارة, usually مئذنة) are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques- generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure; the basic form includes a base, shaft, and gallery. Styles vary regionally and by period. They provide a visual focal point and are used for the call to prayer (adhan).

1 Functions
2 History
3 Construction
4 Local styles
- 4.1 Examples
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Functions

As well as providing a visual cue to a Muslim community, the main function of the minaret is to provide a vantage point from which the call to prayer is made. The call to prayer is issued five times each day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night. In most modern mosques, the adhan is called from the musallah, or prayer hall, via microphone to a speaker system on the minaret. Minarets also function as air conditioning mechanisms: as the sun heats the dome, air is drawn in through open windows then up and out of the minaret, thereby providing natural ventilation.

History

The minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan- the oldest standing minaret. Kairouan, Tunisia

The earliest mosques were built without minarets, the call to prayer was performed elsewhere; hadiths relay that the Muslim community of Madina gave the call to prayer from the roof of the house of Muhammad, which doubled as a place for prayer. Around 80 years after Muhammad's death the first known minarets appeared.^[2]

The massive minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia is the world's oldest standing minaret.^[3]^[4] Its construction began during the first third of the 8th century and was completed in 836 CE^[5]. The imposing square-plan tower consists of three sections of decreasing size reaching 31.5 meters ^[5]. Considered as the prototype for minarets of the western Islamic world, it served as a model for many later minarets.^[5]

Minarets have been described as the "gate from heaven and earth", and as the Arabic language letter alif (which is a straight vertical line).^[6]

The world's tallest minaret, at 210 metres (689ft.) is located at the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco The world's tallest brick minaret is Qutub Minar located in Delhi, India.

In some of the oldest mosques, such as the Great Mosque of Damascus, minarets originally served as illuminated watchtowers (hence the derivation of the word from the Arabic nur, meaning "light").

Construction

Mosque in Aswan, Egypt, with minarets.

Minarets basic form consist of three parts: a base, shaft, and a gallery. For the base, the ground is excavated until a hard foundation is reached. Gravel and other supporting materials may be used as a foundation; it is unusual for the minaret to be built directly upon ground-level soil. Minarets may be conical (tapering), square, cylindrical, or polygonal (faceted). Stairs circle the shaft in a counter-clockwise fashion, providing necessary structural support to the highly elongated shaft. The gallery is a balcony which encircles the upper sections from which the muezzin may 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, with the transition from the shaft to the gallery typically sporting muqarnas. Originally plain in style, a minaret's origin in time can be determined by its level of 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 century): 1, 2, 4 or 6 minarets related to the size of the mosque. Slim, circular minarets of equal cross-section are common.
Egypt (7th century) / Syria (until 13th century): Low square towers sitting at the four corners of the mosque.
Iraq: For a free-standing conical minaret surrounded by a spiral staircase, see Malwiya.
Egypt (15th century): Octagonal. Two balconies, the upper smaller than the lower, projecting mukarnas, surmounted by an elongated finial.
Persia (17th century): Generally two pairs of slim, blue tile clad towers flanking the mosque entrance, terminating in covered balconies.
Tatar (18th century): A sole minaret is used, placed at the centre of a gabled roof.
Morocco: Typically a single square minaret. A notable exception is the octagonal minaret located in Chefchaouen.
South Asia: Octagonal, generally three balconied, with the upper most roofed by an onion dome and topped by a small finial.

Examples

Minaret of the Mosque of Uqba also known as the Great Mosque of Kairouan, in Kairouan, Tunisia, 8th-9th century	The Charminar in Hyderabad, India	The minaret of the Al Muhdhar mosque in Tarim, Yemen	The six minareted Blue Mosque or Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.
Faisal Mosque Minaret, Islamabad, Pakistan	A typical Iraqi minaret, Baghdad	The minaret of the Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan	One of the minarets of the Badshahi Mosque also in Lahore, Pakistan
Old adobe minaret in Kharanagh, Iran	Simple wooden pole used as minaret in Nouadhibou, Mauritania	A minaret in Linxia, typical of small-town mosques in Gansu, China	The "bare tower" of Huaisheng Mosque, Guangzhou, China
Chinese-style minaret of Tongxin Mosque, Ningxia, China	Wooden minaret of the Dungan Mosque in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan	Sabah State Mosque minaret in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (Borneo).	Minaret in Wangen bei Olten, Switzerland.
Minaret in Eger, Hungary, the most northern left from Ottoman rule.	Baitul Futuh Mosque minaret in London, United Kingdom.	Minaret at mosque in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.	The White Minaret in Qadian, India.