Dictionary of islamic architecture

See also:
East Africa, Cairo, India, Iran, Iraq,
Mosque, Syria, West Africa.
Further reading:
D.Berens-Abouseif, 
The Minarets of Cairo,
Cairo 1985.
J.Bloom, 
Minaret: Symbol of Islam,
Oxford 1989.

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191
K.A.C.Creswell, ‘The evolution of the minaret with
special reference to Egypt’, 
Burlington Magazine
48,
1926: 134–40, 252–8, 290–8.
R.Hillenbrand, 
Islamic Architecture: form, Function and
Meaning,
Edinburgh 1994.
B.O’Kane, ‘Seljuk minarets: some new data’, 
Annales
islamologiques
20, 1994: 85–101.
G.F.Pijper, ‘The Minaret in Java’, 
India Antiqua: A Volume
of Essays Presented to Jean Phillipe Vogel,
Leiden 1947.
minbar
Type of pulpit usually found in mosques from which
prayers, speeches and religious guidance are given. The
minbar is situated to the right of the mihrab and consists
of a raised platform reached by a set of steps, often there is
a door at the entrance to the steps and a dome or canopy
above the platform.
The minbar is one of the earliest architectural features
to be identified with Islam. The earliest historical
reference to a minbar states that in 629 the Prophet
made a minbar from which he used to preach to the
people. This minbar consisted of two steps and a
seat (mak
ad) and resembled a throne. After the death
of the Prophet the minbar was used by caliphs and
governors as a symbol of authority. This continued
under the last few years of Umayyad rule until in
750 CE the caliph Mu’Awiya ordered that all the
mosques of Egypt be provided with minbars. This
process was repeated in other Islamic lands so that
by the beginning of the Abbasid period the minbar’s
function as a pulpit was universally established.
Most minbars are made of wood and are highly
decorated whilst those made of stone or brick tend
to be much simpler and often comprise a bare
platform reached by three to five steps. The earliest
extant wooden minbar is that in the Great Mosque
in Qairawan which is said to have originated in
Baghdad. It is a fairly simple design without a gate
or canopy and consists of seventeen steps leading
up to a platform. This minbar is made of plane tree
and decorated with 200 carved panels and strips of
unequal size. Although it has been restored several
times most of the decoration seems to be Umayyad,
consisting of diverse motifs held together within a
rigid framework in a manner similar to that used at
Mshatta.
In the Fatimid period minbars are built with a
doorway at the entrance to the stairway and a domed
canopy above the platform. The best example of this
type is that in the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem built
for Nur al-Din in 1168. An example of this style in
stone is the minbar in the mosque of Sultan Hasan
(1356–63). Over the doorway to the minbar and also
in the mihrab of this mosque muqarnas carving is
used. Later on muqarnas remains an important
decorative element in minbar design and is used