Institute for Islamic Culture Paris

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Paris, France
2009   Mikou Design Studio

The Institute for Islamic Culture is more than a building. It is a prototype, a new and totally original space which aims to articulate cultural functions and worship, to combine research, diffusion of knowledge, the contemporary arts and spirituality.
The IIC reveals itself as a cascading movement of volumes as the building is detached level by level to express the richness and variety of activities. The poetics of movement are also expressed in the structural system of the project, based on the figure of the arch, symbolic and iconic in Islamic culture. The classic system of pillars and beams is replaced in the project by a principle of structural arabesques, arches following gentle curves that intersect non-orthogonally. The colour white expresses the purity of the abstraction. The use of white in the project is an invitation for the expression of colour in all Islamic cultures. It symbolically reunites all colours and reflects light, showing by contrast the glazed openings. It is also found in the metallic arches extruded from the façade that ensure the privacy of the spaces and provide solar shading.

 

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The Prophet (pbuh) and the Introduction of the Mosque in Madinah

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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spahic Omer
Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design
International Islamic University Malaysia
Email: spahico@yahoo.com

The first urban element introduced by the Prophet (pbuh) to the city of Madinah was the mosque institution which functioned as a community development center. While in Makkah, the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers were denied the existence and free utilization of their mosques, although they were in dire need of them. As a result, they were denied a free and proper practice of their new Islamic faith. They were thus denied some of their basic human rights. They were denied the freedom of thought, expression and practice of their beliefs. However, in order to offset partially this deficiency in Makkah, the first Muslims were utilizing some Muslim houses, or some quiet, secret and safe spots mainly on the outskirts of Makkah, to serve the purpose on an interim basis. They even got accustomed to going and visiting the Ka’bah or the al-Masjid al-Haram, albeit without openly and freely performing their religious rituals there. The al-Masjid al-Haram was then controlled by polytheists and polytheistic ideas and customs, both from inside the city of Makkah and from abroad. This way, only as much as symbolically could the al-Masjid al-Haram function as the mosque, as well as the nucleus, in the lives of the early believing Muslim community. Such a state of affairs continued for about 13 years following which Allah brought about a change and granted the Muslims and their Prophet (pbuh) that which they had been yearning for. They managed to migrate to Madinah where all the necessary conditions for establishing a well-structured, thriving, free and autonomous state existed.

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A Code of Conduct for Establishing and Using Mosques

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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spahic Omer
Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design
International Islamic University Malaysia
Email: spahico@yahoo.com

 

Since from the very beginning the mosque institution was the nucleus of the Muslim life and activities, a code of ethics for establishing and using it had to be created under the guardianship of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and divine revelation, lest some people might start misusing it, intentionally or otherwise, or might start developing a code of moral principles on their own which, as a rule, would have been dictated by the norms and rituals of the jahiliyyah (ignorance) era. However, as the religion of Islam was revealed to the Prophet (pbuh) gradually and in stages, through instructions, responses and answers to various dilemmas and developments confronting the nascent Muslim community, so that the heart of the Prophet (pbuh) and the hearts of his followers could be calmed, strengthened and galvanized, likewise the introducing and fully activating of the phenomenon of the mosque, the ground for the implementation of many a regulation and teaching of Islam, could not be an exception to the rule of gradual revelation and application of Islam. Such was a gradual process too, certainly no less painstakingly undertaken than the other aspects of Islam and its civilizational mission. While subjecting the evolution of the mosque to the golden principles of gradation and educational transformation, the Prophet (pbuh) proved to be very sensitive and responsive to the needs and capacities of the young but fast expanding Muslim community. In so doing, he was not hasty, impatient or autocratic. Rather, he was prudent, compassionate, resourceful and farsighted. He was the greatest teacher, pedagogue, reformer and psychologist. Definitely, the code of conduct for establishing and using mosques which was constructed by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) under the aegis of revelation is universal and timeless, applying to every time and space, as it is the case with the whole corpus of Islamic beliefs, values and principles.

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THE ROLE OF URF ON THE ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER OF THE URBAN HAUSA TRADITIONAL HOUSE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

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Dr. Babangida Hamza

Department of Architectural Technology, Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic, Dutsin-ma road Katsina

Telephone: 08136846970, email;babanhamza@yahoo.com

 

Abstract

Among the factors that shape the character of traditional built environments are aggregate individual and collective building practices of people. These building practices have been accepted and recognized by the society as tradition in time series. The aim of this paper is to bring to the fore such traditional building practices of the Hausa society, and to specifically explain their influences on the form and architectural character of the traditional house using the traditional city of Katsina as a case study. The study was facilitated through qualitative data collection approach involving extensive literature search and physical documentation of house floor plans and still pictures. A personal interview with key informants such as local builders, householders and community leaders was carried out to identify latent information on traditional building practices and their underlying motivations. Results of the study indicated heavy influences of adapted traditional building practices inherited from the pre-Islamic times and which were due to socio-cultural needs, practicality and the nature of trade of the Hausa society. The findings of the study support earlier views that the Hausa traditional houses accommodate social habits as well as economic production.

 

Keywords:  Architectural Character, Hausa, Traditional building practices, Traditional house, Urf

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INTEGRATING ISLAMIC BUILT ENVIRONMENT CRITERIA IN TOILET DESIGN OF PUBLIC PROTOTYPE HOUSING: A CASE FOR GORIBA ROAD HOUSING ESTATE, KATSINA-NIGERIA

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INTEGRATING ISLAMIC BUILT ENVIRONMENT CRITERIA IN TOILET DESIGN OF PUBLIC PROTOTYPE HOUSING: A CASE FOR GORIBA ROAD HOUSING ESTATE, KATSINA-NIGERIA

Hamza Babangida, Ismawi Hj. Zen, Zaiton Abdulrahim

Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design

International Islamic University, Jalan Gombak, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Corresponding author: babanhamza@yahoo.com, ismawi@iiu.edu.my, zaiton@iiu.edu.my

Abstract

In Islam, provision and design of toilet facility in a residential house should be considered important, since it is where the inhabitants obtain physical cleanliness. The Shari’a sources had provided basis for its design to conform to Islamic criteria thereby facilitating various Ibadah activities for the inhabitants and users. It is the intention of this paper to examine the prototype designs of chosen katsina public housing estate to investigate the level of conformity to Islamic criteria in their toilet design, on one hand and to suggest possible alternatives and choices of architectural design approaches on the other. This study was possible through literature search on the relevant Shari’a sources and floor plan analysis of the housing estate. The outcome of the study indicates little consideration of Islamic criteria in toilet design of this housing estate. This therefore calls for concerted efforts on the part of Muslim architects, planners and other professionals in the built environment to strive to provide designs that respond to spiritual needs of Muslim inhabitants.

Key words: Islamic Built Environment Criteria, Shari’a, Ibadah, Public Prototype Housing,

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Dr. Abdurrahman Mohamed

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Dr Abdurrahman Portrait
ABDURRAHMAN MOHAMED
Assistant Professor- Urban Design and Planning Systems
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Bahrain
Kingdom Of Bahrain
P O Box, 32038
Tel: (+973) 17876222
Fax: (+973) 17876222
Mobile: (+973) 36332578
Email: amohamed@uob.edu.bh, amohamet@gmail.com

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The Mosque Institution before Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spahic Omer

Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design
International Islamic University Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Email: spahico@yahoo.com

 

 

The universality of the Islamic message

 

Islam is the truth which Allah has made man’s permanent companion on the earth as soon as he was sent to it, on account of that truth being meant for him. Numerous prophets from different epochs and in different geographical settings were chosen to perform the task of conveying and explaining the truth of Islam to people. The long process commenced with Adam, the first man and prophet on earth, and came to an end with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the seal of prophets, after the humankind had reached a point where a final, universal, eternal, and all-inclusive divine message was possible. The essence of all the prophet’s teachings was one and the same, as it must always be the case with the truth; only the falsehood and lies live through discrepancies and inconsistencies. Never was there a greater occasion gracing the earth and all of its inhabitants than sending a new prophet and with him a new heavenly message to people, after the light of a previous one had already been either obscured or completely extinguished. This everlasting unity of prophethoods and Islam’s faith, Allah emphasizes time and again in the Qur’an, affirming, for example, that “We did not send before you any messenger but We revealed to him that there is no god but Me, therefore serve Me.” (Al-Anbiya’,  25)

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Islam and the Significance of the Mosque

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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spahic Omer

Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design
International Islamic University Malaysia
Email: spahico@yahoo.com

 

Life as worship (‘ibadah) in Islam

 

Islam teaches that man has been created as Allah’s vicegerent on earth. With his honorable vicegerency (khilafah) mission, man signifies both the climax and the epicenter of Allah’s act of creation and its divine purpose. As such, when completely submitting to the Will and Word of his Creator and Master – as man’s ultimate fate ought to be — man elevates himself to the highest level in the hierarchy of life’s multifaceted constituents and beings, including angels. Man’s life, then, in its totality becomes one sweet song of worshipping, glorifying and praising Allah, the Lord of the universe. It becomes a form of worship (‘ibadah) where Allah in all the life interests and pursuits of man becomes the ultimate object of all his spiritual cravings and desires. “He is the final end, that is, the end at which all finalistic nexuses aim and come to rest…He is an end for all other ends”, Isma’il Raji al-Faruqi inferred.[1]

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Education and Islamic Housing

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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spahic Omer

Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design

International Islamic University Malaysia

E-mail: spahico@yahoo.com

 

An alliance of knowledge and power

 

It is an undeniable truth that a proper education is a key to reviving the phenomena of Islamic housing as an essential part of the revival of the total of Islamic culture and civilization. A comprehensive educational vision and plan, coupled with concrete policies and laws and their avid and wise enforcement, account for the most powerful force that can lead to making the idea of contemporary Islamic housing a reality. A clever synthesis of knowledge and authority is the best way for taking the idea of Islamic housing from the world of abstract ideas to the real world of corporeal challenges and realities.

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