Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Mihrab (Arabic: محراب, miḥrāb, pl. محاريب maḥārīb) 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".
[1] [4] The mihrab, a niche symbolizing the qibla (direction of prayer), is set in the middle of the qibla wall (the southern wall) of the prayer hall and is a central focus of its layout. The prayer hall has a "T"-plan, in that the central nave aligned with the mihrab and another transverse (i.e. perpendicular) aisle running along the qibla ...
The prayer hall itself is located on the south side of the courtyard, and is a hypostyle space with rows of arches running perpendicular into the southern wall of the mosque (the wall furthest from the courtyard) and forming three aisles that run parallel to the wall. The southern wall represents the qibla (the direction of prayer), and the ...
The minbar does still feature finely-crafted bronze doors with geometric patterns. A dado of marble also runs along the other two walls of the iwan, although at a much shorter height. A stone platform, known as a dikkat, stands in the middle of the space and was where reciters of the Qur'an would recite aloud for communal prayers.
[4]: 29 The mihrab is among the oldest examples of its kind, richly decorated with marble panels carved in high-relief vegetal motifs and with ceramic tiles with overglaze and luster. [4]: 30 [3] Next to the mihrab is the oldest surviving minbar (pulpit) in the world, made of richly-carved teakwood panels.
Behind the qibla wall, on the south side of the mosque, are several chambers and smaller annexes, including the imam's chamber, the minbar's storage chamber, a library, and a mida'a or ablutions chamber (Arabic: ميضأة). [3]
Originally, the eastern wall was a continuous expanse of brick, serving as the qibla wall of the mosque. Along this wall, a mihrab would have been present for worship. The former mihrab consisted of a niche set within a square section, slightly larger than the other nine bays of the mosque. [6]
To the right of the mihrab in the central tower is a second niche, the pulpit or minbar, from which the imam preaches his Friday sermon. [18] The towers in the qibla wall do not contain stairs linking the prayer hall with the roof. Instead there are two square towers housing stairs leading to the roof.