History and Development

The original mosque is the one in Mecca. It is built

around the area that surrounded the Ka'ba in pre-Islamic

times. This mosque, and the Ka'ba, are the holiest

shrines of Islam.
The basic model for early mosques, however, was the

courtyard of Muhammad's house in Madina, which was

constructed in 622 CE. This was organized with a qibla,

which at first faced in the direction of Jerusalem. To

the left of this qibla, houses for Muhammad's wives,

were erected. There were three entrances to the

courtyard. An area of the courtyard was roofed, and here

prayer was offered. After 1.5 years the direction of the

qibla was changed, in order to face Mecca.
This Madina mosque had social, political, and judicial

functions, in addition to housing Muhammad's family. The

religious functions were mixed with other functions.

Rules on how prayers should be offered seem not to have

been defined during this first period, much because this

was the period during which the Koran was revealed to

Muhammad: the rules had not yet been given.
In addition to the early mosques of Mecca and Madina,

there are sources indicating other contemporary mosques

in other towns.
Mosques soon evolved more complex and uniform shapes. A

minbar, the pulpit, from where the Friday prayer is

held, was placed next to the mihrab. Within a few years

after the death of Muhammad, mosques became such

important symbols, that when Muslim conquerors

established themselves somewhere, a mosque erected

first, and then the military camp was built around it.

This building process was inspired by the Madina

example. But in the cases where the Muslims conquered

principal cities, they constructed the mosque in the

place that was the centre of the religion of the

conquered people.
As Islam began, tribes and sects often marked their

independence or their purity by erecting mosques of

their own or by defining a certain part of the mosque as

their part. This approach has changed down through

history, but the situation today is not as tolerant as

it might appear. Muslims of all creeds are in theory

free to enter all mosques, but a Muslim of one

orientation will in reality find mosques used by Muslims

of other orientations inappropriate. A travelling Muslim

will try to find a mosque which is used by people

belonging to his own creed, usually defined by one's

Sunni, Shi'i and Ibadi adherence. Mosques under control

of the government or dominated by Islamists are

considered inappropriate by many. But as for the

jama'as, the largest mosques, these are considered

neutral, and are used by Muslims of all creeds.