In Introduction of Syiir Tanpo Waton (Unnamed Religious Song) og Gus Dur

Syiir Tanpo Waton (Unnamed Religious Song) is one of the best works of Islam in literature. It comes from Indonesia. This song is famous among Muslims in Indonesia. First, this song is related with the former president of Republic of Indonesia, KH Abdurrahman Wahid or Gus Dur. Later, they know that Gus Dur was not the singer of this song. It was written and sung by KH. Moh. Nizam As-Sofa or Gus Nizam, who is the owner of Islamic Boarding School Ahlus Shofa wal Wafa, Wonoayu Sidoarjo, east Java Indonesia. Actually, This song is familiar after the death of Gus Dur. Before praying, this song is often listened in many mosques. This song contains Islamic teaching who delivered by a sufi. So many moral lessons to be a good human who makes better Islamic life through vertical relation (with Allah) and horizon relation (with human and other creatures).

Sibak Al-khayl (horse Racing) in Islam

Horse is an important and valuable member of the mammalia. Among the earliest evidence of the importance of the horse to human culture are the unearthed wall paintings in the caves of Lascaux, in southern France, dating around 30,000 B.C. The horse first became useful in welfare sometimes before 1500 B.C. when Mesopotamian people began to use horses to pull their chariots. There is however a question rose by Canon Taylor in his Origin of the Aryans (p.161), whether the horse was at first used for drawing chariots or for riding. He, and William Ridgeway (Academy of 3rd January, 1891) says that, “At first the horse was very small and incapable of carrying man and that it was after generations of domestication under careful feeding and breeding that the horse became of sufficient size to carry man on his back with ease.” According to Max Muller, it appears from the Vedas that, in India, it was used both for chariot-driving and riding.

Badshahi Mosque

The Badshahi Mosque, or the ‘Emperor's Mosque', was built in 1673 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan. It is one of the city's best known landmarks, and a major tourist attraction epitomising the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era.

Capable of accommodating over 55,000 worshippers, it is the second largest mosque in Pakistan, after the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. The architecture and design of the Badshahi Masjid is closely related to the Jama Masjid in Delhi, India, which was built in 1648 by Aurangzeb's father and predecessor, emperor Shah Jahan.

Badshahi Masjid is one of the famous locations where Qari Basit recited quran.

The mosque was built under the patronage of the sixth Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb Alamgir. It was completed in 1673 under the supervision of Aurangzeb's foster brother Muzaffar Hussain (also known as Fidaie Khan Koka) who was appointed governor of Lahore in May 1671 and held this post until 1675.

He was also Master of Ordnance to the emperor. The construction of the mosque took about two years from May 1671 to April 1673. The mosque was built opposite the Lahore Fort, illustrating its stature in the Mughal Empire. In conjunction with the building of the mosque, a new gate was built at the fort, named Alamgiri Gate after the Emperor.

From 1852 onwards, piecemeal repairs were carried out under the supervision of the Badshahi Mosque Authority. Extensive repairs were carried out from 1939 to 1960 at a cost of about 4.8 million rupees, which brought the mosque to its original shape and condition. The blueprint for the repairs was prepared by the late architect Nawab Zen Yar Jang Bahadur.

In 2000, the repair work of marble inlay in the main vault was repaired under the supervision of Saleem Anjum Qureshi.

On the occasion of the second Islamic Summit held at Lahore on February 22, 1974, thirty-nine heads of Muslim states offered their Friday prayers in the Badshahi Masjid, led by Maulana Abdul Qadir Azad, the ‘Khatib' of the mosque.

Recently a small museum has also been added to the mosque complex. It contains relics of Muhammad (PBUH), his cousin, and his daughter, Hazrat Fatima Zahra.

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About the Author

Visit his website: Heritage Pakistan to find interesting articles, Pakistan Creative Art , Pakistan news, Pakistan Destinations, Pakisatni Cuisines.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Badshahi Mosque

these pictures are taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badshahi_Mosque

Faisal Mosque

The Faisal Mosque in Islamabad is the largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the sixth largest mosque in the world.

Faisal Mosque is conceived as the National Mosque of Pakistan. It has a covered area of 5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft)and has a capacity to accommodate approximately 300,000 worshipers (100,000 in its main prayer hall, courtyard and porticoes and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds)

The Faisal Mosque is named after the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who supported and financed the project.

History

The impetus for the mosque began in 1966 when the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia supported the initiative of the Pakistani Government to build a national mosque in Islamabad during an official visit to Pakistan. In 1969, an international competition was held in which architects from 17 countries submitted 43 proposals. After four days of deliberation, Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay's design was chosen. Construction of the mosque began in 1976 by National Construction of Pakistan, led by Azim Borujerdi, and was funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, at a cost of over 130 million Saudi riyals (approximately 120 million USD today).

King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz was instrumental in the funding, and both the mosque and the road leading to it were named after him after his assassination in 1975. The mosque was completed in 1986, and used to house the International Islamic University. Many conservative Muslims criticised the design at first for its non-conventional design and lack of the traditional dome structure, but virtually all criticism was eventually silenced by the mosque's scale, form, and setting against the Margalla Hills upon completion.
Location
The mosque is located in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. It is situated at the north end of Faisal Avenue, putting it at the northernmost end of the city and at the foot of Margalla Hills, the westernmost foothills of the Himalayas.

Design

The Faisal Mosque is the work of famous Turkish architect, Vedat Dalokay who won the Agha Khan Architectural Award with this project. The mosque's relatively unusual design fuses contemporary lines with the more traditional look of an Arab Bedouin's tent, with its large triangular prayer hall and four minarets. However, unlike traditional masjid design, it lacks a dome.

The minarets borrow their design from Turkish tradition and are thin and pencil like. The interior of this prayer hall holds a very large chandelier and its walls are decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain. The mosaic pattern adorns the west wall, and has the kalimah writtern in early Kufic script, repeated in mirror image pattern.

The mosque's architecture is a departure from the long history of South Asian Islamic architecture. It is one of the most outstanding and modern Islamic architecture examples in the world.

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About the Author

Visit his website: Heritage Pakistan to find interesting articles, Pakistan Creative Art , Pakistan news, Pakistan Destinations, Pakisatni Cuisines.

(ArticlesBase SC #2011878)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Faisal Mosque

The Great Mosque of Djenne

Djenne is a historically and commercially important small city in the Niger Inland Delta of central Mali. It is just west of the Bani River. It has an ethnically diverse population of about twelve thousand in 1987.

The Great Mosque of Djenne is the largest mud brick or adobe building in the world and is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano Sahelian architectural style, albeit with definite Islamic influences.

The mosque is located in the city of Djenne, Mali on the flood plain of the Bani River. The first mosque on the site was built in the 13th century, but the current structure dates from 1907. As well as being the centre of the community of Djenne, it is one of the most famous landmarks in Africa.

The entire community of Djenne takes an active role in the mosques maintenance via a unique annual festival. This includes music and food, but has the primary objective of repairing the damage inflicted on the mosque in the past year, mostly erosion caused by the annual rains and cracks caused by changes in temperature and humidity.

In the days leading up to the festival, the plaster is prepared in pits. It requires several days to cure but needs to be periodically stirred, a task usually falling to young boys who play in the mixture, thus stirring up the contents. Men climb onto the mosques built in scaffolding and ladders made of palm wood and smear the plaster over the face of the mosque.

Another group of men carries the plaster from the pits to the workmen on the mosque. A race is held at the beginning of the festival to see who will be the first to deliver the plaster to the mosque. Women and girls carry water to the pits before the festival and to the workmen on the mosque during it. Members of Djennes masons guild direct the work, while elderly members of the community, who have already participated in the festival many times, sit in a place of honour in the market square watching the proceedings.

The original mosque presided over one of the most important Islamic learning centres in Africa during the middle Ages.

The historic areas of Djenne, including the Great Mosque, were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. While there are many mosques that are older than its current incarnation, the Great Mosque remains the most prominent symbol of both the city of Djenne and the nation of Mali.
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About the Author

Douglas Scott works for The Rental Car Hire Specialist. and is a free lance writer for The Djenne Rental Site

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - The Great Mosque of Djenne

the picture is taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mosque_of_Djenn%C3%A9

Ibn Rushd

As a physician, Ibn Rushd wrote twenty treatises on Arabic medicine, including a seven-volume medical encyclopedia entitled Kitābu’l Kulliyāt fī al-Tibb (General Rules of Medicine), better known as Colliget in Latin. This encyclopedic work was completed at some time before 1162 and elaborated on physiology, general pathology, diagnosis, materia medica, hygiene and general therapeutics. He argued that no one can suffer from smallpox twice, and fully understood the function of the retina. However, his Colliget was largely overshadowed by the earlier medical encyclopedias, Continents by Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi (Rhazes) and The Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sina (Avicenna). As a result, Averroes' fame as a physician was eclipsed by his own fame as a philosopher. His Kulliyāt was translated into Latin by the Jewish translator Bonacosa in the late 13th century and again by Syphorien Champier in circa 1537, and it was also translated into Hebrew twice. Max Meyerhof notes that the prototypes for the physician-philosophers that predominated in Spain were "Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes)".^[4]

Ibn Rushd discussed the topic of human dissection and autopsy. Although he never undertook human dissection, he was aware of it being carried out by some of his contemporaries, such as Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), and appears to have supported the practice. Ibn Rushd stated that the "practice of dissection strengthens the faith"^[24] due to his view of the human body as "the remarkable handiwork of God in his creation."^[25] Despite his criticism of Al-Ghazali's theological views, Ibn Rushd agreed with him on the issue of anatomy and dissection, and wrote:^[26]

"Whoever has been occupied with the science of anatomy/dissection (tashrfh) has increased his belief in God."

In urology, Ibn Rushd identified the issues of sexual dysfunction and erectile dysfunction, and was among the first to prescribe medication for the treatment of these problems. He used several methods of therapy for this issue, including the single drug method where a tested drug is prescribed, and a "combination method of either a drug or food." Most of these drugs were oral medication, though a few patients were also treated through topical or transurethral means.^[27]

In neurology and neuroscience, Ibn Rushd suggested the existence of Parkinson's disease, and in ophthalmology and optics, he was the first to attribute photoreceptor properties to the retina.^[28] In his Colliget, he was also the first to suggest that the principal organ of sight might be the arachnoid membrane (aranea). His work led to much discussion in 16th century Europe over whether the principal organ of sight is the traditional Galenic crystalline humour or the Averroist aranea, which in turn led to the discovery that the retina is the principal organ of sight

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adapted from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Averroes

Algebra

The term algebra is derived from the Arabic term al-jabr in the title of Al-Khwarizmi's Al-jabr wa'l muqabalah. He originally used the term al-jabr to describe the method of "reduction" and "balancing", referring to the transposition of subtracted terms to the other side of an equation, that is, the cancellation of like terms on opposite sides of the equation.

There are three theories about the origins of Arabic algebra. The first emphasizes Hindu influence, the second emphasizes Mesopotamian or Persian-Syriac influence, and the third emphasizes Greek influence. Many scholars believe that it is the result of a combination of all three sources.

Throughout their time in power, before the fall of Islamic civilization, the Arabs used a fully rhetorical algebra, where sometimes even the numbers were spelled out in words. The Arabs would eventually replace spelled out numbers (eg. twenty-two) with Arabic numerals (eg. 22), but the Arabs never adopted or developed a syncopated or symbolic algebra,[5] until the work of Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi in the 13th century and Abū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī in the 15th century.

There were four conceptual stages in the development of algebra, three of which either began in, or were significantly advanced in, the Islamic world. These four stages were as follows:

* Geometric stage, where the concepts of algebra are largely geometric. This dates back to the Babylonians and continued with the Greeks, and was revived by Omar Khayyam.
* Static equation-solving stage, where the objective is to find numbers satisfying certain relationships. The move away from geometric algebra dates back to Diophantus and Brahmagupta, but algebra didn't decisively move to the static equation-solving stage until Al-Khwarizmi's Al-Jabr.
* Dynamic function stage, where motion is an underlying idea. The idea of a function began emerging with Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī, but algebra didn't decisively move to the dynamic function stage until Gottfried Leibniz.
* Abstract stage, where mathematical structure plays a central role. Abstract algebra is largely a product of the 19th and 20th centuries.

adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_mathematics

Mathematic

Mathematics in medieval Islam or sometimes referred to as Islamic mathematics is a term used in the history of mathematics that refers to the mathematics developed in the Islamic world between 622 and 1600, in the part of the world where Islam was the dominant religious. Islamic science and mathematics flourished under the Islamic caliphate (also known as the Islamic Empire) established across the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, Sicily, the Iberian Peninsula, and in parts of France and India in the 8th century. The center of Islamic mathematics was located in Persia (including eastern part of present-day Iraq) , but at its greatest extent stretched from North Africa and Spain in the west and to India in the east.While most scientists in this period were Muslims and Arabic was the dominant language—much like Latin in Medieval Europe, Arabic was used as the written language of scholars throughout the Islamic world at the time—contributions were made by people of different ethnic groups (Arabs, Persians, Berbers, Moors, Turks) and sometimes different religions (Muslims, Christians, Jews, Sabians, Zoroastrians, irreligious).

adapted from: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_mathematics)

The Taj Mahal, Agra India

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was griefstricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum. In her dying breath, Mumtaz Mahal urged Shah Jahan to build a mausoleum for her that the world has never seen before. Shah Jahan granted his wife's wish, and construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrates the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The construction of Taj Mahal begun soon after Mumtaz's death with the principal mausoleum completed in 1648. The surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words: Should guilty seek asylum here,

Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.

The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun's Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, and buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.

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adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal

The Suleyman Mosque, Turkey

The Süleymaniye Mosque was built on the order of Sultan Suleiman I (Suleiman the Magnificent) and was constructed by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan. The construction work began in 1550 and the mosque was finished in 1557.

Sinan considered the design to be an architectural counterpoint to the Byzantine Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia, converted into a mosque under Mehmed II, served as a model to many Ottoman mosques in Istanbul. However, Sinan's Süleymaniye is a more symmetrical, rationalized and light-filled interpretation of earlier Ottoman precedents, as well as the Hagia Sophia. It is possible that dialogue between Italy and Istanbul contributed to Sinan's enthusiasm for symmetrical and rational forms, as promoted by writers like Alberti.

The design of the Süleymaniye also plays on Suleyman's self-conscious representation of himself as a 'second Solomon.' It references the Dome of the Rock, which was built on the site of the Temple of Solomon, as well as Justinian's boast upon the completion of the Hagia Sophia: "Solomon, I have surpassed thee!" The Süleymaniye, similar in magnificence to the preceding structures, asserts Suleyman's historical importance. The structure is nevertheless smaller in size than its older archetype, the Hagia Sophia.
The Süleymaniye was ravaged by a fire in 1660 and was restored by Sultan Mehmed IV. Part of the dome collapsed again during the earthquake of 1766. Subsequent repairs damaged what was left of the original decoration of Sinan (recent cleaning has shown that Sinan experimented first with blue, before turning red the dominant color of the dome). The mosque was restored again in the middle of the 19th century by the Swiss-Italian architect brothers Gaspare and Giuseppe Fossati. In a botched attempt to restore it to its supposed original glory, the dome and the semi-domes were painted in an Ottoman baroque style. During the recent cleaning the original design was faithfully restored.

During World War I the courtyard was used as a weapons depot and when some of the ammunition ignited the mosque suffered another fire. Not until 1956 was it fully restored again.

adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleyman_mosque

The Alhambra, Spain

Completed towards the end of Muslim rule in Spain by Yusuf I (1333-1353) and Muhammed V, Sultan of Granada (1353-1391), the Alhambra is a reflection of the culture of the last days of the Nasrid emirate of Granada. It is a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as Christian Spain won victories over Al Andalus. The Alhambra mixes natural elements with man-made ones, and is a testament to the skill of Muslim craftsmen of that time.

The literal translation of Alhambra "red fortress" derives from the colour of the red clay of the surroundings of which the fort is made. The buildings of the Alhambra were originally whitewashed; however, the buildings now seen today are reddish.

The first reference to the Qal’at al Hamra was during the battles between the Arabs and the Muladies during the rule of the ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad (r. 888-912). In one particularly fierce and bloody skirmish, the Muladies soundly defeated the Arabs, who were then forced to take shelter in a primitive red castle located in the province of Elvira, presently located in Granada. According to surviving documents from the era, the red castle was quite small, and its walls were not capable of deterring an army intent on conquering. The castle was then largely ignored until the eleventh century, when its ruins were renovated and rebuilt by Samuel ibn Naghralla, vizier to the King Bādīs of the Zirid Dynasty, in an attempt to preserve the small Jewish settlement also located on the Sabikah hill. However, evidence from Arab texts indicates that the fortress was easily penetrated and that the actual Alhambra that survives today was built during the Nasrid Dynasty.
Emblem of the Catholic Monarchs engraved after the conquest.

Ibn Nasr, the founder of the Nasrid Dynasty, was forced to flee to Jaén in order to avoid persecution by King Ferdinand and his supporters during attempts to rid Spain of Moorish Dominion. After retreating to Granada, Ibn-Nasr took up residence at the Palace of Bādis in the Alhambra. A few months later, he embarked on the construction of a new Alhambra fit for the residence of a king. According to an Arab manuscript published as the Anónimo de Granada y Copenhague, "This year 1238 Abdallah ibn al-Ahmar climbed to the place called "the Alhambra" inspected it, laid out the foundations of a castle and left someone in charge of its construction…" The design included plans for six palaces, five of which were grouped in the northeast quadrant forming a royal quarter, two circuit towers, and numerous bathhouses. During the reign of the Nasrid Dynasty, the Alhambra was transformed into a palatine city complete with an irrigation system composed of acequias for the gardens of the Generalife located outside the fortress. Previously, the old Alhambra structure had been dependent upon rainwater collected from a cistern and from what could be brought up from the Albaicín. The creation of the Sultan's Canal solidified the identity of the Alhambra as a palace-city rather than a defensive and ascetic structure.

The Muslim rulers lost Granada and Alhambra in 1492 without the fortress itself being attacked when King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile took the surrounding region with overwhelming numbers.

adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra