Minbar

Etymology

The word is a derivative of the

While minbars are roughly similar to church pulpits, they have a function and position more similar to that of a church lectern, being used instead by the imam for a wide range of readings and prayers. The minbar is located to the right of the mihrab, a niche in the far wall of the mosque that symbolizes the direction of prayer (i.e. towards Mecca). It is usually shaped like a small tower with a seat or kiosk-like structure at its top and a staircase leading up to it. The bottom of the staircase often has a doorway or portal. In contrast to many Christian pulpits, the steps up to the minbar are usually in a straight line on the same axis as the seat.^[3][4]

In some mosques, there is an elevated platform – dikka in Arabic or müezzin mahfil in Turkish – opposite the minbar where the assistant of the imam, the muezzin, stands during prayer. The muezzin recites the answers to the prayers of the imam where applicable.^[5]

Origins

The first recorded minbar in the Islamic world was Muhammad's minbar in

Minbars thus quickly developed into a symbol of political and religious legitimacy for Muslim authorities. It was one of the only major formal furnishings of a mosque and was therefore an important architectural feature in itself. More importantly, it was the setting for the weekly Friday sermon which, notably, usually mentioned the name of the current Muslim ruler over the community and included other public announcements of a religious or political nature.[3]^[6] As a result, later Muslim rulers sometimes invested considerable expense in commissioning richly-decorated minbars for the main mosques of their major cities.

The oldest Islamic pulpit in the world to be preserved up to the present day is the minbar of the

Woodwork was the primary medium for the construction of minbars in much of the Middle East and North Africa up until the Ottoman period.^[4][3] These wooden minbars were in many cases very intricately decorated with geometric patterns and carved arabesques (vegetal and floral motifs), as well as with Arabic calligraphic inscriptions (often recording the minbar's creation or including Qur'anic verses). In some cases they also featured delicate inlay work with ivory or mother-of-pearl. Many workshops created minbars that were assembled from hundreds of pieces held together using an interlocking technique and wooden pegs, but without glue or metal nails.^[3][6]

Levant and Egypt

In

Among the oldest surviving examples in the Maghreb, after the minbar of Kairouan, is the minbar of the Mosque of the Andalusians in Fez, which was originally constructed in 980 and is partly preserved today. Its original woodwork is carved with geometric motifs that appear inspired by those of the minbar in Kairouan. When the minbar was modified in 985, some panels were replaced with panels of turned wood using a bow-drill technique. This is one of the earliest examples of this woodworking technique, which later became common in the fabrication of mashrabiyyas (wooden screens and balconies).^{[6]: 47, 51–52}

The next oldest Maghrebi minbar to survive is that of the

Almoravid Minbar in Marrakesh, commissioned in 1137, now at the Badi Palace Museum. Its surfaces are decorated with a mix of geometric and arabesque motifs in marquetry, inlay, and carving.

The most important surviving minbar of this artistic tradition is the Almoravid minbar in Marrakesh, commissioned in 1137 by Ali ibn Yusuf and completed around 1145.^{[6]: 21, 53 [3]} During the Almohad period later that century, it was moved to the Kutubiyya Mosque in the same city. It is housed today in the Badi Palace Museum. The richly-crafted minbar was fabricated in Cordoba and may thus provide some hint of the former style and craftsmanship of the Cordoba minbar,^[3] in addition to its other structural similarities.^[6] The decoration of this minbar, however, is more extravagant and sophisticated than any other surviving examples.^{[6]: 52–53} It combines geometric and arabesque motifs executed in a mix of marquetry, inlay, and wood carving.^[6]

The only other minbar approaching, but not quite matching, the quality of the Almoravid minbar in Marrakesh is the minbar of the Qarawiyyin Mosque, also commissioned by Ali ibn Yusuf and completed in 1144.^{[15][6]: 57} The other notable minbars produced after this, mostly found in present-day Morocco, generally imitate the style of the earlier Almoravid minbar.^[6]: 60 These later minbars include the minbar of the Kasbah Mosque in Marrakesh (circa 1189–1195), the minbar of the Mosque of the Andalusians following its Almohad renovation (circa 1203–1209), the minbar of the Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid (circa 1276), the minbar of the Great Mosque of Taza (circa 1290–1300), and the minbar of the Bou Inania Madrasa in Fez (between 1350 and 1355). Even the much later minbar of the Mouassine Mosque in Marrakesh (between 1562 and 1573) continues to show imitations of the same tradition.^{[6]: 58–62}

Iran

Iranian minbars typically have no canopy or dome at the top, distinguishing them from minbars in other regions.^[3] In Iran, Mesopotomia, and Anatolia, some wooden minbars preserved from the 11th and 12th centuries are carved with vegetal beveled-style motifs.^[3] Most other early minbars in Iran and Afghanistan were destroyed during the Mongol invasions of the 13th century.^[4]

The most significant minbars preserved from the

From the subsequent Timurid period, the most important example is the minbar of the Mosque of Gowhar Shad in Mashhad, fabricated between 1336 and 1446.^[4][1][17] It shares the overall form of the minbar in Na'in^[17] and, like the latter, it also stands apart from other Iranian minbars in having a canopy.^[1] Its decoration is distinguished by a carpet-like geometric pattern filled with carvings of tendrils.^[1]

Stone minbars

In the central Islamic lands, stone or marble minbars were occasionally produced at an early period, as with some examples in Mamluk Cairo, but they are generally characteristic of the later Ottoman period. Compared to the earlier traditions of wooden minbars, stone minbars were often simpler in their decoration.^[3][4]

Mamluk period

Qaytbay gifted a stone minbar to the Khanqah of Faraj ibn Barquq in 1483. This one is covered with geometric motifs carved to resemble the traditional style of wooden minbars.^[3][21]

Ottoman period

Ottoman-era minbar of the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (circa 1574). This marble minbar is pierced with geometric openwork and has a typical Ottoman conical cap.

Ottoman minbars are distinguished in part by the shape of their canopy, where the traditional small dome is replaced with a tall, polygonal cone similar to the caps of Ottoman minarets.

Ottoman Baroque style, minbars were carved with eclectic motifs inspired by the European Baroque.^[3]

Indian subcontinent

Minbars were highly variable in style and size on the Indian subcontinent, but stone was the favoured material throughout the region. Wooden minbars may have been employed in earlier periods, but few or none have been preserved.^[3][4][1] Some of the minbars are merely a series of simple steps while others are very elaborate.^[1]

Among other variations, the minbars of the Bengal Sultanate and the Gujarat Sultanate typically have canopies, while those of the Jaunpur Sultanate and Mughal Empire usually do not. One of the most elegant examples of the canopied type is the minbar in the Friday Mosque of Mandu in the Malwa region, dated to 1454, which has a dome in the local style upheld by curving brackets.^[1] In both the Gujarat and Malwa regions, the first step of the minbar is often preceded by a small square platform whose original purpose is unclear.^[1]

In the Deccan, the minbar is usually a plain staircase of three steps. In the Mughal Empire, some minbars also had a simple design form with three steps, but they sometimes had flourishes such as a highly-polished or inlaid marble finish (especially under Shah Jahan) or a pierced stone balustrade.^[1]

See also

• Bema

References

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6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Bloom, Jonathan; Toufiq, Ahmed; Carboni, Stefano; Soultanian, Jack; Wilmering, Antoine M.; Minor, Mark D.; Zawacki, Andrew; Hbibi, El Mostafa (1998). The Minbar from the Kutubiyya Mosque. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Ediciones El Viso, S.A., Madrid; Ministère des Affaires Culturelles, Royaume du Maroc.
7. ^ Muḥammad ʻAdnān Bakhīt, History of humanity, UNESCO, 2000, page 345
8. ^ "Qantara - Minbar of the Great Mosque of Kairouan". www.qantara-med.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27.
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10. ^ al-Natsheh, Yusuf. "Haram al-Ibrahimi". Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
11. ^ Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. p. 126.
12. ^ Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. p. 286.
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14. ^ O'Kane, Bernard (2016). The Mosques of Egypt. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. p. 181.
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18. ^ Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. pp. 103–104.
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21. ^ Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. pp. 281–283.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minbars.

• Pedersen, J.; Golmohammadi, J.; Burton-Page, J.; Freeman-Grenville, G.S.P. (2012). "Minbar". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill.
• Bloom, Jonathan; Toufiq, Ahmed; Carboni, Stefano; Soultanian, Jack; Wilmering, Antoine M.; Minor, Mark D.; Zawacki, Andrew; Hbibi, El Mostafa (1998). The Minbar from the Kutubiyya Mosque. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Ediciones El Viso, S.A., Madrid; Ministère des Affaires Culturelles, Royaume du Maroc.
• Lynette Singer (2008). The Minbar of Saladin. Reconstructing a Jewel of Islamic Art. (London: Thames & Hudson).