Traditional Islamic Principles of Built Environment

Hisham Mortada

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• ISBN:
  9781135788001
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

Written with the non-Muslim reader in mind, this book analyses the principles and values established by Islamic tradition to govern the social and physical environments of Muslims.
The picture of Islam that emerges from this work is of a way of life with social ideals. Relying on the Qur'an and Sunna, the basic sources of Islamic law, and using examples of the built environment of early Muslims in North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia, the author explains how following these ideals can create an urban environment that responds to social and environmental variables.Islamic views on the controversial issue of modernisation are also examined.
This book will be of interest to people in the fields of urban planning, architecture, sociology, anthropology, housing and built environment, as well as Islamic studies.

1

The Tradition of Islam and its Law

In order to understand the social and physical framework of Islam which embodies criteria for evaluating a Muslim housing environment, it is important to analyse the Islamic legal system. Through its concepts, sources and methods of application, this system, which is called sharī‘ah, is the origin of the principles of these frameworks.

The Concept of Submission

Islam is a religion that gives due reference to the material world, as every traditional religion does. In his discussion of the social meanings of Islam, the contemporary Muslim scholar, M. Quraishi, analyses Islam into the following Qur’anic concepts:

1. God is One, Sovereign, and Law-giver. His laws govern the entire universe, and thus humanity should order itself according with His laws.
2. There is no compromise; only the individual’s deeds will be taken into account before the Divine tribunal in the hereafter.
3. Mankind is one and so is prophet-hood, because their origin is one.
4. Oppression is to be fought; it is neither to be befriended nor ignored.¹

Literally, the Arabic word ‘Islam’ is rooted in the word ‘silm’ or peace. It is commonly understood by Muslims and others to mean submission or total surrender; that is, surrender of the believer to Allah or God and His order. Hence, a Muslim is a person who performs the act of surrender or who gives himself entirely to God alone, to the exclusion of others. Once he has accepted Allah as his only God and Islam as his only religion, he takes upon himself certain obligations. These obligations must always remain in his consciousness and constant effort should be made in their discharge.

Moreover, Islam combines another meaning: sincere devotion as expressed in the words of the Exalted One: ‘And a man belonging entirely to one master’ (Qur’an, Su. 39:29).² Islam also means that God has no other partner. This requires the total submission of creativity to the service of God. Therefore, the two cardinal meanings of Islam: submission of the whole self to God and the performance of devotional works, should be devoted entirely to God and should conform properly with the Sacred Law.

Islam is based on the concept of tawḥīd or ‘unity’, the ‘unity of God’. The modern scholar, Marwan Al-Kaysi, in his analysis of the behavioural system established by Islam, defines tawḥīd as ‘the absolute one-ness and uniqueness of God, and rejects all kinds of polytheism, whether primitive or evolved’.³ In another definition by Sayyid Abūl A‘la Mawdudi (d. 1400 AH/AD 1979 – dates follow this format throughout),⁴ one of the chief leaders of contemporary Muslim scholars, tawḥīd means that

only God is the Creator, Sustainer and Master of the universe and of all that exists in it – organic or inorganic. The sovereignty of this kingdom is vested only in Him. He alone has the right to command or forbid. Worship and obedience are due to Him alone, no one and nothing else share it in any way.⁵

Islamic Law (Sharī‘ah)

According to Islam, the entire life of a Muslim is subservient to the will of Allah and Muslim society can never break from the law of God. The political order, social organisation, culture, economic policy and legal system of this society must be in tune with the code of guidance revealed by Allah in His Book (Qur’an) and the tradition of the Prophet (sunnah). This code of conduct is known as ‘sharī‘ah’.

Sharī‘ah, establishes standards for the orderly behaviour of all aspects of Muslim life, both individually and collectively. It is translated as Islamic law, denoting both the provisions of law and its subsidiary applied sciences. In his book, Sharī‘ah: the Way to Justice, the modern Muslim theorist Khurram Murad states that sharī‘ah literally means ‘“way to water” – the source of all life – and signifies the way to God, as given by God’.⁶ This in turn reveals that sharī‘ah is, as a technical term, the body or structure of those institutions that God has ordered in full or in essence to guide the individual to God.

It should be understood that sharī‘ah is much more than an ordinary legal system or merely a religious doctrine and law. The contemporary Muslim scholar, Hammudāh ‘Abd al‘Atī, highlights this issue as he defines sharī‘ah as,

simultaneously religious law, natural and positive law. It relates man to God. Its origin is divine, its objective is human. It deals with the present and the hereafter, encompassing all aspects of human action, whether latent or manifest, open or hidden. It is at once universal and particular, absolute and relative, general and specific, strict and flexible. It tempers formal justice with equity, guarantees liberty, encourages excellence and fights abuse.⁷

Sharī‘ah, prescribes directives for the regulation of the Muslim individual as well as society. These directives inspire various human activities such as religious ritual, personal behaviour, morality, habits, family relationships, social and economic affairs, administration, the rights and duties of citizens, the judicial system, the laws of war and peace and international relations. About these directives, Mawdudi says,

They tell what is good and bad; what is beneficial and useful and what is injurious and harmful and what are the virtues which Muslims have to cultivate and encourage and what are the evils which Muslims have to suppress and guard against, what is the aspiration of Muslims’ voluntary, personal and social action and what are its limits and finally, what methods Muslims can adopt to establish a dynamic order of society and what methods Muslims should avoid.⁸

As sharī‘ah is the embodiment of the concept of tawḥīd and its every detail springs from it, its structure rests on the concept of sovereignty and compliance with God’s will.

Regarding its objectives, sharī‘ah answers the needs of human progress and provides the order of human life. It aims to ensure that human life is based on ma‘rūfāt (good) and to cleanse it of munkarāt (evils). According to Mawdudi, ma‘rūfāt denotes all the qualities that have been accepted as ‘good’ by the human conscience.⁹ On the other hand, munkarāt denotes all those qualities that have been condemned by human nature as ‘evil’. In order to establish an entire scheme of life whose aim is to make sure that good flourishes and evil diminishes, sharī‘ah has embraced in its scheme everything that encourages the growth of good and has recommended ways to remove obstacles that might prevent this growth. This gives rise to a subsidiary series of ma‘rūfāt, consisting of ways of initiating and nurturing the good, and yet another set of ma‘rūfāt, consisting of prohibitions in relation to those things which act as impediments to good. Likewise, there is a subsidiary list of munkarāt which might initiate or allow the growth of evil.¹⁰

In his discussion of the points of view of sharī‘ah on a number of economic issues, the modern theorist, Mohammed Chapra, mentioned that the great religious scholar Al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) defined the objectives of sharī‘ah as ‘the promotion of welfare of people which lies in safeguarding their faith, their life, their intellect, their posterity, their property and concludes that whatever ensures the safeguard of these five serves public interest and is desirable’.¹¹

In its objective of facilitating daily life, sharī‘ah removes from people harmful, burdensome customs and superstitions. Its principles are designed not only to protect man fro...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• System of transliteration
• Introduction
• 1. The tradition of Islam and its law
• 2. The traditional Islamic social framework: its principles and dimensions
• 3. The traditional Islamic physical framework: its principles and dimensions
• 4. Islam and modernisation: principles vs. materials
• Glossary
• Notes and references
• Bibliography
• Index