STUDY OF THE MINARET LOCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF MAIN STYLES OF MOSQUES: A GEOMETRIC- THEMATIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

Mosque or Masjid is a place of worship for Muslims. The minaret is one of the structural components of the mosque that is used for Adhān (call to pray). Chronologically, the minaret occupied different locations in the mosque. There is a lack of research about the location of minaret within the layout of the mosque context. The current research aims to investigate the position of the minaret(s) within the context of mosques based on five main layouts of known mosque styles. It also investigates whether there is a relationship between the number(s) of minarets and their location(s). As a methodology, the study adopted geometric-thematic analysis based on codes to determine the types of minaret placements. The results show twelve models for the locations of the minarets, which vary between the prayer hall, the courtyard, the entrance, and the rooftop. It is concluded that some types recurred, and others exist only once. The research reveals that there is no relationship between the number(s) of minarets and their location within the mosque layout design.

Keywords

• minaret
• thematic analysis
• comparative analysis; mosque architecture; mosque structure; mosque typology; historical mosques