"The religious regulations of architecture of Islamic hammams Archaeological and applied study on selected examples of hammams in Islamic world"

Abstract

Religion and faith are of the most factors that affect all architectural forms andcomponents. Muslim clerks used to write about :( the regulations of building). They specified chapters in fiqh (jurisprudence) books, that they even wrote independent books. That jurisprudential heritage has contributed in putting a group of design and architectural criteria that the architects were keen on taking into consideration inside and outside Islamic buildings. The Islamic hammams were among buildings that took jurisprudential directions into consideration in their building. Independent books were compiled about hammams conveying judgments of scientists concerning the conditions that should be applied during building the hammam and the shape of changing room (maslakh) ,warm room (Bait awal), heat room (Bait harara) , ovens, sinks, floors, roofs and walls. These conditions were greatly considered during building hammams . Although the Islamic civilization inherited the idea of public hammams from the previous civilizations especially the Roman and Greek civilizations ,nevertheless, the architectural form of Islamic hammam were different from those of previous hammams . Islamic hammams adhered to religious regulations in working system. They assigned hammams for men and others for women. Bathtubs and waterways were designed in a specific way according to the jurisprudential rules of water cleanliness. The inside components of hammams were affected by Islamic values. Muslim scholars conveyed different issues in their writings related to the architecture of hammams from Islamic point of view. Those jurisprudential opinions were applied in a lot of hammams in the Islamic world that will be conveyed in this study.