The Essence of Islamic Architecture of Mosques: a Reflection on the Spiritual Identity and Sacred Suppositions

Abstract

Abstract. Mosque is a sacred place for daily worship, a symbol of sacred and spiritual space. Architects throughout the history of Islam have always been trying in a variety of approaches to induce this concept i.e. sacredness to their audience and prayers. Sacred art signifies the nature and realization of a sort of divine quality in the realm of art. Islamic art is realized and understood based on a profound understanding of scared art as the center and heart of traditional arts. The architects of mosques, in the past and present have been trying to give spirit and sacredness to the physical structure of a mosque. Since there were religious constrains which limited the expression of its conceptual themes, Muslim architects made great efforts in transferring their intended concepts through simplified floral designs, calligraphy and color in their best possible forms while giving spiritual spirit to its physical space. In this study, the sacred art is analyzed through browsing the reference books and library documents using descriptive-analytical method and its status in the Shi'a mosques are studied. The existence of such a sacred architecture on earth indicates the transcendental meditation of past architects and the celestial links of architecture. The findings of this study believe that Islamic art is the manifest of the sacred in both form and content and the essential identity of anything. Spiritual identity is nothing other than the manifest of celestial belief which gives a divine form to the behavior and insight of humans. Hence, sacred architecture is a part of sacred art, image and reflection of the order and unity which is dominant in the world of being.