What is a mosque for a Muslim?

East is a delicate matter. It was to this conclusion that people came many years ago. This phrase from the light hand of the classic Soviet cinema became winged. Asian, in particular Arab, civilization for Europe - a mystery, but very interesting. People of this part of the world have a special relationship to everything: to life and death, to love and marriage, to religion.

Muslim temple externally

Travelers, whose route passed through Asia and Arabia, paid attention to the fact that there are no churches and cathedrals. But still, the faithful followers of Islam have their own place for prayers, and it is called a "mosque".

What is a mosque? This is a special architectural structure for worship, built according to established canons. This building, which stands alone under the magnificent dome-gambiza. Surround the temple tower-minarets - at least one, a maximum of nine. Muezzin loudly calls to them to pray. Today, however, many mosques are radiofrequent. Sometimes the building has an inner courtyard and a madrasah school.

The mosque from the inside

The Moslem mosque is characterized by a modest prayer hall, without rich frescoes and murals, as is customary in the Western world. On the walls, they can only write Arabic string from the holy book of the Koran. In the wall, which is turned towards Mecca, there is an empty niche, called "mihrab". To the right of it is the pulpit for reading the sermon by the Imam. Here, towards the city where the great prophet Muhammad was born, all parishioners turn their faces.

The floors of the prayer house are covered with carpets, on which they kneel during prayer. The obligatory attribute that any Muslim mosque has is the presence of a ritual basin. In it, believers make a symbolic ablution before prayer for the purification of the soul and body. It is worth remembering that you can not get shod in a sacred building, believers expose their legs before entering.

Treasures of the Islamic World: Syria

So, what is a mosque, figured out. And now it's time to go on an exciting journey through the most beautiful buildings of the Muslim world. Their amazing set, and you can not tell about everyone, so we will choose the most worthy and beautiful.

The list of "Beautiful Mosques" is headed by the Umayyad temple in Damascus (Syria). It was built for a whole decade, and more than twelve thousand people were involved in the work. The interiors are finished in gold, mother of pearl and pearls. The building has an impressive size and a minaret of Jesus Christ. According to legend, the prophet (namely, the prophet is considered the Muslims of Jesus, calling him Isa) will come down here during his Second Coming for the final battle with the evil forces.

The most beautiful mosques in the world: Iraq

Nine million gold coins - dinars (the weight of one was 4.27 grams of precious metal) - the caliph paid for the construction of Al-Kazymeyn. The Golden Mosque in Baghdad was built for four years and is considered to be one of the best. Unfortunately, only the believers of Islam can see this splendor: people who profess a different religion will simply not be allowed here.

The main shrine of Cairo

What is a mosque can be understood by visiting the mosque of Sultan Hasan, located in the Egyptian capital. Its construction lasted six years - from 1356 to 1362. Two decades later, a sarcophagus with the body of a great ruler was placed here. It is interesting that it is in Cairo that the oldest school of the Arab world is located at this prayer house .

Symbol of Istanbul: Blue Mosque

One of the main business cards of the ancient capital of the Ottoman and Byzantine empires is the Blue Mosque. They called it that because of the turquoise tile, which is decorated with the interiors of the temple. And it went to her a lot: about two hundred thousand pieces. Sultan Ahmed ordered to build a shrine in the year 1609 at the age of nineteen. The legend says that in this way he wanted to pacify some heavy sin.

The building turned out to be excellent, and the dome that crowned it has a diameter of 23.5 meters. There are also three dozen small domes located over 26 granite columns of the courtyard. The blue mosque inside is very light, since it has 260 windows. According to the canons of Islam, walls, ceilings and domes are decorated with quotations from the Koran, skillfully executed by the famous master Seid Kasym Bibari.

Instead of an afterword

The list of the most beautiful mosques in the world can be continued indefinitely. This is the delightful mosque of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, which can accommodate over forty thousand believers, and the Shah Faisal mosque in Islamabad, and the so-called "Dome of the Rock" mosque in Jerusalem.

What is a mosque, and know in Russia, because in this country live representatives of different peoples and religious faiths. "The heart of Chechnya" was built in 2008 in the center of Grozny by Akhmad Kadyrov's son . The most beautiful building looks like the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, but it has a special charm. Its walls are decorated with travertine and white marble, and suras from the Koran were applied with pure gold. In Kazan, at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the "Kul Sharif" appeared - an amazing temple that strikes with an unusual design, an abundance of windows and luxurious decoration.