MOSQUE. - A building for Muslim worship, which in its primitive type would derive, according to some, from the Arab dwelling house. The oldest m. was the one founded at Medina by Muhammad himself, then completely rebuilt in the 13th century.
The m. of 'Amr in Cairo dates back to the 7th century, and shows, despite the rebuildings, what the original arrangement of such constructions was: a rectangular courtyard (sahn), surrounded by open porticoes, has at its center a basin for the ritual ablutions; in the deepest part of the portico is the prayer hall, within which the mihrāb, a kind of richly adorned niche, indicates the qiblah, that is, the orientation toward Mecca. This simpler type later became more complicated when Islam, in its spread, used materials coming from other constructions, or adapted
Christian basilicas as m. (especially at Constantinople and in Syria), changing their orientation and arranging a courtyard in front of them, or imitated their forms. An example of a m. derived from Western basilicas is that of Cordova (later passed to Christian worship after the expulsion of the Arabs from Spain), whose construction, begun toward the end of the 8th century, continued with additions and enlargements until the end of the 10th century. It is a building with a rectangular plan, with several naves, of which the central one is wider; in it the maqšūrah (the part reserved for the sovereign), separated by an enclosure and with the central part covered by a dome, and the mihrāb, correspond to the transept with the iconostasis and to the apse of Christian churches. At other times, however, centrally planned churches were imitated, as in the m. of 'Omar in Jerusalem (7th-8th centuries).
The architectural and decorative characteristics of m. vary from place to place, according to local influences. Inside the m. the liturgical furnishings consist of the minbar (pulpit for preaching), the dīkhah
(small platform for the readers of the Qur'an) and the lectern for the Qur'an itself. The major m., in which alone the Friday prayer may be recited, are called jāmi'; usually attached to them are a kitchen for the poor and a school or college. Access to m. is absolutely forbidden to non-Muslims.
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Mario Zocca