The influence of traditional Muslim beliefs on medieval religious architecture : of the Bahri Mamluk period
MamlĂŒk medieval religious architecture was designed and built through a process which involved a deep knowledge of Sufism, the inner dimension of Islam. Through the symbolism implicit in this process, the external, limited, and sensible forms of these buildings carried within themselves inner transcendental qualities. This thesis adopts the traditionalist approach which has its foundation in objective truth based on Islamic metaphysical interpretations. This approach is applied to reach the symbolism of medieval religious buildings, focusing specifically on the Bahri MamlĂŒk period in Cairo as a case study. The need for such a study is twofold: firstly, to know the truth about the intent and design process of the medieval MamlĂŒk tradition; and secondly, to see if it is possible to formulate new guidelines for contemporary architects to use in today's mosque designs. Medieval historical sources emphasize that the MamlĂŒk society had its roots in Sufi thought. SultĂ€ns, emirs, scientists, intellectuals, the common people, and even some of the 'ulama', respected and participated in Sufi rites. The hypothesis behind this study is that the Sufi thought which pervaded Mamluk society at large must have influenced
Gabr, Aly Hatem
The influence of traditional Muslim beliefs on medieval religious architecture : of the Bahri Mamluk period. MamlĂŒk medieval religious architecture was designed and built through a process which involved a deep knowledge of Sufism, the inner dimension of Islam. Through the symbolism implicit in this process, the external, limited, and sensible forms of these buildings carried within themselves inner transcendental qualities. This thesis adopts the traditionalist approach which has its foundation in objective truth based on Islamic metaphysical interpretations. This approach is applied to reach the symbolism of medieval religious buildings, focusing specifically on the Bahri MamlĂŒk period in Cairo as a case study. The need for such a study is twofold: firstly, to know the truth about the intent and design process of the medieval MamlĂŒk tradition; and secondly, to see if it is possible to formulate new guidelines for contemporary architects to use in today's mosque designs. Medieval historical sources emphasize that the MamlĂŒk society had its roots in Sufi thought. SultĂ€ns, emirs, scientists, intellectuals, the common people, and even some of the 'ulama', respected and participated in Sufi rites. The hypothesis behind this study is that the Sufi thought which pervaded Mamluk society at large must have influenced
influence traditional muslim belief medieval religious architecture mamluk period medieval religious architecture design built process_involve deep knowledge sufism inner dimension islam symbolism implicit process external limited sensible form building carry within inner transcendental quality adopts traditionalist foundation objective truth base islamic metaphysical interpretation apply reach symbolism medieval religious_building focus_specifically period cairo case_study need study twofold firstly know truth intent design process medieval tradition secondly see possible formulate_new guideline contemporary architect use today mosque design medieval historical_source emphasize society root sufi think scientist intellectual common people even ulama respect participated sufi rite hypothesis behind study sufi think pervade mamluk society large must influence