The 7 Principles of Islamic Architecture ~ Part 1

The 7 Principles of Islamic Architecture

1. Architecture as Tawhid: Unity & Uniquity
    of Allah)

2. Architecture of Ihtiram: Respect

3. Architecture with Ikhlas: Sincerity

4. Architecture as Pursuit of ‘Ilm:
    Knowledge

5. Architecture for Iqtisad: Balance

6. Architecture of Haya’: Modesty


7. Architecture as Dikr: Remembrance


Architecture as Tawhid: Unity & Uniquity of Allah

The notion of tawhid is the most important cornerstone in the conceptual framework for Islamic architecture. Tawhid means asserting the unity or oneness of Allah. Tawhid is the Islamic concept of monotheism. The word tawhid is derived from the words wahid and ahad which mean “one”, “unique” and “peerless”.

Based on the concept of tawhid, Muslims believe that God cannot be held equal in any way or degree to any other being or concept. Maintaining that there is no God except Allah and that there is nothing comparable to Him constitutes the essence of tawhid and the essence of Islam.

Notion of Tawhid: al Quran - haqiqa (formless essence) revelation/enlightenment which is the nature of space, forms, order, orients and a  place for man to be with the presence of Divine Unity

Main architecture of Allah Unity & Uniquity is Ka’bah, the direction towards which Muslims face their five daily prayers.

- the Kaaba ( الكعبة‎‎ al-Kaʿbah)

Architecture of Ihtiram: Respect

The act of showing respect to Allah and by doing this, Muslims must observe the 5 pillars of Islam which is:  

• shahada, 
• salat (prayer), 
• zakat (alms), 
• fasting  
• hajj

Observing these 5 pillars encourages respect towards Allah and purify one self that can improve conduct and build up inner and outer self fulfillment.

Prophet Muhammad shows perfect example of propriety and praiseworthy characteristics

The holy book Al-Quran teaches/guides us to respect, the virtues and attitudes of good manners.

The architecture of Ihtiram are shown through symbols that shows harmony and purity of geometry of the Ka'abah and clearly can be found in all Islamic architecture around the world.

• Each face of the cube corresponding to the primary directions
• Whilst the four corners point towards the cardinal points of the universe
• Ka`bah - the underlying point of convergence between essential cosmic principles and mosque architecture in the world.