Editing Mosque (section)

{{Short description|Place of worship for Muslims}}
{{Redirect-multi|2|Masjed|Musjid|the Iranian villages|Masjed, Iran (disambiguation)|the 19th-century British racehorse|Musjid (horse)}}
[[File:Masjid e Nabawi Interior 2.jpg|thumb|245x245px|The [[Prophet's Mosque|Prophet's Mosque (''al-Masjid an-Nabawi'')]] in [[Medina]], one of the holiest mosques in Islam]]
{{Islam}}
A '''mosque''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ɒ|s|k}} {{respell|MOSK}}), also called a '''masjid''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|æ|s|dʒ|ɪ|d|,_|ˈ|m|ʌ|s|-}} {{respell|MASS|jid|,_|MUSS|-}}),{{Efn|{{langx|ar|مَسْجِد}} {{IPA|ar|ˈmasdʒid| }} ({{Literal translation|place of [[Sujud|ritual prostration]]}})|group=note}} is a [[place of worship]] for [[Muslims]].<ref name="ODI">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Mosque|editor=John L. Esposito|encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1552|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225191130/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1552|archive-date=December 25, 2017}}</ref> The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where [[Salah|Islamic prayers]] are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.<ref>Longhurst, Christopher E., "Theology of a Mosque: The Sacred Inspiring Form, Function and Design in Islamic Architecture", ''Lonaard Journal''. Mar 2012, Vol. 2 Issue 8, pp. 3–13 [11]. "Since submission to God is the essence of divine worship, the place of worship is intrinsic to Islam's self-identity. This 'place' is not a building per se but what is evidenced by the etymology of the word 'mosque' which derives from the Arabic 'masjid' meaning 'a place of sujud (prostration).'</ref><ref>Colledge, R. (1999). "The mosque". In: ''Mastering World Religions''. Macmillan Master Series. Palgrave, London. {{doi|10.1007/978-1-349-14329-0_16}} "A mosque is a building where Muslims bow before Allah to show their submission to His will. It is not necessary to have a building to do this. Muhammad said that 'Wherever the hour of prayer overtakes you, you shall perform the prayer. That place is the mosque'. In his early days in Makkah there was no mosque, so he and his friends would pray anywhere."</ref>

Originally, mosques were simple places of prayer for the [[early Muslims]], and may have been open spaces rather than elaborate buildings.{{sfn|Grabar|1969|p=34|ps=: "The main characteristic, then, of this first stage was the creation of a space which served exclusively Muslim purposes and which, in cities that were entirely Muslim, existed on two separate levels of exclusivity. The word masjid is always associated with these spaces, but it does not yet possess any formal structure nor does it have any precise function other than that of excluding non-Muslims."}} In the first stage of [[Islamic architecture]] (650–750 CE), early mosques comprised open and closed covered spaces enclosed by walls, often with [[minaret]]s, from which the [[Adhan|Islamic call to prayer]] was issued on a daily basis.{{sfn|Grabar|1969|pp=34–35|ps=: "A second stage occurred between 650 and 750. To my knowledge, twenty-seven masjids from this period are archaeologically definable... All mosques had a certain relationship between open and closed covered spaces. The problems posed by this relationship pertain primarily to the history of art, except on one point, which is the apparent tendency to consider the covered parts as the bayt al-salat, i.e. place of prayer, and the rest of the building as an overflow area for prayer. All these buildings were enclosed by walls and did not have an exterior façade. Their orderly form appeared only from the inside where the balance between open and covered spaces served, among other things, to indicate the direction of qibla. Their only outward symbol was the minaret, a feature which appeared early in mosques built in old cities with predominantly non-Muslim populations and only later in primarily Muslim ones."}} It is typical of mosque buildings to have a special ornamental niche (a ''[[mihrab]]'') set into the wall in the direction of the city of [[Mecca]] (the ''[[qibla]]''), which Muslims must face during prayer,<ref name=ODI/> as well as a facility for ritual cleansing (''[[wudu]]'').<ref name=ODI/><ref name="campo">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2009 |title=Mosque |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam |publisher=Infobase Publishing |editor=Juan Eduardo Campo |author=Nuha N. N. Khoury}}</ref> The pulpit (''[[minbar]]''), from which public sermons (''[[khutbah]]'') are delivered on the event of [[Friday prayer]], was, in earlier times, characteristic of the central city mosque, but has since become common in smaller mosques.<ref name=EIMW/><ref name=ODI/> To varying degrees, mosque buildings are designed so that there are [[Islam and gender segregation|segregated spaces for men and women]].<ref name=ODI/> This basic pattern of organization has assumed different forms depending on the region, period, and [[Islamic schools and branches|Islamic denomination]].<ref name=campo/>

In addition to being places of worship in [[Islam]], mosques also serve as locations for [[Islamic funeral|funeral services]] and [[Funeral prayer (Islam)|funeral prayers]], marriages ([[Marriage in Islam|nikah]]), vigils during [[Ramadan]], business agreements, collection and distribution of [[Alms in Islam|alms]], and homeless shelters.<ref name=ODI/><ref name=EIMW>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Patrick D. Gaffney|title=Masjid|editor=Richard C. Martin|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World|publisher=MacMillan Reference|year=2004}}</ref> To this end, mosques have historically been multi-purpose buildings functioning as community centres, courts of law, and [[Madrasa|religious schools]]. In modern times, they have also preserved their role as places of religious instruction and debate.<ref name=ODI/><ref name=EIMW/> Special importance is accorded to, in descending order of importance: [[Masjid al-Haram|al-Masjid al-Haram]] in the city of Mecca, where [[Hajj]] and [[Umrah]] are performed; the [[Prophet's Mosque]] in the city of [[Medina]], where [[Muhammad]] is buried; and [[al-Aqsa Mosque]] in the city of [[Jerusalem]], where Muslims believe that [[Isra' and Mi'raj|Muhammad ascended to heaven to meet God]] around 621 CE.<ref name=ODI/> There's a growing realization among scholars that the present-day perception of mosques doesn't fully align with their original concept. Early Islamic texts and practices highlight mosques as vibrant centers integral to Muslim communities, supporting religious, social, economic, and political affairs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Utaberta |first1=Nangkula |last2=Asif |first2=Nayeem |last3=Rasdi |first3=Mohd Tajuddin Mohd |last4=Yunos |first4=Mohd Yazid Mohd |last5=Ismail |first5=Nor Atiah |last6=Ismail |first6=Sumarni |date=2015-04-01 |title=The Concept of Mosque Based on Islamic Philosophy: A Review Based on Early Islamic Texts and Practices of the Early Generation of the Muslims. |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=19950756&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA606942034&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |journal=Advances in Environmental Biology |language=English |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=371–375 |access-date=2024-03-03 |archive-date=2024-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224204520/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=19950756&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA606942034&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs |url-status=live }}</ref>

During and after the [[early Muslim conquests]], mosques were established outside of [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] in the hundreds; many [[synagogue]]s, [[Church (building)|churches]], and [[temple]]s were [[Conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques|converted into mosques]] and thus influenced Islamic architectural styles over the centuries.<ref name=EIMW/> While most pre-modern mosques were funded by charitable endowments (''[[waqf]]''),<ref name="ODI" /> the modern-day trend of government regulation of large mosques has been countered by the rise of privately funded mosques, many of which serve as bases for different streams of [[Islamic revival]]ism and social activism.<ref name=EIMW/>