Editing Qutb Minar complex (section)

== Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque==
[[File:Quwwat-al-Islam Mosque, Delhi.jpg|thumb|Quwwat-ul-Islam (or Might of Islam) mosque started in 1193 CE by Qutb-ud-din-Aibak to mark his victory over the Rajputs]]

The Quwwat-ul-Islam ({{Langx|ar|قوة الإسلام|lit=Might of Islam}}) mosque, also known as the ''Qutub Mosque'' or the ''Great Mosque of Delhi,'' was commissioned by [[Qutb-ud-din Aibak]], founder of the [[Mamluk]] or [[Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)|Slave dynasty]] and built using [[spolia]] from 27 temples.<ref>''Southern Central Asia'', A.H. Dani, '''History of Civilizations of Central Asia''', Vol.4, Part 2, Ed. Clifford Edmund Bosworth, M.S.Asimov, (Motilal Banarsidass, 2000), 568.</ref> It was built near the site of a pre-demolished large temple located in the centre of a citadel.<ref name="Brown2013">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCF9CgAAQBAJ|title=Indian Architecture (The Islamic Period)|last=Brown|first=Percy|year=1940|isbn=978-1-4474-9482-9|pages=39|publisher=Read Books |author-link=Percy Brown (art historian)}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text='The conqueror entered the city and its vicinity was freed from idols and idol-worship; and in the sanctuaries of the images of the gods, mosques were raised by the worshippers of the one God.'|sign=Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak's chronicler, Hasan Nizami|source=Taj-ul-Maasir<ref name=":0" />}}

It was the first mosque built in Delhi after the Islamic conquest of India and the oldest surviving example of [[Ghurids]] architecture in [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name="sha">{{cite book |title=A History of Muslim Philosophy: With Short Accounts of Other Disciplines and the Modern Renaissance in Muslim Lands |last=Sharif |first= Mian Mohammad |year=1963 |publisher=Harrassowitz |page=1098 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmuslimp0001shar|url-access=registration}}</ref> The construction of this [[Jami Masjid]] ([[congregational mosque]]), started in the year 1193 AD, when Aibak was the commander of [[Muhammad Ghori]]'s [[garrison]] that occupied Delhi. To leave the imprint of his religion to the new territory, Aibak decided to erect a mosque epitomising the might of Islam and chose his site, the heart of the captured Rajput citadel of [[Qila Rai Pithora]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nF9uAAAAMAAJ |title=Qutab Minar & Adjoining Monuments |date=2002 |publisher=Archaeological Survey of India |isbn=9788187780076 |pages=34 |language=en}}</ref> The [[Qutub Minar]] was built simultaneously with the mosque but appears to be a stand-alone structure, built as the '[[Minaret|Minar]] of Jami Masjid', for the [[muezzin]] to perform [[adhan]], call for prayer, and also as a ''[[qutub]]'', an Axis or Pole of [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Islamic culture, Volume 49 |last=William Pickthall |first=Marmaduke |author2=Muhammad Asad |year=1975 |publisher=Islamic Culture Board |page=50}}</ref> It is reminiscent in style and design of the ''[[Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra|Adhai-din-ka Jhonpra]]'' or Ajmer mosque at [[Ajmer]], Rajasthan, also built by Aibak during the same time, also constructed by demolishing earlier temples and a Sanskrit school, at the site.<ref>[http://www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=7605 Adhai-din-ka Jhonpra Mosque] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214044938/http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=7605 |date=14 December 2010 }} archnet.org.</ref>

[[File:Intricate stone carvings in the cloister of Quwwat ul-Islam mosque, near Qutub Minar.jpg|left|thumb|Intricate stone carvings on the [[cloister]] columns at Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque, Qutb complex, Delhi – Hindu pillars sporting Hindu iconography<ref name=":0" />]]
Of the site selected by Aibak for the construction of a mosque, [[Ibn Battuta]], the 14th century Arab traveller, says, before the taking of Delhi it had been a [[Hindu temple]], which the Hindus called ''elbut-khana'', but after that event it was used as a mosque'.<ref name=":0" /> [[Archaeological Survey of India]] states that the mosque was raised over the remains of a temple and, in addition, it was also constructed from materials taken from other demolished temples, a fact recorded on the main eastern entrance.<ref name=":0" /> According to a [[Persian language|Persian]] inscription still on the inner eastern gateway, the mosque was built by the parts taken by destruction of twenty-seven [[Hindu temple]]s<ref name=gov /><ref name=":0" /><ref name="World Heritage Monuments">{{cite book |author1=Ali Javid |author2=ʻAlī Jāvīd |author3=Tabassum Javed |title=World Heritage Monuments and Related Edifices in India |pages=14,263 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54XBlIF9LFgC&q=minar |access-date=26 May 2009 |isbn=9780875864846 |year=2008|publisher=Algora }}</ref><ref name="Jami Masjid p. 13" /> [[Nattal Sahu|built previously]] during the reigns of the [[Tomara dynasty|Tomaras]] and [[Prithviraj Chauhan]], and leaving certain parts of the temple outside the mosque proper.<ref name="Hai">Maulana Hakim Saiyid Abdul Hai "Hindustan Islami Ahad Mein" (Hindustan under Islamic rule), Eng Trans by Maulana Abdul Hasan Nadwi</ref> Historical records compiled by Muslim historian Maulana Hakim Saiyid Abdul Hai attest to the iconoclasm of Qutb-ud-din Aibak. This pattern of iconoclasm was common during his reign.<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routes/1200_1299/index_1200_1299.html Index_1200-1299: Qutb ud-Din Aibak and the Qubbat ul-Islam mosque][[Columbia University]]</ref> Some medieval Muslim historians and travellers often ascribed the construction of the complex to [[Mamluk Dynasty (Delhi)|Mamluk]] Sultan [[Iltutmish]], rather than to Qutb ud-Din Aibak as is commonly accepted.<ref>{{cite web |title=Untold story of the Qutub Minar |url=https://vikramjits.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/untold-story-of-the-qutub-minar/ |author=Vikramjit Singh Rooprai |date=14 November 2012 |access-date=18 May 2015}}</ref> Ibn Batuta also states that near the eastern gate of the mosque were two very big idols of copper connected together by stones. Every one who left the mosque treaded over them.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rizvi |title=Tughlaq Kalin Bharat |volume=I |page=175}}</ref>

The mosque is one of the earliest extant mosques in India. The original dimensions of the mosque had a courtyard measuring {{convert|43| m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|33| m|ft|abbr=on}}. The prayer hall, located on the west measures {{convert|45| m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|12| m|ft|abbr=on}}. The mosque has grey colonnades made of greystone with three bays in east and two bays deep on the north and the south. Extensions were made to the mosque during 1296 when its dimensions in north and south were extended by {{convert|35| m|ft|abbr=on}}. The famous iron pillar is located on the stone pavement in front of it, while [[Qutub Minar]] is located west of the main entrance. The central arch of the mosque is ogee in shape and is {{convert|6.5| m|ft|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|16| m|ft|abbr=on}} tall. The side arches are smaller in size. The screen is sculpted with religious texts and floral patterns. Desai believes that the mosque was not constructed in scientific style but in Corbel style as indicated by the variations in the pattern of the arches.<ref name=Desai>{{cite book|title=Mosques of India|last=Desai|first=Ziyaud-Din|isbn=81-230-1001-X|year=2003|edition=5th|publisher=The Director of Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India|location=New Delhi|pages=20–21}}</ref>

The mosque is built on a raised and paved courtyard, measuring {{convert|141|ft|m|abbr=on}} × {{convert|105|ft|m|abbr=on}}, surrounded by pillared [[cloister]]s added by Iltutmish between 1210 and 1220 AD. The stone screen between prayer hall and the courtyard, stood 16 mt at its highest was added in 1196 AD, the corbelled arches had Arabic inscriptions and motifs.<ref name=her /> Entrances to the courtyard, also uses ornate ''[[mandap]]'' dome from temples, whose pillars are used extensively throughout the edifice, and in the sanctuary beyond the tall arched screens. What survives today of the sanctuary on the western side are the arched screens in between, which once led to a series of aisles with low-domed ceilings for worshippers.<ref name=sha /> Expansion of the mosque continued after the death of Qutb. Qutbuddin's successor [[Iltutmish]], extended the original prayer hall screen by three more arches. By the time of Iltutmish, the Mamluk empire had stabilised enough that the Sultan could replace most of his conscripted Hindu masons with Muslims. This explains why the arches added under Iltutmish are stylistically more Islamic than the ones erected under Qutb's rule, also because the material used was not from demolished temples. Some additions to the mosque were also done by [[Alauddin Khalji]], including the Alai Darwaza, the formal entrance to the mosque in red sandstone and white marble, and a court to the east of the mosque in 1300 AD.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}

The mosque is in ruins today but indigenous [[Corbel arch|corbelled arches]], floral [[Motif (art)|motifs]], and geometric patterns can be seen among the Islamic architectural structures.<ref>QutubMinarDelhi.com. [http://qutubminardelhi.com/quwwat-ul-islam-mosque/ "Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725164517/http://qutubminardelhi.com/quwwat-ul-islam-mosque/ |date=25 July 2015}}. Retrieved 5 August 2015.</ref> To the west of the Quwwat ul-Islam mosque is the tomb of [[Iltutmish]] which was built by the monarch in 1235.