Editing Minbar

{{short description|Pulpit in a mosque}}
{{about|minbar, a pulpit in the [[mosque]]}}
[[Image:İstanbul 5437.jpg|thumb|[[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-era ''minbar'' of the [[Molla Çelebi Mosque]] in [[Istanbul]].]]A '''minbar''' ({{Langx|ar|منبر}}; sometimes [[romanized]] as '''''mimber''''') is a pulpit in a [[mosque]] where the [[imam]] (leader of [[Salah|prayers]]) stands to deliver sermons ({{lang|ar|خطبة}}, ''[[khutbah]]''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a [[Hussainiya]] where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation.

== Etymology ==
The word is a derivative of the [[Semitic root|Arabic root]] {{lang|ar|ن ب ر}} ''n-b-r'' ("to raise, elevate"); the Arabic plural is '''''manābir''''' ({{langx|ar|مَنابِر}}).<ref name=":5" />

== Function and form ==
The minbar is symbolically the seat of the [[imam]] who leads prayers in the mosque and delivers [[sermon]]s. In the early years of [[History of Islam|Islam]], this seat was reserved for the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] and later for the [[Caliphate|caliphs]] who followed him, each of whom was officially the imam of the whole [[Ummah|Muslim community]]. It eventually became standard for all [[Jama masjid|Friday mosques]] and was used by the local imam, but it retained its significance as a symbol of authority.<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Petersen |first=Andrew |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eIaEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA191 |title=Dictionary of Islamic architecture |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |pages=191–192 |chapter=minbar|isbn=978-1-134-61366-3 }}</ref>

While minbars are roughly similar to [[Pulpit|church pulpits]], they have a function and position more similar to that of a church [[lectern]], being used instead by the imam for a wide range of readings and prayers. The minbar is located to the right of the ''[[mihrab]]'', a niche in the far wall of the mosque that symbolizes the [[direction of prayer]] (i.e. towards [[Mecca]]). It is usually shaped like a small tower with a seat or [[kiosk]]-like structure at its top and a staircase leading up to it. The bottom of the staircase often has a doorway or [[Portal (architecture)|portal]]. In contrast to many Christian pulpits, the steps up to the minbar are usually in a straight line on the same axis as the seat.<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":1" />

In some mosques, there is [[Dikka|an elevated platform]] – {{Transliteration|ar|dikka}} in Arabic or {{Transliteration|tr|müezzin mahfil}} in Turkish – opposite the minbar where the assistant of the imam, the [[muezzin]], stands during prayer. The muezzin recites the answers to the prayers of the imam where applicable.<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |volume=2 |location= |pages=549 |chapter=Mosque |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref>

== Origins ==
[[File:GRAHAM(1887) p183 MIMBAR IN DJAMÄA EL-KEBIR (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The minbar of the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]] in [[Kairouan]], [[Tunisia]], the oldest minbar in existence, still in its original location in the prayer hall of the mosque. (Photograph from the 19th century, before a modern protective glass barrier was installed)]]
The first recorded minbar in the Islamic world was Muhammad's minbar in [[Medina]], created in 629 [[Common Era|CE]]<ref name=":1" /> (or between 628 and 631 CE).<ref name=":242">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/groveencyclopedi0002unse/page/534/mode/2up |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last1=M. Bloom |editor-first1=Jonathan |volume=2 |pages=534–535 |language=en |chapter=Minbar |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref> It consisted simply of two steps and a seat, resembling a [[throne]].<ref name=":1" /> After Muhammad's death, this minbar continued to be used as a symbol of authority by the [[Caliphate|caliphs]] who followed him. The [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] caliph [[Muawiyah I|Mu'awiya I]] ({{Reign|661|680}}) heightened Muhammad's original minbar by increasing the number of steps from three to six, thus increasing its prominence. During the Umayyad period, the minbar was used by the caliphs or their representative governors to make important public announcements and to deliver the Friday sermon (''khutba''). In the last years of the Umayyad Caliphate, before its fall in 750, the Umayyads ordered minbars to be constructed for all the [[Jama masjid|Friday mosques]] of [[Egypt]] and soon afterward this practice was extended to other Muslim territories. By the early [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] period (after 750), it had become standard in Friday mosques across all Muslim communities.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":242" />

Minbars thus quickly developed into a symbol of political and religious legitimacy for Muslim authorities. It was one of the only major formal furnishings of a mosque and was therefore an important architectural feature in itself. More importantly, it was the setting for the weekly Friday sermon which, notably, usually mentioned the name of the current Muslim ruler over the community and included other public announcements of a religious or political nature.<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonathan |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/the_minbar_from_the_kutubiyya_mosque |title=The Minbar from the Kutubiyya Mosque |last2=Toufiq |first2=Ahmed |last3=Carboni |first3=Stefano |last4=Soultanian |first4=Jack |last5=Wilmering |first5=Antoine M. |last6=Minor |first6=Mark D. |last7=Zawacki |first7=Andrew |last8=Hbibi |first8=El Mostafa |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Ediciones El Viso, S.A., Madrid; Ministère des Affaires Culturelles, Royaume du Maroc |year=1998}}</ref> As a result, later Muslim rulers sometimes invested considerable expense in commissioning richly-decorated minbars for the main mosques of their major cities.

The oldest Islamic pulpit in the world to be preserved up to the present day is the minbar of the [[Mosque of Uqba|Great Mosque of Kairouan]] in [[Kairouan]], [[Tunisia]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ixCyd2lByggC&dq=oldest+minbar+kairouan&pg=PA345 Muḥammad ʻAdnān Bakhīt, ''History of humanity'', UNESCO, 2000, page 345]</ref><ref name=":242" /> It dates from around 860 or 862 CE, under the tenure of the [[Aghlabids|Aghlabid]] governor [[Abu Ibrahim Ahmad ibn Muhammad|Abu Ibrahim Ahmad]], and was imported in whole or in part from [[Baghdad]]. It is an eleven-step staircase made of over 300 sculpted pieces of [[teak]] wood (a material imported from [[India]]). Thanks to its age and the richness of its decoration, it is considered an important piece of historic [[Islamic art]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Qantara - Minbar of the Great Mosque of Kairouan|url=http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=640&lang=en|website=www.qantara-med.org| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727191854/http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=640&lang=en | archive-date=2011-07-27 }}</ref><ref name=":242" />

== Wood minbars ==
[[File:16-03-31-Hebron-Altstadt-RalfR-WAT 5740 (retouched).jpg|thumb|The [[Minbar of the Ibrahimi Mosque|Fatimid minbar]] in the [[Ibrahimi Mosque]] in [[Hebron]], commissioned in 1091]]
[[Woodworking|Woodwork]] was the primary medium for the construction of minbars in much of the [[Middle East]] and [[North Africa]] up until the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] period.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":242" /> These wooden minbars were in many cases very intricately decorated with [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric patterns]] and carved [[arabesque]]s (vegetal and floral motifs), as well as with Arabic [[Islamic calligraphy|calligraphic]] inscriptions (often recording the minbar's creation or including [[Quran|Qur'anic]] verses). In some cases they also featured delicate [[inlay]] work with [[ivory]] or [[Nacre|mother-of-pearl]]. Many workshops created minbars that were assembled from hundreds of pieces held together using an interlocking technique and wooden pegs, but without glue or metal nails.<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":0" />

=== Levant and Egypt ===
[[File:El Aksa (i.e., al-Aqsa) Mosque. Cedar pulpit & mihrab LOC matpc.03246 (cropped and retouched).jpg|thumb|The [[Minbar of the al-Aqsa Mosque|Minbar of Saladin]] in the [[Qibli Mosque|al-Aqsa mosque]], [[Jerusalem]] (photograph from 1930s). The ''minbar'' was built in wood and commissioned by [[Nur ad-Din Zangi|Nur al-Din]] in 1168-69, then installed in the mosque by [[Saladin]] in 1187.|left]]
Some of the best-documented minbars are those produced in the [[Levant]] and Egypt from the 11th to 15th centuries.<ref name=":2422">{{cite book |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last1=M. Bloom |editor-first1=Jonathan |chapter=Minbar |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref> The oldest surviving example is the [[Minbar of the Ibrahimi Mosque]] in [[Hebron]], commissioned in 1091 under the [[Fatimids]], originally for a [[Shrine of Husayn's Head|shrine in Ascalon]]. It features decoration in geometric [[strapwork]] motifs and Arabic inscriptions.<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":3">{{cite web |last=al-Natsheh |first=Yusuf |title=Haram al-Ibrahimi |url=http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;isl;pa;mon01;13;en |access-date=October 18, 2020 |website=Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers}}</ref> Among the most famous minbars was the [[Minbar of the al-Aqsa Mosque]] (also known as the Minbar of [[Saladin]]) in [[Jerusalem]], commissioned in 1168-69 by [[Nur ad-Din (died 1174)|Nur ad-Din]] and signed by four different craftsmen.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":242" /> Prior to its [[Al-Aqsa mosque fire|destruction by arson]] in 1969, it was the most accomplished surviving example of Syrian craftsmanship in this woodworking tradition. Its sides were decorated with a [[tracery]]-like geometric pattern whose pieces were filled with carved arabesques. Its balustrades were made of [[Woodturning|turned wood]] assembled into a grille with more geometric designs, framed by Arabic inscriptions. Both the portal at the bottom and the kiosk-canopy at the top were crowned with ''[[muqarnas]]''.<ref name=":242" />

[[File:Barsbay_complex_minbar3.jpg|thumb|Details of geometric motifs and inlay work on the [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]]-era Minbar of al-Ghamri ({{Circa|1451}}) at the [[Khanqah-Mausoleum of Sultan Barsbay|Khanqah of Sultan Barsbay]], Cairo]]
In [[Mamluk Egypt]] (13th–16th centuries), minbars were crafted following the earlier Syrian tradition. Their decoration is distinguished by the use of bone, ivory, ebony, or  mother-of-pearl inlaid into the wood. The geometric patterning of the decoration is further elaborated, using multi-pointed stars whose lines are extended into a wider complex pattern, with arabesques carved inside the various polygons. The canopy at the summit of the minbar was usually topped by a bulbous finial similar to those at the top of minarets.<ref name=":242" /> Among the most notable examples is the minbar of the [[Mosque of Salih Tala'i]], dated to 1300, which is also one of the earliest surviving minbars of this period.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Caroline |title=Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2018 |isbn= |edition=7th |location=Cairo |pages=126}}</ref><ref name=":242" /> Another significant example is the minbar in the [[Mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad]], from between 1415 and 1420.<ref name=":242" /> One of the finest minbars of the period is the Minbar of al-Ghamri (circa 1451), currently housed in the [[Khanqah-Mausoleum of Sultan Barsbay|Khanqah of Sultan Barsbay]].<ref name=":02">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Caroline |title=Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2018 |edition=7th |location=Cairo |pages=286}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Behrens-Abouseif |first=Doris |date=2011 |title=Craftsmen, upstarts and Sufis in the late Mamluk period |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=74 |issue=3 |pages=375–395 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X11000796}}</ref> This minbar takes the design of decorative geometric patterns slightly further by using curved lines instead of the usual straight lines to form its polygons.<ref name=":12">{{cite book |last=O'Kane |first=Bernard |title=The Mosques of Egypt |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2016 |location=Cairo |pages=181 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Maghreb ===
In the [[Maghreb]], a number of wooden minbars have been preserved from the 10th to 15th centuries.<ref name=":242" /> The [[Great Mosque of Cordoba]] (in present-day Spain) hosted a famous minbar fabricated circa 975 on the orders of [[al-Hakam II]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=50–51}} It has not survived to the present day, but it was probably emulated by the later minbars in the Maghreb that have been preserved.<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=|page=51}}

Among the oldest surviving examples in the Maghreb, after the minbar of Kairouan, is the minbar of the [[Mosque of the Andalusians]] in Fez, which was originally constructed in 980 and is partly preserved today. Its original woodwork is carved with geometric motifs that appear inspired by those of the minbar in Kairouan. When the minbar was modified in 985, some panels were replaced with panels of turned wood using a [[Bow drill|bow-drill]] technique. This is one of the earliest examples of this woodworking technique, which later became common in the fabrication of [[Mashrabiya|''mashrabiyya''s]] (wooden screens and balconies).<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=|pages=47, 51–52}}

The next oldest Maghrebi minbar to survive is that of the [[Great Mosque of Nedroma]], dated to around 1086, but only some fragments of its original structure remain. The minbar of the [[Great Mosque of Algiers (11th-century)|Great Mosque of Algiers]], dated to around 1097, is more substantially preserved and resembles the presumed form of the Cordoba minbar. Its sides are decorated with square panels of vegetal and sometimes geometric motifs.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=52–53}}

{{Multiple image
| image1            = المنبر المرابطي 21 44 51 006000 (retouched).jpg
| image2            = المنبر المرابطي 21 44 14 447000.jpeg
| footer            = [[Minbar of the Kutubiyya Mosque|Almoravid Minbar]] in Marrakesh, commissioned in 1137, now at the [[El Badi Palace|Badi Palace Museum]]. Its surfaces are decorated with a mix of [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric]] and [[arabesque]] motifs in [[marquetry]], [[inlay]], and [[Wood carving|carving]].
| total_width       = 350
}}
The most important surviving minbar of this artistic tradition is the [[Minbar of the Kutubiyya Mosque|Almoravid minbar]] in [[Marrakesh]], commissioned in 1137 by [[Ali ibn Yusuf]] and completed around 1145.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=|pages=21, 53}}<ref name=":242" /> During the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad]] period later that century, it was moved to the [[Kutubiyya Mosque]] in the same city. It is housed today in the [[El Badi Palace|Badi Palace Museum]]. The richly-crafted minbar was fabricated in Cordoba and may thus provide some hint of the former style and craftsmanship of the Cordoba minbar,<ref name=":242" /> in addition to its other structural similarities.<ref name=":0" /> The decoration of this minbar, however, is more extravagant and sophisticated than any other surviving examples.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=52–53}} It combines geometric and arabesque motifs executed in a mix of [[marquetry]], [[inlay]], and [[wood carving]].<ref name=":0" />

The only other minbar approaching, but not quite matching, the quality of the Almoravid minbar in Marrakesh is the minbar of the [[University of al-Qarawiyyin|Qarawiyyin Mosque]], also commissioned by Ali ibn Yusuf and completed in 1144.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain |title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1992 |isbn=0870996371 |editor-last=Dodds |editor-first=Jerrilynn D. |location=New York |pages=364 |language=en |chapter=}}</ref><ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=57}} The other notable minbars produced after this, mostly found in present-day Morocco, generally imitate the style of the earlier Almoravid minbar.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=60}} These later minbars include the minbar of the [[Kasbah Mosque, Marrakesh|Kasbah Mosque]] in Marrakesh (circa 1189–1195), the minbar of the Mosque of the Andalusians following its Almohad renovation (circa 1203–1209), the minbar of the [[Great Mosque of Fes el-Jdid]] (circa 1276), the minbar of the [[Great Mosque of Taza]] (circa 1290–1300), and the minbar of the [[Bou Inania Madrasa]] in Fez (between 1350 and 1355). Even the much later minbar of the [[Mouassine Mosque]] in Marrakesh (between 1562 and 1573) continues to show imitations of the same tradition.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=58–62}}

=== Iran ===
[[File:Jāmeh Mosque of Nā'īn-Mehrab-01.jpg|thumb|[[Ilkhanate|Ilkhanid]]-era minbar in the [[Great Mosque of Na'in]] in Iran (1311)]] 
Iranian minbars typically have no canopy or dome at the top, distinguishing them from minbars in other regions.<ref name=":242" /> In [[Greater Iran|Iran]], [[Mesopotamia|Mesopotomia]], and [[Anatolia]], some wooden minbars preserved from the 11th and 12th centuries are carved with vegetal [[Abbasid architecture#Decoration|beveled-style]] motifs.<ref name=":242" /> Most other early minbars in Iran and Afghanistan were destroyed during the [[Mongol invasion of Persia and Mesopotamia|Mongol invasions]] of the 13th century.<ref name=":1" />

The most significant minbars preserved from the [[Ilkhanate|Ilkhanid]] period (13th–14th centuries) include those in the [[Jameh Mosque of Nain|Great Mosque of Na'in]] (1311) and in the prayer hall added by [[Öljaitü|Uljaytu]] to the [[Great Mosque of Isfahan]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Sheila S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mhIgewDtNkC&pg=PA24 |title=The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 |last2=Bloom |first2=Jonathan M. |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-300-06465-0 |pages=24 |language=en}}</ref> Both are wooden structures, with the former's flanks decorated by rectangular panels with beveled motifs and the latter's flanks decorated by octagonal geometric motifs. The minbar in Na'in is also one of the few Iranian minbars topped by a canopy.<ref name=":2" />

From the subsequent [[Timurid Empire|Timurid]] period, the most important example is the minbar of the [[Goharshad Mosque|Mosque of Gowhar Shad]] in [[Mashhad]], fabricated between 1336 and 1446.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5">{{Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|pages=73–80|volume=7|article=Minbar|last1=Pedersen|first1=J.|last2=Golmohammadi|first2=J.|last3=Burton-Page|first3=J.|last4=Freeman-Grenville|first4=G.S.P.}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=O'Kane |first=Bernard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQ_qAAAAMAAJ&q=minbar+mashhad+timurid |title=Timurid Architecture in Khurasan |date=1987 |publisher=Mazdâ Publishers |isbn=978-0-939214-35-8 |pages=127 |language=en}}</ref> It shares the overall form of the minbar in Na'in<ref name=":6" /> and, like the latter, it also stands apart from other Iranian minbars in having a canopy.<ref name=":5" /> Its decoration is distinguished by a carpet-like geometric pattern filled with carvings of tendrils.<ref name=":5" />

== Stone minbars ==
In the central Islamic lands, stone or marble minbars were occasionally produced at an early period, as with some examples in Mamluk Cairo, but they are generally characteristic of the later Ottoman period. Compared to the earlier traditions of wooden minbars, stone minbars were often simpler in their decoration.<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":1" />

=== Mamluk period ===
[[File:Aqsunqur Mosque DSCF9712.jpg|thumb|Marble minbar of the Mamluk-era [[Aqsunqur Mosque]] in Cairo (circa 1347)]]One of the few early marble minbars of Mamluk Cairo is found in the [[Aqsunqur Mosque]] in [[Cairo]] (circa 1347). Its marble surfaces are decorated with other stone materials of different colors inside an interlacing pattern formed by bands of marble.<ref name=":032">{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Caroline |title=Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2018 |isbn= |edition=7th |location=Cairo |pages=103–104 |language=en}}</ref> A marble minbar was also constructed for the earlier [[Mosque of Ulmas al-Hajib]] (1329–1330). Only fragments of it have been preserved (kept at the [[Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo|Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo]]), but they attest to some of the highest-quality stonework from the Mamluk period.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=O'Kane |first=Bernard |title=The Mosques of Egypt |publisher=American University of Cairo Press |year=2016 |isbn=9789774167324 |pages=92–95 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=O'Kane |first1=Bernard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ER5cBgAAQBAJ |title=The Illustrated Guide to the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo |last2=Abbas |first2=Mohamed |last3=Abdulfattah |first3=Iman |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-977-416-338-8 |pages=324 |language=en}}</ref> The stone minbar of the [[Mosque of Sultan Hasan]] in Cairo (circa 1360) is relatively plain, though it has unusually ornate bronze doors.<ref name=":242" /> In the next century, Sultan [[Qaytbay]] gifted a stone minbar to the [[Khanqah of Faraj ibn Barquq]] in 1483. This one is covered with geometric motifs carved to resemble the traditional style of wooden minbars.<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Caroline |title=Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2018 |edition=7th |location=Cairo |pages=281–283 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Ottoman period ===
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Selimiye minbar DSCF5723.jpg
| image2            = Selimiye minbar DSCF3190.jpg
| footer            = [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-era minbar of the [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in [[Edirne]] (circa 1574). This marble minbar is pierced with geometric [[openwork]] and has a typical Ottoman conical cap.
| total_width       = 350
}}
Ottoman minbars are distinguished in part by the shape of their canopy, where the traditional small dome is replaced with a tall, polygonal cone similar to the caps of Ottoman minarets.<ref name=":242" /> An exceptional early minbar is that of the Ahmed Pasha Mosque in [[Amasya]], which has extensive finely-carved floral decoration.<ref name=":5" /> In the finest Ottoman minbars, the main flanks are pierced with geometric [[openwork]] and [[Arcade (architecture)|arcades]]. The apogee of this style is exemplified by the minbar of the [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in [[Edirne]] (circa 1574).<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":1" /> The conical cap of this minbar is also covered with decorative tiles, a feature shared with the slightly earlier minbar of the [[Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque, Kadırga|Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque]].<ref name=":5" /> In later centuries, following the introduction of the [[Ottoman Baroque style]], minbars were carved with [[Eclecticism in architecture|eclectic]] motifs inspired by the [[Baroque architecture|European Baroque]].<ref name=":242" />

=== Indian subcontinent ===
[[File:Jami Masjid, Mandu - minbar 01.jpg|left|thumb|Minbar of the [[Jama Masjid, Mandu|Friday Mosque]] in [[Mandu, Madhya Pradesh|Mandu]], [[India]] (circa 1454)]]
Minbars were highly variable in style and size on the [[Indian subcontinent]], but stone was the favoured material throughout the region. Wooden minbars may have been employed in earlier periods, but few or none have been preserved.<ref name=":242" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /> Some of the minbars are merely a series of simple steps while others are very elaborate.<ref name=":5" />

Among other variations, the minbars of the [[Bengal Sultanate]] and the [[Gujarat Sultanate]] typically have canopies, while those of the [[Jaunpur Sultanate]] and [[Mughal Empire]] usually do not. One of the most elegant examples of the canopied type is the minbar in the [[Jama Masjid, Mandu|Friday Mosque]] of [[Mandukya Upanishad|Mandu]] in the [[Malwa]] region, dated to 1454, which has a dome in the local style upheld by curving [[Bracket (architecture)|brackets]].<ref name=":5" /> In both the [[Gujarat]] and Malwa regions, the first step of the minbar is often preceded by a small square platform whose original purpose is unclear.<ref name=":5" />

[[File:Delhi Freitagsmoschee - Minbar.jpg|thumb|The [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]]-era minbar of the [[Jama Masjid, Delhi|Friday Mosque]] in [[Delhi]] (17th century) is an example of a minbar without a canopy.]]
In the [[Deccan sultanates|Deccan]], the minbar is usually a plain staircase of three steps. In the Mughal Empire, some minbars also had a simple design form with three steps, but they sometimes had flourishes such as a highly-polished or inlaid marble finish (especially under [[Shah Jahan]]) or a pierced stone balustrade.<ref name=":5" />

== See also ==

* [[Bema]]

== References ==
<references/>

==Further reading==
{{Commons category|Minbars}}

* Pedersen, J.; Golmohammadi, J.; Burton-Page, J.; Freeman-Grenville, G.S.P. (2012). "Minbar". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition''. Brill.
* Bloom, Jonathan; Toufiq, Ahmed; Carboni, Stefano; Soultanian, Jack; Wilmering, Antoine M.; Minor, Mark D.; Zawacki, Andrew; Hbibi, El Mostafa (1998). ''The Minbar from the Kutubiyya Mosque''. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Ediciones El Viso, S.A., Madrid; Ministère des Affaires Culturelles, Royaume du Maroc.
* Lynette Singer (2008). ''The Minbar of Saladin. Reconstructing a Jewel of Islamic Art''. (London: Thames & Hudson).

{{Islamic architecture}}
{{Islamic art}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Minbars| ]]
[[Category:Islamic architectural elements]]
[[Category:Mosque architecture]]
[[Category:Pulpits]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]
[[Category:Religious furniture]]