Umayyad Mosque: Great Mosque of Damascus

The Great Mosque of Damascus (the Umayyad Mosque) is the first monumental architectural work in Islamic history; it is the oldest stone mosque that is still standing. The building served as a central rallying point after Mecca to unite Muslims in their faith and conquer to rule the surrounding areas under the Umayyad Caliphate.

The Umayyad Caliphate established Damascus as its capital, paving the way for the city's continued development as a living Arab-Muslim city on which every subsequent dynasty left and continues to leave its mark. The Umayyad Mosque is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world, and the construction of the mosque since its original construction has influenced Islamic architecture with its vitality, structure and details of the ancient culture. The religious significance of the Umayyad Mosque was enhanced by its famous medieval manuscripts and its classification as one of the wonders of the world due to its beauty and the scale of its construction.

Introduction

The Great Mosque of Damascus (the Umayyad Mosque) is the first monumental architectural work in Islamic history; it is the oldest stone mosque that is still standing. The building served as a central rallying point after Mecca to unite Muslims in their faith and conquer to rule the surrounding areas under the Umayyad Caliphate.

The Umayyad Caliphate established Damascus as its capital, paving the way for the city's continued development as a living Arab-Muslim city on which every subsequent dynasty left and continues to leave its mark. The Umayyad Mosque is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world, and the construction of the mosque since its original construction has influenced Islamic architecture with its vitality, structure and details of the ancient culture. The religious significance of the Umayyad Mosque was enhanced by its famous medieval manuscripts and its classification as one of the wonders of the world due to its beauty and the scale of its construction.

Construction history

The site of the Umayyad Mosque houses sacred buildings from thousands of years ago, each of which in each embodiment has been transformed to suit the prevailing faith of the time. The ancient Aramaic temple dedicated to the god Haddad is the oldest layer of architectural use discovered in archaeological expeditions. During the Roman period, it turned into a temple for the god Jupiter, the god of rain for the Romans, and the place became the largest temple in Syria at the time.

In the fourth century, when the Roman Empire converted to Byzantine Christianity, Emperor Theodosius, who ruled between 379 and 395, converted this building into a church. It was later expanded to form St. John's Cathedral located on the west side of the ancient temple. The cathedral became the chair of the second highest bishop of the Patriarchate of Antioch.

Period of the Umayyad Caliphate

The Umayyad dynasty was the caliphate that ruled the Islamic world from 661 to 750 AD and after this dynasty came to power, Damascus became the capital of the Islamic nation. During the reign of the first Umayyad caliph Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, Muslims shared St. John's Church with Christians. Muslims prayed in the eastern part of the temple structure, which was called the chapel, and Christians prayed on the western side. This collective use continued until the reign of Caliph al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik, when prayer space became insufficient either in terms of capacity or the need for an architectural monument to represent the new religion. The caliph negotiated with Christian leaders to seize the place, and in return al-Walid promised Christians that all other churches throughout the city would be safe, with the addition of a new church dedicated to the Virgin Mary to be given to Christians as compensation. Thus, the mosque was built between 705 and 715 by order of Caliph Al-Walid I.

When the project began, all remaining parts of the site from the Roman to Byzantine periods were removed to accommodate an innovative grand mosque planned in accordance with Islamic principles.

The plan of the Umayyad Mosque illustrated the rising political status of the Muslim world as a major world power. Its majestic position has become an Islamic architectural model for mosques being built across all newly constructed lands.

Thousands of workers and artists participated in the construction of the mosque over a period of nine years and the cost of construction was very large, its financing was secured from the spoils of the wars of the Islamic Umayyad nation and from the taxes imposed on the inhabitants of Damascus, and unlike the simpler mosques at that time, the Umayyad Mosque had a large basilica plan with three parallel corridors and a central courtyard perpendicular to lead from the entrance to the mosque to the mihrab:  (second concave in the world) (Place of prayer).

The mosque is known for its rich compositions of marble panels and its extensive gold mosaic of floral motifs, covering about 4,000 square meters (43,000 square feet), and is probably the largest in the world.

Abbasid Caliphate Period

Under Abbasid rule (750–860), new structures were added, including the treasury dome and the bride's minaret, while the Mamluks (1260–1516) made significant restoration efforts and added the Qaitbay minaret. The Umayyad Mosque invented and influenced emerging Islamic architecture, along with other major mosque complexes, including the Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain and the Al-Azhar Mosque in Egypt, based on its model. Although the original structure has been altered several times due to fires, war damage and repairs, it is one of the few mosques that has preserved the same shape and architectural features as its eighth-century construction, as well as its Umayyad character.

Engineering Design

The plan of the mosque consists of a rectangle with dimensions of 97 m × 156 m with a courtyard on the north side wrapped around four edges. Because the sanctuary occupies the southern part of the rectangle, the outer wall has three gates that connect to the city from the north, east and west. The southern outer wall bordering the sanctuary has a door that connects directly to the outside. The rectangular stone nave pavement was repaired throughout the history of the mosque so that the level of the nave was uneven and higher than the original ground. The original Umayyad level has recently been restored with stone paving patterns. The courtyard is interspersed with three main elements: the ablution basin covered with a dome resting on columns, the dome of the treasury on the western side supported by eight Corinthian columns, and the dome of Zine El Abidine on the eastern side, which is also supported by eight columns. Stone columns and buttresses, with one pillar alternating between each two columns, alternate to support the portico surrounding the nave. The double-height portico is asymmetrical throughout the nave as the 1759 earthquake completely destroyed the northern part and then rebuilt without columns with another type of stucco adorning the stronger supporting piers.

Three arcades parallel to the qibla form the inner space of the sanctuary and are supported by two rows of Corinthian stone columns. Each portico consists of two levels, the first with large semi-circular arches and the second with double arches (the same pattern is repeated in the nave portico as well). The three arcades intersect in the middle with a larger and higher portico perpendicular to the qibla wall and opposite the mihrab and minbar. The main octagonal dome, the Eagle Dome, rests on this wide portico and is 36 meters high. This dome has openings and in the eastern part of the sanctuary, between the columns of the portico there is a small classical marble structure that holds the tomb of St. John the Baptist, or as it is known in the Qur'anic tradition of the Prophet Yahya. (The sixth-century Christian tradition developed a connection between the earlier church structure and the Prophet John the Baptist where his head is said to have been buried.) The outer walls of the mosque were built in Roman times when the building served as a temple with four defensive towers built at each corner, but only the two southern towers remained when Alwaleed started his project. These towers were used as foundations for the erection of eastern and western minarets. A third tower minaret was built in the form of a square tower known as the minaret of a bride (minaret of the bride) near the northern gate. The lower part of this minaret remains in its original form; the middle part is an Ayyubid addition built after the fire of 1174. The eastern minaret, the minaret of Jesus (the minaret of Jesus), is also an imitation of different architectural styles that correspond to changing political environments. It has a Mamluk underpass and an Ottoman summit due to its renovation after the 1759 earthquake. The western minaret is most visible with its stone inscriptions and inscriptions restored in 1488 and after the conquest of Timur in 1401.

Two main materials were used for cladding: mosaic mosaic and marble. The mosaic pieces are blended with colored glass particles and glass particles covered with gold and silver leaf as well as pieces of stone and marble between them to create a unique reflective material that shines with its geometric and floral patterns. Mosaics were originally used to cover the upper parts of the walls from the inner and outer sides of the sanctuary, arcades, arches and lower sides of vaults. The painted patterns also formed picturesque paintings symbolizing Damascus' magnificent landscapes, such as the Barada River that flows along the great Umayyad palaces on its banks and fruit tree groves believed to be an imagined view of the sky.

Highly veined marble was used to cladding the lower parts of the walls, as it is a stronger and more durable material than mother-of-pearl mosaics. Marble veins were used to make patterns due to the method of attaching slabs and attaching them to the wall at a height of about 4 meters above the ground.

All that remains of these panels are small holes that mark the place where construction workers fixed them to the wall. There was a highly ornate strip of carved marble separating these two materials on the walls, and the plant-inspired designs were known as the "great golden vines" because of their resemblance to the interlocking vineyards that were common in the classical (Roman and Byzantine) periods. Some parts of this famous band still remain today in the mosque. Additional decoration includes Ottoman blue clay tiles that replaced the missing marble slabs in the nave.

Text engravings filled the gaps between these materials and decorations, and another layer of detail was added to the art walls. Religious verses, dates and dedications to various patrons were also used to restore certain parts of the mosque. The words are written using mosaics in two contrasting colors, the text is usually written in gold script on a royal blue background.

Religious significance

The mosque is the fourth holiest site in Islam. The Christian tradition dating back to the sixth century developed a relationship between the former cathedral structure and John the Baptist. Legend has it that his head was buried there. Ibn al-Faqih recounts that during the construction of the mosque, workers found a cave chapel with a box containing the head of John the Baptist, known to Muslims as Yahya ibn Zakaria. When al-Walid learned of this and examined it, he ordered the head to be buried under a certain pole in the mosque, which was later inlaid with marble.

It holds great significance for Shiite and Sunni Muslims, as this was the destination of the ladies and children of the family of Muhammad, who were forced to walk here from Iraq, after the battle of Karbala. Moreover, the place where they were imprisoned was 60 days. Two shrines commemorating the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad al-Hussein ibn Ali, whose martyrdom is often compared to that of John the Baptist and Jesus, are located inside the buildings.

According to a hadith narrated by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, the Great Mosque of Damascus is the site where Jesus will descend from heaven at his second coming, appearing on the "white minaret." Most Muslim theologians interpret this passage as symbolic rather than literal. In a study of Islamic sources, William Richard Oaks points out that some aspects of this hadith can date back to the late Umayyad period, when the mosque was built, and not to the time of Muhammad, when Damascus was not yet conquered by Muslims.

Conclusion

At the beginning of the eighth century, during his 10-year reign as caliph, al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik addressed the citizens of Damascus:

"People of Damascus, four things you are superior to the rest of the world: your climate, your water, your fruit, your baths. And I wanted to add to these fifth: this mosque.