islamic urbanism principles

7/27/2019 Islamic Urbanism Principles

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PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT

WHAT ARE THE FUNDEMENTALS??????


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ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION

PROPHET

THE FORTH CALIPH (632-661)

THE UMAYYAD (661 - 750)

THE FATIMIDS(909-1071)

THE ABBASID (750 - 1258)

THE SPANISH UMMAYYAD (756 - 1031)

THE OTTOMAN(1342-1924)


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Spain North

Africa

Egypt Syria Arabia Yemen Turkey Bagh-

dad

Iraq Iran Trans-

Oxania

Afgha

nistan

India

AD

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

Byzantines

UMAYYADS 661-750

Damascus

UMAYYADS

756 -1031

Cordova

NASRIDS

1230-1492

Granada

ABBASIDS 749-1258

Baghdad

IDRISIDS

789-926

Fez

AGHLABIDS

800-900

Qairawan TULUNIDS 868-905 Cairo

Almoravids1056-1147

Marakesh, Seville

Almohads

1130-1269

Marakesh, Seville

Hafsids

1228-1574

Tunis

Zengids

1127-1222

Aleppo

FATIMIDS

969-1171

Cairo

AYYUBIDS

1171-1250

Cairo Damascuss

MAMLUKS

1250-1517

Cairo, Damascuss

RASULIDS

1229-1454

Taizz

OTTOMANS

1290-1924

Busra, Edrine, IstanbulOTTOMANS

1290-1924

Busra, Edrine, Istanbul

ZAYDI

IMAMS

UMAYYADS 661-750

Damascus

ABBASIDS

749-1258

Baghdad

BUYIDS

932-1062

Baghdad, Siraz

SAMANIDS

819-1005

Bukhara

GHAZNAVIDS

962-1186

Ghazni

SELJUKS 1038-1194

Baghdad

IL-KHANIDS (MONGOLA)

1256-1353

Sultaniyya, Tabriz)

TURCOMANS

1378-1601

Tabriz

TIMURIDS

1370-1506

Samarkand, Herat

SAFAVIDS

1501-1772

Busra, Edrine, Istanbul

MUGHALS

1526-1858

Delhi, Agra

QAJARS

1779-1924

Tehran

GHURIDS 1148-1215 Ghazni

SELJUKS OF

RUM

MOSUL

CRUSADERS in Jurusalem

1099 -1187

Himyarites Sasanians

THE FOURTH CALIPH 632-661 THE FOURTH CALIPH 632-661


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WHY?????

ISLAM ENCOURAGE URBANISATION PROCESSAND THE ISLAMIC CITY PLAY ROLE AS CENTRE

FOR

DAWAH ISLAMIYYAH


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FUNDEMENTAL

MAN

ALLAH SWT

MAN ENVIRONMENT


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THREE FUNDEMENTAL IMAGES

Dar al-ImanCity as a community of

believer whose

individual and

community are to live in

the framework of Islamic

belief


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Dar al-QuranCity as a medium of

quranic guidance

(Hidayah): The quran as

knowledge (ilm) that

structures the reality of

existence.


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Dar as-Sunnah City as a crucible forrealising the prophetic

model as the individual

(uswah) as well as the

collective model


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ATTRIBUTE OF ISLAMIC CITY

(1) City of divine

trusteeship

(AMANAH)

Islamic City is a microcosm created by man in

the fashion of God's creation of the world.There is individual freedom contained byresponsibility to the collective (Ummah),there is trust with answerability to God. TheIslamic city is a representative outpost ofGod's scheme that is man watching his affairsunder the title of trusteeship (Khilafat) ofGod. In Islamic City the criterion for right

and wrong is not from man but from God andthere is little room for the arrogance ofsecular humanism.


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(2) City of Law

Islamic environment is to provide the supportstructure for Shariah and in turn be formedby it. There is to be a delicate equilibriumbetween the rights of the collective againstthose of the individual such that one is notantagonistic to the other. Such anenvironment will provide security andprotection not so much by imposed controls

as by social responsibility and mutualaccountability.


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(3) City of

Justice

An environment that both by its morphology andits institutions establishes egalitarianism withoutimposing grey uniformity. An environmentthat breaks down class structures withoutdestroying natural hierarchies sanctioned byethical tradition. Such an environment encouragesselfhood without selfishness and pride withoutconceit. No wrongs are done, no rights are curbed

and no lies are told - in social, intellectual as well asphysical realms. There is no tyranny in eitherthought or deed.


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ATTRIBUTE OF ISLAMIC CITY(4) City of

Causality and

accountability

An environment that instigates and nurtures the attitudethat every act has consequences which must always bepartitioned as beneficial or harmful. In Islamic frameworkit is rare to find a benign act. The individual as well as thecollective are to concern themselves continuously withwhether what they do is beneficial in the short term andharmful in the long term or beneficial to an individual butharmful, to society or nature. When citizens think of causesand effects, acts and consequences, benefits and harms itbecomes an environment of responsibility andaccountability to self and to God.


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(5) City of

Purpose

The city is to be like a human body - millions of tiny partsbound together fn one cooperative purpose. There is a civicsense of unity in purpose but diversity in processes. Opposingtrends in various processes, for example housing andcommerce, are to seek a balance and not to pursue selfishdomination of one over the others. Cancer cells are fearfulexamples of selfishness: they grow with abject ruthlessnessuntil they destroy their host body and thus commit suicide.

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Islamic environment is to take all measures to prevent suchenvironmental, economic, social or architectural cancers.Such environment is internally cooperative and synergeticand thus its reality goes beyond the sum of its physical parts.


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(6) City of care

Islamic environment which is created by collectivevision and individual effort is to always serve as aplace of rest, refuge, care and protection for thosewho are less fortunate or handicapped. It is acollective duty of the able to care for the disabled,

for the knowledgeable to guide the ignorant and forthe strong to protect the weak. Public welfare andsocial institutions, though being a natural part ofthe Islamic milieu, are to be such that they do notstart a cult of dependence.


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(6) City of Life

and Energy

An environment that is ascending and progressive in the sense that itis always struggling towards its ideal of being a City of God. Apurposeful environment that becomes a means of implementingIslam's inwardly consolidating and outwardly expressive energy.Such an environment is responsive to internal feedback of thecitizenry, adaptive to cultural change but resistant to compromise at

the level of fundamental principles.


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(7) City of

ecological

harmonyAn environment that is in a symbiotic, mutually enhancingrelationship with nature. Key values are to conserve not waste; toseek enhancement of the art of life rather than the entropicdecay; to seek the ideal that every short-term consumption leadsto long-term rejuvenation or creation of new resources; to changethe attitude from the survival of the fittest to the survival of themost beneficial. It is an environment that puts great v'alue on

physical and mental health. But more than anything else itnurtures the attitude that every situation of apparent conflictbetween man and nature is an opportunity to design such that thesolution is of benefit to both man and nature.


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ATTRIBUTE OF ISLAMIC CITY(8) City ofknowledge

It is important to recognise that environment can excite the state,of wonder, it can spark novel images and constructs, it can provide

clues and answers and it can intrigue one to search forever - anexcellent teacher indeed. As the Prophet likened himself to the Cityof Knowledge (Madina-tul-i l m), we get the most complete image ofthe ideal Islamic environment as a source book, a fountainhead ofman's perennial thirst for knowledge. '

The Islamic environment will be a fertile ground for scientificinquiry and technological development. Unlike its secular,materialistic counterpart it will distinguish itself by its value

orientation. The pursuit of knowledge in such an environment willenhance the belief in God's Divine Schema rather than weaken it.There will be little risk of setting the `student' on a regressive pathof agnosticism and atheism that eventually leads to a society ofscientific absolutism whereby eventually man considers himself tobe sole master of his destiny.


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(9) City of

simplicity,

humility, piety An environment that values simplicity as economy of

means towards generosity of ends. That stressesavoidance of arrogance and extravagance andencourages graciousness and sensitivity. Anenvironment that creates a sense of place which, thoughbeing of this realm, is continuously indicative ofresponsibility towards the hereafter throughhighlighting our duties to God and fellow man. The builtform celebrates the rituals of man's subservience to God

and supports the social acts of service to the fellow man.It is an environment where a mosque, a madrassah, apublic bath and a garden can exist in harmony and all besupported by the bazaar.


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ATTRIBUTE OF ISLAMIC CITY10) City of

beauty

Islamic environment is the medium of beauty arrangedby man and presented as an offering to the One andOnly God Who wills all that is beautiful. It is beauty asthe Perfection of an Idea and therefore the ultimateformative value in any human endeavour; a sense of

order that inspires aesthetic response; a beauty that ishidden, elusive, transcendental - a beauty beyond oursense-bound and fashion-dependent normative tastes.


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ATTRIBUTE OF ISLAMIC CITY11) City of

ingenuity and

craft

Islamic city is a problem-solving environment that valuesskills, hard work and ingenuity. It is an environmentwhere creativity and craft are a form of worship, ahomage by the believer to the Creator of all the man'sabilities. It is an environment that upholds self-relianceand discourages unnatural dependencies. There is a

direct, tactile, constructive interaction with one's ownsurroundings be it the building of a mud house, thesewing of a garment or the care of a garden.

islamic urbanism principles

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