Reconciling the views of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (d. 101 AH/720 CE) on mosque decoration

This paper discusses the views of the 8th Umayyad Caliph, ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (‘Umar II), on mosque decoration. It resolves an ostensible inconsistency between what he as the governor did to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, and what he intended to do to the great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus after...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Omer, Spahic
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: Hamdard Foundation Pakistan 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/1/76050_Reconciling%20the%20Views%20of%20%E2%80%98Umar%20b.%20%E2%80%98Abd%20al-%E2%80%98Aziz.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/6/76050_Reconciling%20the%20views%20of%20%27umar%20b.%20%27abd%20al-%27aziz%20on%20mosque%20decoration_Scopus.pdf
_version_ 1848788225741553664
author Omer, Spahic
author_facet Omer, Spahic
author_sort Omer, Spahic
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper discusses the views of the 8th Umayyad Caliph, ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (‘Umar II), on mosque decoration. It resolves an ostensible inconsistency between what he as the governor did to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, and what he intended to do to the great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus after becoming the Caliph. The paper concludes that there was no inconsistency whatsoever in ‘Umar II’s actions. This becomes evident when the matter is thoroughly explored against the backdrop of the extraordinary personality of ‘Umar II, as well as the prevailing socio-political, cultural and religious developments in the Muslim Umayyad society. ‘Umar II only acted along the lines of the general laws that governed the birth and evolution of the identity of Muslim architecture, at the center of which stood mosque decoration. Thus, after presenting at the beginning of the paper ‘Umar II’s views in question, discussion about those laws follows. The discussion is tripartite, focusing on the consistency of ‘Umar II’ overall personality and character, the evolution of the identity of Muslim architecture, and the emergence of the first Muslim architectural deviations.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T17:37:27Z
format Article
id iium-76050
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T17:37:27Z
publishDate 2019
publisher Hamdard Foundation Pakistan
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling iium-760502020-02-05T04:19:09Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/ Reconciling the views of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (d. 101 AH/720 CE) on mosque decoration Omer, Spahic Islamic art and architecture This paper discusses the views of the 8th Umayyad Caliph, ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (‘Umar II), on mosque decoration. It resolves an ostensible inconsistency between what he as the governor did to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, and what he intended to do to the great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus after becoming the Caliph. The paper concludes that there was no inconsistency whatsoever in ‘Umar II’s actions. This becomes evident when the matter is thoroughly explored against the backdrop of the extraordinary personality of ‘Umar II, as well as the prevailing socio-political, cultural and religious developments in the Muslim Umayyad society. ‘Umar II only acted along the lines of the general laws that governed the birth and evolution of the identity of Muslim architecture, at the center of which stood mosque decoration. Thus, after presenting at the beginning of the paper ‘Umar II’s views in question, discussion about those laws follows. The discussion is tripartite, focusing on the consistency of ‘Umar II’ overall personality and character, the evolution of the identity of Muslim architecture, and the emergence of the first Muslim architectural deviations. Hamdard Foundation Pakistan 2019-11 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/1/76050_Reconciling%20the%20Views%20of%20%E2%80%98Umar%20b.%20%E2%80%98Abd%20al-%E2%80%98Aziz.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/6/76050_Reconciling%20the%20views%20of%20%27umar%20b.%20%27abd%20al-%27aziz%20on%20mosque%20decoration_Scopus.pdf Omer, Spahic (2019) Reconciling the views of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (d. 101 AH/720 CE) on mosque decoration. Hamdard Islamicus, XLII (1 & 2). pp. 57-81. ISSN 0250-7196 https://hamdardfoundation.org/hamdard-islamicus/
spellingShingle Islamic art and architecture
Omer, Spahic
Reconciling the views of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (d. 101 AH/720 CE) on mosque decoration
title Reconciling the views of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (d. 101 AH/720 CE) on mosque decoration
title_full Reconciling the views of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (d. 101 AH/720 CE) on mosque decoration
title_fullStr Reconciling the views of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (d. 101 AH/720 CE) on mosque decoration
title_full_unstemmed Reconciling the views of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (d. 101 AH/720 CE) on mosque decoration
title_short Reconciling the views of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (d. 101 AH/720 CE) on mosque decoration
title_sort reconciling the views of ‘umar b. ‘abd al-‘aziz (d. 101 ah/720 ce) on mosque decoration
topic Islamic art and architecture
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/1/76050_Reconciling%20the%20Views%20of%20%E2%80%98Umar%20b.%20%E2%80%98Abd%20al-%E2%80%98Aziz.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/76050/6/76050_Reconciling%20the%20views%20of%20%27umar%20b.%20%27abd%20al-%27aziz%20on%20mosque%20decoration_Scopus.pdf