Minaret : Symbol of Islam

Using buildings, archeological reports, medieval histories, geographies and early Arabic poetry, this book reinterprets the origin, development and meanings of the minaret, explaining how the tower became identified with Islam. It shows that introducing the tower into the mosque marked a major shift in the iconography of architecture, in that the tower, once a sign of political and royal power, became associated with religious architecture. The author then describes the spread of the minaret throughout the Islamic lands until it became universally accepted as a sign of Islam in the 12th century. It concludes with an overview of subsequent developments once the minaret had become the symbol of Islam. The book not only provides a historical survey, but is also an attempt to investigate the modes of perception in the medieval world.