19.11.10

Masjidology

Is the realm of learning and action focussed on evolving sacred built environments. Sacred environments in secular hegemonies, hostile and depleted, unabluted. Environments where the institutional dream is pinned in a corner by officialdom and our own present limits.

Masjidology is at the confluence of the religious, social and physical. It is not defined in architecture. Everyday and practical matters of shoe storage, wudhutech, parking and zoning are part of this great activity. And the bonds between people are more important than the bricks and mortar or the external beauty of the structure.

The body is after all a husk.

Masjid, a place of prostration, where human pride is pressed upon the ground in humility. The whole world is a masjid.

Markaz, madrassa, imambara, musafirkhana, khanqah, maktab, and new others we havent experienced yet. Masjidology is sensitive to institutional diversity and creativity.

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