Deconstructing the American Mosque: Space, Gender, and Aesthetics

209 Pages·2002·11.49 MB·English

by  Akel Ismail Kahera

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/ DECONSTRUCTING THE AMERICAN MOSQUE
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N DECONSTRUCTING
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A Ismail
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MOSQUE
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D Space, Gender, and Aesthetics
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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS
Austin

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/ ThepublicationofthisbookwasassistedbyaUniversity
ra CooperativeSocietySubventionGrantawardedbythe
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7 Copyright©bytheUniversityofTexasPress
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LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Kahera,AkelIsmail,–
DeconstructingtheAmericanmosque:space,gender,and
aesthetics/AkelIsmailKahera.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
---
.Mosques—UnitedStates. .Architecture—UnitedStates—th
century. I.Title.
. 
'.'—dc


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/ Amesparentsavectoutemonaffection
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/ Nothingismoretellingofthecommunalfragmentationof ideas
ra andimagesthanthekindsofmosquespeoplecarryintheirminds.
e
ah Itisnoteasytountanglethecomplexnetworkof individualand
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2 collectivememoriesoffirst-generation[Muslim]immigrants....
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6 Therearegenerallytwopositionsheldbytheprotagonistsofa
mosqueasanessentialpresence[inNorthAmerica]:onethat
wisheschangethroughtechnologyandmodernity,andtheother
thataimsforrecognizableimagery.Thefirstformsthemajority
andupholdschangeandadaptabilityasastrongformativeforcein
allspheresof itsnewlyadoptedlifeinthenon-MuslimWest.And
itispreciselythispursuitofnovelty,asanendinitself,thathas
producedmosqueswithflyingsaucerdomesandrocketminarets.
GULZAR HAIDER
Allcivilizationshaveexperiencedadecline,butindifferentways;
theOrientaldeclineispassive,theoccidentaldeclineisactive.The
mistakeoftheOrientisthatitnolongerthinks,themistakeofthe
Westisthatitthinkstoomuchanderroneously.TheOrientsleeps
onitstruths,theWestlivesinitserrors.
FRITHJOF SCHUON

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A CONTENTS
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/ xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
a
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2 ThePolemicsof Deconstruction
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25 CHAPTERONE
AestheticOriginsandEndConditions
63 CHAPTERTWO
Interpretationsof Image,Text,andForm
91 CHAPTERTHREE
Space,Place,andPublicGathering
145 CONCLUSION
ReversibleSpaceandLinearTime
161 NOTES
175 GLOSSARY
179 BIBLIOGRAPHY
187 INDEX

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A LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
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/ 0.1 IslamicCulturalCenterof Washington,Washington,D.C. 
ra 0.2 Daral-Islammosque,Abiquiu,NewMexico. 
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ah 0.3 IslamicCulturalCenterof NewYork,Manhattan,NewYork. 
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2 0.4(a,b) ProposalfortheBaghdadStateMosque. 
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6 0.5 Axonometricdrawing,Daral-Islammosque,Abiquiu,New
Mexico. 
1.1 IslamicCenterofCleveland,Cleveland,Ohio. 
1.2(a,b) CompositeplansoftheProphet’smosque,Madinah,Saudi
Arabia. 
1.3 TheProphet’smosque,Madinah,SaudiArabia. 
1.4 AnalysisoftheUmayyadMosque,Damascus,Syria. 
1.5 AnalysisoftheUmayyadMosque,Cordoba,Spain. 
1.6 Congregationalmosque,WestAfrica(c.). 
1.7 Asimplemihrab,Taif,SaudiArabia. 
1.8 Mihrab,IslamicCenterofCentralJersey,MonmouthJunction,
NewJersey. 
1.9 Detailoftilework,Ranchosmosque,Abiquiu,
NewMexico. 
1.10 Plan,mosqueofSidi‘UqbaibnNafi,Kairouan,Tunisia. 
1.11 GreatMosqueof Niono,Mali.Planandelevation. 
1.12 GreatMosqueofJenne,Mali.Planandelevation. 
1.13 Moorish-stylehouse,Hudson,NewYork. 
1.14(a,b) Doordetail(arabesque),Daral-Islammosque,Abiquiu,
NewMexico. 
2.1 IslamicCenterofGreaterToledo,Toledo,Ohio. 
2.2 Theposturesof Muslimworship(salat). 

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