Mosque

mosk, a Mohammedan house of prayer. As the Mohammedan form of worship is simple it requires but a simple building for its observance. There are three requisites: an opportunity to wash, to kneel quietly in prayer, and a pulpit for the exhorter or reader of the Koran. Some mosques are extensive buildings erected for other purposes. Others are cramped in size by the shape of the bit of land available for the purpose. The typical mosque, however, has the same form from Morocco to the Malay peninsula. The exterior is rectangular in outline. The interior consists essentially of a central open court, surrounded by a covered cloister or walk, the roof of which is supported on pillars. The central court is covered only by a dome. In the center of the court is a tank for performing the ablutions requisite before engaging in prayer. Some sects require a fountain of running water, others are content with quiet water. The end of the building, which is toward Mecca, is screened off to form a prayer room, and is furnished with what we should call a pulpit for the readers of the Koran. The entire building is without pictures, images, altars, shrines, or seats. Women are expected to pray at home. Sometimes a special compartment is provided for them, but they do not worship with the men. Ordinarily, a minaret or tower erected at one corner is provided with a high balcony from which the muezzin calls to prayer. The use of a bell is not permitted. Many of the mosques are richly decorated with carving, gilding, mosaic, and tile work of indescribable richness. No material is too rich to be lavished on the interior work. There are pavements of the finest marble. Glass, mother of pearl, agate, and other costly stones are laid in mosaic work. The pulpit is covered not infrequently with delicate ivory carvings, or inlaid with pearl and ebony. The windows are composed frequently of bits of pearl-colored glass set in a mosaic. They flash like panes of precious jewels. Even the pillars are veneered not infrequently with rich materials set in mosaic. Some of the most noted mosques of the type described are at Cordova, Cairo, Fez, Damascus, and Delhi. Like Christian churches, the mosque sometimes serves also as a mausoleum. The famous Taj Mahal at Agra, India, is a mosque of this sort. The noted mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople is an ancient Christian basilica. Constantinople has from 350 to 500 mosques, chapels included. Cairo is credited with an equal number. See Basilica; Cathedral