Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World: Roots, Transformations, and Developments 9819938058, 9789819938056

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Bagoes Wiryomartono

Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World Roots, Transformations, and Developments

Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World

Interior, Masjid Ageng Surakarta Hadiningrat. Illustration by author

Bagoes Wiryomartono

Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World Roots, Transformations, and Developments

Bagoes Wiryomartono Humanities and Social Sciences Toronto, ON, Canada

ISBN 978-981-99-3805-6 ISBN 978-981-99-3806-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3806-3 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

To all and nobody

Preface

“Historical Mosque in Indonesia and the Malay World” is a working title for this monograph covering the historical and geographical roots, transformations, and developments of mosques in the largest archipelago on the globe. The book attempts to unfold and uncover signs, symbols, traces, and images of the ancient mosques in the Middle East and North Africa that inspire and constitute the principles and guidelines for the architecture and institution of mosques in Southeast Asia. Mosque architecture in the Southeast Asian archipelago is historically unique from human geographical settings and position in terms of diversity of socio-cultural influences. This book is an attempt to disclose and unveil this diversity that has been constructing, developing, and sustaining the variety of forms, functions, and interpretations of a mosque in Southeast Asia with a focus on Indonesia and Malaysia, where the most populous Muslims live. Furthermore, the book presents the selected historic mosques that demonstrate local interpretations and socio-cultural as well as geographical syncretism of Islam in local society. Substantially speaking, the book is characterized by comprehensively descriptive exposition and interdisciplinary analysis that unveil and divulge the contestations, synchronizations, assimilations, and integrations of locality and foreign elements into the contextual architecture and sociologically institutionalized system of a mosque. Timely speaking, the study can be seen as an integrated part of global studies on Islam and the global world. The relationship between Muslims and their mosques in Southeast Asia is dynamic and historically diverse. The local resources and the foreign elements come into architecturally and culturally syncretize, negotiate, and accommodate the forces in Islamic teachings and locality for peace, growth, and the enrichment as well as expansion of humanity. This study attempts to divulge and unfold how the syncretic, assimilative, and accommodative aspects of Islam and local cultures shape, establish, develop, and sustain the relationship between Muslims and their mosques in Indonesia and Malaysia. However, only historic mosques are presented. The historicity is understood as socio-culturally notable and architecturally remarkable for scholarship and the Islamic community. The mosques are carefully selected for this monograph regarding their role and function for the Friday prayer in terms of “masjid jami.” The vii

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notion is to distinguish the mosque from other ones because of its public service, and capacity for more than a village community. In Indonesia and Malaysia, the status of the mosque as “masjid jami” is administratively regulated by the state institution for religious affairs. The monograph contains five chapters with unique in-depth exposition and analysis. As a whole construct, the monograph is a compilation of essays with specific questions and cases. However, the chapters are theoretically linked together in the narrative of description and exposition concerning Islam and the lifeworld. From this point, the guiding question is to what extent Islam substantively contributes to humanity. The question departs from the Southeast Asian experience of mosques and Muslim communities. Chapter 1 Introduction is to provide the readers with an introductory exposition of Muslims in Southeast Asia concerning Indonesia and Malaysia. This chapter describes the human geographical aspects of Muslims and their mosque that unfold and divulge their historical and socio-cultural backgrounds as well as their development and outlook within the global context. Chapter 2 is an attempt to excavate and unfold the historical origins and traces concerning the iconic elements, features, and designs of the ancient mosques from their earliest historical settings and contexts. In this chapter, the search is focused on the artifacts, historical texts, and publications of the historical mosques built between the seventeenth and the thirteenth centuries. That period is considered resourceful, significant, and formative for the establishment, development, and refinement of mosque architecture in world history. Chapter 3 attempts to identify, analyze, and theorize the outcomes of the interaction between Islam and local tradition with a case study: mosques in Indonesia. This study argues that Islam at its philosophical level can be culturally acceptable anywhere because it contains universal virtues of humanity for equality, fraternity, and social justice. In doing so, Islam is supposed to provide its ummah with the general principles of spiritual and social communion for civil society and leaves the details to the locals. This study is an attempt to unfold how a dialectical contestation and acculturation of Dutch colonialism, Middle Eastern elements of culture, and Indonesian customs and traditions come to terms peacefully. Chapter 4 is an explorative study on mosque architecture that deals with the questions regarding the geopolitical position of Malaysia in the global context. The purpose of this study is to dismantle the reality behind the scene and the appearance of mosque design as a visual representation of its society and culture. Methodologically speaking, the study is an exploratory and critical exposition of the relationship between Malaysian architecture and its political culture that examines Islam and its practice in a multicultural context. This study is an outcome of a survey and observation of mosque designs and society in the Malay Peninsula from 2010 to 2013. Chapter 5 attempts to unfold the contextual reasons and circumstances of modern mosques in Indonesia. The purpose of this study is to divulge and uncover the issues, constraints, and opportunities concerning the transformations and enrichments of

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the meaning of mosques for Muslims in a certain historical and geographical context like Indonesia. Last but not least, the monograph is completed with a postscript summarizing notable aspects that matter for the content of the manuscript. This is in the hope that the scholarship on the relationship between mosques and Muslims as well as Islam and society at large continues and develops for peaceful livability and sustainable growth. Toronto, Canada

Bagoes Wiryomartono

Contents

1 Mosques and Muslims in Southeast Asia: An Introduction . . . . . . . . . Mosque and Muslims in Southeast Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roots and Transformations of Traditional Mosques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 2 6 12

2 Mosque Architecture: The Roots and Sources of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Prophet’s Mosque of Nabawi in Madina, Saudi Arabia . . . . . . . . . . . . The Umayad Mosque of Damascus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Dome of the Rock of Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Mosque of Ibn al-As and Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15 16 18 23 26 29 34 35

3 Tradition and Intervention in Indonesian Mosque Architecture: Islam, Colonialism, and Local Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Issue and Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Traditional Mosques in Indonesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bedug and the Mosque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gapura, Palisade, and the Mosque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meru Roof Form and the Mosque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Makam and the Mosque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mihrab and Mimbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dome and the Mosque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

37 37 38 42 44 48 54 57 59 63 64

4 Mosque Architecture in Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Issue and Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Culture and Architectural Production in Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . State Mosque Design and Malaysian Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mosque Design and National Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

67 67 67 70 72

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Contents

Mosque and Islam in Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mosque and Modernity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mosque and National Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

75 79 84 87 88

5 Contemporary Mosques in Indonesia: Cultural Intervention, Contestation, and Syncretism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Issue and Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Early Modern: Mosques of Baiturrahman, Aceh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fundamentalist and Modern Form: Mosque of Al-Azhar Jakarta . . . . . . . Modern and Nationalist Movement: Mosque of Istiqlal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modern Mosque and Personal Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mosque and Local Pride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

91 91 92 96 99 102 112 115 117

Postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Chapter 1

Mosques and Muslims in Southeast Asia: An Introduction

Despite its culturally vibrant diversity and economically growing society, since September 11, 2001, Southeast Asian mosques and Muslims in this region have been experiencing ideological crises in the wake of global Islamophobia and Islamic fascism; Southeast Asia in this study is in reference only to Indonesia and Malaysia. These crises come into a crucial question: Is Islam a religion of peace? In response to the question, Muslims in Southeast Asia show themselves in various ways. This study attempts to respond to the question by unfolding and divulging the relationship between Muslims and their mosque. To what extent is the relationship supportive and contributive to the peace and prosperity of the global world? A mosque for Muslims is more than just a center of rituals and congregations. It is the core of their Islamic livability and sustainability in the global world. Under this notion, the presence of the mosque represents and incorporates the Islamic values as understood by its Muslim community. The presence of a mosque shows and demonstrates the position and relation of its Muslim community to society at large. Historical and geographical contexts play an important role in the relationship between Muslims and their mosque. In so doing, each historical and geographical setting has its unique interpretations and preferences that uphold and contribute to their understanding of what and how Islam is. This study concerns the relationship between Muslims and their mosque in Southeast Asia concerning Indonesia and Malaysia. The study seeks to unfold and divulge elements, structures, and functions of Islam concerning land, people, and local cultures and traditions. To what extent are the assimilation, enculturation, domination, and contestation between Islam and locality come into play in the architecture, livability, and sustainability of mosques in both countries throughout history? Furthermore, the study attempts to uncover and expound on the dynamics of Islamic interpretations by Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia as demonstrated by their mosques.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 B. Wiryomartono, Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3806-3_1

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Mosque and Muslims in Southeast Asia Studies on the mosques in Southeast Asia have been attracting various scholars from various perspectives (O’Neill 2002, Bruce 1996, Mohd-Rasdi 2000, Nasir 2004, Lee-Niinioja 2022, I. b. Tajudeen 2017, I. Tajudeen 2015). However, the question concerning the relationship between Muslims and Islam as well as their mosques that can manage, establish, and keep the peaceful coexistence and interaction with others remains an open question for this study. With this openness, the study attempts to identify and excavate aspects and elements of Muslims and their socio-cultural activities and endeavors that matter for the sustainability of civil society, global peace, and economic growth. Islam in both countries, Indonesia and Malaysia, is sociologically understood differently concerning the state. In Malaysia, Islam is a socio-culturally integrated part of the daily business of the state and government. Historically speaking, the British colonial rule established the socio-cultural issues concerning Islam within the local Malay ruling authorities: the Sultanate states, such as Johor, Perak, Kedah, and Kelantan. Negeri Sembilan, Perlis, Selangor, and Terengganu. Most Muslims are Malay ethnic populations, Arabs, Persians, and South Asians. Demographically speaking, Malay Muslims are 69% of the total population. Since the British colonial era, the Islamic teachings and practices are administratively been being regulated by the local royal state authority. The establishment and operation of mosques become the daily business and the state of affairs of the state. Most people who serve the daily operation and maintenance of mosques, from the imam, muezzin, bilal, clerks, and cleaning service persons are government officials. Even though Muslims in Malaysia, who practice Malay customs and traditions, are free to affiliate with any political party, they are ideologically associated with Ethnically Malay Islamic parties, such as UMNO or Barisan Nasional, Pejuang, Pakatan Harapan, and Perikatan Nasional. Even though the Muslims in Malaysia are ideologically nationalist and ethnically Malay oriented, they are politically divided into two major groups: traditionalist conservative and moderately liberal. On daily basis, both groups are not easily recognizable from their manners and behaviors in public spaces because they are mostly still obedient to practice the Malay customs and traditions. In Indonesia, Muslims are diverse from ethnic backgrounds and politically oriented outlooks and practices. Islam in the geographically sprawling archipelago with ethnolinguistic and socio-religious diversity is best understood as an ongoing story (Kersten 2017). Demographically speaking, Muslims in this country are about 87% of the total population in terms of administratively registered voters (Statista 2022, Data Indonesia 2022). They are sociologically divided into two main streams: traditionalist and modernist groups. Despite ideological differences, most Muslims in Indonesia are followers of Islamic Sunni. On daily basis, the traditionalist Muslims practice obediently the rituals meanwhile the modernist ones are mostly only ethically and spiritually associated with the principles of Islamic teaching and practice. Even though the state and government

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have a minister for religious affairs, the teachings, and practices of Islam are fully socio-culturally and politically delegated to communities. However, the state and government provide the communities with public services, a nationally coordinating framework, and an advisory body for religious matters and affairs. In doing so, the establishment and operation of the mosque are fully in the hand of the community and independent from the state and government. To a certain extent, each mosque has its socio-culturally and politically oriented preferences. Muslims in this country have the freedom to build, operate, and visit their mosque based on personal preference. Patrimonial tradition in Indonesian society enables charismatic clerics or ulama to organize, establish, and practice a school of thought and ideology in Islam from a mosque. Unsurprisingly to observe despite the ideological variety of Islam within traditionalist followers, either locally sociocultural oriented aptness or Saudi Arabian imported fashion, at the end of the day, Muslims in the country have to share and work together for peace and prosperity based on social justice and respect for human dignity. From this point, the state and government play a significant role and contribution to providing the public with fair policy and a conducive environment for growing together as a nation with diverse Muslims and non-Muslims. The relationship between Muslims and their mosque is in the hope of dynamic development of understanding and practice of Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia. Is the relationship possible without open-mindedness to modernity? Then, to what extent, the Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia can manage to establish a civil society based on a democratic decision-making process in their socio-cultural, economic, and political activities? This study will fill the niche of scholarship within the already presented studies (Geertz 1960, Hefner 2000, Mitsuo 2012, Bruinessen 2013, Picard and Madinier 2011, Saravanamuttu 2010, Saat 2018, Kersten 2017, Woodward 2011) concerning the relationship between Islam and Society, Islam and Politics, as well as Muslims and the State within the framework of civil society. Nevertheless, their aforementioned scholars left this study with room for investigation and exploration concerning the relationship between Muslims and their mosques in Southeast Asia, and how the architecture and management of mosques have been established and developed in a socio-cultural, historical, and political context. Historically speaking, the main streams of Muslims in Indonesia are indirectly and directly affiliated with two organizations: the Nahdlatul Ulama, or NU with more than 90 million members, and Muhammadiyah with about 60 million followers in 2019. The NU holds Islam as the spiritual principle of the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings and practices that are ideologically enriched and developed with local customs and traditions through syncretic integration, assimilation, and acculturation. Meanwhile, Islam for Muhammadiyah is understood as an ideologically non-dogmatic religion that is subject to reformist development in dealing with local culture and modernity. Despite their ideological differences, NU and Muhammadiyah share something in common concerning the necessity for the respect of human dignity in Islamic ethics and musyawarah in the relationship between Islam and society at large. Moreover, both organizations have a similar mission in investing in the development of civil

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society based on Islamic teachings and practices through the education of young generations from an earlier age to university. Most recently, Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia have been experiencing another movement toward an ideologically fundamentalist-oriented interpretation of Islam since the 1970s. The core idea of fundamentalist Muslims is the past as a model. Theologically speaking, the essence of Islam is the conviction of a monotheistic Supreme Being that is believed to be the single and only reality and the Creator of the whole beings. The essence of Islam is the submission of mind–body-spirit to the Supreme Being as the ultimate reality, which is transcendence and absolute unity (Rane 2010, 11, Schirrmacher 2008, 46). By this submission, Muslims have no right to judge but respect and consider others because religion for Muslims is a personal matter. According to the Qur’an Surah Al-Kafirun, faiths, as well as other religious convictions and rituals, are voluntary without force. Accordingly, such judgments do not have any place in Islam. In doing so, we will understand why Islam is claimed by most Muslims as a religion of peace. In other words, Islam should be a religion concerning the universal principles of human rights, otherwise, how can we understand Islam is a peaceful religion? Sociologically speaking, Muslims and Non-Muslims are essentially united as humankind in terms of the umma. The purpose of Islam is to build a civil society on earth. Islam understands civilization under the notion of al adab meaning politeness, civility, courtesy, elegance, grace, and delicacy. Again, how can Muslims participate and cultivate a civilized society and culture without being committed to peace and justice? The local people in most of the Southeast Asian regions have enjoyed a tolerant Islam from the fourteenth century until the nineteenth century; it was the time when some Islamic movements in West Sumatra came into conflict with local customs and traditions. Strong patriarchal teaching of the Islamic stream collided with the Minangkabau’s matriarchal customs and traditions. Less tolerant Muslims came onto the horizon when the Wahabi sect of Islam gained a strong influence with a significant number of followers in West Sumatra in the early nineteenth century (Qurtuby 2019, 58). The Padri movement against the Dutch colonial rule between 1821 and 1838 was considered not only a frontal confrontation of indigenous people versus the colonial regime but most likely and from local people’s perspective a holy war between Islam and European domination (Djaelani 1999, 2. 51. 86, Ayang Utriza Yakin 2019, 215). The Dutch colonial rule crushed and demolished the Padri resistance in 1838. There was a similar resistance against the Dutch colonial rule between 1825 and 1830. The resistance was spiritually inspired by Wahhabis’ Islamic leader Prince Dipanegara from Yogyakarta. The Dutch had to pay high the cost of both wars in Sumatra and Java. To cover the cost, the Dutch colonial rule initiated and practiced forced cultivation between 1830 and 1870 (Tauger 2011, 93). However, in dealing with the resistance of Muslims in Aceh at the end of the late eighteenth century, the Dutch did not make any progress until they applied a socio-cultural strategy of the divide and rule as suggested by a Dutch specialist in Islam: Snuck Hurgronje. The ideologically puritan Wahhabis had been adopted by some Indonesian pilgrimages of the Haj in those times when Mecca had been conquered by the

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Wahhabis. The notion of “Wahhabis” is considered derogatory and barely used by its followers and supporters. Instead, they call themselves “Salafism.” Ideologically speaking, the Wahhabis is an Islamic school of thought with the specific tenet of Islam based on a self-righteous claim. The Wahhabis claim that Islam is necessarily free from any ethical and aesthetic element beyond Saudi Arabian culture after the teaching of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792). Accordingly, Islam is considered by the Wahhabis as an ideological doctrine of Saudi Arabian culture and tradition when the Prophet Muhammad was alive. During the eighteenth century, Muhammad bin Saud, the ancestral founder of the modern-day Al Saud dynasty, aligned with Ibn Abd al-Wahhab to begin the campaign of unifying disparate tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. The teaching follows orthodontically the practices and customs of Saudi Arabian Muslims in the sixteenth century. The followers of the Wahhabis’ teaching call themselves salafiyyun. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s preaching contains three points: ritual practice is more imperative than intentions, Muslims should not respect the dead, and Muslims should do prayers to God that is not on behalf of the Prophet or saints. Practically speaking, the Wahhabis followers are against other Muslims beyond their ideological school of thought, especially non-Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims. Demagogue and violence have been common practices of the Wahhabis followers and supporters when they confront others. The Quran is perceived by the Wahhabis as a literal source of interpretation without historical context and contemporary adaptation. In other words, the Quran becomes the main source of authoritative doctrine. For the Wahhabis, the truth and beauty become unquestionable and indubitable what the textual interpretation of the Quran by Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab, his pupils, and followers. Critical discourse and debate on the truth and beauty of contemporary issues are considered by the Wahhabis as heretics and blasphemy. The group of Wahhabis followers in Indonesia is a patrimonial community with a socially exclusive organization. Wahhabism was supported by the Ibn Saud dynasty of Saudi Arabia, which has come to power twice, between 1804 and 1818, and from 1926 to the present day (Madinier 2015, 14). The spread of Wahhabis’ school of Islamic teaching and practice cannot afford to ignore direct and indirect relations with Saudi Arabian political and religious elites (Snow 2019, 39–40). In contemporary Indonesia, the emergence of antisyncretism between Islam and local culture comes to the surface when the Wahhabis movement gained significant followers among urban and well-educated Muslims. Historically speaking, Islam in Indonesia has been growing peacefully together with local culture and promoting tolerance and mutual respect with other faiths, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and other spiritual beliefs. Such peaceful assimilation between Islam and the local culture has been challenged by the Wahhabis’ followers at the beginning of the 1970s. In Malaysia, most scholars are critical of their ulama for behaving like their Middle Eastern counterparts in terms of “Talibanization” and “Salafism” (Saat 2018, 39). However, in Indonesia, their intolerant movements have been spreading mostly among urban Muslims, and their actions are still beyond the boundary of crime and violence against humanity. Gradually, their intolerant actions against non-Muslims

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come to the surface with the massive mobilization against the Governor of Jakarta: Basuki Tjahaja Purnama in 2017. Until today, the followers and supporters of the Wahhabis Islamic school consolidate their political and religious power against other Muslims with their self-righteousness and demagogues. Architecturally speaking, the influence of Wahhabis’ Islam is to denounce any element, structure, and function that is not derived from Saudi Arabian mosques, such as the Mosque of Al-Nabawi in Medina or the Mosque of Al-Haram in Mecca. Contemporary mosques in Indonesia demonstrate the ideological contestation of hegemony, and how Islam is understood by Muslim communities in the country.

Roots and Transformations of Traditional Mosques Historically speaking, the relationship between Muslims and their mosques in Indonesia and Malaysia cannot afford to ignore the pre-historic relation of indigenous people to their pre-Islamic autochthonous buildings, such as bale among the Javanese, surau for the Minangkabau, meunasah for the Acehnese, and sasadu for the people of Halmahera, North Maluku. These autochthonous buildings used not only to be the central place of rituals and ceremonies of the village communities but also the public halls of leisure for villagers. For other ethnic groups, such as Buginese and Jambi Malay traditional communities, public halls used to be integrated into their traditional houses, such as lotang risaliweng in Bugis and rumah kajang lako in Jambi. The transformation of such traditional halls into musholla or mosques is mostly functional and constructional in accommodating the collective salat. Indeed, the functional transformation is not always the case for sasadu of Sahu communities in Halmahera. The people of Sahu in North Maluku still preserve and conserve their hall for traditional customs and ceremonies (Naruru et al. 2019, 941). They build their mosque with similar but less sophisticated wooden construction. The Javanese bale or langgar is a hall with a pyramidal shelter—tajug—supported by four pillars—sokoguru. The hall is mostly used for a shrine, sanctuary space, tomb, public place, and reception building. In Javanese tradition, the building with a pointing rooftop is commonly dedicated to a non-habitable edifice. In West Java, the hall is mostly constructed with raised floor structures on the stilts. In Central and East Java, the bale is erected with architecturally elevated floor construction on the ground. Both floor designs are architecturally in line with the necessity of a mosque for establishing a clean and sanctified area for the prayer hall. In Aceh and West Sumatra, the transformation of the village halls—meunasah and surau—has come about with a smooth transition. Most male villagers hang around in those halls on daily basis. In West Sumatra with matrilineal customs and traditions, boys and men often sleep in the village hall—surau. The traditional mosques in this region become the domain of men and boys. Architecturally speaking, the early traditional mosques are mostly characterized by three-tiered pyramidal roof structures like the meru roof structure of Hindu temples. Some exemplary buildings with a three-tiered roof structure are the Mosque of Tuo Kayu Jao in Nagari Batang Barus,

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Fig. 1.1 Mosque of Tuo Kayu Jao, Nagari Batang Barus, Solok West Sumatra. Illustration by author

District of Gunung Talang, Regency of Solok, Mosque of Ulakan Syah Burhanuddin in Nagari Ulakan, District of Ulakan, Regency of Padang Pariaman, Mosque of Nagari Taluak IV Suku, District of Banuhampu, Regency of Agam, Mosque of Bawan Tuo in Nagari Bawan, District of Ampek Nagari, Regency of Agam, all in West Sumatra. Mosque of Jorong Tigo Tumpuak, Nagari Limo Kaum, Regency of Tanah Datar stands with a five-tiered roof structure. Most of these buildings have been renovated, developed, improved, and enlarged with new building materials and constructions but the Mosque of Tuo Kayu Jao still maintains its original form and construction with some authentic components and elements (Fig. 1.1). Entering the location, the mosque stands on an open high ground provided with shelters for the traditional drum, tabuah, and ablution facility. Despite no exact date of its origin and foundation, the mosque is archeologically regarded by local authorities as a pre-colonial historical and cultural heritage. The Mosque of Tuo Kayu Jao is constructed with a rectangular ground plan of 12 m by 12 m with a protruded area for mimbar at its qibla area. This architecturally projected structure is covered by a Minangkabau iconic house roof. As a whole composition, the mosque incorporates Hindu and Minangkabau architectural elements. The sago-palm fiber materials cover the roof system that shows architecturally embedded ingredients of locality with ecologically adaptive resources. The peak of the main roof is decorated with a crown called mustaka in the form of a floret burgeon. The mosque stands on stilts on stone foundations and is constructed with a raised floor system at 40 cm off the ground at the foot of a hill. The building is enclosed by wooden wall construction, at which several windows are mounted on its sides. The qibla wall area remains windowless. The windows at the East, South, and North walls are provided with operating shutters with louvers. At the night, the shutters are

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closed. The corners of the wall construction are embellished with naga decorations. The main entrance is on the East side of the mosque. The prayer hall is reached from the front side with a wooden staircase. The wooden flooring construction is covered by mats that soften its natural dark brown color. However, the dark brown color still shows its predominance with the shiny exposed wooden columns that support the floor and roof structure. The center area of the prayer hall is marked with a central column at a height of 15 m called tiang macu. The central hexagonal column of 32 cm in diameter stands on a wooden base at a height of 60 cm from the floor level. This pillar is surrounded by eight main columns that support the three-tiered roof structure above. The mosque is still in service to the community. The operation and maintenance of the mosque are kept by the local community voluntarily. Donations from tourists, who visit the mosque, have been helping and keeping the operation and maintenance of the mosque sustainable. Nevertheless, several traditional buildings cannot afford to hold and keep their traditional characteristics as their authentic and original forms and performances because of the tropical climate conditions and material decay by insects and molds. The traditional mosques in West Sumatra mostly survive and continuously operate from various resources of local Muslim communities, tourism, and local government. The most important support comes from the local community that puts the mosque as an integrated part of their veneration of customary principles—adat-istiadat—and practices. The other remarkable traditional mosques with a central pillar are in the village of Cikakak, District of Wangon Banyumas, in the village of Pekuncen, District of Sempor Kebumen, and in the village of Mirenglor Mireng, District of Trucuk Klaten, as well as in Tamansari, Kraton of Yogyakarta. The roof structure of these mosques is characterized by a two-tiered pyramidal construction with a ground rectangular plan of less than 150 m2 . These mosques share something in common the two-tiered pyramidal roof structure with a crown of floret burgeon. The Mosque of Cikakak in Banyumas stands out among other single pillar mosques with its lavishly decorated central column and its woven bamboo ceilings and walls. However, the Mosque of Saka Tunggal in Yogyakarta represents the acculturation of traditional and modern colonial masonry construction. The mosque in the Yogyakarta palace complex attempts to integrate the Dutch Indies masonry architecture into the traditional Javanese mosque with the curve wall construction and modern roofing cover material. In many cases, due to climate conditions, most traditional mosques have been transformed from organic building materials to industrially manufactured components, such as concrete, steel, and ceramic tiles. To a certain extent, these transformations still maintain the original form and function of the mosque. In Aceh, the transformation of the traditional building of meunasah into a musholla has not only taken place architecturally but also institutionally enriching. The autochthonous meunasah was a cultural center of village settlement—gampong. The pre-Islamic and traditional education of Acehnese young generations took place in meunasah. Moreover, the meunasah is also a village hall where elders hold their assembly and deliberations concerning socioeconomic and political affairs in their community (Saby 2005, 115). Under Islamic influence, the meunasah carries out the

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dual function of the village cultural center for religious congregation and education. This is the unity of musholla and madrasa. Architecturally speaking, the meunasah is constructed similarly to the traditional house but with an open floor without a wall. The relationship between Muslims and their mosques is not only about how people build and operate the buildings for Friday prayer and other activities in the Middle East but also how local traditional customs and traditions conceive and interpret the mosques. In Bayan traditional and agricultural communities of Sasak on the Island of Lombok, Indonesia, a highly regarded mosque, is conceived as a living monument. The Mosque of Bayan Baleq is located in the village of Karang Bajo Bayan, the district of Bayan, North Lombok. The locals consider the mosque as an ancient artifact associated with Syeh Gaus Abdul Razak dating back to circa 1634. However, there is no confirming evidence about this local narrative from historical records available in the publication. The mosque is not a common building that is open on daily basis and functionally works for Friday prayer. Instead, the mosque is only open for Islamic holidays, such as Eid Fitr, Eid Adha, Islamic New Year, and the Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Traditionally speaking, the mosque is not open to the public but only for traditional village dignitaries—pemangku, perumbaq, and pemekel—elders, penghulu, and local clerics—kiayi. Even though the local community calls it a mosque, they perceive and operate the building as a memorial building for their history and culture. Under their local tradition called wetu telu, the building is an integrated part of their rituals and ceremonies of the cosmological rebirth every other eight-year period. The mosque is constructed with a wooden structure. The ground plan is a square scheme of 9 m by 9 m. The main structure of the building is characterized by its two tiers of pyramidal thatched roof construction. Most building materials are made of bamboo, which is versatile and adaptive to the local climate (Abdullah et al. 2022, 4–5). The base roof structure is constructed with a steep angle while the upper roof structure has a declivous slant. The roof system with such form is known by locals as santek. The roof peak is decorated with a crown with dualistic animal figures: bird and fish called jait (Fig. 1.2). The main structure of the roof system stands on the framing structure consisting of four main pillars of 25 cm in diameter with a height of 4.75 m. The bay of the columns is 3.2 m which establishes the central area with daylight from the space between the base and upper roof structure. The building area is defined by an enclosure between 28 peripherical columns that support the roof base ring beam at 1.35 m in height. In this central area, there is a drum or bedug of 0.80 m in diameter and 1.2 m in length hung under the beam between the two main columns at the centerline of the qibla direction. The access to the mosque is in the East. The mosque is constructed on high ground. Several steps with stone retaining walls lead the visitor to the main entrance of the mosque. Woven bamboo screen wall construction encloses the whole building with a transparent structure. The sense of entering the building domain is architecturally signified by a raised floor structure. The ground area is made of the earth’s surface. During prayer time, they put the bamboo mat or pandan leaf mat. The mihrab is not something specially constructed but it is located at the qibla wall. However, the

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Fig. 1.2 The Mosque of Baleq Bayan, North Lombok. Illustration by author

mimbar is established with a bamboo structure at 0.80 m height that demarcates a spot for holding the sermon. The decorations attached to the frame of the mimbar show a mythic dragon figure—naga—a living tree, a hen, an egg, and a deer. Architecturally speaking, the Bayan Mosque is constructed in a similar way to the Hindu-Balinese village hall—wantilan. The function of the hall is a multipurpose building for socio-cultural and political gatherings. In contrast to the Balinese wantilan, the Bayan Mosque is used only for religious-related activities based on syncretic rituals and ceremonies of Islam and local customs. The mosque is situated on a high site together with the tombs of the village elders and dignitaries. The location is considered a sacred area that is specially designated not for daily activities. The area is traditionally guarded by a village gatekeeper. Architecturally speaking, there are similar mosques to the Bayan Mosque in other areas of the island such as in the district of Rambitan and Gunung Pujut, in central Lombok, and the district of Songak, East Lombok. Similar architecture to the Mosque of Baleq Bayan can be found in the village of Muleng Penampaan, the district of Blangkejeren, the regency of Gayo Lues, Aceh. The location is about 3500 km away from the Island of Lombok. The mosque is highly regarded by the local populations from generation to generation considering its historical past. The site of the mosque was associated with the Islamic Sultanate of Samudra Pasai. The mosque is conceived by the local community of Blangkejeren as an heirloom of the past. The relationship between the local Muslims and the mosque is associated with the reverence of local pride. The mosque is partly functional but

Roots and Transformations of Traditional Mosques

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for daily service, the local Muslims have built a new mosque attached as an extension of the old mosque. Based on the local narrative, the old Mosque of Panampaan was associated with the Samudra Pasai and Peurlak Sultanate from circa 1297 to 1326. However, there is no historical trace or clue about this relation to the mosque. The inscription of Sultan AL-Malikus Saleh and the travel record of Ibn Battuta as well as the Chinese sources confirm the existence of the Samudra Pasai and Peurlak Sultanate in the late thirteenth century. The Mosque of Panampaan has been renovated several times but its original form and construction remain the same with a rectangular ground plan of 11 m by 11 m. For the native people of the region, the mosque is the benchmark of geographical direction and orientation. The architecture of the mosque is characteristically defined by its roofing system with a two-tiered pyramidal structure. The base structure shows a ziggurat form with an upper part of 2.4 m by 2.4 m. The whole height of the mosque reached at the height of 8.50 m. Four main pillars of 35 cm by 35 cm with a height of 4.5 m support the main roof structure. The upper roof system is a pyramidal structure, which is mounted on the interface wall system of 0.4 m in height from the upper part of the ziggurat based. The grilled windows on four sides are attached to this interspace wall that allows daylight to come through into the prayer hall. Interestingly to note is the design of the rooftop of the mosque. The peak of the roof shows a floret burgeon form with a spiky spearhead pointing to the sky. The base roof system rests on the ring beam supported by mudstone-bearing walls of 60 cm in thickness at 1.40 m in height on four sides. The main entrance of the mosque is on the Eastside with a wooden door of 60 cm by 1.50 m. On daily basis, the old mosque becomes a reserved area for those who pay homage to the mosque. The pilgrimage takes place on Friday. They do the homage by praying inside the mosque. The whole complex of the mosque includes several tombs of village ancestors and ancient water well. The operation and maintenance of the mosque have been carried out by the traditional village apparatus voluntarily. Based on the local narrative, the operation and the maintenance of the mosque were managed by the traditional village authority under the sultanate bureaucracy known by locals as raja Patiamang of Raja Chik. Today, the old and new mosques stand side-by-side as one but with different architectural expressions. The new mosque is constructed with a dome sitting on the ziggurat roof base made of zinc meanwhile the old is a traditional two-tiered pitched roof system with local wooden shingle roof covering materials. In Sulawesi, there are historic mosques with two or three-tiered pyramidal roof construction. Most of them were from the seventeenth century. Despite several times of renovations and reconstructions, the original form and location remain the same. The Mosque of Al-Hilal in Katangka, District of Somba Opu, the Regency of Gowa was established to mark the Sultanate Gowa. The mosque was located in the former citadel of Kalegowa complex, in which the palace of Tamalatea was located. The newly renovated version is architecturally not constructed with a well-proportioned form as the original form. However, the whole wall structure of the main prayer hall remains as it was in the past with big windows but the lighthouse-like minaret was

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demolished. The other notable historic mosque from the seventeenth century is the Mosque of Palopo. The mosque was constructed by the Sultanate of Luwu with a three-tiered pyramidal roof structure. The ground plan of the mosque is 15 m by 15 m with a square central area with four main pillars supporting the three-tiered meru roof form. The crown of mustaka is mounted at the top of the roof, similar to the Great Mosque of Demak. There is a similar mosque with a tiered pyramidal form and a mustaka crown on the Island of Selayar. The mosque is believed by the locals from the reign of Sultanate Pangali Patta Raja in the seventeenth century. The mosque is located on the hill in the village of Bontomarannu, the District of Bontomanai.

References Abdullah, Fadzidah, Aliyah Nur Zafirah Sanusi, Aida Kesuma Azmin, and Zenat Begam Yusof. 2022. Bamboo: The Forgoten Versatile Materials. In The Importance of Wood and Timber in Sustainable Buildings, ed. Ali Sayigh, 1–18. Cham: SpringerNature. Ayang Utriza Yakin. 2019. Islam Moderat dan Isu-Isu Kontemporer. Jakarta: Kencana. Bruce, Alan. 1996. Notes on Early Mosques of the Malaysian Peninsula. The Malaysian Brance of the Royal Asiatic Society 2 (271): 71–81. Bruinessen, Martin van. 2013. Contemporary Developments in Indonesian Islam: Explaining the conservative turn . Singapore: ISEAS. Data Indonesia. 2022. Sebanyak 86,9% Penduduk Indonesia Beragama Islam. February 16. Accessed December 22, 2022. https://dataindonesia.id/ragam/detail/sebanyak-869-pendudukindonesia-beragama-islam. Djaelani, Abdul Qadir. 1999. Perang sabil versus perang salib. Jakarta: Yayasan Pengkajian Islam Madinah Al-Munawwarah. Geertz, Clifford. 1960. The Religion of Java. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hefner, Robert. 2000. Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. Kersten, Carool. 2017. History of Islam in Indonesia: Unity in Diversity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Lee-Niinioja, Hee Sook. 2022. The Continuity of the Pre-Islamic Motifs in Javanese Mosque Ornaentation, Indonesia. Summertown Oxford: Arhaeopress. Madinier, Rémy. 2015. Islam and Politics in Indonesia: The Masyumi Party between Democracy and Integralism. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press. Mitsuo, Nakamura. 2012. Crescent Arises over Banyan Tree. Singapore: ISEAS. Mohd-Rasdi, Mohd Tajuddin. 2000. The Architectural Heritage of the Malay World: The Traditional Mosque. Skudai Johor Bahru: UTM Press. Naruru, Ricardo Freedom, Misnal Munir, and Sindung Tjahyadi. 2019. Sasadu: The Religious Social Spirit of Sahu Tribe Community in North Maluku. Journal of Social Sciences Research 939–948. Nasir, Abdul Halim. 2004. Mosque Architecture in the Malay World. Kuala Lumpur: Pnerebit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. O’Neill, Hugh. 2002. “Southeast Asia. In The Mosque, ed. Martin Frishman and Hasan-Uddin Khan, 225–240. New York Singapore: Thames & Hudson. Picard, Michel, and Remy Madinier. 2011. The Politics of Religion in Indonesia: Syncretism, Ortodoxy, and Religious Contention in Java and Bali. London & New York: Routledge. Qurtuby, Sumanto Al. 2019. Saudi Arabia and Indonesian Networks: Migration, Education, and Islam. London: IB Tauris.

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Rane, Halim. 2010. Islam and Contemporary Civilisation: Evolving Ideas, Transforming Relations. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. Saat, Norshahril. 2018. The State, Ulama and Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Saby, Yusni. 2005. Islam and Social Change: The Role of the Ulama in Acehnese Society. Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Saravanamuttu, Johan. 2010. Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Routledge. Schirrmacher, Christine. 2008. Islam and Society: Sharia Law, Jihad, Women in Islam Essays. Bonn: Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft. Snow, Donald M. 2019. Cases in International Relations: Cases and Applications. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Statista. 2022. Share of Indonesian population in 2010, by religion. November 11. Accessed December 21, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1113891/indonesia-share-of-popula tion-by-religion/. Tajudeen, Imran bin. 2017. Mosques and Minarets: Transregional Connections in EighteenthCentury Southeast Asia. Journal 18 (#4). Accessed April 20, 2022. https://www.journal18.org/ issue4/mosques-and-minarets-transregional-connections-in-eighteenth-century-southeast-asia/ . Tajudeen, Imran. 2015. “Java’s Architectural Enigma: the Austronesian World and the Limit of “Ásia”.” In Architecturalized Asia: Mapping a Continent through History, ed. Vimalin Rujivacharakul, H. Hazel Hahn, Ken Tadashi Oshima and Peter Christiansen, 121–138. Hongkong & Honolulu Hi: Hongkon University Press & University of Hawaii Press. Tauger, Mark B. 2011. Agriculture in World History. New York: Routledge. Woodward, Mark. 2011. Java, Indoneisa, and Islam. Dordrecht: Springer.

Chapter 2

Mosque Architecture: The Roots and Sources of

What is the relationship between Muslims and their mosque in the early development of Islam? The question leads this study to excavate the traces of relationships from history. Mosque architecture cannot afford to ignore the necessity for cultural assimilation and acculturation of Islam and geographically diverse cultures and traditions in the global world. Building, operating, and maintaining a mosque are indivisible from the local Muslim community. The issue of mosque architecture cannot underestimate the power play among Muslims concerning their preconception and understanding of Islam. The crucial debate among Muslims is that religion is either an authoritative doctrine or a cultural phenomenon. Inside out, this is the debate on authority between patrimonialism and democracy as well as between dogma and common sense. To what extent the mosque architecture can show such intolerance and ignorance that matters for the socio-culturally civilized world? Architecturally speaking, a mosque is not derived from a Jewish synagogue or Christian church. The Arabic word for the mosque: masjid means a place where and when one prostrates one’s self in front of the Almighty God. Accordingly, a mosque is a place that comes into reality within the framework of time for salah. The essential thing about a mosque is not about either its artistic endeavor or its architectural significance but it happens when the congregation comes into action. Going into a mosque is ritually required to do ablution with water. The ritual takes place outside the main hall of the congregation. This ritual is necessary to take off the shoes so that the prayers are considered clean from any dirt and filth. In the mosque area, the dress codes are applied for male or female prayers that are to be clean, modest, and respectful by covering most parts of the body from sensually attracting the attention others. In the mosque, Muslims should wear clothes that show decency and modesty, and work loosely, not too tight. The congregation is the time when the sense of umma is experienced as a liberation of self-preservation. The congregation is the experience of what Islam is. The basic layout of the Prophet’s mosque’s ground plan is constituted by the main hall and inner court with porticos. Architecturally speaking, the mosque of the Prophet provides Muslims with a sense of modesty through simple architectural treatment, © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 B. Wiryomartono, Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3806-3_2

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less decoration, and function. The designs of early mosques confirm the necessity for modesty that the mosque building is not the object of devotion with the necessity for architecturally elaborated workmanship. The simplicity and modesty of mosque buildings are to emphasize that prayers are under safe and functional shelter. Most importantly, the strong mosque architecture is to incorporate the spiritual strength of resilience and humility. Theologically speaking, the essence of Islam is the conviction of a monotheistic Supreme Being that is believed to be the single and only reality and the Creator of the whole beings. The essence of Islam is the submission of mind-body-spirit to the Supreme Being as the ultimate reality, which is transcendence and absolute unity (Rane 2010, 11, Schirrmacher 2008, 46). By this submission, Muslims have no right to judge but respect and consider others because religion for Muslims is a personal matter. According to the Qur’an Surah Al-Kafirun, faiths, as well as other religious convictions and rituals, are voluntary without force. Accordingly, such judgments do not have any place in Islam. In doing so, we will understand why Islam is claimed by most Muslims as a religion of peace. In other words, Islam should be a religion concerning the universal principles of human rights, otherwise, how can we understand Islam is a peaceful religion? Sociologically speaking, Muslims and NonMuslims are essentially united as humankind in terms of the umma. Sociologically speaking, the mission of Islam cannot afford to ignore the establishment of civil society on earth. Islam understands civilization under the notion of al adab meaning politeness, civility, courtesy, elegance, grace, and delicacy. Again, how can Muslims participate in and cultivate a civilized society and culture without being committed to peace and justice?

The Prophet’s Mosque of Nabawi in Madina, Saudi Arabia The history of the mosque cannot afford to ignore the Mosque of Nabawi. It was the first structure, which was constructed by the Prophet Muhammad after he and his followers escaped from the persecution to Yathrib in 622, later known as Medina. The event was well known as hegira. The remarkable element of the mosque was a rectangular plan of 63 cubits or 30. 05 m in width and 70 cubits or 35.62 m in length constructed with an elevated floor of 7 cubits or 1.53 m and a constructionally walled enclosure made of unbaked limestone (Ariffin 2005, 49, 52–3, Bisheh 1979). The use of building materials was commonly found in the Northern Syria region. Clay bricks, usually sundried and only rarely fired, were the building material of choice throughout the Jazira, the valleys of the Euphrates, and the steppe, while masonry construction dominates in the hills and western mountains (Rousset 2020, 21). The city of Medina is geographically situated in southern Syria. The orientation of the prayer or qibla is to the Ka’ba. Today, the Ka’ba is located in the city of Mecca. However, it is still unclear whether the Ka’ba was at the same place when the Prophet Muhammad built the mosque. Even though there was not clear where the qibla wall faces too because this old mosque was destroyed and

The Prophet’s Mosque of Nabawi in Madina, Saudi Arabia

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rebuilt in 707 with a new structure on the same site during the Umayyad Caliph alWalid (705–715). Most likely, the orientation of the qibla was facing North-West to Jerusalem or somewhere that was not today Mecca. However, archeological findings have not yet supported any evidence that the Dome of Rock in Jerusalem is the direction of the qibla in early Islam. The enclosure of the Prophet Mosque at Medina was provided with three main accesses. The front access is called Bab-al-Nisa, Bab al-Rahmah for the door at the right-hand side wall, and Bab al-Jibril for the gateway at the left-hand sidewall. The essential element was a large, rectangular, open yard delimited by simple walls, in which Muslims gathered for prayer (The Oxford Companion to Archeology/Donald Whitcomb 2012, 357). Since then, the spatial taxonomy of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina has become a basic design of the ground plan for any mosque anywhere (Johns 1999). However, divulging and reconstructing the designs of the mosques in early Islam are predominantly challenging because the original forms of many are either considerably transformed or overwritten, and archaeologically excavated evidence for those edifices before the 660s has not yet been sufficiently provided. It is interesting to note that the qibla wall of the ancient mosques built before the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mahdi (775–785) was not quite facing Mecca’s direction. Historically speaking, the Prophet’s Mosque was an integrated part of the Prophet’s residence. In comparison with other early mosques, such as the Mosque of Al-Aqsa of 660 A.D. and the Mosque of Kufa of 635, the Prophet’s Mosque was Despite its modest structure and construction, the mosque was spatially indivisible from the daily lifeworld of the Prophet (Ayyad 2013). Regarding its multifunctional capacity, some scholars, such as Leone Caetani (1905–1926, 437–8) and Creswell (1969), Fehervari (1977, 703), argue that the original Prophet’s Mosque was not fully dedicated to a sacred place. However, in Islam, such a separation of activities between the sacred and the profane is not entirely meaningful (1987, 99). From his studies on the mosque, Oleg Grabar concludes that in the Al-Qur’an there is no indication of the existence of a new kind of Muslim religious building; but the Al-Qur’an did not lay down one rule for all Muslims: the obligation to perform prayers (1987, 100). Accordingly, the prayer is a private act but the transformation into a collective action was the outcome of the Muslim community’s life between 622 and 632. The relationship between the mosque and the community was established by the Friday prayer. In 638 A.D., the Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab decreed that all congregational mosques should be constructed in the way of the Mosque of Kufa in Iraq (Holod, Approaching the Mosque: Beginning and Evolution 2016, 14). The Mosque of Kufa has been historically and culturally surviving as a referential edifice and has become the benchmark of architectural design for the next generations of mosques on the globe since its establishment circa 635 A.D. Since the decree, the ground plan of most mosques has been following the Mosque of Kufa’s floor layout. A mosque is distinguished by Muslims from any place for prostration because of its public accessibility and capacity for accommodating Muslims for the Friday prayer. In these terms of conditions, such a place is called masjid al Jami.

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After the Mosque of Kufa, the basic layout of the mosque in terms of “masjid al-jami” is a square design with two domains: the main prayer hall or zulla and the courtyard called sahn surrounded by porticos known as riwaq (Kuban 1974, 14). The main prayer hall is constructed as an open free floor without any furniture comprising several rows and bays between columns. The rows of the hall should line up with the qibla wall that is juxtaposed on a perpendicular line to Mecca’s direction. In doing so, during the salah, all prayers on the rows stand to face the Ka’ba position. Based on the ground plan of the Mosque of Kufa, there are no specific designs and architectural treatments for the spots of the imam and sermon. Thus, the mihrab and pulpit are in architecturally fixed positions but they are not necessary to be constructed in certain architectural manners and styles. The mihrab is situated on the qibla wall, commonly at the centerline of the mosque but it is not necessarily so. The sermon during the Friday prayer should take place in front of the first row of prayers but it is not necessary on the architecturally elevated platform or a pulpit. This condition applies as well to the designs of the hall, courtyard, and minaret. The square plan is considered a practical solution for the construction of a domain for prayer in rows. The Mosque of Kufa only provides the schematic layout of how a mosque works for Friday prayer.

The Umayad Mosque of Damascus The establishment of global mosque architecture cannot afford to ignore the contribution of the Umayyad dynasty with the Great Mosque of Damascus, the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As in Fustat Egypt, Ibn Tulun Mosque of Cairo in Egypt, and the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia. The historical roots of the architecture for these mosques are ancient and syncretic from various antique civilizations in Mesopotamia, North Africa, and Anatolia with highly sophisticated craftsmanship and artistic production. These three historic mosques are notable that incorporate the idea of the mosque as the house of the Supreme Being on earth. Accordingly, the layout of the mosques is to represent the majestic house of the ruler like a palace. For this representation, the main building is provided with a great reception area such as a courtyard. The porticoes’ rectangular plan structure is to define the reception area architecturally and leads people to move forward into the main entrance of the prayer hall. In doing so, the sense of being inside the area of the house is experienced before going into the hall. The courtyard is designed to invoke the transitory area of the progression toward the throne inside the main hall. The Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus was originally transformed from the Byzantine Basilica Church of St John the Baptist and the former site of the Hellenic Temple of Jupiter built by the Damascus native Apollodorus under the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. Before the Romans ever came to Damascus, the site was the place of worship of the Aramaeans. They worshipped the cult of Hadad Ramman—the god of thunderstorms and rain in this location. Later around 64 A.D., the Roman Emperor Theodosius I transformed the temple into St John the Baptist

The Umayad Mosque of Damascus

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Church. St John the Baptist is well known among Muslims as Yahya Ibn Zacharia. His remnants were buried under the arcade of the former Church of Baptists. The tomb is well venerated with a barrel-vaulted chamber of 7.20 m in length by 2.40 m in width and 3.60 m in height. The chamber is crowned with a cupola of 2.80 m in diameter on cylindric glassed architraves with 12 Corinthian columns. Studies on the Mosque of Damascus have been indebted to the publications of several scholars from various disciplines, especially Creswell (1969), Lucien Golvin (1971), and Finnbar Barry Flood (2000). The site and the church were confiscated by the Caliphate Abu Abd Al-Abbas Al-Walid Ibn Abd Al-Malik (705–715). Before the construction of the mosque in 705, Muslims and Christians shared a domain within the complex. The Christians enjoyed the freedom of worship in the eastern area while the Muslims did their prayer in the western part of the former St John the Baptist Church. The adoption of the main building is the architectural proof of Islamic tolerance and syncretic adjustment to other cultures, heritages, and traditions. There is no doctrine about the mosque but the spatiality to perform communal prayer every Friday dressed decently in clean clothes and barefooted. The space for prayers is necessary to open without furniture. Women are allowed to pray in the mosque in a separate domain. The spatiality of a mosque is a temporal function with a permanent place for ablutions provided with running clean water (Fig. 2.1). Beyond the time of communal prayer, the spatiality can be used for other social activities such as wedding ceremonies, the sessions of the court of justice, and other meetings. The occupancy of a spot in the rows of prayer is based on the “first come,

Fig. 2.1 Mosque of Ummayah Damascus. Illustration by Author

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first served” which is an egalitarian principle of prayer spots. During the adoption of the Basilica Church, Caliph Al-Walid did not demolish the whole structure of the Basilica but the building equipment and other elements that did not support the function of a mosque. Figurative iconic decorations and building equipment such as the altar, chairs, and confession rooms were removed. The geometrical and vegetal decorations and ornamentations in the mosque are kept with sobriety and modesty that prevent prayers from any kind of distraction. The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus becomes historically influential in the global Muslim world when the Basilica building was extended and enlarged with a porticoed courtyard. When Islam came to Syria in 635 A.D., the Caliph al-Walid granted Christians and Jews the freedom of worship according to their belief system (Golvin 1971, 130). The Caliph brought thousands of artists and craftspeople from Morocco, Greece, India, Coptic Egypt, Persia, and Byzantine to build the great monument. The whole complex of the mosque is an architecturally walled construction. The complex occupies a rectangular area of 157 m in width by 100 m in depth or around 15,216 m2 . The areal domain of the mosque was architecturally defined by the walls built during the Roman Empire. The area is divided into two domains: the courtyard on the North and the main hall on the South, where the Qibla wall is. The main accesses to the mosque are Bab al-Amara on the North, Bab al-Barid on the West, and Bab Jairun on the East. The exit access to the mosque is Bab al-Ziadeh in the South. The North entrance is visually recognizable by Madhanat al-Arous or the Tower of the Bride; it functions as the minaret of the mosque. The plan of the minaret is juxtaposed at the axis of the Basilica while the entry point of the North is situated at the western side of the Tower of Bride. The tower stands at a height 0f more than 75 m while the footprint is about 5 m by 5 m. The architectural expression of the minaret is a syncretic treatment of Moroccan and Byzantine architecture. The East Gate: Bab Jairun works as the second main entrance of the mosque. This entrance is notably accentuated with a clock; even though the origin of the clock was constructed not during the Umayad Caliph Al-Walid reign but by Muhammad Ali bin al-Khurasani Al Saati circa between 1154 and 1167 (Flood 2000, 114). On daily basis, the main entrance of the mosque is the West gate known as Bab al-Barid. This is the former site of the Temple of Jupiter. Visitors of the mosque still can see the relics of the temple with the structurally horseshoe-arched architrave with a row of a Corinthian colonnade with an interval of 5 m standing at the height of 12 m. Entering the mosque area is through a Roman portico structure. The courtyard is enclosed by three portico structures with horseshoe arch. The depth of the portico is about 7 m in the North area and 15 m in the West and East. The portico is constructed with a Roman horseshoe-arched colonnade of 60 cm by 60 cm with an interval of 5 m. The North colonnade structure of the courtyard consists of 25 rows of columns while the East and West are constructed with 10 rows of pillars. The portico structure architecturally constitutes and defines the rectangular enclosure of the courtyard while inside, the portico provides the courtyard with the South, West, and East gallery with the visually rhythmic intonation of arch architraves, columns, and upper windows.

The Umayad Mosque of Damascus

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In the courtyard, there are three iconic structures. At the centerline of the complex, stands a rectangular shelter of 10 m by 10 m ground plan at 15 m in height. Inside the shelter is provided with a circular fountain with several outlets for ablutions with a pyramidal roof form. On the Westside, the courtyard is provided with a shelter with a small dome roof. This building is called the Cupola of the Treasury or Qubbat al-Khazna and stands on 10 round columns with a circular plan of 6 m in diameter. A small similar structure can be found on the Eastside. This building is known as the Cupola of the Clocks or the Time Keeper. These buildings were constructed with the commission of Al-Fadl Ibn Salih Ibn Ali between 780 and 789 A.D. From the square courtyard, visitors are welcomed by the central portico of the Basilica. The Roman “anta” pilasters stand to flank the intercolumniation of the Basilica with two Corinthian columns. Characteristically speaking, the structural wall system of the whole mosque complex is constructed with the Roman multilevel arcade structure based upon Roman aqueduct architecture. The main prayer hall is located under the Basilica building while the extension of the prayer areas of 36 m in width by 136 m in length is provided with three aisles under the pitched roofs spanning from East to West. The roof system at the West and East aisles is supported by two rows of double arcade structures in the central area, a solid Roman wall in the North, and a double arcade structure of the northern portico. The central façade of the mosque is characterized by the layers of intercolumniation wall structure: the Roman grand arch, the three arcades, and three architraves. The façade of the Basilica is an amalgamation surface of Greco-Romano construction and Byzantine decorative elements. Plant and geometrical motifs dominate the iconic patterns and forms on the mosaics and surfaces. Entering the prayer hall of the mosque from the main entrance of the Basilica is a grandiose experience cheered up with rhythmic rows of Corinthian columns and double-stacked Roman arcades. The main axis of the mosque leads visitors straight toward the mihrab. In the front hall of the Basilica, the visitors will see the grand arcade on the left, right, and front. Going through into the central hall of the Basilica is the most magnificent experience with a splendid view of the Dome of the Eagle. One of the most obvious decorations on the façade, pilasters, walls, and arcades is the vining plants. In the Arabic language, such a vining plant is known as al-karma. The use of the vining plant motif is most likely and characteristically associated with the iconography of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid Ibn Abd al-Malik (Flood 2000, 57–9). The mihrab and the qibla wall of the mosque are finely decorated with vining plant motifs on precious stones. This decoration is to recall the associative relation of al-karma to the Garden of Eden or al-Firdaus. The treatment of the vining plant motif was likely to reinstate the presence of al-Firdaus in the mosque architecture instead of a historical iconography of paradise from ancient Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations. The Basilica of the mosque becomes the spite of the whole prayer hall with a grand dome at the centerline of the mosque. The core building of the mosque is the grand vestibule with the Dome of Eagle or Qubat al-Nisr of 36.60 m in diameter and 43 m above the ground. The dome is architecturally similar to the Mosque of Al-Aqsa or the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The difference is that the Dome of

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the Eagle is decoratively embellished with a Syrian home ornamental tradition with Byzantine intricate mosaic patterns and calligraphic inscriptions. The dome dominates the whole hall with its spacious splendor. The dome is structurally supported by a hexagonal ring structure with windows at a height of 3.20 m. The dome stands gloriously on the hexagonal ring structure. The load of the central dome structure is distributed by four grand arcades into four square pillars of 3.20 m by 3.20 m, and 15 m in height. The pillars are covered with white marble and decorated with black geometrical ornaments. Similar decorations are carved on the white marble of the qibla wall, where the mimbar of the mosque is visibly located. The mimbar becomes the centerline of the qibla wall. The mihrab of the mosque is designed with an arcade niche flanked by two Corinthian column pilasters supporting a striped black and white marble arcade of 1.20 m in width and 3.20 m in height. The vining plant motif dominated the decorative mosaic patterns and forms of surfaces on the pilasters, arcades, and square columns. However, the mihrab area is framed by the rectangle architrave with geometric and calligraphic decorations. This architrave shows its unique frame that makes an accentuation for the mihrab. On the eastern side of the mihrab, stands the mimbar of the mosque. This podium is set up 3 m above the prayer hall’s level and accessible through a portal gate with decorative wooden double swing-in doors. The gate is architecturally constructed with a white portal structure and embellished with rich geometric decorations and plant motif carvings. The mimbar is only used for Friday prayer and other holy Islamic Days prayers. This high pulpit is provided with a straight staircase. From this podium, the imam, who is usually the religious community leader, delivers the sermon for the congregation for the Friday prayer. The original mimbar was made of wooden construction and burned down by a fire. The mosque had been burned down by fires in 1069 and 1400 by Chagatai Turk Tamerlane, and again in 1893 (Palestine Exploration Fund 1911, 109). The present mimbar is concrete construction and covered with white marble and carved with decorations. Historically, unique for the Mosque of Damasus is the presence of maqsura. It is an architecturally marked area in the prayer hall nearby and in front of the mimbar area. This area was a reserved area for the Umayyad Caliphate and its dignitaries and family members. The area is demarcated with wooden balustrades at the same level as the prayer hall. The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus was originally constructed with four corner minarets at the outer wall system. The southeastern and southwestern towers were originally Greek observation towers. During the reign of Caliph al-Walid, the towers were not in use for muezzin calling the time for prayer. The North minaret of the Tower of Bride was commissioned by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Makmun who reigned between 813 and 833. During the Mamluk sultanate reign, the northeastern and northwestern towers were demolished and replaced with a single dominant tower called the Tower of the Bride or Midhanat al-Arous circa 1340 (Ali 1999, 33). On the West corner of the mosque complex, the Minaret of Isa stands to the right of the Qubat al-Nisr. During the Umayyad reigns, the Mosque of Damascus until 750 A.D. was the state mosque and was considered the center of the Muslim world. The status was changed when Abbasid Caliphates moved the capital of the Caliphate to Baghdad. After that

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transformation, the Mosque of Damascus suffered from a shortage of maintenance. During the Abbasid Caliphate, the mosque became politically less symbolic as the spiritual center of the Islamic world. However, it was a sub-center of the Caliphate’s socio-religious influence on the Abbasid governor in Syria. The Abbasid governor of Damascus, Al-Fadl Ibn Salih Ibn Ali, established the Dome of the Clock in the eastern section of the mosque in 780 A.D. and began the construction of the Dome of the Treasury or Qubbat Al-Khazna in 789 A.D.

The Dome of the Rock of Jerusalem The Dome of the Rock or Qubbat al-Sakhra is a historical shrine dated back to 691 A.D. (Grabar 1987, 3–4). The building was constructed by the Umayyad Caliph AlMalik Ibn Marwan. The Muslims arrived in the location and managed to control the whole area of Jerusalem in the early 640. Under Islamic rule, Jerusalem was protected by the Muslims so that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre remained functioning as a Christian congregation hall (Darke 2020, 100). Architecturally speaking, the dome is a central building with a circular plan at the core of 20 m in diameter and 25 m of vestibule standing above the ground. The building is constructed with an octagonal ground plan with 24 m perimeter. The dome is situated on the architecturally raised platform of an irregular trapezoid with a north perimeter of 310 m, a south side of 281.2 m, a west side of 488.3 m, and an east side of 466.6 m (Grabar 2006, 6). The building stands on a square esplanade surrounded by city walls and buildings in the old city of Jerusalem. There are gateways into the open area, in which the Dome of Rock is located. The gateways of the northern walls are Bab al-Atm, Bab Hitta, and Bab al-Asbat. The entry points from the western wall are Bab al-Ghawanima, Bab al-Nazir, Bab al-Hadid, Bab al-Qattanin, Bab al-Mattara, Bab al-Silsila, and Bab al-Maghribi. Meanwhile, the southern wall is only provided with two entries: the single gate and the triple gate. Even though the Golden Gate stands on the eastern wall, it is not accessible to visitors from the East. The sense of arrival on the platform is provided with leading paths toward gateway staircases and the portals of arcades or qanatirs. The qanatirs were constructed by the Mamluks in the early fifteenth century. The portal of qanatir is a masonry construction with steep arch structures on the pilaster columns at both ends and Corinthian columns in the middle of the portal span. The free-standing structures with architecturally pointed arcades of 24 m in length and 12 m in height stand to remind people of the Mamluks’ presence in the location between the mid-thirteenth and the early fifteenth centuries. However, the use of the structurally pointed arch had been prevalent for public buildings from Persia to Egypt during the Abbasid Empire by the ninth century, such as the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo built in 876 (Darke 2020, 199) (Fig. 2.2). The location is the open area within the old city wall. The site is conceived as a sacred domain by Muslims and Jews. For Muslims, the location is perceived as the Noble Sanctuary or Haram al-Sharif. It is sacred for Muslims because they believe

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Fig. 2.2 Dome of Rock. Illustration by Author

in the location as the place where the Prophet Muhammad ascension to heaven. Meanwhile. The Jews perceive the site as the place of the two Biblical temples or the Temple Mount of Har ha’Bayit. For the Jews, the location is the site of the first and second temples. The first temple was built by Solomon and later destroyed by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., then moderately rebuilt by Zerubabbel and reconstructed and aggrandized by Herod, which was there until the demolition of the second temple by the Romans of Titus and Vespasian in circa 70 B.C. (Berger 2012, 3–7). The building is architecturally iconic with its proportion to the surrounding landscape with a shimmering golden dome and significant height. The dome is constructed with a wooden structure covered with golden aluminum clad. The octagonal form of the building’s torso shows a solitary statue with a visually dignified gleaming cupola rising to the sky. If the building is used for a mosque, it is an extraordinary one because the form is architecturally designed without a dominantly directing qibla protrusion for a mihrab. Instead, the form is perfect with a strong seat that builds the vertical axis between the earth and sky. Architecturally speaking, the Dome of the Rock is likely intended to be a navel of the world or a mausoleum, or a shrine. Octagonal building was familiarly associated with Byzantine pilgrimage shrines. However, the integration of the dome into the octagonal edifice is a Christian Byzantine church form. As a construction system, the hexagonal domed edifice is constructed as a central structure with a Roman arcade framework. The octagonal exterior enclosure

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is lavishly decorated with blue, green, and yellow mosaics and non-human figurative patterns and images. As a whole, it is an extraordinary syncretism of Roman, Byzantine, Christian, and Islamic elements, structure, and composition. The visitors of the Dome of the Rock are provided with four main accesses to the dome the South, North, East, and West. There is the Fountain of Solomon nearby the northern wall and the Fountain of Qaytbay. The architecture of the fountain shows an iconic dome with a structurally pointed arch but with a horseshoe arch for its roof windows. This fountain was constructed by the Mamluks for the ablution facility toward the Dome of the Rock from the western wall. To access the platform, visitors are provided with eight sets of entry of stairs. On the platform, visitors can see minor domes surrounding the Dome of the Rock: the Dome of Ascension or Qubbat alMiraj and the Dome of the Prophet or Qubbat al-Nabi on the northwestern side, and the Dome of Chain or Qubbat al-Silsila on the eastern side of the Dome. Meanwhile from the South, the Al Kas fountain stands between the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque of Al-Aqsa. The fountain is used as the ablution place before going into the inner side of the Dome of the Rock. From the four main entries, the octagonal building is constructed with two circular ambulatories that encircle the uncovered floor showing the basalt rock in the central area of the whole plan. The central vestibule is under a lavishly decorated dome mounted on the richly ornamented drum wall structure with 16 horseshoe glassed architraves supported by four cardinal square pillars and 12 Corinthian columns through decoratively striped horseshoe arcades. The decoratively stained glasses of the architraves allow the light to go into the vestibule with colorful rays. The main ambulatory of the Dome of the Rock is created between the circular arcades of the vestibule and the octagonal arcade structure consisting of eight marble-clad pillars and 16 Corinthian colonnades at 11 m in height. The second ambulatory is encircled by the octagonal wall structure 18 m wide from the first circular colonnades. The rock in the center area is known as the foundation stone; it is exposed with its natural characteristics with a cave construction underneath the ground floor. Access to the cave is provided with a staircase from the southeastern direction of the foundation stone. The entry point is known as Bab al-Arwah or the gate of the soul. The cave is about 6 m in width and 9 m in depth at a height ranging between 1.50 and 2.70 m. Inside the cave, there are four prayer niches with ancient narratives and collective memories among Jews and Muslims. Inside and outside of the Dome of the Rock, there is no space on the surfaces left without ornamental patterns and motifs but the Dome. The exterior surfaces are not only richly decorated with colorful Byzantine mosaics and calligraphies but also the architecturally multilayered surfaces with horseshoe architraves. The main entries of the dome are architecturally accentuated with the Corinthian colonnades standing on the square pedestals and architecturally protruded arches. Dark and light blue and soft white color scheme dominates the wall surfaces of the Dome of the rock while the shiny golden dome looks superbly crowning the building with a strong presence in the white grayish, and undulated skyline of Old Jerusalem. The architecture of the Dome of the Rock has been questionable to be a mosque by several scholars (Goldhill 2010, 110; Cosman 2008, 613; Fine 2011, 179; Brockman 2011,

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367). The octagonal ground plan of the ambulatorial gallery is closely associated with the Christian ritual pilgrimage to the martyr shrine of the Saint in Syria; it was probably inspired by the sixth-century cathedral of the ancient city of Bosra in Egypt (Darke 2020, 102). Indeed, the ambulatorial gallery looks fitter for the ritually circumambulating pilgrimage rather than for Islamic congregational prayer.

The Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia Far and away from the Arabian Peninsula, the Mosque of Muhammad Ibn Kairouan is a jewel of the North African landscape. Today, the mosque is located between the city’s Rue de la Kasbah and the Rue el Farabi, in the historically fortified district of Medina. The remnants of the Roman amphitheater and temples of Sbeitla are not far away from this location at about 50 km southwest inland. The building was built by Uqba ibn Nafi circa 670 A.D., a commander of Muslim warriors. The area known as the Maghrib was conquered by the Muslim warriors under the Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab’s general: Amr al-As in 641 A.D. (Hareir 2011, 378). Uqba Ibn Nafi or Sidi Okba was not only to establish a mosque but also an Islamic cultural center in the region. Uqba worked tirelessly to disseminate and consolidate Islamic teaching and influence in the Maghrib and Barqa region. The building was expected to attract people to settle in the area with vibrant socio-cultural activities with a setback from the coastline for defense in anticipation of a Byzantine invasion. The founding of the city of Kairouan was an integrated part of the Islamic missionary and the establishment of the Umayyad garrison in North Africa. As matter of fact, the conquest was a contested and long struggle with imminent rebellions from the local Berbers and factions of Muslim warriors, the Jund (Anderson et al. 2018). Nevertheless, the Mosque of Kairouan played an important role in the consolidation of Islamic power in the region. Uqba Ibn Nafi established the mosque for the Friday prayer and a gathering place of spiritual unity among Muslims between 670 and 671. The original architecture of the mosque and its construction did survive despite the material used is less durable and vulnerable to climate and attacks from rebellions. There were several renovations and improvements to maintain the original layout and architectural form by the Umayyad commander: Hasan ibn Nu’man in 703, the enlargements of the prayer hall under the Umayyad governor: Bichr ibn Safwan in 722–728, and another renovation under Abbasid governor: Yazid ibn Hatim in 772, the mosque was reconstructed by the Aghlabid prince Ziyadat Allah I in 836 (Museum with No Frontiers 2022). Between 800 and 909, the Aghlabid dynasty ruled the Maghribi of the Ifriqiya region under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate (Fig. 2.3). The significance of the Mosque of Kairouan lies in its historic and iconic design which was established and developed with a reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s house in Madina. The layout of the ground plan was a common design for most houses in the urban settlements of the Arabian Peninsula during the ninth and tenth

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Fig. 2.3 Mosque of Kairouan. Illustration by Author

centuries. Situated at the trading hub of 15 different thoroughfares, the mosque was in the core of the crossing area between the mountains and the sea, it was considered by the Muslims in North Africa as the fourth holiest site after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. The precious cultural heritage of the Mosque is well known by the historians of religious studies as the copy of the Holy Koran known as the Blue Koran published in the mid of the tenth century; it was a seven-volume set with gold writing on parchment dyed a deep blue (Blair and Bloom 1995, 117). The region has been proud of its historic home industry of Berber carpet and olive oil since the early ninth century. Even though the Aghlabid emirs never ceased to acknowledge the sovereignty of Abbasid power, they enjoyed their autonomous government; the Abbasids were not part of the decision-making of politics in the Aghlabid political affairs (Anderson et al. 2018, 3). The mosque is a hypostyle building complex with a square ground plan of 125 m in length and 75 m in width comprising a courtyard of 137 m by 37 m. The prayer hall is provided with 17 aisles and 9 bays and a structurally arcaded forecourt width while the courtyard with a fountain at the center is encircled by three portico structures. The mosque complex is designed and constructed as a fort structure with an architecturally walled system known as rabat. The enclosure is a mudstone constriction of 60 cm average thickness with repetitive pilasters and wall-thickening structures. The main entries of the mosque from the streets are provided at three locations: Bal Lala Rejana at the west center wall under the minaret, and the north and south gates. In addition, there is an emergency gate” Bab al-Ma at the qibla wall on the east. All

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these gates are designed and constructed with an arch porch structure. Moreover, the most architecturally elaborated gateway of the mosque is to be found on the façade of the main prayer hall. The grand Roman arcade rests on grand Corinthian columns standing in the middle of the left and right arcaded portico with the background of the front dome of the mosque. The central hall on the axial line between the mihrab and the minaret is constructed with a bay of 10 m. At the ends of the hall, there are two domes of 8 m in diameter; the northwest dome and the southeast dome. Both domes are constructed with 24 ribs of the fluted cupola structures mounted on the octagonal drum-bearing wall system of 8.5 m in diameter and 1.40 m in height. The drum is constructed with architraves for 8 windows and supported by the square base-bearing wall structure of 10 m by 10 m and 1.80 m in height. The whole structure of the dome on the octagonal drum construction recalls people of the Byzantine churches. Moreover, the decoratively carved capitals of colonnades contained bird-figurative elements from the early Byzantine churches. The Muslims meticulously converted the birds of the re-used Byzantine capitals into non-figurative volutes but allowed the vegetal elements of the capitals to persist (Maguire 2012, 41). Architecturally speaking, the layout of the mosque shared something in common with the site plan of the Roman Temple of Jupiter with a courtyard and encircling porticos. The hypostyle of the whole mosque complex is constructed with a Roman arcade structure on the double Corinthian colonnades and pilasters. The Islamic influence on the architecture in North Africa was shown with vertically catching monuments, such as minaret and hall with a dome. The Mosque of Kairouan is architecturally characterized by a square minaret or sawma’a of 10.7 m by 10.7 m at 31.5 m height and two structurally fluted domes of 10 m in diameter at a height of 18 m from the ground. The building construction of the mosque is a mudstone and bricklayer plaster system with wooden fortified concrete domes and wall structures. Technologically speaking, the Roman builders had introduced to the region the use of concrete structure with a horseshoe-arch structure for hypostyle halls after the Third Punic War in 146 B.C. The minaret of the mosque is believed to be modeled after the Roman Lighthouse at nearby Salakta (Blair and Bloom 1995, 86); the port is situated about 128 km east of Kairouan. Architecturally speaking, the horseshoe mudstone arcade characterizes the façade of the mosque at its porticos, gates, windows, and niches. The expression of the façade is uniquely characterized by the earthy color of the mudstone of the local landscape. As a whole work, the mosque is an architectural embodiment of modesty in tone and finely elaborated elegance in standing. This embodiment established an architectural ambiance that brings about the solemnity of the mosque without decoratively distracting structures and elements for the prayers. The mihrab niche of the mosque is especially elaborated with a Roman arch structure. The mihrab is lavishly decorated with white luster marble clads carved and painted with geometric patterns and vining plant motifs. Muslims inherited decorative motifs and ways of applying them from other artistic traditions inspired by vining plants. These include Byzantine art, Coptic Egypt, and ancient Sasanian

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art of Iran as well as Roman art. The notable element of the mosque is its iconic and historic carved wooden pulpit or mimbar. The podium is a platform made of teak wooden construction with a ladder. It is located at nearby the mihrab. The panels of the mimbar are richly carved with geometric patterns and motifs within various frames. Each frame contains a unique design so that the whole composition of the surface comprises various plant and geometric motifs in a monochromatic tone and homogenous intonation. Regarding its motifs, the mimbar invokes the artistically elaborated refinement of the altars of Byzantine churches. Iconographically speaking, the vining plant is known as karma and geometric motifs represent paradise, which is commonly found in the Umayyad mosques. In most cases, rhythm, order, dynamics, and repetition of decorative elements in the Mosque of Kairouan come into play within the architectural compositions, decorations, and ornamentations underlying the analytical intelligence and emotional response instead of the contemplative experience. The other unique component of the mosque’s interior is the presence of a maqsura. This pavilion enclosure within the prayer hall is located adjacent to the mimbar. It establishes an architecturally demarcated domain with a wooden screen wall structure. The establishment of maqsura was a common practice for domain protection after the assassination attempt of the Umayyad Muawiya Ibn Abi Sufyan. The maqsura was constructed by the Aghlabid ruler: A Zirid, al-Mu ‘izz ibn Badis between 1016 and 1062. This wooden enclosure of 8 m in width and 6 m in depth was designated and reserved for the Aghlabid ruler and his associates. The design of the geometrical cutwork wooden panels is made with a transparent wall that separates the exclusive domain of prayer for the dignitaries from the rest. The cutwork of the wall is artistically applied inside out at 2. 8 m in height. The top of the wall is crowned with a row of wooden teeth on the geometric band containing decorations with plant motifs. The wall panels are geometrically cut with rectangular patterns and stained with shiny dark brown polish. The main embellishment of the maqsura is a band of crowns calligraphy. The band encircles the top part of the maqsura featuring an inscription in ornamental Kufic character carved with interlacing plant motifs in the background.

The Mosque of Ibn al-As and Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Egypt The other mosques in North Africa, which are architecturally designed and constructed with a similar layout to the Mosque of Kairouan, are the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in Fustat or today Old Cairo of Egypt founded in 641, and the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo of Egypt built in 879. Both mosques are provided with a courtyard and innovative development arcade design and construction. Despite several times of demolitions, renovations, reconstructions, improvements, and extensions, the principal design and construction of both mosques remain obvious and consistent with the original ones. Despite the original mosque suffering from fires and earthquakes in the past, the original design of the building has been surviving until today.

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Historic studies on the origin and development of both mosques are indebted to the scholarly works of several devoted scholars including Creswell (1969), BehrenAbouseif (1992), Nezar Al-Sayyad (2011), and Gawdat Gabra et al. (2013). Their documentation and findings enable this study to get resourceful information and position concerning the architecture and historical context of the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As and the Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun. Historically speaking, the arcade design of the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As is regarded as a milestone in mosque architecture. It is one notable transformation in the architecture of mosques since the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus’ times. The application of a pointed arch for the arcade design and construction for the Mosque of Ibn al-As and Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun was an innovative work that inspired and engendered an architectural impoverishment and refinement of the Greco-Roman arcade design. The Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As was built by a Muslim commander under the order of the Caliphate Umar Ibn al-Khattab in 641. The original architecture of the mosque was a plain and simple enclosure with shelter supported by the trunks of the palm tree (Kuban 1974, 12, Creswell 1969, 16f). The mosque was established as a strategically integrated part of Islamic missionary and a spiritual gathering place of Muslim warriors in Egypt during the mid of the seventh century. Amr Ibn al-As used the mosque to consolidate his warriors with religious congregations. After the conquest of the region, the mosque became a core of socio-cultural urbanism. The location was established as the city of al-Fustat which is today Cairo. The city was a garrison town of Muslim warriors under Amr Ibn al-As (Al-Sayyad 2011, 41). In other words, the mosque was the first lying foundation of modern Cairo. Based on the historic remnants of the foundations, the mosque was originally designed and constructed with a rectangular ground plan of 29 m in width and 17 m in length (Fig. 2.4). The original layout of the mosque was developed after the ground plan of the Prophet Muhammad’s house in Medina. In its present form or architectural performance, the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As is less impressive for artistic admiration and

Fig. 2.4 Mosque of Ibn Tulun. Illustration by Author

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appreciation. Today the mosque is the architectural collage of a series of enlargements, restorations, and reconstructions, that only includes only one wall from the medieval period, and even it is not original but a ninth-century addition (BehrenAbouseif 1992, 47). However, the mosque is historically no question the benchmark of Islam in Egypt. The main entrance of the mosque is located on the west. Entering the mosque into the inner courtyard is through a portico, which is situated on the northwest side of the main prayer hall. The inner courtyard is flanked by three porticos with piers and pointed arcade structures. The hypostyle structure of the home is architecturally unique with the absence of the dome. However, the hypostyle structure of the mosque remains similar to the Mosque of Damascus and the Mosque of Kairouan. Accordingly, the arcade line consisting of Corinthian colonnades stands in the qibla direction. The current configuration of the main prayer hall comprises 21 aisles and 6 rows. Adjacent to the main hall is the courtyard, which is architecturally demarcated by the porticos. The north portico and the south portico are constructed with three aisles and 15 rows. The east portico stands with a single nave and 17 bays. The structure and construction of the roofing system are flat mudstone roofs with wooden frames. The load of the roof is distributed through the bearing arcades resting on the piers and Corinthian columns. Wooden beams are set to connect between columns and piers so that the whole structure brings about and is intertwined with a network of wooden connecting beams. A historic 1893 photograph of the interior of the mosque is well preserved in the Wilbour Library of Egyptology of Brooklyn Museum, New York. The architectural development of the mosque has been happening throughout the years until today. The façade of the mosque is architecturally unique employing an architrave and niche with a horseshoe arch at the top and with narrower square torso at the bottom. This façade opening is considered unique in comparison with other mosques built during those times. However, the ablution place is located in the courtyard like in the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus. Regarding its building materials, the mosque roof structure and construction are likely vulnerable to long-lasting performance. Despite the mosque is not architecturally constructed with monumentality and exaggeration in mind, this building is the landmark and benchmark for the urbanism of Cairo. Amr Ibn al-As did not choose ancient Alexandria. Rather, he founded the first seed of urbanism under Islamic culture in Egypt with Fustat as its urban core. This was a wise choice considering the existing Egyptian cosmopolitan community in Alexandria. The Muslims did not want to endure the tension with the Coptic Christians, Jews, and other non-Muslim populations. Fustat was a newly established urban area with new opportunities and possibilities. Under the Caliph Uman Ibn al-Khattab and the Umayyad rule between 642 and 750, the socio-cultural and political life and affairs among Egyptian populations were socially tolerant (Douer 2015, 46). The Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun is another significant living monument of Islam in Egypt and the North African region. It is located at today al-Khudayri Street, the extension of al-Shaiba Street. The mosque is situated on the Hill of Jabal Yaskhur in the city of Cairo 3 km northeast of the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As. Both mosques share something in common concerning their architecture concerning the original Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque in Madina; both building are not provided a dome in

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the main prayer hall. The mosque was built under the order of the Abbasid governor of Fustat: Ahmed Ibn al-Tulun between 876 and 879. He was a Turkish general and viceroy of the Abbasid Caliph but found his way to be independent of Baghdad after the conquest of Syria and Egypt in 878. Despite his humble background, Ahmed Ibn al-Tulun enjoyed the military and general education of the Abbasid court in Samara. Ibn al-Tulun developed and provided the urban economic foundation of Fustat in the Region of al-Qata’i with great marketplaces, mills, bathhouses, and baking houses (Lev 1997, 131). However, the architecture of the mosque shows a representation of artistic expression and treatment beyond the Umayyad Mosque lineage. Accordingly, the mosque was an attempt to anchor a new genre with the absence of the Byzantine dome on the hexagonal drum structure at the main prayer hall. However, the arcade of the Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun remains similar to the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As but with a different architectural treatment for the colonnades. The Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun does not employ the Corinthian colonnades but a Persian columnal pilaster structure. In the nineteenth century, the main prayer hall or mughatta comprised five rows and five bays of colonnades (Strange 1890, 2010, 94). The whole layout is similar to the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As with a courtyard or al-sahn. The design of the three porticos of the fore building called mukaddamah is characterized by the arcade structure with a pointed arch structure resting on the columnal carved pilasters made of bricklayers and stucco. The architecture of the Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun is unique despite its founder’s cultural origin in the Anatolian region. The mosque was inspired by the art and architecture of Masjid Samarra al-Kabir in Iraq. The minaret of the mosque stands in front of the mosque, which is similar to the Great Mosque of Samara. Indeed, Ahmed Ibn al-Tulun spent his boyhood in this historic city. In this city, the structurally pointed arches were extensively employed for architecture, especially the Ukhaidir Palace from circa 778; the pointed arch was a prevalent architectural icon of the Abbasid empire from Persia to Egypt (Darke 2020, 198). Historically speaking, the Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun was a milestone of the Tulun dynasty in Egypt. However, throughout the centuries, the architecture of the mosque had been restored, renovated, and partly rebuilt under various Muslim rulers, from Fatimid viziers, and Mamluk dynasties, to modern times. Originally, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun was provided with a fountain or fauwara under the circular plan of shelter on the free-standing columns. This fountain was the ablution place of the mosque, which was situated in the center of the courtyard or al-sahn. The ground plan of the mosque is a square scheme of 138 m in length by 120 m in width. The plan comprises a square courtyard of 92 m by 92 m and three porticos with two galleries of 12 m in width. During the Mamluk reign, the fountain in the courtyard was reconstructed with a dome sitting on the stepped middle structure supported by the square base. The whole form of the dome is in architecturally synchronized form with the minaret. The base of the dome is a rectangular wall structure with four facades. In the middle part of each façade is carved with a pointed-arch gate. The building construction of the mosque is established with mudstones and limestone bricks with an arcade on pilaster structures. The Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun is

The Mosque of Ibn al-As and Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Egypt

33

considered an attempt at architectural liberation from the Greco-Romano building tradition despite still employing the arcade structure for creating the prayer naves and aisles. Instead of standing on the free-standing columns, the arcade structure is architecturally integrated within solid-bearing square piers. However, the traces of Greco-Romano and Byzantine are not absentia. The mihrab of the mosque is architecturally embellished by a pair of Byzantine pillars made of white marble and Corinthian columns made of black marble. The mosque utilized 160 piers of rectangular form of about 2.5 m in height and about 1.25 m in width. To minimize the massiveness of the arcade structure, the upper part of the pier is encroached upon to create a small void with a pointed arch of 40 cm in width and 120 cm in height. Consistent modulation and repetition of the arcade design at every part of the façade establish a rhythmic joyful experience. A similar treatment for this rhythm is also strongly articulated by the 180 cm crenellation of the perimeter wall. There is a space of 18 m in width between the perimeter enclosure and the mosque wall called ziyada meaning overflow or abundance. This space seems to be a reserved area surrounding the mosque for the overflow of prayers during the Friday prayer. The perimeter wall system establishes a strong geometrical square of the whole mosque. However, the massiveness of the exterior enclosure is finely softened by the row of modular pointed-arch windows at the upper part of the façade. Decoratively speaking, the ornamental elements on the top of the façade unify the whole building as a well-integrated composition. Nevertheless, the Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun still functions as a place of prostration. Accordingly, finely and richly carved and painted decorations are designed and employed not to distract the prayers from their prayer. This principle is highly regarded within the ornamentation of the Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun. All decorations on the piers, facades, mihrab and mimbar are made with a homogenous tone to sandstone color. The main mihrab is located at the centerline of the Qibla wall and decorated finely with Kufic inscriptions. Architecturally speaking, the mihrab of the Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun is the most artistically elaborated part of the whole architecture of this building. The architecture of the mihrab is finely crafted and constructed that synergically integrates and syncretizes historical and iconic elements from Greco-Romano architecture, Byzantine mosaics and decorations, and Kufic inscriptions into a whole system. This architectural system is characterized by a strong niche within the frame of the artistically pointed arch. A mosque for Muslims is more than just a place for collective prostration. It is a political symbol of the ruling Islamic authority and a socio-culturally integrated part of the collective memory of its place and people. Historically speaking, abandonment, maintenance, renovation, embellishment, and enrichment of its elements and structure have been an integrated part of its presence today. The socio-political status of the Mosque of Ibn al-Tulun was a state institution under the Tulunids, Fatimids, and Mamluks. Even though there was no trace or clue for the presence of maqsura in the prayer hall today, the maqsura made of woodwork did exist in the Mosque of Amr Ibn al-As in the past under the reign of Fatimid rulers (Gabra et al. 2013, 288).

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Concluding Remarks Islamic art embraces a whole range of styles in terms of unity in diversity; this leads to the conclusion that the art of Islam has great integrative power but it is at the same time uplifting to the timeless awareness (Burckhardt 2009, 125). This is consistent with the spiritual claim of Islam humanity that should embrace people from various origins and backgrounds. Mosque architecture is not simply a functional building but also an artistic endeavor of Muslims in response to their need and searches for a home in terms of the settlement with the environment and others. From this point, the need for the Friday congregation becomes the routine and regular social happening that potentially constructs the collective memory and social relationship. The mosque is the place of social interactions between Muslims, and between people and their place. The presence of a mosque is to characterize a Muslim community in a certain area of the region. Historically speaking, this representation has not intended that makes the Muslim community exclusive. Rather, peaceful relations are based on mutual respect for others. This exemplary practice was demonstrated by the Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab when his general: Khalid Ibn al-Walid arrived and conquered Syria in 635. They did not take over and transform the Churches into mosques; they protected the Christians, Jews, and others under Islamic law and order with the freedom of religious practices according to what they believed in (Al-Khateeb 2017, 41). Islamic teaching underscores the practice of an egalitarian society. Throughout history, the interior architecture of the mosque has been evolving which has put the democratic practice in question. The presence of maqsura and mimbar in the prayer hall of the mosque is philosophically against the democratic principle of Islamic society, provided that both structures are constructed and established with the intention of special treatment. The Caliph Umar Ibn al-Khattab was told to disagree with the story of Amr Ibn al-As holding the Friday sermon and standing above the prayers on an architecturally elevated pulpit (Behren-Abouseif 1992). As with any public building, a mosque is necessary to open for people. However, the mosque is not a secular facility but it is the place for Friday afternoon prayer. Most mosques are open for Muslims for their five-time prayer times. Non-Muslims are most welcome to the mosque with specific dress codes and conditions. Since the floor of the prayer area is necessarily kept clean from any dirt and garbage, visitors are requested to be respectful and solemn so that they do not disturb prayers. Beyond the prayer times, the mosque is theoretically open for any socio-cultural activities including tourism, education, and social gatherings. Maintaining the operational condition of the mosque is essential for its livability and sustainability of the mosque. Commonly, the maintenance of the mosque is taken care of by charitable and non-profit organizations. Such an organization works based on prayers’ donations and charity. The land and building of the mosque are commonly owned and managed by such a charitable organization or state apparatus depending on local conditions and history. Nevertheless, the relationship between the mosque

References

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and the local community is crucial for livability and sustainability. Most mosques in Muslim countries enjoy the status of free-tax status on property assets. The land is commonly within the public property in terms of Islamic waqf. Accordingly, the holder of the property is a charitable organization with no right to sell or transfer the land to any party. Only in certain emergencies or specific circumstances, the land and property in terms of Islamic waqf are transferable. In doing so, the presence of the mosque in Muslim countries is theoretically permanent and everlasting as long as the Muslim community is there.

References Ali, Wijdan. 1999. The Arab Contribution to Islamic Art from the Seventh to Fifteenth Centuries. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press and Royal Society of Fine Arts of Jordan. Al-Khateeb, Firas. 2017. Lost Islamic History: Reclaiming Muslim Civilization of the Past. London: Hurst. Al-Sayyad, Nezar. 2011. Cairo: Histories of a City. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Anderson, Glaire D., Corisande Fenwick, Marian Rosser-Owen, and Sihem Lamine. 2018. The Aghlabids and Their Neighbors: Art and Material Culture in Ninth-Century North Africa. Leiden: Brill. Ariffin, Syed Ahmad, and Iskandar Syed. 2005. Architectural Conservation in Islam: Case Study of the Prophet’s Mosque. Skudai Johor Bahru: UTM Press. Ayyad, Essam S. 2013. The House of the Prophet or the Mosque of the Prophet? Journal of Islamic Studies 24 (3): 273–334. Behren-Abouseif, Doris. 1992. Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction. Leiden: Brill. Berger, Pamela C. 2012. The Crecent on the Temple: the Dome of the Rock as Image of Ancient Jewish Sanctuary. Leiden: Brill. Bisheh, G. 1979. The Mosque of the Prophet at Madinah Throughout the First-Century A. H. with Special Emphasis on the Umayyad Mosque. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Unpublished Dissertation. Blair, Sheila S., and Jonathan M. Bloom. 1995. The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250–1800. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Brockman, Norbert C. 2011. Encyclopedia of Sacred Places. 2. Santa Barbara CA: ABC-CLIO. Burckhardt, Titus. 2009. Art of Islam: Language and Meaning. Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom. Caetani, Leone. 1905–26. Annali dell’ Islam. (Ulrico Hoepli) 10: 437–8, 447–60, 965. Cosman, Madeleine Pelder. 2008. Handbook to Life in the Medieval World. New York: Facts on File. Creswell, K.A.C. 1969. Early Muslim Architecture, vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Darke, Diana. 2020. Stealing from the Saracen: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe. London: Hurst. Douer, Alisa. 2015. Egypt—The Lost Homeland: Exodus from Egypt 1947–1967. Berlin: Logos. Fehervari, G. 1977. Art and Achitecture. In The Cambridge History of Islam Volume 2B: Islamic Society and Civilization, ed. Ann K. S. Lambton, Bernard Lewis, and Peter Malcolm Holt, 703. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fine, Steven. 2011. The Temple of Jerusalem: From Moses to the Messiah. Leiden: Brill. Flood, Finnbar Barry. 2000. The Great Mosque of Damascus: Studies on the Makings of Ummayad Visual Culture. Leiden, Boston, and Cologne: The Brill. Gabra, Gawdat, Getrud J.M. van Loon, Stefan Reif, and Tarek Swelim. 2013. The History and Religious Heritage of Old Cairo: Its Fortress, Churches, Synagogue, and Mosque, ed. Carolyn Ludwig and Morris Jackson. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

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Goldhill, Simon. 2010. Jerusalem: City of Longing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Golvin, Lucien. 1971. Essai sur l’architecture religieuse musulmane: Tome 2 L’ Art religieux des Umayades de Syrie. Paris: Klincksieck. Grabar, Oleg. 1987. The Formation of Islamic Art. New Haven: Yale University Press. Grabar, Oleg. 2006. The Dome of the Rock. Cambridge and London: Belknap Harvard University Press. Hareir, Idris El. 2011. Islam in the Maghrib (21-641/1041-1631). In The Spread of Islam Throughout the World, ed. Idris El Hareir and El Hadji Ravane M’Baye, 375–424. Paris: UNESCO. Holod, Renata. 2016. Approaching the Mosque: Beginning and Evolution. In Splendor of Islam, ed. Jai Imbrey, 14–20. New York: Rizzoli. Johns, Jeremy. 1999. The House of the Prophet and the Concept of Mosque. In Bayt al-Maqdis and Early Islam, ed. J. Johns, 59–112. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kuban, Dogan. 1974. Muslim Religious Architecture: The Mosque and Its Early Development. Leiden: Brill. Lev, Yacoov. 1997. War and Society in the Eastern Mediterranean, 7th-15th Centuries. Leiden and New York: Brill. Maguire, Henry. 2012. Nectar and Illusion: Nature in Byzantine Art and Literature. Oxford and London: Oxford University Press. Museum with No Frontiers. 2022. Discover Islamic Art. Accessed February 21, 2022. https://isl amicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;isl;tn;mon01;2;en. Palestine Exploration Fund. 1911. Quarterly Statement. London: Harrison & Sons. Rane, Halim. 2010. Islam and Contemporary Civilisation: Evolving Ideas, Transforming Relations. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. Rousset, Marie-Odile. 2020. Northern Syria. In The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Archaeology, ed. Bethany Walker, Corisande Fenwick, and Timothy Insoll, 21–48. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Schirrmacher, Christine. 2008. Islam and Society: Sharia Law, Jihad, Women in Islam: Essays. Bonn: Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft. Strange, Guy Le. 1890/2010. Palestine under the Moeslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from AD 650 to 1500. New York: Cosimo. The Oxford Companion to Archeology/ Donald Whitcomb. 2012. Mosque. In The Oxford Companion to Archeology, ed. Alexander A. Bauer, Cornelius Holtorf, Emma Waterton, Margarita Díaz-Andreu García, and Neil Asher Silberman, 357–358. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chapter 3

Tradition and Intervention in Indonesian Mosque Architecture: Islam, Colonialism, and Local Culture

The Issue and Debate The debate on the use of drums in the mosque comes into contemporary Indonesia when Saudi Arabia’s King Salman refused to hit the drum when visiting the Istiqlal Mosque on March 2, 2017. Nobody paid attention to why he did not want to do so because most foreign leaders of state and dignitaries visiting the capital city of the country used to be invited to the national great mosque with a ritual of hitting the drum. The central question is not about the drum but about what Islam is and how does the theological system of Islam conceive local culture and tradition? This study attempts to frame the questions from the perspective of cultural geography with the case study of mosque architecture in Indonesia. The focus of the study is to excavate, unfold, divulge, and exhibit the elements, structures, and functions of the mosques that enable us to see how the power play of local tradition and foreign intervention come into play in the presence of the mosques. All of these excavations and exhibitions are in dealing with the question of how Islam is understood by various agencies in the making of the cultural phenomenon of a mosque. Most of the data of the study were carried out from the author’s fieldwork in various regions of Indonesia. This personal experience of visits is exhibited and presented to construct narrative expositions on the issues, constraints, and conjectural propositions of the mosques concerned with the support of available literary sources. Historically speaking, the acceptance of Islam in various parts of Southeast Asia could not afford to ignore the trade between Islamic merchants from Gujarat, Hadramout, Egypt, and Persia. The trade with the Muslims had begun in the tenth century. Marco Polo of Venice reported that Islam had been widely accepted and practiced by most coastal populations of Southeast Asia at the end of the thirteenth century (Hall 1978, 214). From the travel records of Ibn Battuta circa between 1343 and 1345 (Lee 1829; Yeung 2004), the reception of Islam in Southeast Asia was peaceful and voluntary concerning its socially accepted values. Most Islamic values are derived from the Greatness of Arabic tradition such as mutual respect, equality, fraternity, fairness, generosity, hospitality, and modesty (Vasalou 2019, 117). Such © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 B. Wiryomartono, Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3806-3_3

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values were demonstrated by the Muslim traders from the Middle East and India when they stayed in Southeast Asia for their businesses. Based on the values, Islam was perceived by coastal people in Southeast Asia during the fourteenth century as ethically acceptable communication and interaction. More specifically described, the influential Islamic school, which was widely followed by most coastal populations in the Indonesian archipelago from Aceh Samudra Pasai to Banten and Mataram of Java between 1300 and 1750, was tariqas—schools of Islamic Sufism with mystical teachings and spiritual practices— from Aden, Yemen (Laffan 2011, 4–24). Socio-culturally speaking, the interaction between the Sufism of Islam from the Middle East and the Hindu-Buddhist Javanese population in the thirteenth century could not afford to ignore the similar way of spiritual teaching and practice. The Hindu-Buddhist Javanese tradition with the teaching and practice of samadhi found a comparable way to attain a spiritual journey toward higher consciousness with tariqas. However, tariqas have established and elaborated the spiritual ways of samadhi with the collective ritual of dhikr so that the mystical experience is shared and orchestrated as a collective engagement of devotion. The traces of the Sufi tariqas school of thought are recognizable among Javanese Muslims under the notion of tarekat within various pondok pesantren in Java. Accordingly, tarekat is an educationally oriented organization that concerns with the teaching and practice of Islam with spiritual in-depth experience. However, in the Javanese context, it is inseparable from the engagement of tarekat in the daily socio-cultural and economic activities of society at large (Riyadi 2014, 3). Islam the teacher of the tarekat is known as kiayi while the murid is addressed with the word santri. In the Javanese context, the principles of spiritual teaching and practice within the tarekat are known as tasawuf with its core practice of dhikir or dzikr—a devotedly and rhythmically repeating words: La ilaha illallah—there is no any god but Allah, the Almighty—either through voice or through silence. Through dhikir, one’s mind– body-spirit is concentrated on the alignment of thought and rhythmic breath that transcend one’s consciousness to the emptiness at the receptive mode of cognition. In Javanese tradition, the practice of dhikir has been always a spiritually integrated part of slametan and layatan. Slametan is a communal gathering with a ritual of dhikir for the thankfulness of well-being and togetherness in overcoming any kind of hardship. Clifford Geertz describes the notion, practice, and meaning of slametan at length in his Religion of Java (Geertz 1960, 11–14). Dhikir is commonly practiced by most Javanese Muslims for layatan—a communal gathering for condolence during the funeral (Geertz 1960, 68–76).

Traditional Mosques in Indonesia The presence of a mosque in Indonesia had been culturally integrated into various ethnic communities in Indonesia since the thirteenth century. The unique architecture of ancient mosques in Indonesia has been attracting the scholarly attention of

Traditional Mosques in Indonesia

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many scholars, especially Dutch researchers since the first half of the twentieth century. Despite their differences in the origin of architectural form, studies by the Dutch specialist in Indonesia’s mosque architecture: Guillaume Frédéric Pijper and Hermanus Johannes de Graaf show a common ground in dealing with the unique building expression of the ancient mosques in Java (Pijper 1947; Graaf, The Origin of the Javanese Mosque 1959; Graaf, De Moskee van Japara 1936). Both scholars could not be seen as indivisible from the early studies on Islam in Indonesia by Willem Frederik Stutterheim: De Islam en zijn komst in den Archipel (Stutterheim 1935). From the political-economic perspective, the interest of the Dutch colonial scholarship on Indonesia was inseparable from the socio-anthropological approach to managing their geopolitically colonialized East Indies from the Islamic resistance during the Java War (1825–1830), the Padri Rebellion (1821–1837), and the Aceh War (1873–1904). Snouck Hurgronje (1853–1936) was a proponent of the approach to colonialize the archipelagic country with smooth patrimonial hegemony and through indigenous people’s beliefs system with a divide-and-rule strategy. Contemporary studies on Indonesian mosques cannot afford to overlook the contributions of many scholars, especially from an architectural perspective and socio-cultural interest such as Jacques Dumarcay (La charpenterie des mosquees javanaises 1985), Stephen Headley (Durga’s mosque: cosmology, conversion and community in Central Javanese Islam 2004), Hugh O’Neil (Islamic Architecture under New Order 1993), and Ismudiyanto and Atmadi (Demak, Kudus, and Jepara Mosques: A study of Syncretism 1987). This study is an attempt to elaborate and deepen their findings in dealing with syncretic acculturation and hegemonic insertion of interaction between indigenous and foreign cultural elements, structures, and functions that have been establishing, developing, and maintaining the architecture and cultural system of the mosque in Indonesia since the thirteenth century. However, there are only a few ancient mosques that have been surviving until today. Most of them represented the centers of the Sultanates (see Table 3.1). Besides, there are ancient mosques in rural areas that have been serving their respective communities, such as Masjid Saka Tunggal of Cikakak Wangon of Banyumas (Wikimedia Commons 2015) and Masjid Mantingan of Tahunan Jepara in Central Java (Wikimedia commons 2014), Masjid Tuo Kayu Jao of Jorong Kayu Jao, Nagari Batang Barus, Gunung Talang, in Solok, West Sumatra (Wikimedia Commons 2018), and Masjid Wapauwe of Kaitetu, Leihitu in Maluku (Wikimedia Commons 2017). Architecturally speaking, these mosques were originally constructed with a rectangular ground plan and multi-tiered roof form and equipped with drums—bedug—and kentongan. Architecturally speaking, the mosques built in the period between 1300 and 1750 in Java were mostly developed with syncretic integration of Hindu-Buddhist tradition and Islam (see Table 3.1). The spatial hierarchy of the Hindu-Buddhist temples is architecturally incorporated into the spatial layout of the ancient mosques. In the Hindu-Buddhist Javanese building tradition, the layout is hierarchically organized into three layers: outer, transitory, and inner domain. The outer domain is known as jaba or purwa whereas the middle part and the inner domain are called madya and jero or utama. The levels of each domain are architecturally increased from the outer

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Table 3.1 List of historical Mosques in Indonesia

Year

Name of Mosque

Location

Founder

1421

Masjid Ampel

Surabaya

Sunan Ampel

1479

Masjid Agung Demak

Demak

Raden Patah

1480

Masjid Agung Kasepuhan

Cirebon

Sunan Gunung Jati

1526

Masjid Agung Banjar

Banjarmasin

Suriansyah

1575

Masjid Gede

Kotagede

Sutawijaya

1566

Masjid Agung Banten

Banten

Sultan Haji

1603

Masjid Katangka

Gowa

Sultan Alauddin

1604

Masjid Palopo

Luwu

Datuk Sulaiman

1606

Masjid Sultan Ternate

Ternate

Sultan Ternate

1607

Masjid Indrapuri

Indrapuri, Aceh

Meurah Johan

1700

Masjid Tidore

North Maluku

Sultan Tidore

1763

Masjid Agung

Surakarta

Pakubuwono III

1773

Masjid Agung

Yogyakarta

Mangkubumi

to the inner domain with the higher surface. The transition and access from each domain are architecturally articulated with a remarkable gate while the boundary of the domain is signified with a structurally enclosing borderline or wall system. Masjid Sunan Ampel in Surabaya was among the oldest mosque in Java with a syncretic architecture of Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Javanese building traditions (Kusumowidagdo and Kusuma 2019). The mosque was founded in 1421 (Budiarto, Indriastjario and Sardjono 2016). The roofing structure of the building has been renovated several times. Only the base part of the main building, the wall, and the gates remain in their original form. Sunan Ampel was one of Wali Sanga or the Nine Saints, who preached and disseminated Islam in Java during the fifteenth century. The local sources include the legends of the Saints, who are believed to have been the first preachers of Islam in Java (Pigeaud and Graaf 2013, 4). Wali is the Arabic word for saint while sanga stems from the Javanese word for nine. From various local sources, we are confirmed that Wali Sanga consists of nine persons: Sunan Gresik or Maulana Malik Ibrahim, Sunan Ampel or Raden Rahmat, Sunan Bonang or Raden Makhdum Ibrahim, Sunan Giri or Raden Paku, Sunan Kudus of Jafar Shadiq, Sunan Gunung Jati or Syarif Hidayatullah, Sunan Kalijaga or Raden Syahid, Sunan Muria or Raden Umar Said, and Sunan Drajat or Raden Qasim. In Javanese tradition, a wali is a highly respected person with unique knowledge and

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authority of religious matters, who is socially authorized with the title of either Arabic shyeikh or Javanese Sunan. Maulana Malik Ibrahim is the first Islamic scholar, who is considered the earliest preacher of Islam, in Java (Eekhout 1892, 14). He came to the seaport of Majapahit at Gresik at beginning of the fifteenth century. His origin is still unknown but with most probability from Gujarat, Hadhramaut, Yemen, or Persia. However, his tomb— pepundhen—is designed in Gujarati style with Arabic script in Gapura Wetan (The British Museum 1939). His legend among Javanese Muslims is closely associated with Sufism and a proponent of the syncretic integration of Islam into local culture and tradition. Syeikh Maulana Malik Ibrahim or Maulana Maghribi is regarded as the founding father of Wali Sanga. Based on the inscription on his tomb, he passed away in Gresik in 1419 (Wikidata/The TroppenMuseum 2020). Today, the community of Pulopancikan surrounding the Mosque of Maulana Malik Ibrahim in Gresik is ethically characterized by Arab descendants of traders from Hadhramaut, who has been living and working for generations in the town since the thirteenth century. The legacy of Maulana Malik Ibrahim is associated with the founding father of an Islamic boarding school based on the Hindu-Javanese tradition of pondok pesantren. The Islamic boarding school is called pondok pesantren. The Javanese word pondok is the adaptation of the Arabic word fundhuq meaning dormitory (Laffan 2011, 27). The word pesatren originated from the Sanskrit Shastri meaning learner or pupil. In Hindu-Bali tradition, such an educational institution for Shastri is known as pasraman. Pesantren is a Hindu-Javanese adaptation for the place where learners— santri—are trained with a stay in a dormitory—ashrama. The word santri has the same meaning as the Arabic murid while the Javanese word kiayi is to address the Arabic notion of a teacher or religious father—mursyid, mu’alim, and murabbi. Gresik was an international seaport with multicultural traces and heritage. Chinese Muslims, Gujarati, Persians, and Arabs have been living in Gresik since the thirteenth century. They mingled with the Javanese and Madurese. The culinary and architecture of the town of Gresik show historical traces of multicultural interaction, acculturation, and cultivation of various sources mentioned above. Indo-Chinese Muslims, who were mostly inter-insular traders, played an important role in the spread of Islam in the coastal areas of Java in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Over time, the Muslim middle class in the harbor towns, of the North coasts of Java such as Gresik and Tuban, managed to take over the political and economic control from the previous vassals of Hindu-Javanese Majapahit. The establishment of a great mosque has been a politically integrated part of power consolidation for most Muslim rulers in Indonesia. Inside the main hall of the mosque was installed a special pavilion for the ruler and his/her family. This pavilion is known as maqsurah. Some of the maqsurah have never been occupied by the Sultanate family and descendants but Yogyakarta and Surakarta are still in function. The Mosque of Kotagede is an example of a traditional mosque that has been operating still in full function today since its establishment in 1575 (Mook 1958). The mosque is located in the core area of the historic city of Kotagede. Muslims in this city are ideologically divided into moderate or abangan, modernist, and traditionalist followers and supporters. The majority of Muslims in Kotagede is the followers and

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supporters of the Muhammadiyah movement. Ideologically speaking, the movement is characterized by its reformist outlook that values science and technology for the development of Islamic teachings and practices. Socio-culturally speaking, the Muhammadiyah movement attempts to liberate Muslims from Javanese mysticism and superstitious practices among the Javanese populations. The movement was founded by Kiayi Ahmad Dahlan in Yogyakarta in 1912 during Dutch colonial rule. Since the traditional Mosque of Kotagede had been always associated with the royal rituals and ceremonies of the Surakarta and Yogyakarta Palaces, the mosque could not facilitate the needs and activities of the followers and supporters of Muhammadiyah. Then, they built a mosque that fitted their socio-cultural programs and activities in 1937 (Mitsuo, Crescent Arises over Banyan Tree 2012, 112). Indeed, most visitors to the Mosque of Kotagede are traditionalist Muslims and moderate ones. Meanwhile, for their Friday prayer, the reformist Muslims in town go to the Silver Mosque, which is situated about 2 km away westward from the old Kotagede’s center.

Bedug and the Mosque Traditionally speaking, mosques in Indonesia are uniquely provided with a drum when the call time for prayer comes into the occasion. The use of drums in the mosque was introduced by Chinese Muslims in the sixteenth century. The first historical mosque that installed the drum was the Mosque of Demak. This is the mosque, from which the spread of Islam in Java has begun with the syncretic teaching of Islam and local culture toward a better world. Like any ideology, Islam is not immune to diverse schools of thought. Tensions and disagreements regarding Islamic practices and interpretations have been historically evolving since the death of the Prophet in 632 AD. Despite differences, Islamic teaching and legacy continue today with various impacts and impressions on the global world. In the Indonesian context, Islam as a religion of peace has been undoubtedly proven within the syncretic way of adaptation, adjustment, and integration. However, only Islam under the Wahabis’ school of thought has been ideologically insisting against such a harmonically integrating and developing acculturation of Islam into local culture and tradition. The obvious reason is because of its puritan perspective for the purely literal and doctrinal teaching and practice of Islam based on the Saudi Arabian culture and tradition in the period between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The history of drums is never something apart from the evolution of percussion musical instruments. In ancient Hindu tradition, the use of percussion instruments is described in the Rigveda from circa 1500 BC. The use of drums or kendang as musical instruments is apparent among Javanese people as carved on the Borobudur temple reliefs. Nevertheless, there is no evidence in Java that the big drum or bedug had been used as a warning system of public safety during the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms. The Dutch record in 1596 confirmed the presence of bedug as the alarm

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drum used widespread in the Banten area (Kunst 2013, 44). It is not surprising to see that the big drum in the Mosque of Demak is put together side-by-side with the ketongan. The Javanese use ketongan as a village alarm by hitting it at certain times in case of emergency. The design of contemporary kentongan is developed from the ancient bronze slitdrum. Slitdrum had been well known by the Javanese and used as ritual utensils since the Bronze Age and elaborated during East Javanese Hindu-Buddhist tradition circa the tenth century. However, the use of the big drum, bedug, in the Indonesian mosque was introduced by the Nine Saints or Wali Sanga, who taught Islam among the coastal populations of Java during the sixteenth century. Demak was the first Javanese sultanate that was founded by the prince of Majapahit, Raden Patah, amid the declining Hindu Majapahit under his father the King of Brawijaya. The installment of bedug and kentongan in the mosque is considered a syncretic integration of ancient Javanese, Hindu-Buddhist, and Islamic elements into a whole embodiment of the prayer hall. For most Indonesians, the installment of bedug in the mosque is a practical reason for reminding people of prayer time, a local announcement of the dead in the community, and an emergency alert of natural disasters and fire (Fig. 3.1). Bedug in the Mosque of Kotagede was a presence from Nyai Pringgit of the village of Dondong. The name of the bedug is given after her name regarding the care function of the drum—bedug—in Javanese tradition for public announcement and alarm like a siren. The drum is made of a wooden drum 84.5 cm in diameter with 1.85 m in length. Meanwhile, the kentongan is made of a wooden trunk of

Fig. 3.1 Bedug and kentongan of the Mosque of Istiqlal, Jakarta. Illustration by Author

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40 cm in diameter and 1.15 m in length. Both are traditionally used by the Javanese as an early warning devices. The drum is beaten after the kentongan. The drum of the Mosque of Kotagede is called Nyai Pringgit concerning the connotative meaning of the benefactor’s name. The Javanese word “pringgit” means the transitory state of affairs. In the architectural context of the Javanese house, the word is used for the transitory domain and structure between the front hall and the living home. As matter of fact, the drum is beaten after the kentongan and before the muazin calls for prayer. All these are the rituals that signify the transitory state of affairs between the daily routine and prayer time. In most cases, the bedug and kentongan are beaten five times a day before the daily prayer times. For most Indonesian Muslims, the installment of bedug does not make any spiritual deception or deviation against the Islamic faith. Those who see and conceive the presence of bedug as a non-Islamic element are people with a narrow-minded understanding of Islam as spiritual teaching and practice of humanity that grows from the diversity of cultures and traditions. As matter of fact, bedug is originally not from Arabian countries or the Middle East but from China. It does not mean it is not an integrated part of Muslim culture in Southeast Asia. How can Islam be a religion of peace without its universally embracing and transcending capacity for the diversity of customs and traditions on the globe?

Gapura, Palisade, and the Mosque Gapura is a Sanskrit word for a gate that works as entry access to a walled compound or palisade such as a town, palace, or temple. The use of gapura had been a common practice of Hindu or Buddhist temple complexes, such as the Prambanan Candi complex in the Yogyakarta region, the mosque complexes of Demak, Ampel in Surabaya, Giri in Batu Malang, Malik Ibrahim in Gresik, Kudus, and Gunung Jati of Cirebon. Most palaces and religious complexes had been provided with gapura (Robson and Robson-McKillop 2003, 43; Ambary 2011, 195; The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia 1976; Nasir 2004, 180). Today such gate structures mostly disappeared because of natural disasters such as earthquakes or demolition or abandonment. The relationship between gapura and the mosque is conceivably associated with the notion of a highly respected domain. Historically speaking, most public areas for religious gatherings, rituals, and ceremonies have been signified as sacred domains—keramat. Architecturally speaking, gapura is to articulate a transitory area between inside and outside. In the Hindu-Javanese building tradition, there are three gates and three layers of the domain for a place of worship. The first stands to mark the transition between the outer domain of the temple—jaba—and the public area. This first gapura is a splitting gate known as candi bentar. The second gate is between the outer domain—jaba—and the second domain—madya or jaba tengah. The third gate is located at the transitory area between the second and the inner—jero. The common decoration that underscores and signifies the transitory line is the head of Kala: the

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god of time. In Javanese Hindu and Buddhist temples, the figure of Kala decorates the head of the pediment of the portal gate. Meanwhile, on the right and left hand of the head of the pediment is carved with climbing plants—sulur—or mythic snake— naga. In the district of Ampel in Surabaya, the three layers of the domain are uniquely constructed with architecturally walled structures. The accesses to the first domain are given specific names in the Javanese language. The East Gate is called made meaning standing and facing Qibla of Mecca. Meanwhile, the other gates are known as gapura panyeksen, gapura madep, and gapura ngamal, gapura pasa, and gapura munggah. The front gates are carved with the iconic motif of the sun with eight rays on the pilasters and florets on its pediment. The sun ray’s decoration is a sign that the mosque was under the protection of the Majapahit Kingdom with its center in Trowulan, nearby the town of today Mojokerto 40 km southwestward from Surabaya. Regarding its origin from the Indonesian Hindu-Buddhistic building tradition, the design of gapura has been integrated into an architecturally walled structure that defines an enclosure of the domain. An example of this is “Mesjid Gede” or the Great Mosque of Kotagede in Yogyakarta. The mosque was founded by Panembahan Senapati, the first ruler of the Islamic Kingdom of Mataram, in 1575. Visually speaking, the front face of the gate is directed to catch attention with its scale and proportion as well as its architecturally elaborated form with patterns and ornaments. The gapura of the mosque in Kotagede is located in the East, North, and South. The eastern gate is the main entrance of the mosque. In Hindu-Buddhist Javanese tradition, the mosque receives the rays of sunrise from the open space of alun-alun. In the sixteenth century, -alun-alun was the center of the town with a twin of banyan trees. On the North of alun-alun was kraton or the residence of the first Mataram ruler: Senapati. Today, even though the areas have been occupied by dense houses, the names of the location remain unchanged. The local royal chronicles of babad Mangkubumi (Santosa 2007, 4), babad Mataram, and Serat Kanda describe the founding of Kotagede (Pigeaud and Graaf 2013, 4, 22). It began in the mid-sixteenth century when Ki Gede Pamanahan was granted by the Sultan of Pajang a forest area in Mentaok. He was a captain of the Pajang Kingdom. His son, Danang Sutawijaya, cleared the forest and transformed Mentaok into a settlement. Afterward, it became his Javanese Islamic Kingdom of Mataram. Economically speaking, the development of Islamic Mataram was based on wet-rice cultivation and metalsmithing home industries, especially cooper, silver, and gold. Islamic Mataram was historically a replenishment of the Shivaitic Hindu Mataram of the ninth century. The previous Mataram Dynasties reigned in Central Java until the end of the tenth century. The establishment of the great mosque— mesjid gede—was conceived by Sutawijaya a structurally embodied center of the newly established state of Mataram and the urban area of Kotagede (Mook 1958). The location of the mosque is situated on the West of the urban square—alun-alun. Despite the former urban square is now highly occupied by crowded houses, the name of the domain remains the same. The gapura of the mosque is situated to the East of the mosque. Historically speaking, the gapura was the second entry point to the mosque. The main gate into

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the mosque complex used to be a split-gate structure—candi bentar—that stood at the axis of the mosque complex on the Qibla direction to Mecca. The remains of the main gate are still architecturally recognizable today. From this main gate, visitors will be guided by a lane to the second gate at 150 m of distance. There used to be symmetrical open shelters—bale-bale—and twin banyan trees at the right and left sides of the lane. Today, the area between the main gate and the second entry point of the mosque is filled with several houses. The design of the gate is the reminiscent structure of a Hindu temple called paduraksa. The significance of gapura is to architecturally accentuate and articulate a transitory domain between the inside and outside of the mosque. The gapura of the main access to the mosque is architecturally designed with an architecturally guiding wall that leads the visitors to turn clockwise. In other words, the visitors will not see directly the mosque building complex but the reception open space. The front yard of the mosque is an open area covered by sand and free of grass and other vegetation. The sense of inside is architecturally provided by the structurally walling enclosure at the height of 2 m made of bricklayers’ construction with less ornamented details at the edges. The edging details at the top of the wall recall and represent the Hindu meru structures with strong horizontal baselines. As found in the Hindu temple in Bali, the main gate is provided with a double wooden door system. Each panel of the door system is carved with two diamond forms. Inside the form, we can see ornamental composition with plant motifs. It is believed that the original decorations on the main door panels represent the state-insignia of Sutawijaya’ Mataram Kingdom. The Gapura of the Mosque of Gede in Kotagede is not only a gate structure with a Hindu design element but also a landmark of geographical orientation. The most main gate is always in the East, while the other ones are in the South and North. The North gate is associated with the entrance to the tombs whereas the South is secondary access to the community. Several decorations are carved on the pediment and pilasters of the gapura show lotus ornament. For the Javanese culture and tradition, Hindu-Buddha and Islam are conceived as spiritual ways that can come to terms with architectural forms and expressions for cultural enrichment and development (Fig. 3.2). The Great Mosque of Sunan Kudus was designed and constructed with HinduJavanese architecture but the spatiality of the building has been functionally serving Islamic rituals and congregations since 1549. The minaret and some wall structures are contemporary relics of the old architectural complex of the mosque (Wikimedia Commons 2009a). The original main hall of the mosque was a three-tiered pyramidal roof structure called three tajug meru. Based on the photographs of the Troppenmuseum’s collection between 1910 and 1939 in Amsterdam, the whole complex of the mosque recalls the Hindu-Javanese temple with an open split gate—candi bentar— at the front yard and the doorway gate—paduraksa—at the inner area of the mosque complex (Wikimedia Commons 2009b, c). The main hall of the mosque becomes the primary and inner area of the whole complex. The boundary of three layers of the area is architecturally signified by the wall enclosure made of limestone bricklayers construction (Fig. 3.3).

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Fig. 3.2 The inside part of the second entrance and palisade of the Mosque Gede, Kotagede. Illustration by Author

Fig. 3.3 Minaret of Mosque of Kudus. Illustration by Author

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Architecturally unique gapura and palisade concerning Javanese Hindu-Buddhist temples can be also found at the Red Mosque of Pnnjunan Kenduruan, in the District of Lemahwungkuk, Cirebon. The gapura is a candi bentar with a palisade made of terracotta bricklayer construction. The mosque is like a perfect Islamic gathering place in a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist built environment. The mosque stands at the corner of the crossing streets of Kenduruan and Panjunan. The main prayer hall is 8 m by 8 m with a front hall of 4 m by 8 m. Despite several times of renovations, the original architecture and main building materials are kept and maintained the same as the ancient ones. The mosque is believed by the locals to the legacy of the sixteenth century, as old as the historic royal city of Cirebon. The city has been a melting pot port town of Arab, Chinese, Persian, Gujarati, and various indigenous ethnic groups since the thirteenth century.

Meru Roof Form and the Mosque Meru roof form is an iconic structure of the Hindu-Javanese/Balinese temple. The word meru means a holy mountain where the gods of Brahma, Wisnu, and Shiva reside. The common use of the meru form for the roof construction is for the main prayer hall. In Javanese traditional buildings, the use of the meru form is limited only to the mosque and the shelter of a tomb for a highly respected personage. In Javanese tradition, the meru form is known as tajug. This form is never for a house or private building but is widely used for a public hall. The number of layers and the scale of the roof structure show its rank and hierarchy to other similar buildings in the region. A great mosque in a municipality used to have at least three layers of meru form. The Mosque of gede in Kotagede still maintains the original structure of its main hall of 15 × 15 m2 . The roof form is a tajug—a pyramidal thatched structure. In Javanese tradition, such a roof form is architecturally devoted to not-habitable buildings such as religious facilities, mausoleums, and shrines. The roof structure consists of two layers of meru form. The ziggurat base roof and the pyramidal roof— cungkup—stand on four main pillars—sokoguru—within a 7 by 7 m2 core area. At the top of the meru roofs is a crown called mustaka. The form of the crown is a lotus bud pointing into the sky surrounded by four florets in four directions. The crown of the main roof structure was constructed after the Mosque of Demak. Most Javanese traditional mosques used to apply the crown of mustaka instead of the calligraphic Arabic inscription of “Allah” at their main roof peak. As a whole system, the roof construction creates a space between the two meru layers that allow daylight to get in and cross ventilation of air under its roof peak. The main roof structure is made of teak wood frames and girders with terracotta tiles as the roof cover. The main hall is architecturally defined by a plastered enclosure at 175 cm in height with small and long windows of 30 cm by 150 cm in width. Three central doors are provided at the North, South, and East. Meanwhile, the mihrab is constructed as a niche in the West. As its historic predecessor: the Great Mosque of Demak, the layout of the main hall is provided with a special western pavilion for

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women called pawestern. The access to pawestren is the western door of the main hall while the eastern door serves as the extension of the main hall for the place for ablution—cleaning, and preparation with running water of prayer, wudlu. In Javanese building tradition, the main hall—liwan—is considered the inner sanctum of the whole complex. The secondary domain surrounding the inner area of the mosque is called serambi. The roof structure of this second area is a continuous gable roof form with a long rectangular plan attached to the main hall. The women’s pavilion is accessible from this second area. Unlike the main hall, the second domain of the mosque is an open hall without a wall. In this area, a big drum—bedug—is installed at the western part of the domain. Surrounding the outskirt of the second area—serambi—is provided with a shallow pond so that the prayer can clean their feet before entering the prayer hall in the second and main hall. The third domain of the mosque is the mosque yard—pelataran. It is an open area within a walled enclosure. The meru form is architecturally expressed at the edge of the wall construction and the wall pilasters. The strong accentuation of the meru form is architecturally represented by the openings of the wall system— paduraksa—at the East, North, and South point of the entrance. The open area of the mosque used to function as the preparation area for the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad—grebeg maulud—and the Islamic new-year celebration, grebeg suro. This tradition has been put to an end after Sultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo, the descendant of Sutawijaya—moved the capital kingdom from Kotagede to Kerta in 1613. The tradition is continued by the Javanese Sultanate of Yogyakarta until today. The front yard of the Great Mosque of Yogyakarta becomes the destination of the grebeg procession from the Sultanate palace, the city square—alun-alun—to the mosque. The ritual and gathering of grebeg is a special event that demonstrates the syncretic integration of Hindu-Javanese tradition and Islam. The events take place in the urban center which brings about the symbolic unity of the state-political and spiritual power with festive folk celebration. The initiator of the event was the nine saints of Java—walisanga—who disseminated the Islamic teaching to the populations of Java during the fifteenth century with its center in Demak. Sultan Agung of Mataram Sultanate (1613–1645) established and elaborated the ritual and ceremony of grebeg as a folk festival with a weeklong night market. The festival takes place in the city square. Sultan Agung made the grebeg day the time for Mataram vassals and regencies to pay tribute to the sultan. The whole event from grebeg to the night market after Sultan Agung is well known as sekatenan. During the night market, popular art performances, culinary, and other entertainments are performed and enjoyed by people. The livability and sustainability of the Great Mosques in Java cannot afford to ignore the role and function of the royal mosques such as in Surakarta and Yogyakarta. Both royal mosques were founded in the mid of the eighteenth century. The Masjid Ageng Surakarta established in 1745 by Sultan Sri Susuhunan Pakubuwana II. The building materials of the mosque mostly originated from the royal mosque in Kartasura. Pakubuwana II moved the capital city of Mataram from Kartasura to Surakarta after the Chinese revolt against the Dutch colonial rule that brought about the burnt

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down of the mosque. The establishment of the royal mosque in Surakarta had been a politically integrated part of the consolidation of power of Pakubuwana II (1726–1749) after the internal struggles. The Great Mosque of Surakarta is considered one of the architecturally wellregarded buildings from the eighteenth century in Java. The mosque is located in the center area of the city on the Northside of Alun-alun and on the Eastside of Pasar Klewer. The architecture of the mosque is constructed after the Great Mosque of Demak with the main building of a three-tiered pyramidal roof structure—tajug tumpang—and a front open hall—pendapa or serambi—with a thatched roof structure—limasan trajumas. The mosque is within a site of 100 m by 100 m with a ground plan of the main prayer hall of 33.2 m by 33.2 m. The front hall is provided with a porch with a gable roof construction called tratag rambat. A traditional drum— bedug—and kentongan are provided inside this hall. Meanwhile, the ablution facilities for male prayers are constructed on the Eastside of the right-wing hall of the mosque (Fig. 3.4). The whole ground plan is developed regarding a Javanese traditional noble house with a front hall and left, and right-wing buildings. The left-wing building is called pawestren and is dedicated to female prayers meanwhile the right-wing building is known as bangsal pabongan. The female prayer hall was constructed and attached to the original building in 1850 under the reign of Sri Susuhunan Pakubuwana VII (1830–1875). The ablution area is provided inside this left-wing hall on the Westside. However, the floor level of the female hall is lower than the main hall. Then, he replaced the old roof crown of mustaka with a new one as seen today with a bold floret burgeon form. Originally, the whole area of the mosque was enclosed by a pond of 1.20 m in width and 0.60 m in depth so which kept the mosque free from dirty feet. Today, the

Fig. 3.4 Masjid Ageng, Surakarta Hadiningrat

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pond is not in use and is partly transformed for maintenance reasons. The construction and renovation of the mosque were completed by Pakubuwana VII with a masonry wall enclosure system or palisades at 2.30 m in height in 1858. Several years later, Pakubuwana X was added to the mosque complex with a lighthouse-like minaret at a height of 23.5 m in height at the Eastside front yard and a gate structure with three-pointed Persian arcades in 1901. The architecture of the Masjid Ageng of Surakarta Hadiningrat is mainly constructed with timber building structures made of teak wooden materials. The treatments of joints and details and the finishing touch of the surfaces are kept modesty but elegantly handled. In doing so, the wooden expression and other building material performances show their natural traits and features. The white wall system of 0.60 m in depth with naturally stained wooden frames and roof structure provides the mosque interior with a solemn atmosphere, which is amplified by the dimming daylight from the grills of the tiered roof structure above. The mihrab is designed with wooden horseshoe architrave, excessive pilasters, and protruded space of 1.8 m in depth with less decoration. The square louver windows of 1.20 m by 1.80 m are installed on the sidewalls of the main prayer hall. Moreover, the hall is also accessible from three directions: East, South, and Northside. However, the main access is the double door from the Eastside. The Mosque of Mangkunegaran was architecturally designed and constructed with a similar ground plan with the Masjid Ageng of Surakarta. The architect of the mosque was a Dutch architect: Herman Thomas Karsten, who studied and graduated from Technische Hoogeschool Delf, the Netherlands in 1909 and worked in Dutch East Indies between 1914 and 1946 (Jessup 1985, 138). The design of the mosque is typologically in alignment with the traditional royal mosque after the Great Mosque of Demak. Accordingly, the main prayer hall is characterized by a three-tiered pyramidal roof structure. However, the main roof structure of the mosque is not timber construction but steel and galvanized iron frame with wooden tiles roof covering and painted corrugated zinc. The ambiance and atmosphere of the mosque’s interior are a smooth and delightful environment with diffused daylight reflection on the white ceiling coverage with a green thin gridiron pattern. The light steel structure of the whole roof construction provides the prayers with a friendly environment instead of heavily sanctified somberness. Indeed, green and white are the colors of choice for this mosque. Traditionally speaking, the green color has been associated with the Javanese royal preference for Surakarta and Yogyakarta, and Islam since the eighteenth century in Java (Fig. 3.5). The mosque complex occupies an area of 0.49 hectares demarcated with a unique palisade enclosure of 60 cm in height on the front side and 3 m in height on the South, North, and Westside. The East palisade is designed with a series of modular floret burgeon forms. The main gate is designed with a similar form to the palisade on a bigger scale. The gate is constructed as a portal with three bays of pointed arcades with pilasters of 60 cm. Thomas Karsten did not use the Javanese Hindu temple palisade but attempted to establish a unique form of the gate. The form is like a flat floret burgeon with a hollow pointed arch for passage. The three-pointed arches are

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Fig. 3.5 Masjid Mangkunegara Interior. Illustration by Author

hard to find any reference in a specific cultural context among Muslim countries, such as Persian mosques. Interestingly to note, the royal mosques of Surakarta and Mangkunegaran are not provided with tombs. Beyond the Java Sea, there are several mosques, which are architecturally constructed with meru roof structures, such as the Mosque of Syarif Abdurahman in Pontianak from the Eighteenth Century, West Kalimantan, the Sultanate Mosque of Suriansyah in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan from the Sixteenth Century, and the Mosque of Sultanate Ternate in Ternate, North Malucca from the early Seventeenth Century. The last mosque is situated at the foot of Mount Gamalama on the Island of Ternate. From Hikayat Banjar, the Mosque of Suriansyah was constructed circa the 1520s when the King of Banjarmasin was converted to Islam (Taylor 2003, 107). Meanwhile, the sultanate of Pontianak was founded in 1772 by Syarif Yusuf, the son of Yemeni Arab—a trader who was in close political and economic business relations with Riau and the Dutch VOC (Kahin 2015, 381). The mosque is architecturally unique with a five-tiered pyramidal roof form. The mosque was an architecturally integrated part of the Sultanate Palace of Ternate in Sigi Lamo. The founder of the mosque was Sultan Zainal Abidin, who was in alliance with the Spanish Sea Power. Islamic Sultanate of Ternate was established in 1540 based on the earlier kingdom of Wolio and covered the islands off southeast Sulawesi (Kahin 2015, 79). In 1663, Molucca was under the Dutch VOC’s control and the Spanish withdrew finally from Ternate (Gupta 2019, 116). The mosque was

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burnt down during the clashes between the Ternate Sultanate and the Portuguese Seapower for the control of the spices trade at the end of the seventeenth century. The Portuguese had established its fort for spices in Ternate in 1523 and benefited from the control over the region after the Spanish Sea power abandoned the region and moved further north in 1565 (Gaynor 2016, 66). The five-tiered meru roof structure of the Mosque of Ternate was associated with Sultan Zainal Abidin (1486–1500). He was believed by the locals as the son of Kolano Marhum, a native chief—momole— of Gapi tribes who learned Islamic teaching from the Arabs, Gujarati, and Persian traders. Zainal Abidin’s travel to Malacca and Gresik, Java, and married to a Javanese princess (Taylor 2003, 80) could have been a strong influence on the architecture of the mosque. The mosque was demolished by fires and earthquakes several times but they reconstructed the mosque based on the original form and facilities today. Sendhang or pond is a common architectural element in the mosque design from the Hindu-Buddhist legacy. The pond is constructed to encircle the main hall with a three-tiered meru roof form. The pond surrounding the mosque reminds us of the Hindu myth of the churning ocean of milk or Ksirasagaramanthana or Samudramanthana for the elixir of immortality. The mosque with meru roof form is identical to the Mount of Mandara which symbolically works as the pivotal axis of the turning. As a whole work, the mosque and its pond are to incorporate a dynamic entity with synergic forces of various resources from the earth, metal, water, wood, and fire, as well as the mundanes and divines that turn the ocean of milk to be an eternal existence, amrita. Despite aesthetic and practical reason, the emergence of sendhang in the Masjid Agung Demak, Masjid Kotagede, and Masjid Gedhe Kauman Yogyakarta, as well as various contemporary mosques, such as Masjid Al-Jabbar in Bandung cannot afford to ignore the collective subconscious memory of Hindu-Buddhist cultural legacy (Fig. 3.6).

Fig. 3.6 Masjid Gedhe Yogyakarta. Illustration by Author

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Makam and the Mosque Sutawijaya of Mataram with his kingdom seat in Kotagede was not the first king whose tomb was built in his mosque complex. The tradition had begun in the early sixteenth century in the Sultanate of Demak. The founder of the Demak Sultanate— Raden Patah—and his descendants were buried in the backyard of his great mosque. This tradition was historically delivered by Muslim traders from the Middle East, Gujarat, and Egypt concerning the relation of the Prophet Muhammad’s grave to the Mosque of Nabawi in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The tombs of Sunan Giri, Sunan Bonang, and Sunan Ampel are the notable forerunner graves for Muslim dignitaries, which were constructed with Javanese architecture of pundhen and cungkup. The tomb of the first Muslim saint of Java: Maulana Malik Ibrahim in Gresik was originally not provided with the shelter of cungkup but only a tomb of pundhen. Pundhen is a grave form with a ziggurat structure while cungkup is an open and small hall with a meru roof structure. The tomb of Sutawijaya and the Mosque of gede become the destination of spiritual pilgrimage—ziarah—for many Javanese populations regardless of their religious affiliation. For some Javanese Muslims, the grave and the mosque are indivisible for historic appreciation and cultural veneration. Every Friday, people usually visit the tomb of Senapati Sutawijaya before they pray on the day. During the days before Ramadhan, Ied Adha, the birthday of the Prophet, and the Islamic New Year, the mosque and the grave are usually crowded with visitors from various places in Java. Some pay homage to the first sultan by praying at the grave compound in the backyard of the mosque. The access to the tomb is from the West paduraksa of the mosque yard. Behind the mosque wall, the visitors will find several shelters with a pond containing catfishes. They will be allowed to wait for their turn for going into the graveyard compound of the First King of Mataram on the West. The compound is protected by a wall structure 240 m high. Access to the compound is provided with a gate on the eastern wall. A traditional official of the tomb—a jurukunci—will do their duty as a tour guide for a small number of visitors into the tomb area under shelter. Visiting and pilgrimage to the tomb of the political and spiritual leaders have been practiced by most Indonesians since ancient times. Regardless of their religious affiliations, paying homage to their ancestors is considered morally obligatory in terms of historical awareness. Burning scents and offering flowers belong to ancient rituals and ceremonies that amplify their devotion and gratitude for what makes them who they are today. The rituals and ceremonies accompanying the visit to the tomb are the way they understand history and memory as a collectively constructing structure of identity as a community and nation. Culturally speaking, veneration and pilgrimage to the tomb of highly respected persons have been part of local commemorations with festive events. This is a kind of local way to preserve a collective memory for generations. Ceremonial and ritual exhibitions during the visit are considered a culturally integrated part of their devotion to historical sites and persons. Architecturally speaking, the location of the tombs

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for traditional mosques in Indonesia shows a similar line of thought that the West is associated with the place of death. Moreover, the design of the tomb in various traditional mosques in Indonesia recalls the ancient pre-Hindu-Buddhist ziggurat temple called pundhen. The vivid model of this earliest pre-historic structure can be seen at Candi Sukuh in East Java. The last Queen of Hindu-Javanese Majapahit: Suhita built this temple in resistance to the influx of foreign cultural influences in the fifteenth century. Most tombs of Muslim dignitaries in Java are provided with an urban mosque. However, the tradition did not continue for the Mataram Sultanate after Sultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo (1613–1645). He built the royal burial complex in the Village of Wukirsari, District of Imogiri, the regency of Bantul, a hilly site about 30 km away from Kotagede in 1644. The hill is known as Pajimatan Girirejo. Before he decided to develop the royal cemetery in this area, Sultan Agung had chosen his uncle: Panembahan Juminah to supervise the site development. Unfortunately, the uncle passed away before the project began. Then, the site was dedicated to venerating his uncle and his family. The site is known as Girilaya. It is situated nearby the royal cemetery. Sultan Agung was the first Muslim King, who built a complex royal cemetery for himself, his royal family, and his royal descendants between 1631 and 1632. Even though there is a mosque nearby the royal graveyard of Imogiri, the building is not intentionally related to the burial complex. Situated on the hill of Imogiri, the pilgrimage to the complex is accessible by climbing arduous stone stairs of about 409 treads. Then the visitors will arrive at a small platform where they can choose to move further to the left, right, or straight. Geographically speaking, the straightway of the tomb complex is in the NorthEast direction. Sultan Agung’s royal cemetery is located in the central zone of the whole royal cemetery complex. The western zones from Sultan Agung’s sector are dedicated to the royal Pakubuwana cemeteries from Surakarta while the eastern zones are for the royal cemeteries of Yogyakarta. The pilgrimage to Sultan Agung’s tomb begins at the foot of the hill of Pajimatan Girirejo. The reception area was provided with twin halls ate the right and left side of the main axis to the steep stairways ahead. Nearby the reception area on the West, the royal cemetery is provided with a mosque with its main hall of 8 m by 8 m. The main entrance to the complex is situated in the southwest. The straightway to the tomb of Sultan Agung’s zone leads visitors to the next platform after climbing the 24 stone stairs. The split-gate: Gapura Supit Urang stands at five meters in height as the checkpoint of the main complex of Sultan Agung’s tomb. The gateway is constructed with two splitting structures of exposed terracotta brick construction. The form of the gate is to recall a Javanese Hindu temple’s gateway of the tenth century. Architecturally speaking, the gate is a bulky proportion with a strong rhythm of horizontal stripes. After passing through the 1.80 m split gateway, the visitors are led to the left or right by a brick wall of 1.2 m in height and received by a paved yard of 9 m by 9 m. The 7 m by 7 m twin halls with two layers of meru roof structure stand on guard on both sides of the yard. The halls: paseban is the reception hall for the preparation of paying

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homage to the tomb visit. The right side is dedicated to male visitors while the left side is for female guests. All pilgrims are cordially requested to dress in traditional Javanese attire. Women and girls should wear kemben, a torso wrapping clothes with batik geometric and decorative patterns in brown, dark, and black colors. Men and boys should dress in Javanese beskap, sarong, and blangkon. All these preparations are ritually integrated into the pilgrimage, nyekar. The preparations take place in the first domain of the complex. Cleaning with water for feet, hands, and all parts of the face takes place in this area as an optional ritual. Once a week, there is a ritual for cleaning the barrels and refilling them with water. Four barrels of water are provided in the area for a special ritual called Nguras Enceh. The second central domain of the Imogiry royal cemetery is an enclosed area with a main gate called Paduraksa. This is the second gate that works as a checkpoint into the graveyard of Sultan Agung’s second-tier dignitaries and their families. Most of them are royal families including Sultan Agung’s uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters. The second area is occupied by several tombs in the paved area of 24 m by 18 m enclosed by 2.4-m masonry brick walls. Some of the tombs are provided with shelters but most of them are constructed with the elongated ziggurat form of tomb. The shelters signify the rank and status of royal highness and family relation to Sultan Agung. The second domain of the Imogiry royal cemetery is divided into two areas and identified with the names of the dignitaries under Sultan Agung. The front second domain is the area of Hamangkurat Mas. The back second domain is situated two meters higher than the front area with central stairways. The back second domain is dedicated to the area for Hamangkurat Amral’s burial area. The path at the center area of the second domain leads visitors to climb up to Sultan Agung’s main gate of paduraksa with double wooden doors. Going into the third domain is to visit the tomb of Sultan Agung. The tomb is located in the center area of 18 m by 18 m graveyard. The tomb is surrounded by other graves and all are in the wooden walled hall of cungkup of 8 m by 8 m. Sultan Agung’s tomb is considered the innermost part of the whole Imogiri royal cemetery complex. As a whole experience of pilgrimage, visitors are directed to follow the straight path at the centerline of the domains but the path will be broken and directed by a wall structure to the left or right after passing through the checkpoints. The tomb of Sultan Agung is designated as the ultimate end of the pilgrimage (Fig. 3.7). According to local narratives, the stairways in the first domain are signified with an odd stone that reminds people of Tumenggung Endranata who was considered a traitor by Sultan Agung. Under the stone is the grave of the torso of the person while his head was buried under the passage between the split gates and his limbs were concealed under the pond in the first domain. Architecturally speaking, the buildings of the Imogiri royal cemetery complex are designed with joglo form for the halls and cungkup for the shelters. The joglo form is characteristically constructed with four main pillars and 12 outer pillars that shape a framework for the meru tiers roof system. Mostly, the joglo has only two tiers of the roof structure. All these constructions are made of wooden structures. In Javanese tradition, a tomb is conceived as a permanent home afterlife. The Javanese word for the tomb is pasarean meaning place for sleep concerning rest in peace.

Mihrab and Mimbar

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Fig. 3.7 Royal Cemetery of Mataram in Imogiri. Courtesy of Google Maps. Illustration by Author

Mihrab and Mimbar Mihrab and mimbar are essential components in any mosque. In the Mosque of Mataram Kotagede, the mihrab is constructed with bricklayers that protruded with a horseshoe niche of 1.20 m in depth and with a peak of 2.4 m in height. The original construction of the wall system was materially exposed to baked terracotta bricks. In the early 1960s, the wall system of the main prayer hall was covered with stucco and painted white. However, the original structure remains the same with a plain surface. However, the original pulpit is constructed with a wooden structure on the raised floor. The pulpit was a gift from Sultan Palembang to Sultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo in 1640. He is the grandson of the founder of the Mataram Kingdom in Kotagedhe: Sutawijaya or Panembahan Senapati. Under the reign of Sultan Agung, the Mosque of Kotagede was architecturally reconstructed and developed with its traditional form as seen today. The structure of the mimbar is designed as a throne with elaborately carved portals, a base, and a bench. For practicality, the throne is never in use but it is preserved as an integrated part of the mosque. The functional mimbar is provided nearby the mihrab with simple wooden construction. As a whole, the architecture of the main prayer hall of the mosque is elegantly simple without decoration. However, several renovations and enlargements had been made to their original form in the 1970s. Decorations in the Javanese mosques mostly originated from the Pre-HinduBuddhist influence with animal and vegetal motifs. The common animals are turtles, dragons or nagas, and birds. Meanwhile, the vegetal ornamentations are mostly inspired by florets or burgeons known as tumpal. The Mihrab of the Mosque of Demak is carved with an image of a turtle. The Javanese legend of the turtle signifies the origin of the lifeworld on the site: the mosque with a Javanese inscription: Naga Mulat Salira Wani symbolically representing the year 1401 in the Javanese calendar system. The year is corresponding to 1466 A.D. The other ornaments are found in

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the wooden mimbar with vegetal decorations representing the florets with a vertical framework called sorotan, a horizontal lineup known as patran, climbing plants or sulur, and hiranyagarba on vegetal decoration within the rectangular frameless form. Moreover, there is a remarkable decoration on the walls of the Mosque of Demak known as astabrata. It is a decoration illustrating the sun with eight rays of direction. The decorative motif is well known among the Javanese as Surya Majapahit because the Hindu-Buddhist Kingdom used to apply this iconic decoration as the state coat of arms. In Javanese and Balinese Hindu tradition, astabrata is a set of eight ethical principles that comprise the characters of provider or Surya brata, protector or Candra brata, benefactor or Indra brata, just or Yama brata, knowledgeable or Bayu brata, thoughtful or Kuwera brata, problem-solver or Baruna brata, and courageous or Agni brata (Fig. 3.8). Despite changes throughout history, the iconic Hindu-Buddhist elements and other pre-historic figurative icons remain traceable in most traditional mosques in Java. The mihrab of the Mosque of Panjunan in Cirebon, as mentioned earlier, shows this syncretic composition. The mihrab is constructed with a protruded qibla wall with a horseshoe architrave of 1.40 m in width and 1.72 in height. The niche is flanked by bold pilasters and an architecturally elaborated horseshoe arch in white, which is in contrast to the red bricklayer’s qibla wall. The decorations on the qibla wall and the pilasters, as well as sidewalls, are calligraphic Arabic scripture and Chinese round ceramic plates with vegetal-geometric motifs. The ends of the bold arch of the mimbar are symbolically associated with the tails of the mythic bird of garuda. Garuda is the Hindu God Vishnu’s vehicle.

Fig. 3.8 Mimbar of the Red Mosque in Panjunan, Cirebon. Illustration by Author

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Dome and the Mosque The use of domes in the architectural form of the mosque is considered an adaptation of Middle Eastern and Italian renaissance architecture. One important case of such an adaptation was the reconstruction of the Masjid Raya Baiturrahman Aceh. Based on the reports of Gujarati traders and Marcopolo, the mosque was originally founded by Sultan Aladdin Mahmud Shah with a multi-tiered thatched roof of meru circa 1292 (Raap 1994, 8; Andaya Trade and Ethnicity in the Straits of Melaka, 118; Pomonti and Miladinovic 2005, 44). The mosque was renovated and reconstructed several times. The most notable rejuvenation and enlargement of the mosque were during the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda circa 1612–1614. The mosque was burnt down in 1873 when the Dutch colonial military expedition arrives in the city under MajorGeneral J. H. R. Köhler, who died during the attack on the mosque. The mosque was used by the Acehnese resistance as their bastion against the Dutch invasion (Raap 1994, 161; Schröter et al. 2010, 197). After the incident, Governor-General Jan van Swieten promised Acehnese to rebuild a new mosque at the Dutch expense. The Public Work department worked on the design and developed the basic drawing of the Italian architect: de Bruchi (World Museum/Weltmuseum Vienna 1900). C. A. A, Norman from the Dutch colonial Public Work developed the drawing about the Mughal architecture of India. The execution of the plan for the mosque was between 1879 and 1881. Based on local sources, the first stone of the mosque was laid by Tengku Qadhi Malikul Adil, who became its first imam, and was completed on 27 December 1881 during the reign of Muhammad Daud Syah. During those times, many Acehnese refused to pray in the mosque until 1903 (Nas 2006, 60). Architecturally speaking, the Dutch Baiturrahman mosque is considered a foreign intervention of the Dutch in local religious and cultural affairs. The Mughal architecture was selected by the Dutch Public Works on their understanding of Islam under the notion of Edward Said’s Orientalism: A western mindset for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient (Said 1979). Accordingly, the mosque architecture is only the means of culturally superior power beyond the local agents but at the service of the Dutch colonial agenda. The form of the roof for the Baiturrahman mosques was chosen by the Dutch on purpose. Nevertheless, the onion dome was constructed as the dominant structure of the main prayer hall. The Dutch Public Works applied the masonry construction for the whole façade system with Mughal windows, porticos, minaret, and ornamentations. Based on the Dutch record before 1935, the architecture of the mosque was only provided with one central dome with traditional roof construction for its porch and side halls (Wikimedia Commons 1910–1930). Colonialism is not simply domination and control of geopolitical and economic resources of other nations but it is systemic management of control for the whole economic, socio-cultural, and political capitals of otherness under the framework of the Dutch system. The intervention of the Dutch colonial rule in the architecture of the Baiturrahman mosque could have been different when the Dutch Islam specialist

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Snouck Hurgronje came into play in the decision-making. He came to Aceh as the special adviser of the Dutch colonial rule between 1889 and 1904. Instead of military occupation, Hurgronje introduced the Dutch colonial regime to use a socio-cultural approach to control the populations by using the local leaders’ ueluballang. Since 1900, indirect rule and control had been widely practiced by the Dutch colonial rule in various regions of the Southeast Asian archipelago. The Great Mosque of Al Mashun of the ninth Sultan of Deli-Serdang, Maimun Al Rashid Perkasa Alam in Medan, is another case with the intervention of Dutch architect: Theodoor van Erp (Nas 2006, 60). It is still unclear about the team. Local sources mention Klingenberg as the other name of the architect behind the design development of the mosque (Sinar 1996, 172). Adolf J. Dingemans was the artist and craftsman for the mimbar of the mosque (Budi and Kemalasari 2018, 65). Meanwhile, Van Erp, who worked for the Dutch military engineering division, as the second lieutenant of the Wapen der Genie corps, had a new assignment from the Dutch colonial government. He and Brandes were assigned by the Governor-General of the Netherlands Indies to do the restoration of the Borobudur and other Hindu-Buddhist temples in Java. The Dutch colonial rule in Medan asked him to assist the Sultanate plan for the design and construction of the mosque. The execution of the plan began in 1906 and the building was completed in 1909. Financially, the construction of the mosques was partly supported by the Chinese businessman and the major of Medan Tjong A Fie. The Sultanate of Deli-Serdang controlled the areas where tobacco and rubber plantations were managed by the Europeans under a lease agreement with the Dutch colonial rule, such as the London Sumatra company and Deli Maatschappij (Sinaga et al. 2019, 3). The architecture of the mosque is designed with a basic rectangular plan of the main hall. Each corner of the plan is attached and superimposed with an octagonal plan that is constructed as the four towers. Three corner towers serve the mosque as entry gates. One of the towers works as the mihrab of the mosque. As a whole composition, the mosque is characterized by a main dome at the center and four small domes at each corner. The façade of the mosque is well crafted with a highly elaborated geometrical form of curves, circles, and lines with dynamic tones of plaster with similarities to Moroccan, Moor, and Venetian Gothic architecture. Unlike, the local and tropical design of traditional buildings in Indonesia, the Sultanate Maimun mosque is an architecturally double walling architecture with a series of colonnade structures at the first layer and the second wall with massive structures and some windows. Both walls create a southwestern, northwestern, southeastern, and northeastern gallery. The architecture of the mosque is considered another way to deal with the tropical climate of Indonesia. Interestingly, the plan of the mosque is not designed with a conventional rectangular layout of prayer rows but a hexagonal plan with a mihrab on the West. The mihrab, the main entrance of the hall, and the gate of the mosque are on the line from East to West in the Mecca direction. Visitors will reach the first gate of the mosque from the open court at the corner between Jalan Masjid Raya and Jalan Sisingamangaraja. The gate of the mosque is

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designed with a grand curve opening between massive walls. Passing the gate, the visitors will be welcomed by an open plaza with a bright marble floor. From this plaza, visitors are visually guided to the main entrance of the mosque and can have a view of the tall minaret of fifteen meters high in the East. The stand-alone structure is constructed 20 m away from the mosque. Despite the decoratively crafted design of the minaret being consistent with the ornamentation in the mosque, its crowning element seems similar to Bavarian churches. The other stand-alone building in the mosque area is the ablution place. It is located to the East of the mosque with an architectural design in alignment with the mosque’s architectural style. Entering the mosque, visitors are guided by stairs from the plaza to the hexagonal gate area through a hollow curve opening of 3.5 m high and 2.5 m wide. The ground plan of the mosque covers 18.000 m2 and allows 1.500 prayers inside the building. Inside the area, visitors can have a view of the main prayer hall, and southeastern and northeastern galleries. Dimmed colorful daylight comes into the hall through the stained glass of the windows of the second wall and the dome structure. The main hall is a central plan with a smaller row of prayers in the mihrab area. At the mihrab area, a mimbar is installed for the preacher for Friday prayer. In the past, a dedicated prayer pavilion for the Sultan was provided with a highly elaborated decoration of a wooden enclosure. In the middle of each inner wall of the mosque is provided a door connecting the main hall and the gallery. At the center of the hall, are eight golden marble columns of 60 cm in diameter with Corinthian order standing tall that supports the main dome structure. Each column is structurally interconnected with an arch structure forming a hexagonal plan construction. As a whole experience in the main hall of the mosque is unique that is not found in any traditional mosques until today. The Dutch colonial’s experiment on mosque architecture has brought about a breakthrough in perception concerning what a mosque is. Unlike the Baiturrahman mosque in Banda Aceh, the Sultan Maimun mosque had been warmly accepted by the whole Muslims in Medan since the beginning of 1909 when the mosque was officially opened by Sultan Ma’mun Al-Rashid Perkasa Alamsyah (1873–1924) for the public. Unlike most traditional mosques in Java, the Great Mosque of Al Mashun in Medan has not been provided with bedug and kentongan. However, the tomb of Sultan Ma’mun Al-Rashid Perkasa Alam is located in the northwestern area of the mosque. The Mosque of Al-Osmani is another historic building of the Sultanate of DeliSerdang. The mosque is located in Labuhandeli, on the outskirt of the city of Medan on the land where the ancestors of Sultan Ma’mun built the old palace. The old Mosque of Al-Osmani was in 1854 by the Seventh Sultan of Deli-Serdang: Osmani Perkasa Alam. Based on local sources, the old mosque was constructed in a traditional form like the Mosque of Badiuzzaman Surbakti built circa 1885, or the Mosque of Gang Bengkok built circa 1882. The Eighth Sultan of Deli-Serdang: Mahmud Al Rashid Perkasa Alam initiated the restoration of the old mosque. The Dutch businessmen, Jacob Nienhujs, G.C. Clemen, and P.W. Jansen, sponsored the new design and construction of a new mosque on the site of the old Mosque of AlOsmani. The new mosque was redesigned on the old site with a similar rectangular ground plan of 16 m by 16 m in 1870 but with a different architectural style (Fig. 3.9).

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Fig. 3.9 Mosque of Al Mashun, Medan North Sumatra. Illustration by Author

The year 1870 marked the end of the compulsory cultivation system—Cultuurstelsel—in Java and Sumatra. In 1865, Deli Maatschappij sealed the deal with the Sultan on the lease of Deli land for a tobacco plantation. The mosque was designed by a Dutch architect: G. D. Langereis with a dome structure and Moorish architecture concerning Al Hambra (Wikipedia Commons 1900–1916). The Mosques of Banda Aceh and Al Mashun are considered the milestones of the modern urban mosque with a dome-roof structure in Indonesia. Since then, the dome architecture for mosque construction has been associated with contemporary Muslims with a modern outlook. The spread and popularity of dome architecture for mosque roofs cannot afford to ignore the print media in newspapers, magazines, chronicles, newsletters, and other published materials during the Dutch colonial times. Both mosques have introduced Muslims to the archipelago with non-traditional building structures based on masonry, concrete, and steel construction. The Mosque of Al Mashun is characteristically constructed with highly skilled masons and carpenters, as well as artisans from various trades. All of these have opened a new horizon of mosque architecture in association with the mosques in the Middle East, Moghul India, North Africa, and Persia. Nevertheless, the association of modern Muslims with dome mosques had been also in line with the emergence of a newly established social group of indigenous young generations with Dutch-trained backgrounds in Indonesia since the 1920s. Unlike their ancestors, modern Muslims under Dutch colonial rule have been aware of being an integrated part of the globe through modern communication systems

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and printed media. Before Indonesia’s independence in 1945, the Dutch-educated Muslim generations did not have any chance to incorporate the architecture of their mosque. Unsurprisingly to realize that after the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia and Malaysia, most great mosques in the countries have been constructed with nontraditional forms, such as dome-roof construction. Moreover, the dome architecture was a symbolic liberation from old-fashioned generations without a broader perspective and linkage to Muslims in other countries, especially in the Middle East. The development of dome mosques in Indonesia has been growing slowly for two decades after the end of the Pacific War in 1945 due to politically and economically unstable conditions. However, several iconic mosques have been established during those times such as the Mosque of Istiqlal in Jakarta Indonesia, and the Mosque of Negara in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

Concluding Remarks Traditional communities conceive and adopt Islam as a spiritual way of life with supple adjustments and assimilations with commonly existing customs and rituals that enrich and cultivate their sense of socio-cultural belonging and development. In Indonesia, traditional mosques are mostly sponsored by states or communities. State mosques are architecturally integrated with the establishment of the urban center of negara, in this case, the sultanate or Islamic kingdom. Meanwhile, community mosques are the socio-cultural center of the village lifeworld with the majority of Muslim populations. Financially speaking, community mosques called masjid jami’ are constructed by individual donations from local populations; sometimes the sponsors and donators are not necessarily Muslims. The mosque architecture is perceived by traditional communities as the incorporation of their collectively constructed reality as an integrated part of their understanding of what Islam is. Most historic mosques between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries were architecturally constructed with a syncretic approach that characteristically incorporate various cultural legacies toward enrichment and development. Why is syncretism possible? Is the teaching of Islam, which has been disseminated by the traders from Arabs, Persians, and Gujarat, then Chinese Muslims between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, more philosophically and spiritually oriented rather than doctrinal and textual? The lesson learned from various local encounters in Indonesian Muslim village communities from Aceh, Java, Lombok, Sulawesi, and Ternate shows that Islam and local culture have found a common ground and come along in harmony. Under Dutch colonial rule, the mosque is perceived as the heart of socio-cultural resistance that is necessary to be under Gramscian socio-cultural and political hegemony; the Dutch as any colonial Westerner felt morally and culturally superior over the indigenous populations within the framework of Edward Said’s orientalism. From this point, the indigenous experiment on the architecture of the mosque is necessary

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to be put in different forms and models. All this is to show that a mosque is an object of mercy or gift from the superior Dutch civilization to an inferior indigenous custom and tradition. For the Dutch colonial, the mosque was a commodity of power for peace transactions and economic collaboration. By sponsoring the construction of state-mosque, the Dutch colonial regime attempted to buy the heart of the local rulers for their consolidation of power. Indeed, the Dutch used to employ their good relationship with local rulers for their indirect exploitation of local resources: land and labor. Surprisingly, despite the foreign intervention, over time, the uncanny and unfamiliar architecture of the mosque in Aceh and Medan has been socio-culturally accepted and adopted as a local historical part of their home. Indonesian experience of Islam in the context of mosque architecture has never been coming to an end product but a process of enculturation so that any foreign and uncanny thing becomes a locally domesticated part of the daily lifeworld. This is to say that there is always a process of familiarity on daily basis. Habitation is another word to make something foreign and odd to be socio-culturally acceptable as long as it serves and works for the community. Cultural enrichment and development do not always about artifacts and works but also the human mind and behavior. Local populations learn to adjust their mindset and behavior in dealing with foreign elements, structures, and functions of the mosque architecture from abroad.

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Taylor, Jean Gelman. 2003. Indonesia: Peoples and Histories. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. The British Museum. 1939. Sheikh Maulana Malik Ibrahim: Drawing. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1939-0311-0-5-55. The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia. 1976. Focus on Indonesia. Washington, DC: The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia. Vasalou, Sophia. 2019. Virtues of Greatness in the Arabic Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wikidata/The TroppenMuseum. 2020. Malik Ibrahim. Amsterdam: File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het graf van Maulana Malik Ibrahim (gestorven in 1419) TMnr 10033233.jpg The TroppenMuseum. December 11. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42 02260#/media/File:COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Het_graf_van_Maulana_Malik_Ibra him_(gestorven_in_1419)_TMnr_10033233.jpg. Wikimedia commons. 2014. Candi Bentar di Matingan Jepara. Ran. December 4. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Candi_Bentar_di_Mantingan_Jepara.jpg. Wikimedia Commons. 1910–1930. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Baiturrahman moskee in Koetaradja TMnr 60023672.jpg. Tropenmuseum Amsterdam. Accessed April 25, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_De_ Baiturrahman_moskee_in_Koetaradja_TMnr_60023672.jpg. ———. 2009a. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De minaret bij de moskee van Koedoes TMnr 10016671.jpg. Accessed April 13, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COLLEC TIE_TROPENMUSEUM_De_minaret_bij_de_moskee_van_Koedoes_TMnr_10016671.jpg. ———. 2009b. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Gespleten poort bij de moskee van Koedoes TMnr 10016516.jpg. Accessed April 13, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COL LECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Gespleten_poort_bij_de_moskee_van_Koedoes_TMnr_100 16516.jpg. ———. 2009c. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Poort bij de moskee van Koedoes TMnr 10016667.jpg. Accessed April 13, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COLLEC TIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Poort_bij_de_moskee_van_Koedoes_TMnr_10016667.jpg. ———. 2015. File:Saka tunggal.jpg. Lukfit. January 18. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://com mons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saka_tunggal.jpg. ———. 2017. Masjid Tua Wapauwe. Si Gam. December 31. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://com mons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Masjid_Tua_Wapauwe.jpg. ———. 2018. File:Masjid Tuo Kayu Jao Potrait.jpg. kebudayaan.kemdikbud.go.id. July 24. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Masjid_Tuo_Kayu_Jao_ Potrait.jpg. Wikipedia Commons. 1900–1916. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Moskee in Laboehandeli TMnr 10016536.jpg. Accessed April 26, 2021. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COL LECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Moskee_in_Laboehandeli_TMnr_10016536.jpg. World Museum/Weltmuseum Vienna. 1900. Mosque in Kottaradja, Aceh. Johann Schild (1865– 1932). Accessed April 25, 2021. https://www.weltmuseumwien.at/en/object/605941/?offset= 5&lv=list. Yeung, Hans HY. 2004. Ibn Battuta 1304–1377. In Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, ed. Keat Gin Ooi, 626. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC CLIO.

Chapter 4

Mosque Architecture in Malaysia

The Issue and Debate Since the British colonial times, a mosque in Malaysia has been conceived as the socio-cultural issue and state of affairs under the indigenous ruling authority: the Sultanate power. In this sense, the mosque has been always an architecturally integrated part of the Malay identity, tradition, and culture. The British colonial rule had maintained ethnically and socio-culturally segregated populations based on race, religion, language, and economic potentialities for maintaining their political control and hegemony. During the British colonial era, dress codes, customs, and traditions had been integrated into an educational system so that the Malays, Tamils, Chinese, and other ethnic groups never had a chance to build inter-racial and intercultural amalgamation and cooperation toward a newly established nation. This was understandably for the political economy for the interest of the British Empire in the past. Today, the mosque in Malaysia is politically and culturally still the same and this institution is a politically and culturally associated part of the Malay identity. The presence of mosques from the capital state to villages is under patrimonial control and the traditional authority of the Sultanate. This implies that Muslims in Malaysia cannot have the liberty to build and operate a mosque without the permit and control of the state. The only Islamic stream in the country is Sunni Islam.

Culture and Architectural Production in Malaysia The main source of the study is the visual data and literary information on the mosques in Malaysia. The data were collected from the author’s fieldwork and literary studies between 2010 and 2013. The data were verified and scrutinized in the search for the contextuality of the mosque, with specific reference to the regime which had constructed its design; the search was conducted within the historical and diachronic context of Malaysia as a country and socio-cultural entity. At the core of the analysis © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 B. Wiryomartono, Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3806-3_4

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stands the relationship between concepts, ideas, values, and phenomena that are visually represented in the architectural designs of the mosque in Malaysia. By the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, ethnic Malay is defined as Muslims from birth comprising about 55% of the population. Most Muslims in the country live in the Malay Peninsula while in the East, in the state of Sabah and Sarawak, two-thirds of the population are Christians. The federal Department of Development of Islam or JAKIM holds the permanent secretariat of the federal Fatwa Committee. This institution is established with 14 muftis, one from each Malay state and one representing the Federal Territories. The Sharia and Civil Technical Committee on Islam is established within the Attorney General’s Chambers which manages the process of sharia lawmaking at the federal level. Seeking the conversion of born Muslims from Islam to another religion is the subject of approval from the sharia court. Such an attempt will be declared as “apostate” with penalties. In the states of Perak, Melaka, Sabah, and Pahang, the penalty of apostasy is applied as a criminal offense and is punishable by a fine and jail time. As in other places, the Malay culture is not a fixed system but a dynamically developing process and production; it is the amalgamation and synthesis of various influences from animism, Hindu-Buddhism, Islam, Chinese, and modernity (Winstedt 1951, 1965; Apple 2003, 102); even though the contribution of each cultural influence is demonstrated and embodied in the various expressions, forms, styles, fashions, signs, and symbols of arts and architecture, all elements have been molded and synthesized together into a syncretic system that represents unity in diversity. Since culture is not something apart from society’s habitation, its direction, and operation are indispensables and reliant on the politics that manages, directs, and controls its resources. In Southeast Asia, patrimonial tradition has been playing a significant role in the history and political culture of this region (Scott 1972; Bertrand 2013; Case 1995; Crough 1978; Milne 1973; Milner 2000; Osman 1985); the culture is characterized by the establishment of a patron-client relationship between the ruling factions and ruled groups. In such a relationship, the patron controls all access to resources while the client serves the patron as followers, labor forces, traders, and other professional services; in the Malay language, such dyadic relationships are understood as tautan datuk/tuan-hamba. The decision-making in this patrimonial culture is top-down and instructional without giving any room for question and discussion. Democracy in Malaysia cannot afford to ignore the Malay tradition of respect for seniority and nepotism. In the Malay cultural context, charismatic and strongly daunting personalities are commonly associated with leaders. The outcome of a patrimonial decision reflects the idea, interest, need, want, and preference of the patron-client system for the establishment and stability of their relationships in various fields, from economic, sociocultural, and spiritual matters. The modern patron-client bonds entail the loyalty and conformity of the followers to their leaders. In return, the leadership groups are due to provide their supporters with economic prosperity and spiritual stability. In the Malay patrimonial culture, individual freedom, social justice, and equality are perceived as dangerous for the stability, integrity, and harmony of society as a whole system (Leong 2013, 113; Milner 2000, 62); to achieve prosperity and stability,

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people under patrimonial nation-state are urged to Asian values: frugality, discipline, and teamwork (Trumbull 1995, 468). Since its independence from British colonial rule, Malaysia as a nation-state has established a stable government system based on patron-client ties under UMNO leadership from 1959 until today. Characteristically, patrimonialism in this country practices informal and private relations of power that bypass formal positions and official hierarchies. Malaysian patrimonialism has established patron-client ties within the UMNO for decades that tend to build its strength in equal power with official institutions. Under such a pyramidal top-down system of political culture, socio-political movements find hardly room for changes and transformations by massive-scale, class-based, and horizontally structured oppositions. Malaysian mosque design is the outcome of the decision-making process of such patrimonial political culture. In this sense, the unique aspect of mosque design is not simply because of its architectural appearance. Rather, the uniqueness lies in its socio-cultural process and actuality of presence in the Malaysian context. Regarding the mosque being a cultural product of Islam in the Middle East that is strongly associated with patriarchal tradition, its aesthetics is potentially not impartial but represent masculine fashion and taste (Nasr 1990, 12). However, in classical Arabic literary culture, aesthetics is characterized by a strong reliance on the knowledge that what are visually experienced needs to have a spiritual resonance (Gonzales 2001, 7). Examining the relationship between Malaysian patrimonialism and mosque architecture is to divulge the actual ideas and forces behind the mosque’s presence in Malaysian society. Since the patron-client of a mosque in the Malay Peninsula world are either the state government with its department of religious affairs or the ruling individual (Tajuddin-Rasdi 1998, 7), patrimonialism and architectural design has something in common for the public image; they uphold and elevate the necessity for unity, strength, harmony, and identity in society. All these virtues are what is at stake in patrimonialism. Given that mosque design and construction in Malaysia are under the patrimonial control and operation of the state, this study argues that under the patrimonial regime; mosque architecture is the platform and representation of patrimonial and masculine virtues. Instead of the search for Islamic spirituality, mosque architecture for patrimonialism is the visualization of its masculine domination and supremacy on public aesthetics. Such virtues are often propagated in the name of religious authority, national identity, and traditional pride; of course with less room for options of counter-argument and disagreement. Then, the research question is, what is mosque architecture from the perspective of politics of cultural identity? To what extent is architectural inventiveness able to overcome political pressures and economic dictates? The politics of identity in this study is understood as the utilization of power for an attempt, propensity, and fondness toward socio-political unity and integrity based on belief, ethnicity, origin/history, rank, gender, tradition, language, and custom; all this involves the discourse on power relation. As far as power relation is concerned, the politics of identity has something to do with supremacy, domination, control, and

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influence (Foucault et al. 1991). Foucault’s studies show us the nature of power in the broadest sense of the word which is more pervasive and insidious social control that works in individuals and society. Power in the context of architectural design involves the decision-making process for the project location, form/style, construction, cost, and benefit for society. Although studies on the politics of identity in the field of the built environment fall short of publications, many scholars of architectural theory and history have explored the relationship between power and architecture in various ways (Titler 1991; Vale 2008). Imposing political agenda into the work of architecture and urban space design is a self-evident case, especially in the states and countries under despotic or authoritarian regimes. Of course, studies by Watson & Bentley are beyond this but they open up the relationship between identity and design in a comprehensive way (Watson and Bentley 2007) that place-identity issues are not simply practical but also crucial for the direction of design culture based on a new imagined community. Despite, today, such regimes are likely to disappear around the globe, the architecture of public buildings or state facilities/institutions is prone to the abuse of power which is in terms of the imposition of the political agenda of any regime in power or the ruling mainstream of society. Architecture is potentially effective as a public aesthetic medium that visually and tangibly conveys certain messages and ideas for the ideological or personal cult (O’Connor 1983, 30–35). The regime is likely legitimate to insert its political agenda, of course, on behalf of the people. Nevertheless, the mobilization of people through public awareness for a certain political agenda is probably another kind of authoritarian approach to the politics of identity in that architecture is politically misused by the regime in power for the incorporation of their ideological matters.

State Mosque Design and Malaysian Society Why does society need a remarkable design for their public places and buildings? The answer to the question could be practical or ideological. Practically, such design is probably part of the landmark of the district or neighborhood so that people can identify, navigate, and orientate their movements easily. Ideologically, design is the human capacity that enables people to make and manipulate forms (Kroeger 2008, 42). The purpose of design is to represent, express, and articulate specific idea and message that works and enhance the quality of life in terms of aesthetics and comfort. Of course, design needs technology to make something happen. In Malay words, the design is reka bentuk meaning modifying and manipulating form; the design is the way, style, fashion, and mode of how humankind deals with their nature and lifeworld. Accordingly, design capacity is one of the important human skills and knowledge of constructive capability that enables them to build, develop, and sustain culture and civilization in harmony with others. Harmony, perpaduan, for Malay society is necessarily practical in the search for unity of antagonistic elements, characters, or positions based on the necessity

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for selamat, being peaceful, safe, and healthy. The concept of perpaduan includes the stipulation for unity and tolerance. To achieve and sustain this perpaduan, all elements, including people, should be complied with the imagined community of pyramidal form with a strong leader at its apex (Osman 2003, 33). It is not surprisingly understandable why conformity and loyalty to the state and its leader—as the embodiment and representation of the imagined community—are important for Malaysian political culture. Disloyalty—membangkang—and protestation, as well as contestation—gaduh—against the state leadership, are culturally unacceptable because Malaysia as an imagined community is within the framework of the patrimonial state leadership that is sacred (Kathirithamby-Wells 1998, 25). How do planners, designers, and architects exercise their creativity in such a society with patrimonial leadership? The Malaysian patrimonial regime has likely an imagined Islamic society with a strong commitment to the utilization of modern science and technology for mosque design and construction. Regarding its function as a place of gathering, mosque architecture becomes a potential target of patrimonialism for the visualization, representation, and actualization of its ideals regarding Islamic society in global modernity. The patron-client ties for mosque architecture have been established since the British colonial era—from neighborhood to district, region, town, and city—that are under regional state authority. In Johor state, for example, the authority for mosque development is in the hand of Majlis Agama Islam Johor—Board of Islamic Affairs Johor. While the board regulates, controls, and supervises the procedure and process of mosque development according to certain official and technical requirements, Jabatan Agama Islam Johor—Office of Islamic affairs—is responsible for the daily mosque operation and maintenance. Citizen or private initiatives and sponsorship are subject to the board’s approval at the municipal or regional government. In 2013, there are 795 kariah or parish mosques, 1819 surau, and 25 state mosques. Kariah mosque was originally an independent village institution and not established by the state but by the village community as the center of socio-cultural activities. Most Islamic villages or kampungs have their kariah mosques. During British colonial rule, the secularization of the state began with the Pangkor Treaty in 1874. Accordingly, the Sultanate was marginalized to protect only Malay customs and religious affairs, while the civil administration was controlled by British colonial advisers (Hashim 2013, 218). Since then, most mosques were under the Sultanate’s state control and administration. Even though the practical need is likely the obvious reason why design is important for humanity, mosque design is seldom without an imagined representation of its society. Mosque in Malaysia is not simply the outcome of grassroots needs which are by nature an integrated part of community building; the idea, design, and construction of the mosque are a state matter, urusan kerajaan. Thus, a mosque or surau is not the embodiment of collective awareness for a spiritual home based on grassroots initiative, but a state-given facility for Muslims in the neighborhood. Beyond traditional kampong, the neighborhood and subdivision in Malaysia is not a socio-cultural organization like Indonesia’s rukun tetangga and rukun warga that can build their

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mosque and their caretakers and ulama based on donations and contributions of its community members. As a socio-cultural endeavor, architectural design becomes crucially important in society for making their identity visible and graspable. It has specially to do with the need for their ideological and spiritual identity. In this case, mosque design is not only the tool and means of production but also the ingenuity of human endeavor in incorporating the ideological and spiritual needs of society. In dealing with ideology and spirit, designers are challenged by their ego for resistance against any kind of patronage beyond the reality of the work that it is about society’s ideals. To what extent are designers, good listeners, for their society as well as for their ideological and spiritual needs? To what extent are designers to follow their passion and heart for the public good? In a matter of fact, the ideals are no more than interpretations of those who are in power for the decision-making process of the design project. Is there any other source one can call the truth for the design work? The questions seem dilemmatic for those who work under the political agenda of the ruling regime. The nature of architectural design is likely the search for the integrity and unity of function, material, technique, aesthetics, and locality toward an inhabitable environment (Punter and Carmona 1997, 205) that serves society for its identity in terms of the nation. Probably, the truth of design originates from this sense. Based on this identity, members of society feel and experience their sense of home where they live, work, and play in inhabitable form. Umberto Eco speaks of architectural denotative meanings for this inhabitable form (Eco 1997, 185–186). On the other hand, the mosque has also architectural connotative meanings concerning its locality and socio-cultural context. In doing so, the design does not only provide people with the implementation of living, working, and playing, but also gives people room for ingenuity and creativity for self-expression of societal needs and wants. In this capacity, design is a culturally unique endeavor of society. Therefore, architectural and urban design is not only to solve technical matters, but also a means and vehicle for humanity and locality in dealing with local and global issues. In such a capacity, it comes with no surprise if architectural design becomes a politically conspicuous commodity of nation and state. All this is because of the nature of architecture as public art and institution as well that stands for and represents local culture and tradition as well as their vision in historical context.

Mosque Design and National Identity As a public building, mosque design is practical as well as ideological. Islamic teaching never asks and demands its followers to build a monumental and colossal mosque. The demand for monumentality is derived from the necessity of patrimonial authority to demonstrate their masculine hegemony. Architecturally speaking, the hegemony is demonstrated by the uniformity of design and structural elements in Middle Eastern architecture and the gigantic scale of building form and space. What is endorsed by Islamic teaching was ignored and forgotten by state mosques, namely

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contextuality, moderation, and humility. Instead of searching for materialistic and symbolic achievement, Islam is concerned with ethics and aesthetics of humility that lead humankind toward civil society. In other words, Islam is more concerned with the development of civilization, based on the ethics and aesthetics of humility of humankind in front of the Supreme Being. The origin of the concept of the mosque is the Arabic word masgid or masjid. The root of the word is sajd meaning to prostrate (Gazalba 1975, 108). A mosque is simply a place for communal prostration. To prostrate in the context of Islam is nothing but the act of submission to the Will of the Supreme Being (Mahmutcehajic 2006). To prostrate in terms of the mosque is to perform shalat collectively which is led by an imam. Is a mosque a kind of multipurpose hall or house of prayer like a synagogue? In a matter of fact, the mosque is a multipurpose hall. After having been used as a prayer hall, people can use it for social and cultural activities as long as the hall is ready and available again for its main function when the prayer time comes to call the prayers. Superficially speaking, a mosque is a place where collective rituals and gatherings take place. However, the act of congregation for submission is likely more important than simply the act of worshiping the personal God; shalat for Muslims is more about the act of acceptance and acquiescence. Consequently, mosque design is probably neither a symbol nor an icon of Islam in worshiping God; Islamic teaching forbids any visualization and symbolization of the Supreme Being in any form and way, including mosque design and its attribute. Rather, it is simply the means and facility for ritual and informal gatherings that enable them to build a sense of solidarity, social justice, and unity of humankind, regardless of race, origin, and social status. Islamic teaching sees the mosque as the platform of ritual gathering for building the sense of ummah or the congregation of humankind, neither a house of God nor a sacred or holy temple. The sense of ummah is the fellowship of humankind as a community, which is originally from the ancient Aramaic language meaning nation and community (Ullah 2006, 157). Since mosque in this country is a politically integrated part of state administration, their establishment, operation, and maintenance need to conform and be in concert with the local Sultanate policies and regulations. More precisely, the building and operation of a mosque on the federal land of Malaysia are regulated by the law of 1993 Part VII from Sections 72–83. The daily business of mosques in Malaysia represents a state service to the community in terms of religious affairs and social welfare. The local state takes care of the operational and maintenance expenses of the suraus and mosques, from rural to urban neighborhoods. The people who work for the surau or mosque are employed as state officers, including clerics, administrative personnel, and janitors. The content of sermons for any occasion in the mosque is subject to the approval of the local state religious affairs office. The politics of the identity of the mosque in Malaysia begins from the adoption of its existence and operation under the state business. For architectural design, Malaysia as a country and society is an open-ended concept. There is never a perfect definition of what Malaysian architecture is. To what extent is mosque architecture essential and constructive to Malaysian identity

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as a nation-state? One important thing for the Politics of identity for the mosque is not simply to bring people in this country together as a nation. Rather, the problem of identity for a mosque in Malaysia is likely to enhance the unity of Malay diversity. Regarding its ethnic diversity, a form of religious tolerance is likely crucially in demand, instead of unveiling a sectarian icon of a certain religious group. The mosque is an architectural sign of the contribution of Islamic society to “One Malaysia”. The necessity for such a national integration lies probably in the fact that unity in diversity is urgent and essential for the establishment and sustainability of the state, country, and society. From its early formation in 1957, the discussions on the Politics of identity in Malaysia have been an integrated part of the nation-building of this country (K. H. Lee 2004, 102). Formally, the issues and matters of the Politics of identity in the architectural context have been a long story of deliberations and debates, either within professional associations or within academic institutions. In dealing with the issues and matters of architectural identity, numerous scholars have presented studies on Malaysian architecture (Birgham-Hall 2007; Khoo 2008; TadjudeenRasdi, Rethinking the Mosque in the Modern Muslim Society 2014). Their studies mark out the importance of the relationship between design and locality in terms of historical roots and traditional experience with tropical conditions. Identity in this sense is indivisible from the lifeworld where the built environment is built, dwelt, and sustained. The problem of political identity is not only about bringing people together with their common symbol and similar background but also and obviously about bringing them together based on their shared values system and their common interests. Malaysia—as an ideologically constructed nation of various ethnic populations together—is still a work in progress. The latent problem of national identity in Malaysia is not simply because of the ethnic and religious diversity among its population. Rather, it is likely deeply rooted in the question of social justice and affirmative action for equal opportunity among citizens, regardless of race, origin, language, beliefs, and gender. Seemingly, in the Malaysian context, the problem is persistent that a discourse on difference is culturally avoided; it might be said unlikely to happen. In dealing with racial tension, Datuk Seri Najib is probably one important leader of Malaysia in history who tries to build Malaysia as a nation with a programmatic transformation toward more efficient governance; all of this is under the concept of One Malaysia. Accordingly, the program strives for the enhancement of ethnic relations, economic improvement, quality education, and better international cooperation. His approach is more socioeconomically pragmatic rather than ideologically stringent. However, the latent problem of racial tension likely remains because the program is explicitly not intended to abrogate or amend the Constitution regarding the Malay privilege. What is the significance and consequence of the One Malaysia program to the architecture and public space design? Until recently, Najib did not have any mosque architectural projects. However, the way he understood social media today, and how to use it for political agenda (1-Malaysia 2016), confirms and shows

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that Najib would likely utilize architecture as well as mosque design for his “One Malaysia” program as his spiritually imagined community; it was only a matter of time. The Malay culture and tradition teach people for searching for peaceful deliberations and negotiations toward conformist resolution, mensyuarat mufakat, instead of confrontations and open conflicts (Edgington and Hayter 2001, 55). The pressure for conformity and fear of disapproval characterize the subtlety of differences in Malaysian ethnic relations; all this possibly stems from the persistent rhetoric concerning unstable and prone ethnic relations that perpetuate a deeper status quo of dependence on a controlling state (Rajendran 2010, 176). To what extent is the Malaysian architectural project and work emphatically to the unity of ethnic diversity? How does political will possibly work in the architecture of a mosque that can build tolerance in the diversity of ethnicity? Given that in Malaysia, the mosque is only for Muslims, and to what extent is the religious tolerance to other ethnic groups? Muslims in Malaysia, like those elsewhere on the globe today, have to deal with their active role in and contribution to the peaceful world as a whole. Mosque design should be part of this process that unveils and upholds the universal virtue of humanity based on Islamic teaching on humility. Moreover, mosques, in their capacity as a socio-cultural institution, are considerably constituent of the landmarks of a district or urban area; how do mosques in Malaysia integrate their designs into a multicultural society and local heritage? All these questions lead this study to think about the Politics of identity as a means and framework of a cultural strategy for development. One important source of ethnic tension in Malaysia is rooted in religious differences. The political approach to the problem in terms of Datuk Seri Najib’s One Malaysia is likely still intangible and impracticable. The indicator of this is obvious in the fact that the development approval and building permit for other religious buildings beyond the mosque is not politically uncomplicated.

Mosque and Islam in Malaysia In Malaysia, Islam is not only a belief system, but also the source of principles for socio-cultural and political life, given that the Malay populations in this country are Muslim and predominant at any level of political authority, from local, state, and federal administration. In proper words, Islam is the way of life of the state and country of Malaysia that inspires, upholds, encourages, and promotes the establishment and sustenance of civil society in the Malay world. Under the patrimonial tradition, the mosque architecture does not allow female persons to have equal use of space as male persons in terms of area and position; the domain of women and girls is behind men and boys. Needless to say, a woman will never be in charge of being an imam who leads the rituals of prey and delivers the sermon.

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Moreover, Islam has been adopted as an integrated part of Malaysian cultural identity. Even though Islamic Malay populations are dominant, the Malaysian government has been always very careful to declare the country as an Islamic nation-state (Kheng 2005). Islam is one of the important sources of architectural principles and features. Islam has been part of the Malay cultural heritage that provides Malaysian society with the principle of moderation at any work and deed. The controversial issues are around the interpretation of the spirit and values system of Islam in architectural design. The superficially and bluntly practical approach to Islamic identity is to copy and replicate the famous mosques in Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. The other options are to explore mosque design as part of architectural integration in the local context of geography, history, and society; such an exploration includes dialogues and deliberations concerning the universal aspects of Islam. Indeed, debates on Islamic identity and character in Malay Architecture have been pervasive on various levels, from political, social, cultural, and academic circles. The debates are about the issue of whether Islamic architecture is a universal language of identity among Islamic societies—such as Malaysia—around the globe or not. To what extent is the architecture of the mosque able to liberate its iconic dome structure? Is it possible to have a great mosque without a dome and minarets? The common idea of mosque architecture in Malaysia today mostly refers to the iconic Middle Eastern dome and minaret such as Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and Al masjid al-Haram in Mecca. Dealing with the question “What is a mosque” seems to be mostly identical with the shareable collective memory of iconic buildings in the country from which Islam originates: the Middle East. The reason is simply terms of the necessity for identity in terms of appearance. The question seems hard to come into a critical and meaningful search for the ingenuity of local tradition and culture. Contemporary mosque architecture—as one important artifact of Islamic society— shows the propensity for imitating the dome icon as Islamic identity; provided that Islamic architecture is a complex idea with various expressions and arrays of style, from Persian, Moorish, Turkistan, Ottoman, and Mamluk to Mughal architecture. Malaysia as a country with a dominant Islamic population has already had its architectural heritage and tradition that is potentially contributing to the enrichment and impoverishment of architecture of Islamic societies around the globe. Why should mosques and other buildings be designed and built with architecturally imported forms, styles, and attributes? Is this a sign of a cultural crisis in architecture? In response to the questions a prominent academician in the country, Tajuddin (2003) gives us one important root of the crisis. Accordingly, he points out the fact that the root of the crisis of identity in Malaysian architecture lies in the crisis of architectural education that neither the professional body nor the academic institution emphasized the importance of learning from the past by employing documentation and publication. Indeed, local building and dwelling traditions are rich and resourceful for architectural expressions, spatial syntaxes, and meanings. The pre-colonial architecture of mosques in Malaysia provided the country with exemplary heritages—such as the Mosque of Kampung Laut built circa the fifteenth century and the mosque of

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Kampung Tuan built circa 1830. Both buildings have a three-layered pyramidal roof system made of wooden construction and stand on stilts. The architecture of the hall has been familiarly built by indigenous people with the construction of dewan or balai buildings. The transformation of such buildings into a mosque is likely possible and workable. Hindu and Buddhist civilizations might have developed and enhanced indigenous architecture with mandapa structures that could have been the basic form for the main construction of the hall building; it is the case in Javanese architecture of pendapa, which is built with a pyramidal roof form standing on four pillars. Such a pyramidal roof building could have been the basic form of the Mosque of Kampung Laut and Kampung Hulu in Melaka from ca 1728. Trade contacts and cultural interactions with the Javanese Sultanate of Demak were probably also the case for the similarity of architectural form and style between both mosques (Shokoohy 2003, 249–251). However, the Mosque of Kampung Laut remains unique in maintaining its raising floor system on stilts. The original location of the mosque was in Kampung Laut. This site is located in Kampung Laut of Tumpat district in the state of Kelantan. The mosque was moved to today’s location for historical conservation. The previous location was not safe because of recurring floods from the nearby Kelantan River, 2 km away from the city of Kota Bharu. The relocation took place in 1968 sponsored by the Malaysian History Society. Historically speaking, the original mosque was a small building of 6 m by 6 m ground plan with a similar architectural form to today’s Mosque of Kampung Laut. Nevertheless, considering the authenticity of building materials used for the Mosque of Kampung Laut in today’s presence cannot afford to ignore the preservation and conservation of its timber construction by the Malaysian Historical Society. During the reign of Sultan o Muhammad IV of Kelantan between 1890 and 1920, the mosque was architecturally expanded with the current form and construction. The mosque is constructed with five rows and four columns of stilts. The main prayer hall of 36 m by 24 m is on a raised floor 60 cm above the ground. The main hall is extended with an open front porch of 24 m by 24 m. The main hall is enclosed with a wooden panel’s wall system meanwhile the front hall is encircled by a parapet of 50 cm in height. Architecturally speaking, the design of the roofing system shows a similar appearance to the Great Mosque of Demak in Java from circa the sixteenth century (Tadjudeen-Rasdi 2003, 53). The layout of the mosque is architecturally derived from the Malay house with two main domains: rumah ibu for the main prayer hall and beranda for the front hall or verandah. Interestingly to note, there is a room divider in the line of qibla stretching about 9 m in length at 2 m in height. This partition could have been constructed similarly in the Mosque of Demak that established the female prayer domain called pawestren. This domain is located on the right-hand side of the mosque. Indeed, access to this domain is provided with stairways in the northeastern direction. Meanwhile, the male players have access from the East. Each access area is provided with an ablution facility. Still, a trace of connection to the Javanese mosque in the presence of a drum or bedug in the front end of the Mosque of Kampung Laut.

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Fig. 4.1 Mosque of Kampung Laut. Source Illustration by author

Moreover, the minaret of this mosque is unique that is constructed in a way of watching the tower of a port in Malay known as Menara Shahbandar (Fig. 4.1). The main prayer hall is constructed with a three-tiered pyramidal roof structure. In the central area, the main roof structure is supported by four wooden columns of 0.30 m by 0.30 m at 6.20 m in height. A wooden ring beam conjoins the four columns together working to establish a stable construction at the heights of 3 m and 6 m. A constructional detail is set at each corner of the conjoining point of a wooden ring and a column with triangle-carved wooden plates. Woodcarving decorations are also to be found on the mimbar and mihrab, as well as on the parapets. Regarding its egalitarian teaching and doctrine, the embracement of Islam by the Malay people was probably the threshold for the development of the architecture for public buildings in the Southeast Asian peninsula. Islamic spirit in the architecture of the mosque is well represented by its human equality that everybody has the right to enter and pray in the hall without privilege. In a matter of fact, the sense of a mosque lies in its spatial concept that is the place to establish congregationally prays; it has nothing to do either with architectural form, style, and attribute or with Arabian tradition and custom. The adoption of mosque activities in a newly constructed hall was probably one of the reasons for of practicality the available building materials and techniques of construction.

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Mosque and Modernity Albeit modernism in Malaysia has been widely discussed and presented in various ways (Crinson 2003; Barlow 2001); there is still room for the question of why modernism is necessary for the country, nation, and state. The question remains falling into oblivion because it is likely to be taken for granted as something trivial for business as usual. One important aspect of the reasons for Malaysia to go for modernity is the fact that contemporary, and future civilization is mostly determined by science and technology. Developing a scientific and technological society is indispensably important for Malaysia’s nation and state today and tomorrow. Despite their differences, thinkers, leaders, and politicians in Barisan Nasional—UMNO—such as Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, Tun Musa Hitam, and Tengku Razleigh Hamzah share a common ground and vision of modern Malaysia. As any former colony of Western imperial power, socioeconomically Malaysia has to substantiate its political independence and self-administrative capacity to the world so that it can do what it takes for taking part in the development of civilization around the globe. Modernity has been likely one of the most important projects of human and environmental development on the globe since the twentieth century. Modernism in Malaysia has been adopted as an integrated part of the political programs since 1955 under the British colonial administration. Today, the current administration has been running the Tenth of the Five-Year-Development Plan 2015–2020. The nationalist modernist component values the ideals of modern science, technology, education, and economic development based on an industrial production system. The importance of modernism for Malaysia as a nation and state lies in its programmatic realization of the vision of ethnic integration that is based on political stability and steady economic growth. Masjid Negara is probably the most obvious statement of the Malaysian state on modern mosque architecture. The wide span of the prayer hall is technologically solved with a folded umbrella-like roof formed on a circle base plan. The architecture of the mosque is undoubtedly modern in terms of its functional and rational approach to the wide-span hall and tropical design for daylight and heavy rainfall. The most important thing about this State Mosque is its historical construction process. Unity of ethnic diversity was not only in words, but in their action that involved Chinese, Indian, and Malay from various backgrounds of Islam, Hindu, Buddha, and Christianity (Mesjid Negara, Government of Malaysia 2008–2012). Modernity, as shown by the architecture of Masjid Negara, signifies a new era of the Malaysian nation with the awareness of local pride and collaboration. Even though the mosque is functionally only for Muslims, its presence in the heart of Kuala Lumpur city is a statement of humanity with an Islamic facility. In the search for Islamic virtues, the Masjid Negara is designed for 15.000 players with a sensibility to the locality, building scale, and tropical setting. The British architect Howard Ashley and Malaysian counterparts Hisham Albakri and Baharuddin Kassim were in charge of the design of the mosque; the three professionals worked at the Public Work Department of the Federated States of Malaysia. Regarding local

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culture, the design of the main hall is characterized by an umbrella form that is constructed with concrete folded plates; such construction is considered innovative for a large-span hall. The erection of the mosque began in 1963 and was officially open to the public on August 27, 1965, in celebrating Malaysian Independence Day. As a public building, the mosque is architecturally friendly and aesthetically appealing as a place of gathering and refuge from busy urban traffics. Dynamic landscape design characterizes the integration of the mosque in the tropical environment; as a whole, the presence of the mosque is far from formal and muscular monumentality. Reflecting pools and a variety of stairs and floor levels not only enhance the manifold experience of outdoor and indoor relationships but also creates built environmental control for site microclimate. In adaptation to tropical conditions, the wall system of the mosque is designed with a permeable form with a geometric pattern made of precast concrete material. Even though the roofs and the minaret of the complex are visually remarkable, Masjid Negara stands out as an amicable public place, without crying for attention. To bring the image and experience of modernity alive, architecture and urban design plays an important role and function in the Malaysian nation and state. The vision of modern Malaysia was conceptualized by the Malaysian government under the leadership of Dr. Mahathir Mohammad from 1981 to 2003. During his tenure as Prime Minister, Mahathir was well-known as a strong leader of modernism in Malaysian history. Among the architectural important mega projects initiated by Mahathir include the Petronas Twin-Towers, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the capital city of Putrajaya, and the Multimedia township of Cyberjaya. However, in dealing with the current issue of global warming and sustainability, the Malaysian state’s approach to modernity is representatively obvious in the development of the garden city of Shah Alam; it is monumental, but far from formal and more open spaces (King 2008, 131). The environmental design of Shah Alam is likely and still predominated by the use of the automobile. Continuous pedestrian-friendly places and public transit-oriented mixed-use are seemingly less important than wide highways and large parking surfaces. For Mahathir Mohammad, Modernity in architecture and urban space design is likely in concert with his vision of modern society, which is highly capable of dealing with the progress of science and technology (Mohammad 2006). So, in this line of thinking, mosque design should demonstrate its architectural endeavor that meets the best practice example and adaptation of the current scientific and technological innovation. As a predominantly Islamic society, to what extent are the newly constructed mosques in Malaysia showing and unveiling modernity, in terms of the capacity for dealing with the progress of science and technology? Architecturally speaking, the incorporation of Mahathir’s position on moderate Islam in Malaysia should have been shown by Putrajaya Mosque as well as Masjid Negara in Kuala Lumpur. Indeed, as part of the whole Putrajaya project, modernity in mosque architecture is likely not only about the use of new materials and the implementation of the innovative structure but also about the incorporation of Mahathir’s vision of the nation’s pride and joy (Pandian 2005, 141–142). Surprisingly, the outward image

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Fig. 4.2 Mosque of Putrajaya. Source Illustration by author

from the street is likely nothing new. The mosque is still using the form of the ancient dome as its iconic stature. Dome is not only a strange form and structure for local building tradition but also environmentally inappropriate for the tropical climate if it is not provided with ventilation; on a sunny day, the warm air under the dome roof will be trapped and accumulated without an outlet (Fig. 4.2). Moreover, the imagined modern Malaysian society is for Mahathir a progressive, scientifically friendly, and future-ready society. Accordingly, the architecture and urban design of Malaysian new town developments should be indivisible from the incorporation of a technologically constructed reality that affirms and asserts the domination of humankind over nature. The geometric layout of Putrajaya puts the mosque at a strategic location at the lakeside. In an urban design context, a mosque at the lake and away from residential areas is a historically uncommon location for a prayer hall. What is to be achieved with this site planning is likely monumental imagery of modernity on behalf of Middle Eastern building tradition. Besides, there is architectural nothing new; the mosque of Putrajaya shows the aptly imagined identity of Malaysian Islam with the Middle Eastern civilization. The other example of Middle Eastern reminiscence is the Shah Alam Mosque in the Kuala Lumpur area, designed by Jurubena Bertiga International and built in 1987. A similar building form can be seen in the Campus of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, in Skudai Johor. The Dome of Shah Alam Mosque reminds us of the architecture of the Shah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran whereas its four minarets recall the

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similar structures of the al Nabawi Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The display of Middle Eastern building images for Putrajaya and Shah Alam mosques, respectively, demonstrates the desperate search for acknowledgment of Malaysia as an Islamic nation-state through architectural association and allegiance with Middle Eastern architecture. In doing so, the politics of identity for a multicultural society in Malaysia becomes crucially in question because its most representative architecture for state buildings does not embrace other ethnic components—Chinese, Indian, and other populations—in a single hybrid design. The Mosque of Putra Jaya is given a name after the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdurahman Putra. The mosque is located in the newly established government capital city of Putrajaya. The mosque becomes a landmark in the area considering its architecture and geographical location. It is situated at the man-made Lagoon of Putra Jaya on the West and circular Dataran Putra of 150 m in diameter on the East. The mosque is notable in the landscape because of its rose-tinted granite walls. The mosque was completed and open for Friday prayer in September 1999 with a capacity of more than 10.000 visitors inside the main building and 5000 worshippers in the courtyard. Since then, the mosque is open between 9.00 am to 5.00 pm daily. The construction began on October 19th, 1995. The whole construction of the mosque cost the state about US$80 million. The mosque is architecturally characterized by a single dome and other 8 cupolas. The dome stands at a height of 50 m while the minaret is at a height of 116 m. The minaret is located on the western side of the inner courtyard with an architecturally tapered tower as well as geometrically elaborated forms with stucco details. Walking into the mosque from Putra Square, visitors will be architecturally received by a plaza with bright granite pavement. From this open court, visitors encounter the gate of the mosque. The gate is a gigantic portal with an architecturally carved niche with various forms of architraves but strongly characterized pointed arch concerning the great mosques in Central Asia, such as Samarkand of Uzbekistan and Isfahan of Iran. The pointed arch design of the main entrance is bulkier and curvier compared with the great mosques in the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, Syria, Anatolia, and North Africa. As a thematic and leitmotif of iconic pattern and form, the pointed arch of the mosque is closely associated with the negative space of the onion profile rather than the Roman arcade at the Great Mosque of Damascus or the Great Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Egypt. Why does Central Asian architecture of mosques become the referential benchmark of the Mosque of Putra Jaya? There is no clear explanation for this question but the simple likely personal preference of the decision-makers during those times of its construction process. The principal architect of the mosque is Dato Nik Mohammad Ibn Mahmood from Senireka Architects and Planners Group. As mentioned above, the rose-tinted granite panels cover the surfaces of the gate. Some of the surfaces give slots for calligraphic and geometrical decorations. Meanwhile, at the arcade of the gate, the rectangular decorations that cover the upper part of the opening are functionally working for the shade. After crossing over the gate, visitors will come to an open courtyard or shan paved with white rose-tinted granites with geometric patterns. The courtyard is enclosed by open sheltered hallways with views of the lagoons and other government buildings. The sense of arrival in

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the main prayer hall is denoted by the transition of floor material from granite tiles to the carpet with a color scheme of rose-tinted tone. Approaching the main prayer hall, visitors will experience a grandiose open area covered with rose-tinted carpet. Inside the main hall, visitors can see the intricate decorations on the parapets of the mezzanine, upper parts of the arcades, qibla walls, mihrab, and the dome. A whiterose-tinted color scheme dominates the whole surface making the atmosphere of the mosque less solemn and vibrantly alive. The Mosque of Putra Jaya is likely not a place of serenity but a closely festive and cheerful place. The design of the mosque is characterized by a central vestibule of the main prayer of the hall with a dome of 36 m in diameter. The main hall is constructed with 12 columns standing at the perimeter of 48 m by 48 m square plan. The central area is extended in four directions that establish four aisles. The mihrab and pulpit are located on the western aisle with an ornate qibla wall and centrally arcaded niche for the mihrab while the southern, northern, and eastern aisles are provided with mezzanines for prayer areas. Daylight comes through the glass wall with the rectangular frame of these aisles. Only the qibla wall remains solid and lavishly decorated with calligraphic, vegetal, and geometric patterns and shapes. Regarding its artistic similarities, the Mosque of Putra Jaya seems to be inspired by the Persian Safavid paintings of Northeastern Iran from 1501 to 1722. Under the Safavid empire, Islam for the first time when Shiah Islam became the religion of the state and appeared as an organized ecclesiastical system rather than the more or less loose spiritual and practical leadership of old (Encyclopedia Britannica/Oleg Grabar 2022). The main prayer hall is bright with daylight. At the upper part of the hall enclosure wall, there are a row of 90-degree rotated square glass windows of 0.60 m by 0.60 m. The windows provide the hall with daylight from overhead. Architecturally elaborated details can be found mostly overhead. Windows with stained glass are provided at the upper parts of the main prayer hall encircling the dome’s base and on all upper sides of perimeter walls. In the main prayer hall, the joint corners of structural beams that support the dome are elaborately carved with various curves with a rose-tinted color scheme. The whole area of the mosque comprises 13.700 m2 . As a public institution, the Mosque of Putra Jaya is provided with offices, a meeting room, a small auditorium, a library, and utilities. All these are located on the third floor with separate access from the public area. The Mosque of Putra Jaya is undoubtedly a distinctive landmark of a newly developed area of its architecturally crafted endeavor. In many ways, the craftsmanship of the mosque’s architecture is claimed as local pride. However, the question remains lingering in the air about how such intricate details could be made by local artists. It is considered an attempt to build a self-profiling stature of nationally imagined ummah in Malaysia. However, the relation of the mosque to the locality remains unclear. To what extent does the search for identity cost local ignorance and traditional roots and traces? Beyond the splendor and architecturally highlighted modernity, the Mosque of Putra Jaya disregards local historical and cultural resources but fulfills the political agenda of the ruling power under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad between

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1981 and 2003. This state mosque has been subjugated for various political ends, which it is not only used as a political instrument but also as a new expression of hegemony and social control in the local context and on the global stage (Ismail and Mohd-Rasdi 2010).

Mosque and National Identity Undoubtedly, ethnicity is an indispensable issue for the national building of Malaysia. As a nation and state, the Malaysian population comprises three main ethnic groups Malay, Chinese, and Indian people. Attaining integration of this racial make-up from immigration policy and colonial past into a unified Malaysian Nation is a politically complicated balancing act (Barlow 2001, 5). The syncretism of the approach to addressing ethnic unity seems unlikely to happen. However, some contemporary mosques demonstrate another imagery of awareness for ethnic unity. The design of the mosque of Mutiara Rini, Johor Bahru, and the Chinese mosque of Rantau Panjang in Kelantan demonstrates the embracement of Chinese elements in their design; the minaret adopts the form of a Pagoda structure. Such an adoption had already begun with the mosque of Tengkera in Melaka, dating back to circa 1728. Adopting Chinese elements in mosque architecture is probably a sign of awareness of the multiethnic reality of Malaysia that needs a synergic conglomeration (Fig. 4.3). Why is the Mosque of Rantau Panjang in Kelantan able to express Chinese identity? This possibility is not by surprise because the ruling administration of the State of Kelantan was the Islamic Party of Malaysia, PAS. In 2013, the party is in opposition to the Malaysian ruling National Front, UMNO. Under the administration of predominantly Malay populations, the State of Kelantan has given away to its Chinese Muslims for expressing its mosque design with Chinese cultural identity. The mosque was built by the State of Kelantan between 2005 and 2009 with a total cost of around US$3 million. Located in the area of 1.5 ha, the official name of the mosque is the Mosque of Sultan Ismail Petra Silver Jubilee; its nickname is wellknown today as Beijing Mosque, regarding its strong architectural identity with the traditional architecture of the Mosque of Niuijie in Xuanwu district of Beijing, China which was built in 1442 under the Ming Dynasty. Is the mosque a showcase of the opposition party of PAS on how the Islamic government should do for their ethnic minority? The mosque is architecturally characterized by a Chinese-pitched roof with curvy roof edges form. The green roof, red roof fascia, and ivory walls denote an amalgamation of Islamic and Chinese elements meanwhile inside the mosque; the main prayer hall is constructed with a square plan of 10 m by 10 m with 4 m in width encircling aisle. The building system of the mosque is a concrete frame construction emulating the wooden traditional structure. The main columns are round pillars of 36 cm, which mostly stand as free-standing supports for the concrete beams above. The joints between the beams and the round columns are uniquely treated as found in the traditional wooded joints. The unique forms of the mosque complex include

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Fig. 4.3 Mosque of Mutiara Rini, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Source Illustration by author

the minaret and the main gate. The main gate is architecturally constructed from a Chinese Buddhist temple reference meanwhile the minaret looks similar to the watch tower or lighthouse with a round form made of concrete structure. The wall system of the mosque is less decoratively unified. The qibla wall of the mosque is specially crafted with a rectangular frame protraction of 40 cm. Inside the protraction, the mihrab is set up with wooden construction. The mihrab stands at the centerline of the mosque and inside the space flanked by round columns painted in yellow. The form of the mihrab is constructed as an open shelter with a pitched roof structure. The architecture of the mihrab looks similar to the mosque’s gate and is provided with wooden balustrades. The sidewalls on the South West and North East are constructed with a transparent wall made of geometric frames with glass at the bottom part and a solid wall painted with pointed arch figures and covered with light blue tiles. The color scheme and patterns of wall decorations seem to be similar to the mosques in Central Asia or Uzbekistan. As matter of fact, tolerance of the Kelantan Muslim populations to other ethnic groups and their beliefs has been exercised for ages. Chinese Buddhist temples and Thai Buddhist Wats are visible throughout the state from rural to urban areas. After the success story from Rantau Panjang Kelantan, the Chinese Muslim Association in the State of Malacca will pursue a similar dream of having a mosque that expresses Chinese architecture (Fig. 4.4). As a country, national unity is a precondition for the stability and sustainability of its economic growth and development. National unity for the Malaysia federation

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Fig. 4.4 Mosque of Rantau Panjang, Kelantan. Source Illustration by author

has been always a crucial issue given that the privilege of Malay populations as bumi putera is lawfully still in the enactment. In recent years, national unity becomes part of the “One Malaysia” program of the current Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak. Accordingly, the diversity of ethnicity is seen as a potential power of a nation that relies on the necessity for an opportunity, friendship, and mutual understanding for a better future. Indeed, Prime Minister Najib has worked hard to incorporate his political agenda for “One Malaysia” by representing his 2013–2018 cabinet members. Criticisms and resistance within his party, UMNO, happens all the time. All this for the Malaysian government is not simply political rhetoric but is a work in progress. State-owned media corporations stand for the dissemination and promotion of “One Malaysia” as part of political socialization on any possible occasion. Media for the Malaysian government are their integrated part of programmatic action plans for public awareness of the necessity for national unity, regarding the fact of ethnic diversity. Mosque architecture is likely an opportunity for architectural design to participate in this national effort. The openness of mosque design to other elements beyond the Middle Eastern architecture seems to be a more effective example of Islamic tolerance than any patriotic slogan for national unity. Architecturally speaking, the Mosque of Kampung Keling in Malacca speaks volumes on this unity in multiethnic Malaysian society with roots of design elements in multicultural spectrum (Fig. 4.5).

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Fig. 4.5 Mosque of Kampung Keling, Malacca. Illustration by author

Concluding Remarks Based on a preliminary survey of mosque architecture in Malaysia, Islam, modernity, and national unity are crucial issues of identity. The concept of syncretic unity, perpaduan, has been historically recognized by the early generation of mosque architecture such as the masjids of Kampung Laut, Kampung Tengara, and Kampung Kling in Melaka. However, the line of historical exploration discontinues and leads to crises. Instead, of sustaining and developing the spirit and embracement of harmony, perpaduan, within their ethnic diversity, contemporary designs of mosques tend to adopt iconic architecture of Middle Eastern mosques. The new mosques at national, regional, and local platforms are hesitantly adopting local resources for the issues, themes, and cases of Malaysian identity through architectural design. Nevertheless, at the community level, there are still mosque designs showing deep awareness to address the need for the integration of various ethnic elements in a hybrid design. Even though historically since eighteenth-century mosque designs in Malaysia have been an integrated part of the subconscious movement for unity in diversity, the Politics of identity in terms of “One Malaysia” as a new imagined community” has not yet been conceptualized and implemented as a political agenda that enables Indian, Chinese, and other races to integrate into a patrimonial state and society of the Malay world? How is this imagined community of “One Malaysia” able to work without

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democracy and social justice? As a matter of fact and until today, the patrimonial leadership is more dominant for the Malay privilege than democratic governance for the affirmative equal opportunity. The state mosque design from various sites demonstrates this patrimonial leadership based on the preference for an architecturally oriented Middle Eastern form. Is all this probably the outcome of the crisis of self-confidence of Malaysian leadership in dealing with modernity and global civilization? Historically, without a democratic system of control, the accumulation of power is vulnerable to misuse, abuse, exploitation, and domination. At this point, architecture is one of the most vulnerable media of power show-off because of its tangible and corporeal capacity for the politics of identity. Since a mosque in Malaysian urban society is not simply a building for the congregation or collective prayer of the predominant Malay ethnic group, its contextuality of architectural design and urban design need to embrace and work together with other ethnic elements—beyond Islamic communities—in terms of syncretism or perpaduan. In doing so, mosque architecture is neither the icon and symbol of self-gratification for religious pride and glory nor a representation of patrimonial masculinity. Rather, the mosque is the medium of cultural communication that enables people to learn the Islamic teaching on ethnic tolerance and mutual respect as well as social justice. The practice of five times a day praying—shalat—tangibly demonstrates all these values.

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Tajuddin-Rasdi, Mohammad. 1998. The Mosque as Community Development Centre. Skudai: UTM Press. Titler, Robert. 1991. Architecture and Power: The Town Hall and the English Urban Community ca 1500–1640. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Trumbull, Charles P. 1995. Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 33. London: Encyclopedia Britannica. Ullah, A.H. Jaffor. 2006. My Problem with the Concept of Ummah. In Beyond Jihad: Critical Voices Inside Islam, ed. Kim Ezra Shienbaum. Palo Alto: Academica Press. Vale, Lawrence J. 2008. Architecture, Power, and National Identity. London: Routledge. Watson, Barbara, and Ian Bentley. 2007. Identity by Design. Oxford: Elsevier. Winstedt, Richard Olaf. 1951. The Malay Magician, Being Shaman, Saiva and Sufi. Revised and Enlarged with a Malay Appendix. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ———. 1965. The Malays: A Cultural History. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Chapter 5

Contemporary Mosques in Indonesia: Cultural Intervention, Contestation, and Syncretism

The Issue and Debate This study attempts to reveal and divulge contemporary mosque architecture in Indonesia. The mosque is considered important and remarkable for the case of study concerning its elements, structures, and accessories that are exclusive and mostly originated from the Middle East and Europe. The direct and indirect influence of the Wahhabi Islamic school is argued by this study that has inspired, established, developed, and worked on the architecture of the Postcolonial Mosques in Indonesia regarding their exclusive architectural designs and constructions. From the perspective of human geography, a strong necessity for exclusivity and exceptionalism is considered unnatural and self-destructive because it is against ecosystemic diversity and growth based on the interactional learning process. Wahhabis’ exclusivity and exceptionalism are the other words for fascism that leads any idea, effort, and power toward an ideologically absolute perception of Islam. Islamic fascism is self-destructive because one cannot see oneself in others but in the self-image of grandiosity without any guilt and remorse. In this context, mosque architecture becomes an integrated part of ideological justification for what Islam is, which is conceived from self-acclaimed authenticity from Saudi Arabian culture and tradition of the sixteenth- and eighteenth-century context. From this point, historical origin becomes the source of justification. Under the claim to purify Islam, Wahhabis stand for self-righteousness and intolerant teachings and practices within culturally diverse communities around the globe. Mosque architecture cannot afford to ignore the necessity for cultural assimilation and acculturation of Islam and geographically diverse cultures and traditions in the global world. Building, operating, and maintaining a mosque is indivisible from the local Muslim community. The issue of mosque architecture cannot underestimate the power play among Muslims concerning their preconception and understanding of Islam. The crucial debate among Muslims is that religion is either an authoritative

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 B. Wiryomartono, Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3806-3_5

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doctrine or a cultural phenomenon. Inside out, this is the debate on authority between patrimonialism and democracy as well as between dogma and common sense. To what extent the mosque architecture can show such intolerance and ignorance that matters for the socio-culturally civilized world?

The Early Modern: Mosques of Baiturrahman, Aceh A modern mosque in this study is understood as a place of gathering for prostration every Friday that is constructed with primarily building materials and technology based on modern science and construction. Modern mosques in Indonesia could never afford to ignore the intervention of Dutch colonial rule in current socio-cultural affairs since the end of the nineteenth century. The intervention is not always negative but it comprises a new building technology and architectural design. To a certain extent, the interference was considered by the Dutch necessary in realizing the local resistance against the territorial control of the Dutch colonial power by Muslims. The Java war between 1825 and 1830, the West Sumatran Padri insurgency between 1803 and 1838, and the Aceh struggle between 1873 and 1904 had given the Dutch colonial regime a hard lesson from Muslims in the country about the cost of colonialism. Having listened to the social anthropologists, sociologists, laws from Leiden University, and later the Islamologist: Snouck Hurgronje, the Dutch attempted to apply a socio-cultural strategy to weaken the resistance of Muslims in the country through various options. Strengthening the support of Christian missionaries in the hinterlands and remote regions was not enough. The egalitarian influence of Islamic society had been already unmanageable for the Dutch, especially in urban and coastal areas. One of the important options for biopolitical control was to intervene in the socio-cultural affairs of Muslims by assisting with mosque construction. This happened in Banda Aceh after the original Mosque of Baiturrahman was burned down by the Dutch in 1873. The Acehnese fought for their freedom against the invasion of the Dutch into their region. The mosque was their last bastion. The demolitions of the mosques, the Aceh Sultanate palace, and other buildings were not the end of the Acehnese resistance against the Dutch. Geopolitically speaking, the Aceh war could never afford to ignore the fact of the clash of civilizations between the West and Islam with the spice trade at the core of interest. The Acehnese Sultanate had been historically and culturally on good terms with the Ottoman Sultanate in Turkiye since the sixteenth century known as the pepper partnership (Reid 2015, 82–85). From the nineteenth century on, the diplomatic relationship was sustained (Kadi et al. 2011, 63–64). Until today, this historical and cultural connection is recognizable. Aceh and Turkiye shared the same iconic signs and symbols on their flag. Since the sixteenth century, Aceh has been putting itself a spot on the global map that is not simply a region in Southeast Asia but a geopolitical hub of the history and culture of Islam. Unsurprisingly to understand why the Dutch military expedition and operation in Aceh between 1873 and 1903 was internationally remarkable. British East India under Governor-General James

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Loudon was strongly against the expansion of the Dutch colony in the East Indies. According to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty in 1824, Aceh’s independence was mentioned as one of the points of the agreement. Today, Mosque of Baiturrahman was a Dutch reconstruction of the original only with the same name and location but with a different architectural form and expression. The original Mosque of Baiturrahman was built in the location during the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda in 1612. Historically, Iskandar Muda invoked the ancient Mosque of the Sultanate the design of a modern mosque was prepared by the Koninklijke Nederlands-Indies Leger or the Royal Dutch-Indies force for civil works. The modern Mosque of Baiturrahman was a fulfillment of the Dutch promise after having burned down the traditional one during the Dutch invasion into the Aceh Sultanate region. The Acehnese insurgency was still not fully under the control of the Dutch military expedition led by Major General Johan Harmen Rudolf Köhler; he was killed in 1874. The second expedition led by General Jan Van Swieten landed in Aceh on November 9, 1873. The Dutch troops were heavily resisted by the Acehnese forces led by Tuanku Hasyim Bangtamuda. However, the Dutch were able to capture and put the capital city of Banda Aceh under their control in 1874 (Aceh Documentation Center 2009, 232–233). The Dutch colonial authority promised the local population to rebuild the mosque in the location. Based on local sources of Dutch in Aceh, a Dutch architect: Gerrit Bruins designed the preliminary scheme for the mosque. The design was adapted and modified by J. P. Luijks from the Dutch Military Corps of Engineers in the East Indies. After 1880, Major General J. B. van Heutsz was in charge to lead the Dutch occupation in Aceh and declared the end of the war in 1880. In 1880, the design of the mosque began. The design of the modern Baiturrahman was inspired by Islamic Mughal architecture, especially for the arcades of the main porch and the dome design. The form mosque is constructed with a dome mounted on the square plan hall structure. The design of the dome is developed with a Mughal onion cupola with a crown at the top and a skirt around the base. This skirt design treatment is an attempt to adapt to the local tropical climate and protect the windows of the upper drum structure from heavy monsoons. The drum structure is developed with an octagonal plan that transfers the roof load to the square plan hypostyle main hall. This hall is established with four side arcades of 12 m. Each side comprises three-pointed arcades standing on cylindrical columns of 40 cm in diameter. The ground plan of the mosque reminds people of the Palladian Villa Rotunda scheme with four porches. The Dutch design team modified the Palladian scheme with only one porch, two-building wings, and a central hall. The East part of the hall is the front side of the mosque that works for the main entrance of the mosque the East. On the North and South, there was no entry provided to the mosque but the windows with pointed-arch architraves. The arcade and architrave designs are based on a horseshoe form but with a pointed arch and a stretched wider span compared with its height. The building construction of the mosque was a new technology with reinforced concrete, bricklayer, and stucco materials. A Chinese builder company from North Sumatra: Lie A Sie was commissioned to make the project into reality. The dome

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structure was constructed with a wooden frame and covered with metal sheets and painted with bituminous paint. At the roof edges and upper wall, structures were richly ornamented with the friezes of geometrically carved wood or ornamental metal bands. Mughal ornamentations were carved and painted on the architraves and facades. As a whole roof structure, the mosque was designed in an attempt to integrate modern and traditional forms into a well-syncretized architecture. However, the mosque was avoided by most Acehnese prayers for decades after its opening at the end of 1881. The original form of the mosque was still preserved until the end of the Pacific War. The photograph of the mosque from 1935 showed the original design before any addition and enlargement (Wikimedia Commons 1910–1930). The mosque in the photograph stood in a lot enclosed by a chicken-wire fence between masonry pilasters at 1.20 m height. The façade of the mosque was designed with an architecturally arcaded porch. The top of the porch was decorated with a crown and crenellation. To a certain extent, the layout of the modern Mosque of Baiturrahman is originally something new to local people. The traditional buildings in Aceh are never designed with a central vestibule or rotunda with four architecturally projecting porticoes. The Acehnese traditional building layout is architecturally characterized by a linear left–right system. The form of house is constructed with a simple longitudinal square ground plan covered by a gable roof structure and enclosed by a wooden wall system on the platforms. The whole house form stands on the five naves and three rows of pillars of 2–3 m in height called tamee. The entrance of the house is located at the centerline of the naves. The porch of the house is constructed with the extension of the front roof. In most cases, the main ground plan consists of 15 columns with 9–12 m in width by 12–15 m in length. In Aceh, the traditional building for community congregation and gathering is meunasah. The form of meunasah is designed and constructed with a similar system to a house form. The traditional house or rumoh is spatially divided into three main domains: front, central, and backroom. The front room is known as seuramoe ukeu working as a guest room or reception hall. The front room is provided with a window at the end of the left and right sides. The central area or seuramoe teungoh is the living area with two rooms on the left and right sides. The backroom called seuramoe likot is the dining and living area with a kitchen or dapu. Like the front room, the central and the back area have two windows on the side walls. The central domain is constructed with a platform structure 40–60 cm higher than the front and back platforms. In Acehnese tradition, the division of domains is to mark different sociocultural functions in the family. However, the platform of the community hall or meunasah is made an even and open platform without a wall but a parapet enclosure at 1.20 m in height. The wooden walls and gables are commonly decorated and carved with plant-motif ornaments. A frieze can be found under the gable, the facia, and the surrounding floor edge (Fig. 5.1). A traditional mosque or masjid in Aceh is provided by the community at the neighborhood level with more than 200 households. Meanwhile, the village community is provided with a musholla or meunasah. The Great Mosque of Baiturrahman built by the Dutch was an urban and public mosque with a capacity for more than 500

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Fig. 5.1 Mosque of Baiturahman, Banda Aceh in 2012. Illustration by Author

prayers. Today, the mosque serves more than 12,000 Friday prayers. The building was reconstructed with enlargement and additional buildings after the 2004 tsunami. The original Dutch mosque was extended with two replicas on the left and right sides of the original. The replicas are constructed similarly. The adoption of mosque architecture in the Acehnese context has been going on for several decades and generations. The most crucial thing in the process is the transformation of collective memory in the Mosque of Baiturrahman. After the end of the Aceh war against Dutch colonialism in 1904, the mosque was gradually visited by the prayers of urbanized populations of Banda Aceh. The Dutch intervention in the local affairs for mosque design and construction was not only in Aceh but also in Medan, North Sumatra. Precisely, the Mosque of Sultan Deli was the outcome of the Dutch colonial’s goodwill. The mosque known as Masjid Al Mashun was constructed from 1906 to 1909. The mosque was presented by the Dutch to Sultan Ma’mun Al-Rashid Perkasa Alamsyah IX of Deli-Serdang. The construction of the mosque was made possible by the support and contribution of the Chinese Major of Medan between 1911 and 1921: Tjong A Fie or Tjong Yiauw Hian, and his brother: a Chinese businessperson: Tjong Yong Hian, as well as Jacobus Nieunhuys, the owner of tobacco plantation company: Deli Maatschappij (Setiono 2008, 277–290). The brothers were the pioneers of private business in railways transportation between Chao Chow and Sukow in mainland China. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Tjong Yong Hian managed to establish various businesses in the Labuhan area of North Sumatra. The mosque was a kind of business deal between the tobacco business and the Sultanate of Deli-Serdang for a land concession for the plantation. Tjong A Fie was involved in this business arrangement in his capacity as the Major of Medan and a business liaison of private enterprises for the mosque

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construction. His brother: Tjong Yong Hian was a well-known Chinese merchant, who held a Dutch Pachter privilege for the opium trade in North Sumatra. Both brothers managed to transform the money from opium trades and gambling houses into various businesses from real estate, mining, banks, railroads, coconut, tobacco, tea, rubber, and palm oil to sugar plantations. Despite the similarity of the dome, the architecture of the Mosque of Al Mashun is distinguished from the Mosque of Baiturrahman because of its dominant wall structure. In contrast to local and indigenous mosques, both Dutch versions of the mosque stand architecturally distinct in terms of response to the tropical climate and geographical setting. Both Dutch mosques introduce the use of strong geometrical juxtaposition of the building that visually controls the surrounding landscape. The Dutch architectural conception attempts to establish a monumental structure in the landscape. In doing so, the Dutch mosques become points of visual attraction with unique and extraordinary forms and artistic expression. Both mosques introduced local architecture to explore the façade for public attraction and the use of the dome as an Islamic icon. In doing so, the architecture of the mosque became socio-cultural and political propaganda that the Dutch colonial regime paid attention to and care for the native populations, which were mostly Muslims.

Fundamentalist and Modern Form: Mosque of Al-Azhar Jakarta After Indonesia’s independence in 1945, the country experienced a long struggle toward a politically consolidated nation of Indonesia. The ideological differences were unavoidable in the new republic. These have been happening as well in Muslim communities in the country since the beginning of the twentieth century when nationalist awareness and movements came into play in economic, socio-cultural, and political activities. However, like many other ideological followers, Muslims in Indonesia are never sociologically unified under a solid organization but are always within various streams and schools from fundamentalist to moderate and liberal factions. Mosque architecture could not afford to ignore its sponsors and communities. Despite its official public functionality, ideological streams and schools have been always working in the way that specific and unique emphasis and contents are practiced in the architecture and operation of a mosque. The construction of the mosque was initiated by several members of the Masyumi Party in early 1950. Masyumi was a political party with ideologically affiliated Wahhabis in terms of the claim for authentic Islam. Prominent leaders of Masyumi include Zainal Abidin Ahmad, Munawar Khalil, Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah or Hamka, Mohammad Natsir, and Sjafruddin Prawiranegara. The major of Jakarta warmly welcomed the idea for the mosque in the 730 hectares of newly developed subdivision of Jakarta: Kebayoran Baru. The city allocated 4 hectares of land for the mosque and its educational facilities. They mobilize funds from the public for

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the construction of the mosque by establishing an Islamic boarding school foundation: Yayasan Pesantren Islam in 1952. However, the ministry of religious affairs sponsored mostly the construction of the mosques. The design and construction of the mosque began in the same year and were completed in 1958. The design of the mosque is an attempt to express and articulate authentic Islam in architecture regarding Middle Eastern mosques. Hamka was the person at the foundation who was in charge of the project. Hamka’s idea was to see the mosque as the center of learning. He advocated the role and function of the mosque as an integrated part of the modern development of Muslim children and society in Indonesia. He worked together globally with various leading figures of Muslim countries for the modern education of Islam. The rector of Al-Azhar University: Mahmoud Zakzouk was invited to the opening ceremony in 1958 and gave the name for the mosque: Al-Azhar. Historically speaking, Al-Azhar had been well-known as an educational institution under Mohammad Abduh for its modern approach to Islam since the 1900s. The collaboration between the Al-Azhar University of Egypt and Indonesia has brought about the modernization of Islamic teaching and meaning for Muslim society in both countries. The Masyumi faction of Indonesian Muslims was a proponent of modern Islamic teaching and practice based on a rational and pragmatic approach to mystical and pagan practices. Mosque for Masyumi was not simply a religious place of worship but a cultural and educational center that prepared Muslims to deal with modernity. The mosque architecture for Masyumi is artistically and spiritually integrated with modern expression but with an Islamic iconic identity. The outcome of this architectural ideology is the mosque with a central dome surrounded by four spiky columns and a minaret and a mini corner dome. As a whole, the Mosque of Al-Azhar consists of the main structure and sub-structure with three main accesses from East, South, and North. The sub-structure of the mosque works as the foundational edifice for administrative and educational activities. Meanwhile, the main structure works as the hall of the congregation with a vertically central encroachment of the dome and an architecturally protruding mihrab at the qibla wall (Fig. 5.2). The prayer hall of the mosque is situated on the upper floor. Visitors are provided with three stairways from South, East, and West climbing up the main hall. The hall is an open area with a vestibule at the center with four main pillars. The central area of 12 m by 12 m is constructed with a reinforced concrete structure. A drum structure of 6 m in diameter and 2 m in height is mounted at the central framework structure. A concrete onion dome is mounted on the drum structure at 4.2 m in height. The daylight comes through 16 windows of the drum structure. The other rows of windows on the east, north, and south sides are provided at the roof structure by lifting the roof surface to 60 cm. The four corners of the central area are constructed with four stakes and a free-standing minaret of 21 m in height with a small dome crown at the top. The minaret is situated at the southeast corner of the prayer hall. A Mihrab is established at the centerline of the mosque at the qibla wall. The perimeter areas of the central hall are constructed with two aisles of 8 m in width. As a whole, the prayer hall covers 24 m by 24 m square floor plan. Under the prayer hall,

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Fig. 5.2 Mosque of Al-Azhar Jakarta. Illustration by author

a multifunctional area is provided for offices and various socio-cultural activities that support and are associated with the mission of the Mosque of Al-Azhar. Compared with the Mosque of Al-Azhar in Cairo of Egypt, Indonesia’s counterpart mosque is an attempt to emulate the original with a smaller scale and capacity. Local building materials are mostly used for this mosque comprising marble stones, terracotta tiles, metal, and wooden construction. There are some essential differences concerning architectural conception and approach to design. The Mosque of Al-Azhar in Jakarta is developed with a monumental approach in that the mosque stands in an empty surrounding space. This is likely a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist building tradition for candi buildings. The Mosque of Al-Azhar in the Kebayoran Baru subdivision is not provided and is attached to an arcaded porticos courtyard. The multilevel building structure of this mosque shows the aptness of its architecture to Hindu-Buddhist candi with three main accesses. Architecturally speaking, Indonesia’s Mosque of Al-Azhar was originally not designed with a contextually crowded and urbanized structure with narrow streets and highly populated housing, but on an empty green area of a newly developed satellite town. A similar mosque to this mosque is the Mosque of Syuhada in the city of Yogyakarta. The mosque was constructed to honor the fallen freedom fighters during the independence war against the return of Dutch colonialism between 1945 and 1949. The mosque is located in the neighborhood of Kota Baru, district of Gondokusuman, the city of Yogyakarta. The inception of mosque construction was begun

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after the return of the Dutch colonial regime failed to establish its foot in the former colony. The land for the mosque was donated by the Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX of Yogyakarta. The first foundation of the mosque was laid by Yogyakarta’s Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX on September 23, 1950. The mosque was opened to the public on September 20, 1952. The mosque was constructed by public sponsorship. The donation for this construction was received from wide sponsors, which were not only Muslims but various individuals and organizations from inside and outside the country. The sympathy and support for the fallen freedom fighters attracted and mobilized donations from various sources. The builder of the mosque was a nonprofit organization under the direction of Supono and an Architectural firm under R. Feenstra from Jakarta (Jatim 1952, 32). The architects of the mosque attempted to incorporate the memorable event of Indonesia’s Independence Day on August 17th, 1945, into the elements and components of the mosque architecture. The “17” signified the number of threads of the main stairways into the mosque’s prayer hall, which is located 3.60 m above the ground. The magic number “8” is incorporated into the hexagonal form of the pillars at the mosque’s main gate. Meanwhile, the “45” is symbolically represented by 4 small domes at the corners of the inside rectangular rooftop, five domes at the outside corners, and a central roof structure. From its very inception, this mosque was claimed as a statement of liberation and devotion of Muslims from colonialist oppression.

Modern and Nationalist Movement: Mosque of Istiqlal The Mosque of Istiqlal was undoubtedly conceptualized by the First President of Indonesia: Sukarno as a bold architectural statement of liberation. It was thought by the leader of this young republic as a modern stature of Muslim power in Southeast Asia. The inception of the mosque’s construction was inspired and triggered by the establishment of the Mosque of Syuhada in Yogyakarta. The initiation of the mosque construction was highly motivated by the spirit of modernity and liberty after the Dutch colonial rule was not able to come back to the former colony. The first stone of the mosque was laid by Sukarno in 1961. Afterward, it took 17 years to the completion of the mosque as a public building. Conceptually speaking, Sukarno wanted to incorporate the notions of liberty and modernity with strong and monumental construction and form employing reinforced concrete and the most current technology. Moreover, the mosque was expected to become the largest Islamic Hall in Southeast Asia. The site of the mosque was located in the previous Dutch colonial Wilhemina Park and Prins Hendrik citadel. The park was founded by Governor-General Johannes Van den Bosch in 1834 covering about 9.7 hectares area at the river bank. However, the building footprint of the mosque area does not comprise more than 3.7 hectares of built-environment. The park was left abandoned after the arrival of the Japanese forces in 1942. It became a neglected site until the first laying of stone for the mosque on August 24th, 1961. The initiative for the construction was formulated

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and conceptualized by Kiayi Wahid Hasim, who was the minister of religious affairs under the Soekarno-Hatta cabinet between 1950 and 1952. He was not alone in this inception but together with other proponents of the nationalist movement for Indonesia’s independence. His team included Anwar Tjokroaminoto and Agus Salim. Besides their formal dusty as state officials, they worked together to establish a nonprofit organization for national mosque construction. Until 1965, the public donation for the construction of the mosque was smooth but still far away from what they needed. Political instability became the primary cause of the delay in construction. After Suharto has successfully established and consolidated his power in 1967, the construction of the mosque was provided with strong financial support from the New Order administration. President Suharto officially opened the mosque to the public on February 22nd, 1978. The completion of the whole construction of the mosque was around US $12,000,000. The site of the mosque was kept with a historic connection to a park and green space. Today, the name of the park is Taman Wijayakusumah. The architect of the mosque is Friderich Silaban, a Batak Christian person, who was trained and worked for the Dutch colonial public work in Batavia. He won an open architectural competition for the design of the Istiqlal Mosque in 1954. Interestingly note from the competition, that Silaban’s architectural design was in alignment with Sukarno’s vision of Indonesia’s national building concerning the idea of liberation and modernity in architecture (Tuong-Vu 2009, 54–55). Despite this idea was not deeply rooted in local building tradition but in imported style, modern architecture was considered Sukarno as a moving forward sign and symbol of Indonesia (Holod et al. 1997, 65). Visitors of the mosque are directed to enter the main entrance from the East or Jalan Juanda and secondary access from the Southeastern side or Jalan Katedral. From South East, there is a bridge crossing over a canal. At the bridge, the visitors will have a view of the dome, minaret, and portico structure of the mosque with an architecturally overwhelming scale. Up close and vivid, the façade is largely dominated by a transparent wall made of concrete with metal clad. Nevertheless, the architecture of the mosque is visually introduced by walking into the entrance hall with six square columns of 60 cm by 60 cm at 6 m in height in a central area. The sense of arrival in the mosque area is architecturally signified by the climbing of the stairways to the entrance hall on the main floor at 3.50 m above the ground. From this hall, which is made of an exposed concrete structure, visitors are led to view the inner courtyard with terracotta pavement on the left side and the entrance gallery to the main prayer hall on the right side. The main prayer hall has situated west of the entrance hall. In contrast to the noisy and hot humid outside, the sense of arrival in the mosque area is experienced as being inside in a refuge enclosure with quite cool and naturally glimmering daylight from the wall side and breeze-cool air circulation (Fig. 5.3). The main prayer hall of the mosque is designed with a square plan of 45 m by 45 m. As a whole construction, the stature of the mosque comprises five-floor building construction. Inside the main hall, there is a vestibule constructed of 12 columns standing within a circular plan of 24 m in diameter. The columns are covered by stainless steel standing at 30 m height that support the reinforced concrete dome

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Fig. 5.3 Mosque of Istiqlal Jakarta. Illustration by Author

mounted on the structure of the ring. The dome rests on the roof structure that covers the whole prayer hall. The main prayer hall is enclosed by three transparent walls and a massive structure on the qibla side. The grandiose prayer hall is experienced by any visitor to the mosque because of its solemnity and huge spaciousness with dimming natural light from the walls. Three levels of mezzanine floor are provided at the three side aisles surrounding the main prayer hall. Most of these mezzanines are occupied during the Friday prayer. On the main floor, the prayer hall is divided into two sections for male and female visitors. In Islamic Holydays, the division of the female-male domain is at equal proportion in the main floor area. Providing a special domain for female visitors in the prayer hall of the mosque has been a longstanding history in Indonesia. The domain has been established with the Great Mosque of Demak circa 1479. Since then, the female domain in the mosques in Java is known as pawestren. The significant number of female guests is commonly evident in various mosques during the great days of Islam such as Eid al Fitr, Eid al-Adha, the Prophet’s birthday celebration, Ashura Day, Islamic New Year, Isra Miraj, and Nuzulul Qur’an. When the call for prayer comes about, the drum of the mosque—bedug—is hit by a mosque maintenance keeper. The drum 1.8 m in diameter and 2.75 m in length is located in the southwestern portico. Beating the drum is a Javanese mosque tradition derived from the Great Mosque of Demak. A Javanese kentongan stands by the drum. Kentongan is an ancient slit gong working as an emergency warning tool made of wood or bronze/metal. In the Mosque of Istiqlal, kentongan has been integrated into the call for prayer system. The kentongan will be beaten several times before the

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ponding of the bedug. This ritual commences the preparation of the five times of Salaah on daily basis. The drum is commonly beaten during the evening and night before the Ied Fitr. However, the ketongan will also be beaten in case of emergency such as if criminal offenses and natural disasters happen in the mosque area. Bedug and kentongan in the Mosque of Istiqlal have been installed since the opening day for the public in 1978. Since then, any official visit of state dignitaries or officials from other countries will be honored to beat the drum of the mosque. King Salman Ibn Abdulaziz al-Saud was the only honorary guest, who refused to beat the bedug while visiting the mosque on March 2nd, 2017. So far, there is no official statement why did he turn down the ritual of the visit to the mosque. Architecturally speaking, the Mosque of Istiqlal is considered an ultimate iconic monument of Islam in Indonesia with a modern form and dome. The portable domes made of metal sheets are sold everywhere in Indonesia as the iconic sign and symbol of musholla and mosque. They put such iconic elements on the roof structure and minaret. Modern forms with domes have been spreading popularly in various regions and parts of the country until the 1980s. Movements against the spread of modern form have come about in the 1990s when the architectural identity and character of Indonesian culture were put in question. Besides its national pride and identity, the local and regional characteristics and features of architecture became an important gimmick in the tourism industry during the Five-Year Development Plan under Suharto’s New Order cabinet between 1988 and 1993. Accordingly, most public buildings should optimize and employ local historical resources so that Indonesian characters and features stood up front for architectural performance (Fig. 5.4).

Modern Mosque and Personal Legacy After the fall of Suharto’s New Order administration in 1998, the new mosques in the country did not have too many cultural restraints for their architectural expression. The economic crises have depressed the new constructions in the country’s various areas until the beginning of the twenty-first century. Even though the state and public sectors were mostly affected by the monetary hard times, some private sectors and individuals still maintained their businesses and commercial activities. During the period between 2000 and today, new mosque constructions have been flourishing in the country. Most of these are sponsored by individuals and non-profit organizations. The Mosque of At-Tin in Pinang Ranti, East Jakarta, and the Mosque of Al-Mahri in Depok is among these kinds of mosques. The Mosque of At-Tin was initiated by President Suharto’s wife: Madame Tien Suharto. The execution of the project was carried out by the Suharto family circle under the non-profit organization of Harapan Kita Foundation. The project commenced after Madame Fatimah Siti Hartinah or Tien Suharto passed away on April 28th, 1996. A prominent mosque architect Ahmad Noe’man and his son: Fauzan Noe’man was commissioned by Suharto’s foundation to prepare the design. Ahmad

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Fig. 5.4 The site plan of Mosque of Istiqlal, Jakarta by Frederick Silaban, architect. Illustration by Author

Noe’man was the architect of the Mosque of Salman on the campus of Institut Teknologi Bandung. He was considered a proponent of the mosque design with a pragmatic design that was not necessary with the iconic dome and pyramidal roof. Unlike the Mosque of Salman, which is sleek and has fewer decorations with a flat concrete roof structure, the Mosque of At-Tin is architecturally a stand-alone monument with a central dome and is lavishly decorated with geometric patterns and colorful ornamentation. The complex occupies about 80 hectares of an area adjacent to the national recreation and cultural center of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. This mosque is undoubtedly not a pragmatic outcome but a successful fulfillment of client-patron privilege. The site design of the mosque sets up the mosque monumentally standing in the suburban garden landscape with dominant palm trees. Such a setting is commonly found in the ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples or candi in Central and East Java. The site layout is designed with a strong symmetrical juxtaposition of architectural elements lining up the axis of the Qibla direction. By design, visitors to the mosque are expected to come by private cars. Indeed, the mosque is located in the area of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, a theme park in Indonesia in a miniature architectural model. The park is the legacy of Madame Tien Suharto from the 1970s. Huge parking areas are provided in the northwestern area of the mosque. Moreover, the mosque is not provided with an architecturally enclosed courtyard with a porticoed enclosure but a courtyard with a garden surrounded by sheltered hallways. This open area is reserved for the extension of the prayer hall and outdoor congregation. This paved yard and garden attempt to adopt the typological layout of mosques in the Middle East with tropical adjustment and adaptation.

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Entering the mosque is mostly made from parking lots. Sheltered hallways lead visitors to the side entrances of the main prayer hall from South West or North East. However, visitors can experience the way to the mosque from the front gate for the architectural appreciation of its front yard and main entry. Of course, tropical humidity and heat in the afternoon make people choose to go through hallways. The main entrance of the mosque is constructed with three gateways framed with a geometrical structure that becomes a thematic pattern of all parts of the mosque architecture, from the hallways, gateways, the decorations of the walls, floors, and ceilings. From the three main gateways, visitors will be received into a reception hall. From this hall, visitors are visually encountered two grand stairways and elevators to the prayer hall at 3.60 m above the ground floor. At the ground level, visitors will see three site-wide transparent wooden doors of 1.5 m in width. There are three alcoves of 6 m in width and 3.2 in height that contains sliding wooden doors. The door is lavishly carved with geometric and vegetative decorations that visualize the Javanese gunungan within the pointed-arch shape. The gunungan is commonly presented by the puppet master or dalang for the opening of the wayang performance. Architecturally speaking, the design adaptation of the mosque has gone beyond the local building tradition. The thematic pattern of the mosque is developed with a geometrical architrave of rectangles instead of an architecturally pointed horseshoe arcade. However, the mosque is not a naturally adapted construction for the tropical climate with the breeze and heavy rainy monsoons but an architectural fortress-like stature with a bold walling statement. Four corner minarets stand guarding the main central dome. Inside each corner, the minaret is provided with staircases connecting the ground floor to the main prayer hall and the female prayer mezzanine above. The minarets are designed with a composition of forms that are likely imported from the Middle East with a small dome and geometrical cubes. The functional minaret is located at the southwestern corner of the mosque standing tall at 42 m in height. This tall minaret is an eye-catching landscape element in the area at the crossing of highways nearby (Fig. 5.5). The open area in the front of the mosque is enclosed by sheltered hallways. The surface of the area is designed with a linear pattern of pavement and grass. In doing so, the area is well prepared to accommodate the spill-out of visitors, who do not have a spot inside the mosque during the Friday prayer or other Islamic great days. Still, in the open area, there are two ablution facilities. In case of a rainy day, the mosque is provided with two other spots for ablution under the roof outside and inside the building complex. The outdoors of the mosque is richly landscaped with ponds and geometric gardening designs. The complex is provided with an open area, which is functionally dedicated to the execution of Eid Adha sacrifices with water treatment and an environment-friendly sanitation facility. Inside the mosque, the geometric pattern of the façade is excessively repeated and developed into highly sophisticated ornamentation, especially in the qibla wall area. The mihrab, the mimbar, the vestibule, and the floor are lavishly decorated with geometric patterns and colorful fabrications. The main building is an open floor of 66 m by 66 m ground plan with the main prayer hall of 36 m by 36 m without any single support element but at the perimeter structural construction. In memory of

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Fig. 5.5 Mosque of At-Tin, East Jakarta, Indonesia. Illustration by Author

madame Tien Suharto, the vegetal ornamentation of most architectural elements is inspired and abstracted from the jasmine flower and purple color scheme. At any level of architectural treatment, the Mosque of At Tien is exemplary for any attempt to establish a monumentality. In doing so, every element and component of the building structure and design is artistically worked out with meticulous work on details that is for a self-grandiose personification in the name of Islam and the nation. The ornamentation with geometric and floral patterns is employed in any possible plane, form, and element from lighting fixtures to the dome. At the peak of the dome, the calligraphic decoration of “Allah” is mounted on the top. This is uncommon in Javanese mosques; the top of the mosque roof is traditionally crowned with a mustaka in the form of a jasmine bulb. The dome structure is constructed with a steel space frame with a metal roof sheet covering it. The covering surface is divided into three parts and interrupted by circular glassing rings. The circular opening rings are inserted into the dome structure to allow daylight into the mosque’s main hall. Stained glasses are mostly employed at the wall openings with richly crafted designs for various patterns and colorful effects. Paying attention to details could have been an integrated part of the architectural design intention for this mosque. To reach the main prayer hall, the mosque is provided with five main accesses: two side entrances from the South West and North East by sheltered hallways, and a main entry from the East. The area of the main prayer hall is vertically characterized by a dome of 22 m in diameter free of columns with a capacity of 9,000 visitors. The prayer area for female visitors is provided at the mezzanine above the main prayer hall. The female area can accommodate up to 1,800 visitors. The daily operation of

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the mosque is run by the Suharto family foundation. So far, the status of the land of the mosque is considered state-owned property. Regarding its space and location, the mosque is often publicly used as a hall for private parties and social gatherings. The ground floor of the Mosque of At-Tin is the area for this kind of service that includes ablution facilities for male and female visitors, a multipurpose hall, offices, a small heal care unit, and a room for Information Technology, a meeting room, storage, and a library. However, the Mosque of At-Tin is private property operated by a private non-profit organization. In a similar idea of personal veneration to this mosque mission, the Mosque of Dian Al-Mahri is devoted to Madame Dian Djuriah Rais. The Mosque of Dian Al-Mahri is a contemporary building situated at Jalan Raya Maruyung, district of Limo, the municipality of Depok. Despite its function being dedicated to public use, the mosque is a private property with private management under a non-profit organization: Yayasan Dian Al-Mahri. The mosque was constructed on a site of 70 hectares in 2001. The acquisition of the land took place in 1989 by a couple of business persons: Maimun Al-Rasyid and Dian Djuriah Rais. The main business the husband was in the energy sector with a focus on oil and gas in Brunei Darussalam. The couple sponsored the whole development of the mosque from the land acquisition in 1996, design, construction between 2000 and 2006, and operation since 2006. It is a private mosque dedicated to public use under the management of the Dian Al-Mahri foundation. The construction of the mosque was completed on December 31, 2006. After the husband passed away, Dian Djuriah Rais acted as the sole project manager and sponsor of the mosque’s construction and operation. The total cost of construction for the mosque is around 20 trillion rupiahs or US $ 1.5 million. She intended to establish the mosque as her presence in the community of Depok municipality. She allows people to visit the mosque for prayer and recreation. She admitted the purpose of the mosque as a tourist destination. In doing so, the mosque complex is provided with a convention hall with a banquet and a family hotel. The complex of the mosque occupies an area of 50 hectares. The mosque building covers 8,000 m2 of ground plan with a whole area of 60 m by 120 m. The main prayer hall is a rectangular plan with an area of 45 m by 57 m. As a whole, the mosque is designed to host more than 20,000 prayers for Friday prayer time. The mosque is designed with a ground plan after the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and Madina’s Mosque of Al-Nabawi. The structure of the plan comprises the main hall and the courtyard enclosed with porticos. Nevertheless, the mosque is architecturally united by its distinctive landmark: the mosque with gold-plated domes; the central dome is surrounded by four corner cupolas (Fig. 5.6). Entering the complex of the mosque, one begins with a security checkpoint at the main gate at the East. The mosque is situated at a setback of more than 5 min of walk from the adjacent communities: Kompleks Marinir Meruyung, Villa Permata Santi, Graha Permata Asri, Kompleks Akbar, Puri Cinere Hijau, and Cinere Agung. The best way to approach the mosque is by private car. Public transport is available on Meruyung road with a stop at 300 m on the West side of the mosque. The mosque is considered an exotic living monument for pilgrimage. It is mainly not

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Fig. 5.6 Entrance of Mosque of Golden Dome Dian Al-Mahri. Illustration by Author

to serve the existing communities there, which have been served by their mushola and mosques. To pray in the mosque, visitors with private cars usually have to pay parking retribution. Then, they have to leave their shoes in the designated locker. Going into the mosque is better experienced by walking from the main road on the West side of the mosque. However, there is no dedicated path for pedestrians toward the main entrance of the mosque. Pedestrians should walk on the asphalt road called Jalan Mesjid Kubah Emas. On the way, the visitors will go with a view of the back part of the building through the landscape of palm trees. The main golden dome and other smaller domes catch the visitors’ view from a distance between the minarets and porticoes of the mosque. The pedestrian visitors come into the South entrance of the mosque after going along the southern façade. The mosque’s main entry is located in the East. To those who need to clean themselves, they have to go to the front entry. In this area, ablutions facilities and washrooms are provided. The West area is dedicated to male visitors while the East is for female guests. Both areas are designed to accommodate the prayers with two options for ablutions: outside and inside the building. The outside ablutions areas are for male visitors only and are provided with several water outlets. The main entrance of the mosque is designed as a checkpoint into the courtyard with a porticoes structure. The whole footprint of the mosque occupies a rectangular area of 60 m by 120 m. Architecturally speaking, the mosque complex consists of two sections: the courtyard structure and the main prayer hall. The square courtyard

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plan of 20 m by 20 m surrounded by South, North, and East porticos. The courtyard is characterized by a porticoed structure that encloses the open area paved with granite tiles with an earthy color scheme. Each of the four corners of the portico structure is established by a minaret with an intricately tapered tower. The peak of the tower is a cupola covered by a sheet of gold. The structure of the courtyard is characterized by rhythmic arcades with horseshoe arches supported by concrete pilasters covered by granite tiles. The interval of columns of porticos is about 4 m in width and 4 m in height. The courtyard of 57 m by 47 m is covered by granite pavements with geometric patterns. The center area of the courtyard is accentuated with a decorative circular decoration on the floor with various colorful granite stones. Most of these building materials were imported from Europe and the Middle East. Madame Dian Rais wanted to show to the public how a devoted Muslim like her generously presented and gave away everything materially precious and luxurious for the mosque as the House of God. She saw the mosque as an integrated part of her whole vision of her relationship with Islam and Indonesia. The mosque was conceived as the tangible articulation and expression of Islamic civilization in Indonesia. The main prayer hall of the mosque is lavishly established with smooth granite surfaces on the walls, floors, and columns. Meanwhile, the ceiling of the aisles is decoratively structured with a white gridiron pattern. In the central area of the main prayer hall, a vestibule of 20 m in diameter. The dome of 25 m in height is mounted on a concrete ring 40 cm in depth. The dome’s ring is supported by white six Corinthian pillars 50 cm in diameter at 10 m in height. The horseshoe glass-stained windows are constructed between the base of the dome and the structural ring that allows daylight come into the main prayer hall through. The inner side of the dome is painted with a sky-like heavenly scene while at the center of the vestibule is hung a highly decorated crystal chandelier imported from Italy with 8 tons of weight. Indeed, most of the building materials for the mosque are not local which amplifies the wish and devotion of Madame Dian Djuariah Rais for the monumentality of her legacy. This effort and construction process was during the times when Indonesia experienced dire economic crises with the denomination of Indonesian currency rupiah vis-à-vis the US dollar. The qibla wall of the mosque is extravagantly decorated and covered mostly with rose-tinted granite panels. The mihrab is located at the center of the wall framed by a pilastered portal with a horseshoe protraction that establishes a niche. Meanwhile, the side walls are figuratively divided into two sections: top and bottom. The bottom part is decorated with three square decorative panels framed in white with geometric patterns inside. The upper parts of each qibla sidewall are carved with horseshoe architrave with decorative patterns. Architecturally speaking, the whole components of Dian Al-Mahri Mosque are flashy and glitzy in the use of forms, constructions, colors, textures, finishing materials, and decorations. The mosque of Dian Al-Mahri is far away from sobriety and modesty in terms of architecture. It is lavishly ornamented and pompously constructed with the most expensive building materials, utilities, and fixtures. The basic idea of the construction of this mosque is to present an excellent monument with mosque functionality. Madame Dian Djuriah Rais devoted

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this mosque to a living monument that carries her name and legacy as a generous Muslim. Building a mosque for personal legacy and devotion has been notably growing in the country after the fall of Suharto’s New Order regime in 1998. One of them is the Mosque of At Thohir. The mosque is constructed within the framework of the devotion of Garibaldi Boy Thohir and Erick Thohir and to his father: Mohammad Thohir. Erick Thohir was the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises of the Republic of Indonesia under President Joko Widodo between 2019 and 2024. There are at least two mosques with a similar design that have been constructed by the Thohir brothers in 2022 in Tapos Depok, Indonesia, and Los Angeles, USA. I Depok, the mosque comprises 9,000 m2 for 1,976 visitors. In the name of Islam, the mosque is dedicated to the teaching of Islamic wisdom and practices. To achieve this goal, the mosque is provided with educational facilities and social services but most importantly, it is more or less a mausoleum of the businessman Mohammad Teddy Thorir devoted by his family members. The Mosque of At Thohir in Tapos Depok is architecturally distinctive by its whiteness and cupolas in the almost middle of nowhere with a noisy and pastoral landscape nearby the Highway of Jagorawi. Geographically speaking, it is on a peninsula of River Cikeas of 2.8 hectares of land. The mosque is situated in a newly developed subdivision of Podomoro, about 30 km south of Jakarta. The mosque is by no means a community mosque but a kind of rest area spot, which is mostly accessible only to those who drive private cars. Unlike an urban mosque, the car porch stands to welcome visitors for a drop-off at the entrance hall. Of course, to do so, one needs to visit the mosque with a chauffeur. The construction of the mosque began at the beginning on March 31st, 2018, and was inaugurated open to the public in February 2022 by President Joo Widodo. The architecture of the mosque is constructed with a concrete frame structure on a rectangular plan of the main prayer hall of 24 m by 24 m with a capacity for about 3,000 visitors. From the main prayer hall, the plane is protruded to four sides equally with 4 m in depth and 12 m in length. The mosque is architecturally characterized by 29 cupolas and four corner minarets with decoratively elaborated architraves that all is in white. Nevertheless, there is no specific reason why the mosque needs 29 cupolas to be mounted on the roof structure but as a symbolic representation of the number of Thohir’s family members. The central dome is surrounded by several smaller cupolas while four corner minarets stand tall at a height of 30 m. Functionally speaking, the mosque is conceived as a center of learning and memorial devotion to the person of Mohammad Thohir if it is not blatantly announced as Thohir’s mausoleum. The mosque is provided with a multipurpose hall, a meeting room, a classroom, offices, a library, parking underground, and an amphitheater as well as outdoor ablution facilities. Mosque as a personal legacy with national identity has been politically important in Post-Suharto Indonesia under Joko Widodo’s presidency (2014–2019 and 2019–2024). Last but not least, one notable mosque of these kinds is the Mosque of At-Taufiq. The mosque is architecturally dedicated to Muhammad Taufiq Kiemas,

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the husband of Megawati Sukarnoputri and a moderate politician. The mosque is designed to carry out its mission and vision which is in response to the Wahabi Islamic movement in the country. The mosque is constructed with a strong architectural embodiment of the Indonesian interpretation of Islam. The mosque is located in the Training Center of Partai Demokrasi IndonesiaPerjuangan or PDI-Perjuangan in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta. The site is situated on the lot between Tanjung Barat Street on the East and Lengteng Agung Street on the West. The building with red and black color stands on the ground plan of 10 m by 18 m. The architecture of the mosque is characterized by its steep and curvy gable roof form made of steel rib structure. The roof form is architecturally associated with the traditional houses of Batak Toba, Toraja, and Minangkabau. The architecture of the mosque is established and enriched with geometric transparent front and back walls with ornamental motifs from Palembang, South Sumatra, and the hometown of Taufiq Kiemas. Spatially speaking, the interior of the mosque is not commonly found in traditional and Middle Eastern Mosque buildings. The trapezoidal volume of the spatially elongated prayer hall is architecturally similar to Protestant Chapel. Inside the hall during the day, the hall is bright with various rays of daylight coming through the metal grill glassing roofs and walls. The mihrab is situated on the West part of the building with dazzling daylight from the western gable wall behind. A geometric diamond-like pattern dominates the grill wall and roof embellished with calligraphic ornamentations and inscriptions. As a whole, the atmosphere and ambiance of the prayer hall are less tranquil if it is not abruptly disparaging solemnity. The groundbreaking of the mosque took place on June 8th, 2018, and was completed at the end of July 2020. The mosque was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on June 8th, 2022, by beating the drum, and bedug, and signing the inscription on the marble stone. In his inaugural address, Joko Widodo pointed out the dual function of the mosque for the religious congregation and the center of civilization. He underscored his message on the necessity for unity in diversity that the spirituality of Islam and the nation-state’s ideological framework of Pancasila. The message reminds people of Sukarno’s ideological legacy for Indonesia that spiritually and socially speaking, the nation-state and Islam are committed to building and developing civility and maintaining peaceful interactions among humankind. The political tone of the mosque’s architecture was set by Megawati to recall the local pride and Islamic tolerance through architectural expression. The tone is wellknown among the moderate Muslims in the country as Islam Nusantara. Culturally speaking, the tone is to renew the political commitment of the PDI-Perjuangan to the syncretic alignment between the nation-state and Islam. Muhammad Taufiq Kiemas was conceived by the PDI-Perjuangan as a prominent politician with such a vision. The incorporation of his legacy for the name of the mosque is to underscore this political tone. The incorporation of the political tone in the mosque design is to endorse Islamic tolerance and respect for the locality. The mosque is constructed with two stories consisting of the prayer hall at the upper level and the multipurpose hall on the ground level. Overall, the mosque covers an area of 1,800 m2 that can accommodate about 500 visitors. The mosque is operated by Baitul Muslimin, a Party’s organ of the PDI-Perjuangan which serves the local

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community of the Tanjung Barat and western Lenteng Agung area. In the area, the mosque shares the Friday prayer with the Mosque of Al Ajilin in the southeast at 400 m in distance and the Mosque of Al Barqah in the East at 700 m in distance. Occasionally, the multipurpose hall can accommodate various socio-cultural activities of the Party and the local community. Indeed, Megawati as the main sponsor of the mosque’s construction in her reception address requested the architect of the mosque to think outside of the box from conventional mosque architecture with Middle Eastern preferences. She was in hope that the Mosque of At-Taufiq could eloquently express and demonstrate an exemplary embodiment of the Indonesian local pride and culture instead of copying and imitating architectural forms and styles from other countries. She reminds people of the syncretic way of Wali-Sanga in using wayang, the Javanese puppet show for teaching Islam in Java in the seventeenth century. Indeed, the architectural stature of the mosque seen from Tanjung Barat Street and Lenteng Agung Street is like the gunungan of the wayang opening performance. The gunungan represents the opening of the ordinary world where peace, prosperity, and growth are. Is the Mosque of At-Taufiq a symbol of the moderate Muslims in the Indonesian lifeworld? Moderate interpretation of Islam has been a longstanding history in Indonesia. There is nothing arresting concept for describing the integration and amalgamation of Islam and locality but syncretism. This concept has been applied to address a mosque in Surakarta, which was presented by the Uni Emirate Arabs Abud Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammed bin Zayed to Joko Widodo, the president of Indonesia between 2016 and 2024. However, the mosque is a replica of the Mosque of Sheikh Zayed on a smaller scale. The architect of the mosque is Youssef Abdelke, a Syrian-born and French-trained scholar. Concerning the architecture of the mosque, there is nothing significantly different from Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque but the thematic ornamentations. The Surakarta’s mosque presents Batik leitmotifs for the carpeting and the main entry door’s carving. The mosque is architecturally historical for the diplomatic and brotherly relationship between the UEA Abud Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed and the Republic of Indonesia’s Joko Widodo. Despite the personal connection between the two as Muslims, the management and operation of the mosque are administratively run by a non-profit organization under the supervision of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The mosque is situated at Jalan Ahmad Yani 128, in the District of Banjarsari, the municipality of Surakarta. The mosque covers 8,000 m2 for 10,000 prayers. The mosque is painted in white with unique horseshoe arcades and gilt ornamentation. It has four minarets and one main dome and several small cupolas. The construction cost of the mosque was US $20 million. On November 22nd, 2022, the mosque was inaugurated by Joko Widodo and officially open to the public. Since then, the mosque has been attracting visitors from various parts of the country and abroad, especially Muslims. They come to visit the mosque as religious pilgrims appreciating and enjoying the Middle Eastern architecture in the middle of the place with thick and viscous Javanese culture and tradition for interfaith tolerance and peace. Indeed, the mosque stands nearby the Church of Sala Gratia.

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Mosque and Local Pride The contemporary mosques in Indonesia cannot afford to ignore the presence of mosques designed by Ridwan Kamil, a prolific architect, prominent politician, and the governor of West Java province (2018–2023). The mosques are characterized by an architecturally striving design to break away from the currently trendy architecture of a mosque with a dome design. Ridwan Kamil on many occasions underscores his design intention to integrate Islam and locality for architectural expression, exploration, and elaboration with building materials, structures, constructions, and decorations. Being fascinated with geometrical compositions, formations, and ornamentations, Ridwan Kamil creatively unfolds and integrates the local resources into mosque architecture. More than 5o mosques have been designed and constructed by Ridwan Kamil in various scales and locations in the country. Among these mosques, the Mosque of Al Jabbar stands out as a moderate interpretation of Islam in mosque architecture in Indonesia. Mosque Al Jabbar is situated at Jalan Cimenerang 14, in the district of Gedebage, the regency of Bandung Raya. Geographically speaking, the mosque is located 3o km South of the city of Bandung. The initiation for the construction of the mosque began in December 2017. After five years of construction, the mosque was opened to the public on December 30th, 2022, with a total cost of around 1 trillion rupiahs. Regarding its naming, Ridwan Kamil, proposed it as the abbreviation of Jawa Barat as well as to recall the founder of Arabic scholar in mathematics Al Jabbar or Algebra. Speaking, the scholar is the inventor of mathematician rules and formulas for a reunion of broken parts. Inspired by this concept, the mosque architecture of Al Jabbar is an architectural attempt to integrate elements, signs, and parts of the Islamic values system and local culture, history, and geography into an architectural composition (Fig. 5.7).

Fig. 5.7 Mosque of Al Jabbar, Gedebage. Illustration by Author

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The mosque is developed in an area of 25 hectares under the municipal property of Bandung regency. The site has been well-known among the locals as a floodprone area, especially during the monsoons. The design team was aware of this and managed to integrate the mosque in the area with a technological solution. The mosque is designed with a retaining pond. The mosque stands in the middle of the pond. It is a floating mosque on a Gedebage pond or embung of 7 hectares with about 270,000 m3 of water. The built-up area for the mosque covers 99 m by 99 m under the roof for 10,000 prayers and the plaza for 20,000 visitors. The main structure of the mosque is concrete frame construction and light steel framing structure. The construction of the structural elements and components is technologically made in situ. This includes the process of cutting, drilling, setting, and welding. Some of them have been prepared in various workshops outside the location. The roof space frame system consists of at least thousands of stakes, cone heads, screws, and hex nuts. The joining nodes for this construction were imported. Most of the building materials of the main structure of the mosque were provided from domestic resources. The roof covering system is made of aluminum and glass, which are mounted on the steel frame outside and inside the structural space frame construction. Decorative and colorful glasses went through delicate processing of designing, cutting, polishing, printing, tempered, and laminating. Some finishing materials were imported from abroad. The visitors of the mosques are received in a circular plaza of 75 m in diameter with a geometric pattern on the floor. The center point of the plaza is a small minaret surrounded by 99 fountains. Access to the main hall is provided with two bridges leading to the second plaza. From the front plaza to the second plaza, visitors walk through gateway structures constructed with vaults made of steel frame construction and covered by white metal sheets. Coming into the second plaza, visitors enjoy the view of the mosque and its surrounding area. The second plaza is a rectangular area emulating the idea of the classical inner court of sahn. The unique arcaded galleries are constructed on the North and South with series of a bud umbrella form that establishes and defines the rectangular inner court with a strong architectural enclosure. In addition, the second plaza is provided with the shelter of ablution facilities. The arcade surrounding the plaza is provided to accommodate socioeconomic activities during the special events within the Islamic days of celebration. From the second plaza called alun-alun, visitors are led to the main hall through long stairways at laying on a North–South direction. The stairway leads the visitors from the ground level to the upper floor at a height of 7.5 m. At the edges of the stairway, there are two entry halls leading visitors to museums and galleries. Meanwhile, at the upper level, visitors enjoy the platform surrounding the main hall building with a view of the area surrounding the mosque. The layout plan of the mosque is a rectangular composition with the main hall in the middle of the surrounding pond and four corner minarets of 99-m height. Again 99 number comes into play in the architectural dimension and amount of elements. The architect intentionally makes this number to remind Muslims of ninety-nine Al Asma Ul Husna or the attributes and titles of the Supreme Being: Allah. The main hall is architecturally

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shaped with four sections of roof construction. The access to the main hall is provided with 27 main entry doors, from East, South, and North. The functionality of the mosque is mainly to serve the public for Friday prayer and congregations on special Islamic days. The mission of the mosque development is to provide the public with the congregation and educational facilities. The main open hall of the congregation is situated at the upper level meanwhile the exhibition rooms and galleries are located at the sub-level. The informative materials on Islam and its history are on display in various media. A library and audiovisual room supports the ground floor as a learning center of the mosque. The architecture of the main hall is the quintessence of the mosque. It is a great and monumental hall with an enormously high ceiling and large free space without a structural pillar inside. The only pillars standing in the hall are air-conditioning towers at a height of fewer than 1.80 m. The grandiose interior of the hall is architecturally reinforced by geometric monochromatic ceiling pattern and structure creating holes that allow daylight comes through the glass into the hall. Vaults of the roof structure characterize the façade of the mosque with the three-dimensional feature. The main entry door is mounted under the vault. The East main door is made of solid wood and constructed with golden sheet metal featured by embossed Umayyad geometry. The door is framed by the vault of the roof structure. The ceiling of the vault is decorated with local batik or fabric motifs representing the regencies of West Java. Going into the main hall, visitors walk through the transitory area under the mezzanine. The mezzanine at the height of 3.5 m at the East, South, and North of the main hall is dedicated to female prayers. The transitory area is constructed with slender arch beams decorated with soft-tone yellow and brown geometrical patterns. The pillars of the mezzanine are not only structural but also decorative constructions with mounted lighting made by local artists from Gentur village of Cianjur, West Java. The peak of the main hall is the rooftop ceiling at the height of 75 m with the Allah letter in Arabic script. The end of the visitors’ journey in the hall is the mihrab. The mihrab is designed within the design pattern of the roof structure with a sharp vault construction. As with any mihrab, the facility is an alcove with 3 m of depth with a wall end. The mihrab wall is covered by golden metal sheets with embossed decorations of 99 names and attributes of Allah in Arabic script. The mimbar of the mosque is set up in front of the mihrab with a less elaborate design but is well integrated with the mosque’s architecture. As a whole, the mosque is an architectural experiment that is more than just a congregational hall for Friday prayer. The presence of the mosque in the location is to attract people for educational pilgrimage. Indeed, the mosque is architecturally provided with a recreational park with green and water. It is a luxurious facility for the public in the country. The Mosque of Al Jabbar is one of the notable buildings in contemporary architecture in the country. The mosque is architecturally characterized by non-traditional form and non-Middle Eastern representation. However, spatially speaking, the layout and composition are within the Islamic tradition of mosque architecture from ancient times. Contextually speaking, the mosque becomes a tourist destination, especially for Muslims. Historically and locally, the design of the mosque recalls people of ancient Hindu-Buddhist temples in Java, such as Prambanan and Borobudur. The

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building stands in free open space at a monumental height and position. The mosque of Al Jabbar is an island in the suburban subdivision. It is not a mosque that is architecturally integrated within a densely populated urban fabric. It is not only a religious facility for the community but a monumental stature and educational center that attempts to represent the Islam of Indonesia with engagement in contemporary issues on environment and technology.

Concluding Remarks As previously mentioned contemporary mosques are socio-culturally and technologically evolving. This evolution happens in the context of interpretations from the Mosque of Baiturahman of Aceh, Al-Azhar, Istiqlal, At-Tin in Jakarta, Dian Al-Mahri, and At Tohir in Depok, to the Mosque of Al Jabbar. The interpretation discloses the perception of the regime of political economic power concerning the mosque as the object of power relation and hegemony. Mosquea as the place of gathering for the Friday Prayer has been developing its mission with multilevel intentions. The missions include politically motivated intention that a mosque is a token of sympathy and making up if it is not an obvious guilty feeling. This is the case of the Mosque of Baiturrahman in Aceh. The Mosque of Al-Azhar and the Mosque of Istiqlal speak volumes of self-determination and liberation from the locality and traditional values. After Indonesia’s independence, contemporary mosques enjoy the space of freedom of expression. The power of capital plays an important role in this freedom beyond the historic mission and function of the mosque for the Friday prayer. Despite the intentions being undoubtedly valid at the service of public interest, however, the narcissistic agenda of pomposity as well as the obvious personal cult and self-gratification behind the architectural expression cannot be blinded by the public good. The mission of a mosque is plain and simple that is to provide a safe, open, clean, and healthy gathering place for the prostration of the Friday prayer. It is a ritual that involves and engages Muslims regardless of their ages, backgrounds, and social status. Today, gender becomes an integrated part of the necessity for the mosque to adopt its openness to the public. In the Indonesian cultural context, this openness has been historically never a crucial issue until contemporary Wahabism has come back again in the country in the 1970s. Since then, many Muslims in the country have been growing to adopt Saudi Arabian and Middle Eastern conservatism in lifestyle and the architecture of the mosque. Cultural resistance against the fundamentalist movement is strong as well under the notion of “Islam Nusantara” and “Islam beragam”. All these ideological streams come into play in the contemporary mosques in Indonesia and Malaysia. Radicalism and fundamentalism of Muslims have never questioned Islam but accept and believe its doctrine literally from the Qur’an. Unsurprisingly, the fundamentalist movement is intolerant in dealing with local culture and building tradition.

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5 Contemporary Mosques in Indonesia: Cultural Intervention …

To what extent is such an intolerant faction of Islam have to do with mosque architecture and Indonesian multicultural society? Unlike many other Islamic schools, the fundamentalist movement of Islam is characteristically less tolerant of modernity. It is against a syncretic development with local culture and tradition of arts and architecture. Culturally speaking, this school campaigns to spread Saudi Arabian culture and tradition crossing over local culture in the name of Islam. Architecturally speaking, the landscape of Indonesia has been augmented with an uncanny landmark of Middle Eastern Mosque architecture inside out. This chapter attempts to unfold and disclose the non-local elements, structures, and functions that show how the interaction between Islam and local culture takes place through mosque architecture in contemporary Indonesia. Like any religion, the teaching and practice of Islam are in its essence and core a belief system that works in societies as a set of principles and wisdom concerning moral compass and the meanings of human existence and social interactions. A mosque is an important social institution and place of gathering that enables Muslims to build, develop, and sustain their sense of humanity. From this point, a mosque is an attempt to be a place that architecturally transcends mundane differences and superficial identities toward spiritually unified humanity. This implies that a mosque is neither necessary to be a monument nor a permanent sacredness but a safe and healthy gathering place with its core activity in the event of Friday prayer. However, in the course of history, the mosque architecture cannot afford to ignore the intervention of political, socio-cultural, and economic influences regarding its public nature and function. Accordingly, the publicity of various images of the mosque is undeniably possible from various perspectives and interests. Indeed, all these are in the name of Islam and the public good. These include the functional developments of the mosque for the social and political mission. The architecture and management of the mosque are the most strategic parts of the mosque’s institutional presence. The architecture is the showcase and public art that visually communicates effectively to carry out the ideological contents of the mosque’s sponsors and contributors. Meanwhile, the management of the mosque undertakes and carries out the ideological orientation and preferences of the mosque’s sponsors and contributors. In the Indonesian socio-cultural and political context, each mosque is a free enterprise. The state in terms of government does not regulate the architecture and management of the mosque but is as simple as a public building. The regulations only apply to the mosque in terms of local building codes for safety and security from fire and construction failures. Moreover, there is nothing crucial about the capitalist intervention in the mosque architecture and management but the possible misleading mission of the mosque toward a mausoleum architecture for an individual cult because of the power of money. Like any public building that involves and demands artistic and architectural treatment, mosque architecture cannot afford to ignore the socio-cultural and political influence. In the name of public interest and the public good, mosque architecture is not free from historical and contextual hegemony in terms of tradition, sponsorship, and donation. At this point, mosque architecture is a vehicle and showcase of political regimes and their agenda as well as private individuals with excessive power of

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sponsorship under philanthropic flagship. Deeply rooted in the presentation of public generosity mosque architecture is never out of the commission of personal interests for building and operating the mosque as a public institution. One essential and fundamental reason for the association of a person with a mosque is for the selfpreservation of his/her public image in the community. This is the case mostly for wealthy Muslims who morally feel guilty for having not enough done something good for their fellow humankind, especially Muslims. Treating mosque architecture for personal legacy leaves an open question concerning a conflicting mission of a mosque between personal interest and the anonymous public good.

References Aceh Documentation Center. 2009. The Endless War in Aceh. In The Indonesia Reader: History, Culture, Politics, ed. Tineke Hellwig and Eric Tagliacozzo, 228–234. Durham and London: Duke University Press. Holod, Renata, Hasan Uddin Khan, and Kimberly Mims. 1997. The Contemporary Mosque: Architects, Clients, and Designs Since the 1950s. New York: Rizzoli. Jatim, A. 1952. Kenang-Kenangan Masjid Sjuhada. Yogyakarta: Panitia Pendirian Masdjid Peringatan Sjuhada. Kadi, ˙Ismail Hakki, A.C.S. Peacock, and Annabel Teh Gallop. 2011. Writing History: The Acehnese Embassy to Istanbul, 1849–1852. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taals Landed Volkenkunde 268: 163–181. Reid, Anthony. 2015. A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads. Malden, MA: Willey. Setiono, Benny. 2008. Tionghoa Dalam Pusaran Politik. Jakarta: TransMedia Pustaka. Tuong-Vu, Wasana Wongsurawat. 2009. Dynamics of the Cold War in Asia. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Wikimedia Commons. 2014. Candi Bentar di Matingan Jepara. Ran. December 4. https://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Candi_Bentar_di_Mantingan_Jepara.jpg. Accessed April 19, 2021. Wikimedia Commons. 1910–1930. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Baiturrahman moskee in Koetaradja TMnr 60023672.jpg. Troppenmuseum Amsterdam. https://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_De_Baiturrahman_moskee_in_ Koetaradja_TMnr_60023672.jpg. Accessed April 25, 2021.

Postscript

Historically speaking, the mosque is a simple place of gathering Muslims when the call for ritual prostration comes into the occasion. The call gathers and reminds Muslims of their duty as the servant of the Supreme Being on earth regardless of their social status and wealth. The mosque is the house of worship for Muslims. Architecturally speaking, a mosque is constructed with a certain building construction of a hall with a porch called mihrab so that all prayers are directed to Mecca. The evolution of the mosque has been established and developed by Muslims. Sociologically speaking, the evolution is a socio-cultural development of a mosque from a place of worship to a center of Muslim community from neighborhoods to cities. However, under the notion of Islam as a religion of peace, mosques should remain free from any control and influence of any political or economic regime. The mosque should be a house of ritual and social gathering for peace and prosperity. The relationship between mosques and Muslims in the Malay world is undeniably dynamic that is in line with the evolution of Islamic interpretation and the historical development of the global economy and geopolitical and cultural interactions. The earliest mosque architecture in the region shows the influence of Islam at the spiritual capacity that transforms local building construction and design for spatial arrangement and capacity for a hall of the congregation. The architectural form of the mosques shows an adaptation of the Hindu meru-tiered roof. The early mosques in the Malay peninsular and Java embody this adaptation. It is a syncretism of the architecture of Hinduism and Islam as well as local culture and this Mohammad’s teaching. Under the indigenous sultanates, the pre-colonial mosques were architecturally integrated as a significant component of the political and spiritual center together with the palace and town square. Symbolically speaking, urban mosques became the representative structure of sultanate authority. The mosque replaced the Hindu/Buddhist temple and stood nearby the palace and in front of the town square. It is a sign of cultural assimilation and integration that marks and denotes the center of political and economic power.

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 B. Wiryomartono, Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3806-3

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The syncretic architecture of the mosque had been continued under Dutch and British colonial rule with a newly adapted building construction with masonry and steel framing structure. The Age of Mercantilism in Europe was the act of the modern Cartesian mindset for exploration and extension of control for resources. Southeast Asia attracted European explorers for its spices and exotic goods on their sea routes to China and Japan. The fall of Malacca in 1511 to the Portuguese fleet was the beginning of European domination of trade in Southeast Asia. Then, the Dutch and British sea power arrived and followed with the establishment of their trading posts in Batavia in 1610 and Singapore in 1819. Geopolitically speaking, the competing Western sea powers in the region managed to take control of the trade with fierce resistance from the local Sultanates of Demak, Mataram, Bugis-Makassar, and Aceh. The intervention of Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia has been a politically integrated part of their consolidation of power over the indigenous populations, which are mostly Muslims. For the Dutch colonial interest, the mosque was inevitably a symbol of Islamic hegemony. However, transfiguring and deconstructing the presence of the mosque could lead to a confrontation with indigenous rulers and populations. The Dutch colonial did not do anything but accept the mosque as a political commodity in exchange for collaboration with the local rulers. The Dutch colonial assisted and supported financially and technically the renovation, rehabilitation, and construction of sultanate mosques. To deal with the Muslims, the Dutch and British colonial rule worked together with and supported the Christian missionaries to Christianize the non-Muslims in the Malay world, especially in remote areas and hinterlands of the archipelago. Postcolonial mosques demonstrate various meanings of the mosque in a geopolitical context. The establishment of independent states of Indonesia and Malaysia shows a similar direction for the state mosques. In Indonesia, the main state mosque is Masjid Istiqlal in Jakarta, whereas in Malaysia is Majid Negara in Kuala Lumpur. The Mosque of Istiqlal and Malaysian Masjid Negara are the showcases of Indonesia and Malaysia symbolizing and incorporating the sense of liberation from the past applying non-traditional forms with a dominant roof structure and less ornamental surfaces. However, after the 1980s, mosque architecture in both countries was shown plural with complexity and delicate meanings from ideological to practical spectrums. Searching for identity and uniqueness of Islam has been mostly dominating state mosques in both countries mentioned above. Adopting the Middle Eastern mosque design with a dominant dome, arched recesses, and minarets is the most common practice of architecture in the Malay world between the 1990s to the end of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, the emergence of new riches and the liberation from authoritarian regimes in Indonesia have led the architecture of the mosque into a personal preference; mosque architecture becomes a commodity of self-image and a personally dedicated monument. Even though it serves the public, private mosques have been

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flourishing in recent decades in Indonesia. To a certain extent, the mosque architecture becomes an individual showcase of generosity but narcissistic self-grandiosity and pomposity. Nevertheless, the question remains relevant whether the mosque is an Islamic hall for recalling and reminding Muslims of the necessity for peace and prosperity or something else.

Index

A Al adab, 4, 16 Al Asma Ul Husna, 113 Al-Firdaus, 21 Al-karma, 21 Alun-alun, 45, 49, 50, 113 Anta, 21 B Bale, 6 Bangsal pabongan, 50 Bedug, 9, 77, 101, 102 Bilal, 2 D Dalang, 104 E Embung, 113 G Gaduh, 71 Gampong, 8 Grebeg, 49 Gunungan, 104

J Jait, 9 K Kariah, 71 Kentongan, 101, 102 Kiayi, 9 L Langgar, 6 Limasan trajumas, 50 Lotang risaliweng, 6 M Masjid, 15, 73, 76, 94 Masjid al Jami, 17, 18 Membangkang, 71 Meru, 6 Meunasah, 6, 8, 94 Mihrab, 9, 18, 21, 22, 24, 28, 33, 78, 83, 85, 97, 104, 108 Muezzin, 2 Mughatta, 32 Muhammadiyah, 3 Mukaddamah, 32 Mushola, 107 Musholla, 6, 8, 94, 102 Mustaka, 7, 105

H Hegira, 16 I Imam, 2, 18, 22, 73, 75

N Naga, 8, 10 Nahdlatul Ulama, 3 NU, 3

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 B. Wiryomartono, Historical Mosques in Indonesia and the Malay World, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3806-3

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124 P Pemangku, 9 Pemekel, 9 Pendapa, 50 Penghulu, 9 Perpaduan, 70, 87, 88 Perumbaq, 9

Q Qanatirs, 23 Qibla, 7, 9, 16–18, 21, 22, 24, 27, 31, 77, 83, 85, 97, 101, 104, 108 Quran, 5

R Riwaq, 18 Rukun tetangga, 71 Rukun warga, 71 Rumahkajang lako, 6

S Sahn, 18 Salafism, 5 Salafiyyun, 5 Santek, 9

Index Sekatenan, 49 Serambi, 49, 50 Shalat, 73, 88 Sokoguru, 6 Surau, 6, 71, 73

T Tajug, 6 Talibanization, 5 Tratag rambat, 50

U Ulama, 3 Umma, 4, 15, 16 Urusan kerajaan, 71

W Wahhabis, 4–6, 91, 96 Wantilan, 10 Wetu telu, 9

Z Ziyada, 33