What is Islamic architecture and its purpose?

The history of religions and governments, customs and traditions of each nation is manifested in their architectural monuments. The existing structures of Muslims are also sources that convey the principles of the faith of Islam, its reflections on social and intellectual life, and the development and transformation of magnificent empires. Since Islam is a religion that encompasses everything and includes every subject in detail, the mosque, which is the main place of worship, constituted the center of Muslim life, and Islamic architecture was shaped within this framework. The first building built by the Muslims was the masjid in Medina, built in 623, in which our Prophet (PBUH) led prayers. The mosque was also the place where the Islamic community gathered. It was also used as a house where foreigners were accepted and hosted for a long time. The private residence of the Prophet (PBUH) was also next to this mosque. Since then, this first house of worship, which has been a symbol of religious and political unity, and the faith and mind of the Islamic community, has been a model for mosques after it and has formed the basis for the Islamic city. In many parts of the world, Muslims initially used the existing buildings in the regions and shaped them to suit their needs. In the early periods, they often made use of the materials they bought from old buildings and ruins. Then by building their own structures in each country; they began to produce works that were unique in arrangement and glaring with their shape and color. Climate characteristics that change in different geographies and countries, allowing new design possibilities lead Islamic architecture to have a coherent and unique characteristic. These works, which differ in some features and sometimes in appearance, were produced on the basis of the principle of all strength being in the oneness of God and forming the foundation of the purpose of worship. The responsibility of 'putting everything in its place' given to human beings in Islam was evaluated in the context of tawhid (oneness) in a way that would affect the structures and the most fundamental subject of the structures, people. Thus, the answer to the question 'What is Islamic architecture?' could be defined as the tawhid finding meaning in the matter and its incarnation in existence. The most fundamental basis for constructing buildings is not stones and bricks, rather the connotations of it. The question that any building within an Islamic civilization would also answer without a word was: 'How and in what way does a building remind God?' The answer of Islamic scholars and science to this question, of course, contained various differences and interpretations. Some focused on the simplicity of Islam, some on the principle of tawhid, which is at the center of this sublime religion, and some on the solidarity of Islam. In this way, monuments in dozens of different styles and forms, expressing the same meaning and emphasizing the same point, were created in Islamic geography. Among the most fundamental elements that shape Islamic architecture are the principles expressed by the ayat ('signs' in Arabic, verses in Qur'an). Tawhid, the basic principle of Islam, which is frequently emphasized in our sublime book and is also reflected in Islamic architecture, covers and answers the entirety of the problems of all levels of existence. Islamic architecture has specific attitudes and appropriate evaluation systems regarding physical, sociological, psychological, and mental problems. Throughout the history of Islam, various generations in different parts of the Islamic world tried to shape their environment according to these basic Islamic principles, resulting in many architectural works. As a result, any historicism outside of the Islamic cosmology and belief system to the cultural and artistic achievements of Islam was doomed to remain one-sided. Because art forms besides Islamic architecture lacked the ability to understand and define the genetic roots of the architecture. It is of great importance to examine the issue more comprehensively and in its entirety in order to reflect the necessary relationship between faith and deeds (belief and practice) and between Islamic creed and Islamic architecture. But what we can say is that, as a result of religious ideals, Islamic architecture came to life on earth with the simple and disciplined style of Islam. Today, the surviving buildings bear witness to the wonderful power and might of Islam in all their glory.