Gallery

Sancaklar Mosque

I’d like to take this opportunity to invite Amre Arolat Architects to build a mosque like the Sancaklar Mosque in Houston! This gorgeous 7,500+ square feet mosque was built in 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The building was designed as a response to the Sancaklar family who wanted to build a mosque on a site overlooking the Buyukcekmece Lake. The design aimed at representing purest forms of light and matter, just as a primary inner world, free from all cultural burdens.

Enjoy photography by Thomas Mayer

reblogged from Souda

Video

Farewell to Makkah

Non-Muslims are not allowed in the holy city of Makkah (Mecca). And photography or video making is discouraged.

So sadly, outside of Muslims, no one gets to experience the beauty of Makkah. I wish there was a way around it but I understand and respect Saudi’s attempt to keep the site holy and restricted to pilgrims for one purpose only.

But, no worries, I managed to make a video of people walking around Kaaba which is the black structure you see in the middle. It is the sacred site for Muslims. As part of your Umraah (mini version of the holy pilgrimage), you are supposed to walk around the Kaaba 7 times.

I shot these two videos around 4 am in the morning. The crowd you observe here is ’bout 9 times less then what you typically see during the normal hours of the day.

And this one is the fast-forward GIF version:

With these, I bring my Jeddah diaries to an end. I bid thee farewell!!! And hope (again) whoever desires to, may they embark on their own spiritual journey one day when the time is right and the soul is prepared.

One of the Oldest Mosques…

One of the oldest mosques in Africa is located in Larabanga, Ghana. It was built 600 years ago out of mud and poles. The man seated here is the mosque’s imam.

via I Married A Taco

source thegreaterjihad

Gallery

Loving the Doris Duke Shangri La exhibit in L.A.

Shangri La is the name of an Islamic-style mansion built by heiress Doris Duke near Diamond Head just outside Honolulu, Hawaii. It is now owned and operated by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (DDFIA) which is currently showcasing its traveling exhibit Doris Duke’s Shangri La: Architecture, Landscape, and Islamic Art at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery till December 28th. Organized by Donald Albrecht, curator of design for the Museum of the City of New York and Thomas Mellins, architectural historian, the exhibit explores the synthesis of 1930s modernist architecture, tropical landscape and Islamic art that Duke achieved at Shangri La. This is the first major exhibition about Shangri La to be shown outside Hawaii, taking the story of Duke’s transformative engagement with the Islamic world and her work at Shangri La to national audiences.

The exhibit features photographs by Tim Street-Porter, archival materials and a selection of more than 60 objects of Islamic art from the collection. The exhibition also includes new art work by seven past artists-in-residence, including Zakariya Amataya, Afruz Amighi, Shezad Dawood, Emre Hüner,Walid Raad, Shahzia Sikander and Mohamed Zakariya.

If you reside in or traveling to L.A., this is a must-see!

These photographs of the exhibit especially of the Mughal Garden remind me of the palace of Alhambra in the city of Granada, Spain, a visit I hold dearly to my heart and will never forget.

I’m so now tempted to make a trip to Morocco!!!