The fiqh of architecture?

Being so far away from homeland, here in Australia, I learned about tarbiyyah & da'wah. Some people had some skepticism about it. For the others, including myself, the externalization of Islam as his/her religion in a Western country changed our lives forever. In just a few years, our perception towards Islam is no longer a mere religion; it has become our way of life. Every single thing that we do would be sourced back to the al-Quran and as-Sunnah be it in our speech, feelings, interaction with other people, appearance, time management, studies, financial, activities and many other aspects of life.

At a certain point during this 4 year period, probably during my first year, I started to think about the Islamization of architectural knowledge. Is there such thing? The thoughts come once in a while. Once, I quoted and wrote about Le Corbusier's accounts when he visited mosques in Istanbul, and went on commenting on the modern perceptions (or rather misconceptions) of the role of a mosque. At some other time, I criticized the millions of money spent on a grandeur mosque, which is in close proximity to another big mosque in one of the prominent cities back at home. I also found ArchNet, an international online community that focuses on 'Islamic' architecture. Recently I did some study on the geometrical aesthetics of medieval Islamic architecture in Isfahan, Iran.

So, there are minor efforts, here and there, to get my architectural understanding in touch with an Islamic point of view. Now, out of a sudden, I started to question, is there really any connection between architecture and Islam. (Lets put aside the modern perception of Islamic architecture ie. mosque, dome, minarets, calligraphy carvings, etc.. I think those are the Western interpretations of Islamic architecture, a point of view that is not based on the fiqh/understanding of Islam.)

Can a true understanding of Islam sets a framework for a design solution? Is there such thing like an architecture that is based on the al-Quran and as-Sunnah? Is there such thing like the Islamization of architectural knowledge?

Could there be something called The fiqh[1] of architecture?

"Another famous Hadith of the Prophet (S.A.W) that has become a maxim in Islamic built environment principles is

لا ضرر ولا ضرار

(La darrar wa la dirrar)
No harm and no harming

This defines clearly the role of builders, including those involved in design and planning, that one is to have total respect for oneself as well as others so that no unwanted impact is brought by a development, either directly or indirectly. A city is for the purpose of sustaining civilizations and this is where Islam builds a living environment for its adherents or the Ummah. ... For Islam, this is not just an objective but a system manifest."[2]

It sounds a little bit like sustainable design. However, as oppose to sustainable design, which is specifically aimed to create a sustainable built environment, the Islamic point of view is that sustainability is not the ultimate aim (maqasid), instead the architectural design is just one of the ways to answer the call of Islam. (Sounds familiar to me - Bukan matlamat utama, cuma wasilah.)

Probably, if I could rephrase it, architecture is a subset to Islam. There should be no secularization between Islam and architecture, as a body of knowledge.

Okay. This is a start.

If there really is an Islamic framework for architectural works, lets give it a trial next semester.

.........

[1]
"In Quranic parlance, the word 'fiqh' does not have the terminological meaning it has in today's language, ie. jurisprudence, but it refers to understanding (and learning) of Allah's words and His practices in the universe, life and society. There is a similarity between the usage of the word 'fiqh' in this sense (understanding in these verses of the Holy Quran) and its use in the following hadith of the 'If Allah wants to do good to a person, He makes him well-versed in the religion'. It means that Allah will enlighten his vision so that he may delve deep into the truth, secrets and aims of religion to understand them better instead of contenting himself with mere words and superficial meanings." (Dr Yusuf al-Qardhawi, Priorities of The Islamic Movement in The Coming Phase)

[2]
Ismawi Zen, Shireen Jahn Kassim & Norwina Mohd Nawawi (ed), "Anthology of Essays on Integrating Islamic Values in the Theory and Practice of Architecture and the Built Environment", IIUM KAED.



Wallahu a'lam.