close association between Friday mosques and
urban areas populated by Muslims and the role of
mosques in announcing the presence of Islam in
the land. Mosques were usually funded privately
by rulers, wealthy patrons, and various social
groups and organizations. Great mosques tended
to legitimize the leaders, demonstrating simulta-
neously their piety, their wealth, and their power.
In many Muslim countries, mosques are con-
nected to tombs and shrines for important rulers
and holy people. Muhammad’s mosque in Medina
as an exemplary representation of this, for it also
contains his tomb, as well as that of other impor-
tant members of the early Muslim community.
His mosque also exemplifies the social function
of the mosque, for it served as a communal meet-
ing place. People went there both to pray and to
discuss social and religious matters. Soon after
the early Islamic conquests of the seventh and
eighth centuries, the mosque became an identify-
ing element of Muslim presence. It also became an
important educational center, a function that con-
tributed to the creation of the madrasa (religious
college) by the 11th century.
The most highly esteemed mosques in the
Muslim world are the Grand Mosque in Mecca,Sultan Hasan Mosque (left, 14th century) and al-Rifai Mosque (right, 19th century), Cairo, Egypt. Both mosques
contain tombs for rulers; the Sultan Hasan Mosque also once housed four madrasas.(Juan E. Campo)
mosque 485 J