AvMANAR — MANARA, MANAR are devoted to these topics, paricularly tothe idea of founding a seminary designed to tein eathusins [or thi task, There are artes on Arab nationalism, on ‘elaions between Turks and Arabs and on the need to entre for the Atabie loping a hostile linguistic policy. Similarly, the ‘Moni enables us to fallow the affair ofthe caliphate and the upheavals caused by ie suppression by the ‘Turks in 1926 [se uta “There are atices describing vatious personalities ‘of the Mest world, mostly Arab. Atitudes towards Shitiem are discussed. Polemic is divected as much Against liberal Muslims (ef that against the Ssa, ‘which supported Taha Hurayn, ete) a agains al ‘Rahar. Theres news relating 1 the pigeimage the ‘onstruction of the Hise raibeayy the wars in ‘Tripolitana, sn the RG, ete. well x European col nil policy, particulary in regard to the Syrian ques tion after 1918, the Coptic Congress in Asyut in 191 the Muslim Congresses of Caro, of Mecca, ete ea tons withthe Christians, thelr doctrine, missions of Western Christians, Westera writers ajmpathetie to Inlam, studies on the greatest and decadence of i tions, am pedagogy, on the eae a the Sama? in the ‘Muslin renainanet, ete Literary and cultural Arab pies tem are not lacking. The judicial discussions fackle various dificlies some of them relevant 10 the modern. world, mentioning. the postion of Mubammad ‘Abduh (cf. for example the question of the Savings Bank). In short, the periodical contained ‘sterialwitable for learned and illuminating mono raphe “The commentary on the Kuan published from the third year onward wa the work of Rashid Rid, ii ‘cluded lengthy extracts fom the commentary ex poured by Mulammad “Abdul in evening letres i abAshar, and the respective conmibutione of the to men were cles distinguished. “Abduh went no further than v. 128 of srs TV (al Nie) whereas Rigs continued to the end of sira XI, (Yan, 107). Some of the postions adopted were daring: “Abduh ‘maintained thatthe text ofthe Jewish Seripeares and ‘of the Gospels were authentic and that only ther in texpreaton had been false (Rigi denied ther authen tiey); he claimed thatthe execution of the Muslim ponte was a measure dating from & time of ar ‘luring which apostasy conaiteted desertion in the face of the enemy-today this not the case and the poste whe dors not atack Islam should not be pt "to deat tis for God to punish him, These examples tnd ther show how ‘Abduh sought to re-open the door of itihad Relerence to all theve allusions are t0 be found in the stds mentioned inthe bibliography Although a pestve ad very importane werk in the contest of the modern Muslim awakening. it should be noted that the Mane sometimes confined itll to schematic views of an apologetic nature, simphiying in extreme fashion cerain historical problems, nowy those ofthe eaysstive influences whieh helped {orig about the Renaissance of Europe Tt also used influence on behalf of the Gospel of Barnsbar, ‘undoubtedly apocryphal work” according to “Massgnon, edited for the fiw ime in the th cen tury and tte inthe 16th, sponsoring its wanslation ito ‘Arabic in” 1908. "This apologetic must have responded to a deeply-felt need, for it enjoyed, ad still enjoys, enormous success, ever te to imparting a sense of abject to thove who studied Similarly, dhe Mat seems 10 Ihave ignored a fundamental question: did the adop 361 tion of Western techniques not alo entail certain change of mentality, and faa, wha? Te thus remained ‘alent on ome ofthe key problems posed by the very ex istence of technological civilisation. ‘Bibhingrapy, Rahs Rigs, Tei al-Uudh Imam, vs. Caio, the 35 volumes ofthe review I Marte, a melas ents reprinted separatly, Such as atau Tram Makenoted Raid Riss, © ols, Beirut 1961-2, or Irom Cairo, al Man pri: ling house: Taf al Mena. 12 wo at Mana a “Hale, 1388/19545; ol Kilif ao Iaaalaome, TH41/1925. Numerous elerences to allen a Tiles are to be found in the nates accompaying the transation ofthe later work by H. Laoust, under the tie Le eallat dene le dice de Raid ida, Beirut 1938 ‘The most important study of the sub ect it He Laoust, Le Rijrmiime rhode dr "Salfiy". in RBY (1852), 175-224. See alo J JJomier, Le Conmmtae ornigue du Meni. Pars 1954; idem, Ler ratios de adie du Sage Rashid a oe malonate oat, in Bultin Tus Ee, ‘dem, Imam Mohammad Abdo le ‘Epargne (1905-1900), in Rese de Oeidnt ‘Murulmon deo Madani 1979), 99-107. For the influence ofa-Maniv onthe ula? of Algeria, see ‘Ali Merad, Le Rime masulman en Aig de 1925 4.1940, Pari 1967. ‘U- Jowee) MANARA, MANAR (a) minaret Toln the Islamic lands between the Maghrib and Afghanistan. Unlike the other types of Islamic religious building, such as the mosque apd the madase, the minaret Is immediately and unambiguously recognisable. for tnhat i it The reasons for this are wor ine ‘esigating. It seems on the whole unrelated to ite function of the adlén 2] calling the fithfal 0 prayer, which ean be made quite adequately from the oot ofthe mosque or even fom a house-top. During the Ifetime ofthe Propet, his Abyssinian slave Bilal [gee }, mas responsible for mahing te alto prayer in this way. The practice continued for anther gene jon, a fact which demonstrates that the mines fan esental part of Islamic ritual. To this da Islamic communities, especially the most orthodox tne Tike the Wahhabie in Arabia, avoid building ‘minarets on the grounds that they are ostentatious fnd unnecessary. Others are content. withthe so" falled staircase” minatewe which consist simply of a fev broad external stps leading toa diincive Kiosk ‘Tie above roof level These peypetuate a practice fommon in the fist century of Ilan. Whe such Structures are obviously funtion, ies very doubitul heard, especially in» noiny urban setting, for the top of sich celebrated minaret ae the Girlda in Seville [se tsustva: 2. Historic buildings] or the ‘Kuyb Minar (gin Dib then, the ostensible function of the minaret is somewhat misleading, what other purposes might it have served? I che invenigation confines isl the First instance tothe easly minaret ofthe Islamic world ice" those predacing 1000 A.D —three possible ap proaches may be suggewed, One is to examine the fole ofthe very earliest minarets in their particular Historical seting on the theory that these examples lad down guidelines for the farther development of ‘he form. Another et ee what clues ie inthe Arabic ‘words used for minaret, and in their ecyelogy. A third approach would focus onthe forms ofthese early minarets ad on thei immediate sources, and woul362 MANARA, MANAR thas nvove the assumption that a leas trace ofthe ‘arlier funeion asocited wit these forms survived nt the llamic period, Tt ust be remembered, how ver, tha throughout the medieval period the eof the inact onllted between two pears sos Sf power and at an ingwoment forthe ad These functions were not rasta excuive, itil be convenient fo begin by staying the cir cumstances in which the ears minarets mere bu ‘According tothe Ierary evidence, the fis minaret vas erected in or 49/005 by the governor of Irak Ziysd b. Abii [ge stone tower (md) at dled to the mongie at Basra. Soon aereards Srders were given by the calih Mu‘awiya to fovernr of Egypt, atthe morgue of Anes Pusat ston given a quarto ann whet these were lo Saed vo ther mosques in Egy Although nothing, Femains of thee structures, thir era evidence importt in showing thatthe impetur to bull was not = matter of local sitive But came Ion the Hehest power in the land, the ides emanating rom Syria, where minaret were presumably added 0 a Jess some Syrian mosques a this ine: hard nat toc rego plieal rises a work here. Chitan Syria, within which the Misins formed ew sal ‘etdavcs, was lnvily endowed with Bine sone er ‘het whose mow sting extra Feature wae tall tower, At the top of these towers nat sack the Jimandon—the Onhodow equivalent of the church teiito summon worshippers for divine. sersce Some ateibute the change inthe ad to “Umar, but Mutiwiya, snstively attuned at be was 10 the tion ofthe minaret though the etymaogy ofthe trends used in Arabicto deste this Kd of buking 1s pesaps sguican that the three words mort Commonly wal mente, saunas nd mane =a Srguay refer to quite separate functional aspects af {he building. Thor he notion thatthe minaret served Inuliplefuneions is embeded inthe Arabic Tinguage ‘sell. “These functions quite narraly sccrted appropriate terms for themselves, Whether {he preva of given termina given geographical area reflects the predominance of one function over nother is, however, doubul, By fr the commonest ofthe ere terms is man), the ‘source via Turkish of English and Prench "minaret", Lit place of fre” (na), word ted in pre-islamie’ Arabia to denote an elevated place from ‘which signals of fire or stoke were made. Whence the Frequent education af the minaret with the [see preceding article sianan the cylindrical towers attached to [amie fortress along pars ofthe North ‘African tora, eg. in Tunisia, not only served 36 Ieacons and lighthouses but were sts ‘marines. One should, on the other hand tempration to connect mai) with nt "ight discern a basis for symbolic interpretation of the ‘minaret as an emanation of divine light or as an image of spiritual illumination. The original term mena) Soon lost its necessary connection with fire, and ‘became used to designate signposts, boundary stones fof markers, and watcetowere when no. particular ‘sociation with fre war intended. Hence. there ‘merges that mania) came to invave the two distinct notions offre and ofa marker, nether of which, how ver, hal a specifi ae in Islamic ritual. The lighting fof fire onthe minaret of a mosque was an event of ‘umost rant tn early Islam (tis recorded as having ‘cured in the case of the Manarat Ards in the Damascus mosque), though itis selfeviden thatthe minaret had a value ar marker of the principal builng ofthe Iamic community. I seems therefore safe to.sssume thal, in the context of religious a+ chitecture, the association between the minaret and Fie invlevant, "The second term frequently wed to designate the rinaret—indeed, 1 the standard sage in North [Afica~iesnma'e. The word means the eli which & person (usualy 9 monk) sechudes himself, with the particular gloss thatthe cell has a slender pointed fpex. Such cells were a regular feature of pretlamic Byzantine architecture; they were incorporated into ‘he tall reetangular towers with which churches, ‘onssteries and houses were furnished. Once again, however, asin the ease of manda, the etymology i to mislead—for while the Basic meaning of asena‘e Indeed “hermitage the word has cme fo designate, By a proces of pars fre las, the entire structure of which the cll was a small par. The specifi connota- fon of jauima'a in the present context is perhaps a entry” inate, and eventually tall, rec thr than the minaret gene iteele. Wy appropriate term for ‘Moreover, unlike the ‘word menat, ts connotations are religious albeit with 2 Christin tinge: Possibly as a result ofits association ‘wth the inate, she word is also used more generally tomean "a higher place" or even a high bulding find inthis less specific since its connetion with inane inthe sense of signal tower or maker spain In Nowth Afia, however, a distinction clearly exists, for mond used for signal towers and lighthouses “Appropriately enough in view of it Chistian con ‘norations, aromas has found a lodging in Europe, ia the Spanish word oma meaning minaret” 11 ia challenging reflection thatthe two Arabic words most frequently used to designate the minaret five no. chic to the ritual function commonly Sssociated with the building. Instead, they evoke re- ‘speatvely pre-Islamic and Christian associations. The term tha does accurately render the tual funtion of the building--mPdlana-is, ironically enough, much rarer than the other two, suggesting, perhaps, that catlier “minarets/manitar had functions noteMANARA, MANAR 363 “lusively stu. I derives of cours from a, hence literally “place from which the call to prayer i made", whose root further gives muedadhin “ues in, he wh gives the call prayer”. Even his ast it pre-fslamc connections, fr inthe Djabiliyya the herald who’ made important’ announcements was Known asthe maaghdn. Before leaving the problem Sf etmology, it may be worth noting that several fther words) occur” sporadically in. literary” or epigraphic texts as synonyms for at least some of the meanings of manda ‘lam/alome” (signpost “boundary maker", "standing stone", "ag", il (posibly derived from the Grock miarion, “mie “a place of watching", a term o> inthe Maghrib. The mere menton hese words inthe context of the foregoing discus ‘om is enough to emphanise yet again tha ejmelogy ie's somewhat weacherous guide in determining the Function ofthe minaret. Tecan safely be asserted, how: fever, thatthe review of Arabic terminology given Shove establishes thatthe minaret performed not one Fancsion but several in the mediaeval Islamic world Whilst the rarer Arabic words for "minaret" may sell reflre the Function of the building in the par Weular contest concerned, the mest commonly ‘employed word, mands, was abvioualy a blanket term ‘nich does or realy Tend tel to preci eucid Tons unless the content fers furthers move specific. luce “The thind posible approach to determining the function ofthe minaret nthe early centuries of lam is by way of morphology. The briees survey of the formal characteristics of mediaeval minatets enough to yield one very sgaifeane eesult that virtually the ‘whole body of surviving minarets belongs to one of ‘a categories. One eategory comprises minarets wit fmple interior space: the ober, minarets in which the Serio space it reduced to the bate minimum re quired for a spiral stairease wo ascend the structure inact with extemal staircases obviously belong in neither category. Useful ‘hed light onthe crucial fist century of Imm, Any at temp to explain the function ofthe minaret by means ‘of ts form has to take some account of the cars ‘recorded minarets, eventhough none ofthese has sur ‘ved. The interpretation placed on the tantalising Det literary accounts which refer co the eavlict ‘minarets ie therefore crucial. "These accounts are unforcinatly ether ambivalent or toa shor to theow any Highton the problem. Forex ample the historian al-Balidhur refers othe minaret 3 Basra ab a stone minaret. Since stone is speaiied nd the rest ofthe mosque wat of mud brick, i seem Tegiimate to conclude that the minaret was important enough to have special care taken over is contrar: tion This, then, scems o be fly straightforward ‘ave. The same cannot be sid for the minarets ofthe ‘mosque of “Amr at Fusta. The source hete is the Sitch century author al:Malil who states that MuSiwiya ordered the building of four sani (ph of sauma'e) for the call 1 prayer, and that Maslama placed four jam in the comers of the mosque Since this isnot in all probabil, the fest word for Iminaret that would ave come naturally to. the Mamluk historian’s mind, its use in this passe needs some explanation. Teisporsible that a-Makrat ned it deliberately because if connoted to him tall, rectangular minarets ofthe Syrian of Maghrir type (ery unlike those which he saw all around him in Egypt). His choice of word woul in that case have reflected either his own or his soure’s precise Knowledge of the form which these eaely Umayyad minaret took or he may have been quoting an ealier (ext Altemativly, he may have’ used the. word ani with one ois ther meanings in mind, Sich fr high place. In that case, the sense of the passage ‘might be more accurately rendered by tanaating the ey passage as" Maclama heightened the foar corners ‘ofthe Friday Mosque’ Such an interpretation would Tine further support in the etary accounts dealing ‘with the construction of the Damascus mosque "The key point vo bea in ind ina discon ofthe Damascus minaret is that there ss no evidence that they were the work of any eaely Muslim patron. Ine ‘deed, the geographer Ton al-Fakih, writing at the ‘opening ofthe 0th century A.D., statex specifically tat the minarets (mina) in the Damascus mosque ‘were originally watch towets in the Greck days, and belonged to the Church of John. When al Walid turned the whole afea into mosque, he lf these in their old condiion™. Similaly,a-Nas'a writes that in this building “the smetii® were ct changed, they serve forthe adbin at the present day" Thus strictly speaking, there is no cleat evidence even that these prellamie towers were used for the call 0 prayer in Umayyad times, and one may especially floubr that they served this function before the righ Stak Walid, when the Muslims shared she site of the future Great Mosque with the Christians, Never theless, the significant ube ofthe word aby the ‘Graki aMastod! pinpoints the connection between Damascus and Fusat, a connection which would make sense anyway because Damascus was ‘Muawiya's capital Conversely, one might usally tue the evidence of Fustt fo conclude that inal prob ality the corner towers at Damascus were indeed (sed for dhe ales after the mosque had been bull Reasonable grounds therefore exist for assuming thatthe comers of the mosque of “Amr at Fast looked sry ike those ofthe Damisca omar. Such ‘atm could eno more than abrupt excrescences at oof level, possibly articulated a lie further by ce tellations, ‘They would indeed reseble Christian {owers, bt only ina somewhat stunted fasion. They ‘ould ot aspire to dominate the skyline or indeed take any marked physical impact on the urban land- scape. Ifthe snoive had lore large inthe sind of Walid ‘at the time. that he mas building the Damascus mongue, it would have been 3 simple pe cess to beighten the existing corner towers accor ingly. That he chose not toda sos clear evidence that the symbelic role of the minaret wes not yet generally ccepied. Indeed, the monques of Bases and Fusts] fre more prophetic. of Tater developments, even though they were built earher. At Bapra the minaret, ‘whatever its form may have been, was dearly distin: [Sished by is diferent materia of construction, wile A Fustat the saudi ‘were solid up to too! level, recesitating. access by ladders. While this deta Fellecs the eatly Islamic practice of delivering the {hin from the rol, i is also conceivable that such ‘omner jam had an atchitectural funtion a6 but teeses for the whole building. ‘Their location and Strength in turn invites syinbalie interpretation of thei fanetion as comertones of the Fit. The impact oftheir placing can be gauged from the statement of AalMabrit that. at the time of the dawn prayer, a ‘nuezsin was stationed at each seama'a and thatthe Combined adien rsounded like thunder through the silent city. Te might faiely be said, then, that despite the probably rather truncated” nature of their resemblance to Chistian towers, the sane of the Mosque of ‘Amr did operate as markers of the ‘mosque. This funtion was certainly perlormed more