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{{Short description|Architectural feature of mosques}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-move}}
[[File:Minaret of Qayt Bey, Umayyad Mosque.jpg|thumb|Minaret at the [[Umayyad Mosque]] in [[Damascus]]]]

A '''minaret'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|ɪ|n|ə|ˈ|r|ɛ|t|,_|ˈ|m|ɪ|n|ə|ˌ|r|ɛ|t}};<ref>{{cite Dictionary.com|minaret}}</ref> {{langx|ar|منارة|translit=manāra}}, or {{langx|ar|مِئْذَنة|translit=miʾḏana|links=no}}; {{langx|tr|minare}}; {{langx|fa|گل‌دسته|translit=goldaste}}}} is a type of [[tower]] typically built into or adjacent to [[mosque]]s. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim [[call to prayer]] (''[[adhan]]'') from a [[muezzin]], but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence.<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web |title=Miranet Function, Design & Importance |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/minaret-architecture |access-date=2022-01-09 |website=Britannica}}</ref><ref name=":24" /> They can have a variety of forms, from thick, squat towers to soaring, pencil-thin spires.<ref name="britannica.com"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Miranet |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Minaret/ |access-date=2022-01-09 |website=World History Encyclopedia}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
Two Arabic words are used to denote the minaret tower: {{lang|ar|منارة}} ''manāra'' and {{lang|ar|منار}} ''manār''. The English word "minaret" originates from the former, via the [[Turkish language|Turkish]] version ({{Lang|tr|minare}}).<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=|page=46}}<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last=Hillenbrand |first=Robert |title=Islamic Architecture: Form, function, and meaning |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1994 |isbn=9780231101332 |location=New York |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=132}} The Arabic word ''manāra'' (plural: ''manārāt'') originally meant a "lamp stand", a [[cognate]] of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ''[[Temple menorah|menorah]]''. It is assumed to be a derivation of an older [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] form, ''manwara''. The other word, ''manār'' (plural: ''manā'ir'' or ''manāyir''), means "a place of light". Both words derive from the Arabic root ''n-w-r'', which has a meaning related to "light".<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=|page=46}} Both words also had other meanings attested during the early Islamic period: ''manār'' could also mean a "sign" or "mark" (to show one where to go) and both ''manār'' and ''manāra'' could mean "[[lighthouse]]".<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=46–47}}

==Functions==
[[File:The Muezzin's Call to Prayer (1878) - TIMEA.jpg|thumb|upright|An [[orientalism|orientalist]] depiction of the [[Muezzin|muezzin's]] call to prayer from the balcony of a minaret, 1878. Usually only one muezzin chants the azan from the balcony, back straight and not leaning on the railing.]]
The formal function of a minaret is to provide a vantage point from which the [[muezzin]] can issue the call to prayer, or ''[[adhan]]''.<ref name=":24" /> The call to prayer is issued five times each day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/mosque|title=Mosque {{!}} place of worship|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2018-12-12}}</ref> In most modern mosques, the ''{{transliteration|ar|adhān}}'' is called from the ''{{transliteration|ar|[[musallah]]}}'' (prayer hall) via [[microphone]] to a [[loudspeakers in mosques|speaker]] system on the minaret.<ref name=":1" />

Additionally, minarets historically served a visual [[Symbolism (arts)|symbolic]] purpose.<ref name=":16" /> In the early 9th century, the first minarets were placed opposite the [[qibla]] wall.{{Efn|The ''qibla'' is the direction of prayer for Muslims, and "qibla wall" of a mosque refers to the wall towards which Muslims face when praying.}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The minaret|last=Bloom|first=Jonathan M.|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0748637256|location=Edinburgh|oclc=856037134}}</ref> Oftentimes, this placement was not beneficial in reaching the community for the call to prayer.<ref name=":0" /> They served as a reminder that the region was Islamic and helped to distinguish mosques from the surrounding architecture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-islam/beginners-guide-islamic-art/a/introduction-to-mosque-architecture|title=Introduction to mosque architecture|last=Weisbin|first=Kendra|website=Khan Academy|language=en|access-date=2018-12-12}}</ref> They also acted as symbols of the political and religious authority of the Muslim rulers who built them.<ref name=":16" /><ref name="Bloom 1">{{cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan |title=Minaret Symbol of Islam |date=1989 |publisher=University of Oxford |isbn=0197280137}}</ref>

==Construction and design==
The region's socio-cultural context has influenced the shape, size, and form of minarets.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Minaret/|title=Miranet|access-date=2022-01-09|website=World History Encyclopedia}}</ref> Different regions and periods developed different styles of minarets. Typically, the tower's shaft has a cylindrical, cuboid (square), or octagonal shape.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":0" /> Stairs or ramps inside the tower climb to the top in a counterclockwise fashion. Some minarets have two or three narrow staircases fitted inside one another in order to allow multiple individuals to safely descend and ascend simultaneously.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/how-to-build-a-minaret-42595|title=How to build a minaret|last=Gamm|first=Niki|date=March 9, 2013|website=Hürriyet Daily News|language=en|access-date=2018-12-12}}</ref><ref name=":24" /> At the top of the stairs, a balcony encircles the upper sections of the tower and from here the muezzin may give the call to prayer.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229039007|title=Traditional Turkish minarets on the basis of architectural and engineering concepts|author1=Doğangün, Adem |author2=İskender Tuluk, Ö |author3=Livaoğlu, Ramazan |author4=Acar, Ramazan. |date=May 2002|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2018-12-12}}</ref> Some minaret traditions featured multiple balconies along the tower's shaft.<ref name=":24" /> The summit often finishes in a [[Roof lantern|lantern]]-like structure and/or a small dome, conical roof, or curving stone cap, which is in turn topped by a decorative metal [[finial]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=al Safran |first1=Mansour |title=Architectural and Structural Behavior Domes in Islamic Architecture |last2=Ghanaman |first2=Shehdeh |last3=Abu Awward |first3=Bassam |publisher=American Research Institute for Policy Development |year=2019 |pages=43}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Different architectural traditions also placed minarets at different positions relative to the mosque. The number of minarets by mosques was also not fixed: originally only one minaret accompanied a mosque, but some later traditions constructed more, especially for larger or more prestigious mosques.<ref name=":24" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/minaret-architecture|title=Minaret {{!}} architecture|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2018-12-12}}</ref>

Minarets are built out of any material that is readily available, and often changes from region to region.<ref name=":0" /> In the construction of the tall and slender Ottoman minarets, molten iron was poured into pre-cut cavities inside the stones, which then solidified and helped to bind the stones together. This made the structures more resistant to earthquakes and powerful winds.<ref name=":4" />
<gallery class="center" widths="150" heights="150" caption="Elements of typical minaret design">
File:Inside the minaret of a mosque in Mostar.jpg|alt=|Inside the stairway of a minaret in [[Mostar]]
File:Giralda IMG 7500.jpg|alt=|Inside the [[Giralda]] minaret in [[Seville]], which has ascending ramps instead of stairs
File:Details of Qutab Minar, Delhi, India 01.jpg|alt=|An ornate balcony at the [[Qutb Minar]] in [[Delhi]]
File:Top of a minaret at Badshahi Masjid.jpg|alt=|Example of a lantern structure at the top of a minaret at the [[Badshahi Mosque]] in [[Lahore]]
File:Istanbul 009 (6333859377).jpg|alt=|Example of a metal [[finial]] in [[Istanbul]]<!-- This is likely the photo of the finial of a dome rather than a minaret, but the two types are pretty similar so they should be sufficient for illustration here; actual minaret finials are hard to photograph due to their high position -->
</gallery>

==Origins==
[[Image:Minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia.jpg|thumb|Minaret of the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]] in [[Tunisia]], one of the oldest surviving minarets in the world|alt=]]
The earliest [[mosque]]s lacked minarets, and the call to prayer was often performed from smaller tower structures.<ref name=":0" /><ref>[[Donald Hawley]], ''Oman'', pg. 201. Jubilee edition. [[Kensington]]: [[Stacey International]], 1995. {{ISBN|0905743636}}</ref><ref name="Creswell 1">{{cite journal|last1=Creswell|first1=K. A. C.|author-link1=K. A. C. Creswell|title=The Evolution of the Minaret, with Special Reference to Egypt-I|journal=[[The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs]]|date=March 1926|volume=48|issue=276|pages=134–140|jstor=862832}}</ref> The early Muslim community of [[Medina]] gave the call to prayer from the doorway or roof of the house of [[Muhammad]], which doubled as a place for prayer, and this continued to be the practice in mosques during the period of the four [[Rashidun|Rashidun Caliphs]] (632–661).<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=23, 28}}<ref name=":24" />

The origin of the minaret is unclear.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Netton |first=Ian Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bYtmAgAAQBAJ&dq=minaret+definition&pg=PA418 |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-135-17960-1 |pages=418 |language=en}}</ref> Many 19th-century and early 20th-century scholars traced the origin of minarets to the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] period (661–750) and believed that they imitated the church [[steeple]]s found in Syria in those times.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=8}} Others suggested that these towers were inspired by the [[ziggurat]]s of [[Babylonia]]n and [[Assyria]]n shrines in [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=8}} Some scholars, such as A. J. Butler and Hermann Thiersch, agreed that the Syrian minarets were derived from church towers but also argued that the minarets of Egypt were inspired by the form of the [[Lighthouse of Alexandria|Pharos Lighthouse]] in [[Alexandria]] (which survived up until medieval times).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan M. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AhI5pP6BM2wC&dq=origin+of+minaret&pg=PA56 |title=Muqarnas: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Brill |year=1991 |isbn=978-90-04-09372-0 |editor-last=Grabar |editor-first=Oleg |volume=8 |pages=55–58 |language=en |chapter=Creswell and the Origins of the Minaret}}</ref><ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=|pages=8–10}}  [[K. A. C. Creswell]], an [[Orientalism|orientalist]] and important early-20th-century scholar of [[Islamic architecture]], contributed a major study on the question in 1926<ref name="Creswell 2">{{cite journal|last1=Creswell|first1=K. A. C.|author-link1=K. A. C. Creswell|title=The Evolution of the Minaret, with Special Reference to Egypt|journal=[[The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs]]|date=March 1926|volume=48}}</ref> which then became the standard scholarly theory on the origin of minarets for roughly fifty years.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=11|pages=}}Creswell attributed the origin of minaret towers to the influence of Syrian church towers and regarded the spiral or helicoidal minarets of the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] period as deriving from local ziggurat precedents, but rejected the possible influence of the Pharos Lighthouse. He also established that the earliest mosques had no minarets and he suggested that the first purpose-built minarets were built for the [[Mosque of Amr ibn al-As]] in [[Fustat]] in 673.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=12|pages=}} In 1989 [[Jonathan M. Bloom|Jonathan Bloom]] published a new study which argued that the first true minaret towers did not appear until the 9th century, under Abbasid rule, and that their initial purpose was not related to the call to prayer.<ref name="Bloom 1" /><ref name=":0" /><!-- Bloom's 2013 book is a revised edition of his 1989 book. The 2013 is probably easier for people to access today. -->

References on Islamic architecture since the late 20th century often agree with Bloom's view that the mosques of the Umayyad Caliphate did not have minarets in the form of towers.<ref name=":162">{{Cite book |last=Petersen |first=Andrew |title=Dictionary of Islamic architecture |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=9781134613663 |location= |pages=187–188 |chapter= |quote=Although the mosques of Damascus, Fustat and Medina had towers during the Umayyad period it is now generally agreed that the minaret was introduced during the Abbasid period (i.e. after 750 CE). Six mosques dated to the early ninth century all have a single tower or minaret attached to the wall opposite the mihrab. The purpose of the minaret in these mosques was to demonstrate the power of Abbasid religious authority. Those opposed to Abbasid power would not adopt this symbol of conformity, thus Fatimid mosques did not have towers.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Marchand |first=Trevor Hugh James |title=Minaret building and apprenticeship in Yemen |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn= |pages=22, 37 |language=en |orig-date=2001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hartmuth |first=Maximilian |date=2018 |title=Mosque-building on the Ottoman-Venetian Frontier, circa 1550–1650: The Phenomenon of Square-Tower Minarets Revisited |journal=Muqarnas |volume=35 |pages=175–192|doi=10.1163/22118993_03501P008 |s2cid=134439335 }}</ref><ref name=":24" /> Instead of towers, some Umayyad mosques were built with platforms or shelters above their roofs that were accessed by a staircase and from which the muezzins could issue the call to prayer. These structures were referred to as a ''mi'dhana'' ("place of the ''adhān"'') or as a ''ṣawma῾a'' ("monk's cell",{{efn|More specifically, referring to a small room or cell, with a pointed or tapering form, where a Christian monk would seclude himself.<ref name=":17" />{{Rp|pages=133}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=30}}}} due to its small size).<ref name=":24">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan M. |location= |pages=530–533 |chapter=Minaret |editor-last2=Blair |editor-first2=Sheila S.}}</ref><ref name=":17" />{{Rp|pages=132–137}} An example of these platforms is documented during the reconstruction of the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in 673 by [[Mu'awiya I|Mu'awiya]]'s local governor, [[Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari]], who was given orders by the caliph to add one to each of the mosque's four corners, similar to the [[Umayyad Mosque|Great Mosque of Damascus]] which had a ''ṣawma῾a'' above each of the Roman-era towers at its four corners.<ref name=":0522">{{Cite book |last1=Hillenbrand |first1=Robert |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |last2=Burton-Page |first2=J. |last3=Freeman-Greenville |first3=G.S.P. |publisher=Brill |year=1960–2007 |isbn=9789004161214 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |location= |pages= |chapter=Manār, Manāra |editor-last2=Bianquis |editor-first2=Th. |editor-last3=Bosworth |editor-first3=C.E. |editor-last4=van Donzel |editor-first4=E. |editor-last5=Heinrichs |editor-first5=W.P.}}</ref><ref name=":052">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |publisher=Brill |year=1991 |isbn=9789004161214 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |location= |pages=740 |chapter=Maslama b. Muk̲h̲allad |editor-last2=Bianquis |editor-first2=Th. |editor-last3=Bosworth |editor-first3=C.E. |editor-last4=van Donzel |editor-first4=E. |editor-last5=Heinrichs |editor-first5=W.P.}}</ref><ref name=":242">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan M. |location= |pages= |chapter=Damascus |editor-last2=Blair |editor-first2=Sheila S.}}</ref><ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=12|pages=}} Historical sources also mention such features in mosques in other parts of [[North Africa]]. In another example, under the [[Emirate of Córdoba|Umayyad Emirate]] of [[al-Andalus]], emir [[Hisham I of Córdoba|Hisham I]] ordered the addition of a ''ṣawma'a'' to the [[Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba|Great Mosque of Cordoba]] in 793.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|21}}

A possible exception to the absence of tower minarets is documented in Caliph [[Al-Walid I|al-Walid]]'s renovation of the [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi|Prophet's Mosque]] in Medina in the early 8th century, during which he built a tower, referred to as a ''manāra'', at each of the mosque's four corners. However, it is not clear what function these towers served. They do not appear to have been used for the call to prayer and may have been intended instead as visual symbols of the mosque's status.<ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last1=Ettinghausen |first1=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1uWZAzN_VcC&pg=PP1 |title=Islamic Art and Architecture: 650–1250 |last2=Grabar |first2=Oleg |last3=Jenkins-Madina |first3=Marilyn |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2001 |isbn=9780300088670 |edition=2nd}}</ref>{{Rp|page=21}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=49–50|page=}} Historical sources also reference an earlier ''manāra'', built of stone, being added to the mosque of [[Basra]] in 665 by the Umayyad provincial governor,<ref name=":0522" /> but it is not entirely clear if it was a tower or what form it had, though it must have had a monumental appearance.<ref name=":17"/>{{Rp|pages=129, 134}}
[[File:Malwiya 03.jpg|thumb|The [[Great Mosque of Samarra]] has a distinctive spiral minaret (848–852)]]The first known minarets built as towers appeared under Abbasid rule.<ref name=":0" /> Four towers were added to the [[Masjid al-Haram|Great Mosque of Mecca]] during its Abbasid reconstruction in the late 8th century.<ref name=":24" /> In the 9th century single minaret towers were built in or near the middle of the wall opposite the qibla wall of mosques.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=|pages=72–79}} These towers were built across the empire in a height to width ratio of around 3:1.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=79}} One of the [[List of oldest minarets|oldest minarets]] still standing is that of the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]] in [[Tunisia]], built in 836 and well-preserved today.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=|pages=73–75}}<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":16" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan |url=https://www.qantara-med.org/public/show_document.php?do_id=1287&lang=en |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=Qantara - Mediterranean Heritage}}</ref> Other minarets that date from the same period, but less precisely dated, include the minaret of the Friday Mosque of [[Bandar Siraf|Siraf]], now the oldest minaret in Iran, and the minaret opposite the qibla wall at the [[Umayyad Mosque|Great Mosque of Damascus]] (known as the "Minaret of the Bride"), now the oldest minaret in the region of Syria (though its upper section was probably rebuilt multiple times).<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":16" /> In [[Samarra]], the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in present-day [[Iraq]], the [[Great Mosque of Samarra]] was built in the years 848–852 and featured a massive [[helicoid]]al minaret behind its northern wall. Its design was repeated in the nearby [[Abu Dulaf Mosque]] (861).<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=76}} The earlier theory which proposed that these helicoidal minarets were inspired by ancient Mesopotamian ziggurats has been challenged and rejected by some later scholars including [[Richard Ettinghausen]], [[Oleg Grabar]], and Jonathan Bloom.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=30}}<ref name=":05222">{{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan M. |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2019 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |chapter=Minaret |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref>

Bloom also argues that the early Abbasid minarets were not built to host the call to prayer, but were instead adopted as symbols of Islam that were suited to important [[congregational mosque]]s. Their association with the muezzin and the call to prayer only developed later.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=64, 107–108}} As the first minaret towers were built by the Abbasids and had a symbolic value associated with them, some of the Islamic regimes opposed to the Abbasids, such as the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]], generally refrained from building them during these early centuries.<ref name=":162" /><ref name=":0" /> The earliest evidence of minarets being used for hosting the call to prayer dates to the 10th century and it was only towards the 11th century that minaret towers became a near-universal feature of mosques.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=xvii, 64|page=}}

==Regional styles==
=== China ===
Next to the [[Huaisheng Mosque]] in [[Guangzhou]] is the Tower of Light, also known as the Guangta minaret (1350). The mosque and the minaret merge aspects of Islamic and [[Chinese architecture]]. Its circular shaft and the double staircase arrangement inside it resembles the minarets of Iranian and Central Asian architecture, such as the Minaret of Jam.<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=9781119068662 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |volume=2 |pages=622–625 |chapter=Islamic Architecture and Ornament in China |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru}}</ref>

=== Egypt ===
[[File:Cairo, moschea di al-maridani, minareto.JPG|thumb|Minaret of the [[Mosque of Amir al-Maridani|al-Maridani Mosque]] (1340), the earliest example of a style repeated in later [[Mamluk architecture|Mamluk]] minarets|left]]

The style of minarets has varied throughout the history of [[Egypt]]. The minaret of the 9th-century [[Mosque of Ibn Tulun|Ibn Tulun Mosque]] imitated the spiral minarets of contemporary Abbasid Samarra, though the current tower was reconstructed later in 1296.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=O'Kane |first=Bernard |title=The Mosques of Egypt |publisher=American University of Cairo Press |year=2016 |isbn=9789774167324}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=|page=9}} Under the Fatimids (10th-12th centuries), new mosques generally lacked minarets.<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=9781119068662 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |volume=1 |pages=221 |chapter=Fragmentation and the Rival Caliphates of Cordoba, Cairo, and Baghdad (900–1050) |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru}}</ref> One unusual exception is the [[Al-Hakim Mosque|Mosque of al-Hakim]], built between 990 and 1010, which has two minarets at its corners. The two towers have slightly different shapes: both have square bases but one has a cylindrical shaft above this and the other an octagonal shaft. This multi-tier design was only found in the minarets of the great mosques at Mecca and Medina at that time, suggesting a possible link to those designs. Shortly after their construction, the lower sections of the minarets were encased in massive square bastions, for reasons that are not clearly known, and the tops were rebuilt in 1303 by a [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] sultan.<ref name=":9" />{{Rp|pages=17–18}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=King |first=James Roy |date=1984 |title=THE RESTORATION OF THE AL-ḤĀKIM MOSQUE IN CAIRO |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20847278 |journal=Islamic Studies |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=325–335 |issn=0578-8072 |jstor=20847278}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Caroline |title=Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2018 |isbn= |edition=7th |location=Cairo |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=243}}

Under the [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]] (late 12th to mid-13th centuries), the details of minarets borrowed from Fatimid designs. Most distinctively, the summits of minarets had a lantern structure topped by a pointed ribbed dome, whose appearance was compared to a ''mabkhara'', or incense burner.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=30}} This design continued under the early [[Bahri dynasty|Bahri Mamluks]] (13th to early 14th century), but soon began to evolve into the shapes distinctive to [[Mamluk architecture]]. They became very ornate and usually consisted of three tiers separated by balconies, with each tier having a different design than the others. This configuration was particularly characteristic of [[Cairo]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Behrens-Abouseif |first=Doris |title=Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |year=2007 |isbn=9789774160776}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=77–80}}<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=30}}<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Fraenkel |first1=J. |last2=Sadan |first2=J. |date=April 24, 2012 |title=Manār, Manāra |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/*-SIM_4903 |journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |language=en |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The minaret of the [[Mosque of Amir al-Maridani|al-Maridani Mosque]] (circa 1340) is the first one to have an entirely octagonal shaft and the first one to end with a narrow lantern structure consisting of eight slender columns topped by a bulbous stone [[finial]]. This style later became the basic standard form of Cairene minarets, while the ''makhbara''-style summit disappeared.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=114}}<ref name=":422">{{Cite book |last=Behrens-Abouseif |first=Doris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INsmT6zjAl8C&pg=PP1 |title=Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction |publisher=E.J. Brill |year=1989 |isbn=9789004096264 |location=Leiden, the Netherlands |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=17}}<ref name=":10" />{{Rp|pages=77–80}}

Later minarets in the [[Burji dynasty|Burji Mamluk]] period (late 14th to early 16th centuries) typically had an octagonal shaft for the first tier, a round shaft on the second, and a lantern structure with finial on the third level.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=31}}<ref name=":422" />{{Rp|page=26}} The stone-carved decoration of the minaret also became very extensive and varied from minaret to minaret. Minarets with completely square or rectangular shafts reappeared at the very end of the Mamluk period during the reign of Sultan [[Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri|al-Ghuri]] (r. 1501–1516). During al-Ghuri's reign, the lantern summits were also doubled – as with the minaret of the [[Mosque of Qani-Bay|Mosque of Qanibay Qara]] or al-Ghuri's minaret at the al-Azhar Mosque – or even quadrupled – as with the original minaret of [[Sultan Al-Ghuri Complex|al-Ghuri's madrasa]].<ref name=":422" />{{Rp|page=26}}<ref name=":10" />{{Rp|pages=77–80}}

===Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia===
[[File:Po-i-Kalyan mosque with Kalyan minaret.jpg|thumb|[[Kalyan Minaret]] (left) in [[Bukhara]] (1127)|left]]

Starting with the Seljuk period (11th and 12th centuries), minarets in [[Iran]] had cylindrical shafts with square or octagonal bases that taper towards their summit. These minarets became the most common style in the eastern Islamic world (in Iran, [[Central Asia]], and [[South Asia]]).<ref name=":0522" /> During the Seljuk period minarets were tall and highly decorated with geometric and calligraphic design. They were built prolifically, even at smaller mosques or mosque complexes.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last1=Crane |first1=Howard |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |last2=Korn |first2=Lorenz |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=9781119068662 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |volume=1 |chapter=Turko-Persian Empires between Anatolia and India |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru}}</ref>{{Rp|page=333}}<ref name=":0522" /> The [[Kalyan Minaret]] in [[Bukhara]] remains the most well known of the Seljuk minarets for its use of brick patterned decoration. The tallest minaret of this era, the [[Minaret of Jam]], in a remote area of present-day [[Afghanistan]], was built {{circa|1175}} by the [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]] and features elaborate brick decoration and inscriptions.<ref name=":12" />{{Rp|page=333}} The [[Qutb Minar]] in [[Delhi]], the most monumental minaret in [[India]], was built in 1199 and was designed on the same model as the Minaret of Jam.<ref name=":24" />[[File:South-eastern Minaret - Taj Mahal - Agra 2014-05-14 3802.JPG|thumb|One of the minarets of the [[Taj Mahal]] in [[Agra]] (1643)]]In later periods, however, minarets in this region became generally less monumental in comparison with the mosques for which they were built.<ref name=":0522" /> The tradition of building pairs of minarets probably began in the 12th century, but it became especially prominent under the [[Ilkhanate|Ilkhanids]] (13th-14th centuries), who built twin minarets flanking important [[iwan]]s such as the mosque's entrance.<ref name=":0522" /> 

The rise of the [[Timurid Empire]], which heavily patronized art and architecture, led to what is now called the "international Timurid" style which spread from Central Asia during and after the 15th century.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last1=Golombek |first1=Lisa |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |last2=Koch |first2=Ebba |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=9781119068662 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |volume=2 |pages=811–845 |chapter=The Mughals, Uzbeks, and the Timurid Legacy |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Sheila S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mhIgewDtNkC&pg=PP3 |title=The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 |last2=Bloom |first2=Jonathan M. |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780300064650 |location= |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=69}} It is categorized by the use of multiple minarets. Examples of this style include the monuments of [[Mughal architecture]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]], such as the minarets on the roof of the south gate in [[Akbar's tomb|Akbar's Tomb at Sikandra]] (1613), the minarets on the [[Tomb of Jahangir]] (1628-1638), and the four minarets surrounding the mausoleum of the [[Taj Mahal]].<ref name=":11" /> Elsewhere in India, some cities and towns along the coast have small mosques with simple staircase minarets.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lambourn |first=Elizabeth A. |authorlink= Elizabeth Lambourn |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=9781119068662 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |pages=765–766 |chapter=Islam beyond Empires: Mosques and Islamic Landscapes in India and the Indian Ocean |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru}}</ref>

===Iraq===
The oldest minarets in Iraq date from the Abbasid period. The Great Mosque of Samarra (848–852) is accompanied by one of the earliest preserved minarets, a {{convert|50|m|ft|adj=mid|-high}} cylindrical brick tower with a spiral staircase wrapped around it, standing outside the walls of the mosque. It is the tallest of the early minarets of the Abbasid period and remains the most massive historic minaret in the world, involving over 6000 cubic meters of brick masonry.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=76}} The Abu Dulaf Mosque, built near Samarra and finished in 861, has a smaller minaret of similar shape.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=76}}<ref name=":16" />

In the later [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] period (11th to 13th centuries), after the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]] period, minarets were typically cylindrical brick towers whose square or polygonal bases were integrated into the structure of the mosque itself. Their main cylindrical shafts were tapered and culminated in ''[[muqarnas]]'' cornices supporting a balcony, above which is another small cylindrical turret topped by a dome. Two examples of this style are the Mosque of al-Khaffafin and the Mosque of Qumriyya.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tabbaa |first=Yasser |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |title=A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |year=2017 |isbn=9781119068662 |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Finbarr Barry |volume=1 |pages=307–326 |chapter=The Resurgence of the Baghdad Caliphate |editor-last2=Necipoğlu |editor-first2=Gülru}}</ref>{{Rp|page=312}}

===Maghreb and al-Andalus===
[[File:Koutoubia minaret DSCF8275.jpg|thumb|Minaret of the [[Kutubiyya Mosque]] in [[Marrakesh]] (second half of 12th century)]]

Minarets in the [[Maghreb]] (region encompassing present-day [[Algeria]], [[Libya]], [[Mauritania]], [[Morocco]], [[Tunisia]], and [[Western Sahara]]) and historical [[al-Andalus]] (present-day [[Gibraltar]], [[Portugal]], [[Spain]], and [[Southern France]]) traditionally have a square shaft and are arranged in two tiers: the main shaft, which makes up most of its height, and a much smaller secondary tower above this which is in turn topped by a [[finial]] of copper or brass spheres.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Marçais |first=Georges |title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident |publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques |year=1954 |location=Paris}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Jonathan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRHbDwAAQBAJ&q=Islamic+Palace+Architecture+in+the+Western+Mediterranean&pg=PP1 |title=Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700–1800 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2020 |isbn=9780300218701 |location= |pages=}}</ref> Some minarets in the Maghreb have octagonal shafts, though this is more characteristic of certain regions or periods; e.g. the minarets of the [[Grand Mosque of Chefchaouen|Great Mosque of Chefchaouen]], the Great Mosque of [[Ouazzane]], the [[Kasbah Mosque (Tangier)|Kasbah Mosque]] of [[Tangier]], and the [[Great Mosque of Asilah]] in Morocco or the [[Ottoman Tunisia|Ottoman-era]] minarets of Tunisia such as the [[Youssef Dey Mosque]] and the [[Hammouda Pacha Mosque]].<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last1=Touri |first1=Abdelaziz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTbdBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT3 |title=Andalusian Morocco: A Discovery in Living Art |last2=Benaboud |first2=Mhammad |last3=Boujibar El-Khatib |first3=Naïma |last4=Lakhdar |first4=Kamal |last5=Mezzine |first5=Mohamed |publisher=Ministère des Affaires Culturelles du Royaume du Maroc & Museum With No Frontiers |year=2010 |isbn=978-3902782311 |edition=2 |location= |pages=}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Binous |first1=Jamila |title=Ifriqiya: Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia |last2=Baklouti |first2=Naceur |last3=Ben Tanfous |first3=Aziza |last4=Bouteraa |first4=Kadri |last5=Rammah |first5=Mourad |last6=Zouari |first6=Ali |publisher=Museum With No Frontiers, MWNF |year=2002 |isbn=9783902782199 |edition=2nd}}</ref> Inside the main shaft a staircase, and in other cases a ramp, ascends to the top of the minaret.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":8" />

The minaret at the [[Mosque of Uqba|Great Mosque of Kairouan]], built in 836 under [[Aghlabids|Aghlabid]] rule, is the oldest minaret in North Africa and one of the oldest minarets in the world.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Petersen |first=Andrew |title=Dictionary of Islamic architecture |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=9781134613663 |location= |pages=187–190 |chapter=}}</ref> It has the shape of a massive tower with a square base, three levels of decreasing widths, and a total height of 31.5 meters.<ref name=":7" /> The first two levels are from the original 9th-century construction but the third level was reconstructed at a later period.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=|page=75}} Another important minaret for the [[Moorish architecture|architectural history of the region]] is the minaret built by [[Abd al-Rahman III|Abd ar-Rahman III]] for the Great Mosque of Cordoba in 951–952, which became the model for later minarets in the Maghreb and al-Andalus.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|61–63}}<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=137}} [[Jonathan Bloom]] has suggested that Abd ar-Rahman III's construction of the minaret – along with his sponsoring of other minarets around the same time in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]] – was partly intended as a visual symbol of his self-declared authority as [[Caliphate|caliph]] and may have also been aimed at defying the rival Fatimid Caliphs to the east who did not endorse the construction of minarets at the time.<ref name="Bloom 1" />{{Rp|106–109}} Other important historic minarets in the region are the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad]]-era minarets of the [[Kutubiyya Mosque]] and the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakesh)|Kasbah Mosque]] in [[Marrakesh]], the [[Hassan Tower]] in [[Rabat]], and the [[Giralda]] in [[Seville]], all from the 12th and early 13th centuries.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":16" /><ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Ewert |first=Christian |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Al_Andalus_The_Art_of_Islamic_Spain |title=Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1992 |isbn=0870996371 |editor-last=Dodds |editor-first=Jerrilynn D. |location=New York |pages=85–96 |chapter=The Architectural Heritage of Islamic Spain in North Africa}}</ref>

===Turkey===
[[File:Selimiye Mosque (15051985908) (cropped).jpg|thumb|The [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in [[Edirne]] (1574), which features the four tallest Ottoman minarets]]

[[Sultanate of Rum|The Seljuks of Rum]], a successor state of the Seljuk Empire, built paired portal minarets from brick that had Iranian origins.<ref name=":0522" /> In general, mosques in Anatolia had only one minaret and received decorative emphasis while most of the mosque remained plain.<ref name=":0522" /> Seljuk minarets were built of stone or brick, usually resting on a stone base, and typically had a cylindrical or polygonal shaft that is less slender than later Ottoman minarets. They were sometimes embellished with decorative brickwork or glazed ceramic decoration up the level of their balconies.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=Islam: Art and Architecture |publisher=h.f.ullmann |year=2011 |isbn=9783848003808 |editor-last=Hattstein |editor-first=Markus |location= |pages= |chapter= |editor-last2=Delius |editor-first2=Peter}}</ref>{{Rp|page=372}}

[[Ottoman architecture]] followed earlier Seljuk models and continued the Iranian tradition of cylindrical tapering minaret forms with a square base.<ref name=":24" /><ref name=":0522" /> Classical Ottoman minarets are described as "pencil-shaped" due to their slenderness and sharply-pointed summits, often topped with a crescent moon symbol. The presence of more than one minaret, and of larger minarets, was reserved for mosques commissioned by the Ottoman sultans themselves such as the [[Süleymaniye Mosque]]. Taller minarets often also had multiple balconies (known as {{Lang|tr|şerefe}} in Turkish) along their shafts instead of one.<ref name=":0522" /><ref name=":24" /> The [[Üç Şerefeli Mosque]] in [[Edirne]], finished in 1447, was the first sultanic mosque to have multiple minarets with multiple balconies. Of its four minarets, the northwestern minaret was the tallest Ottoman minaret up to that time, rising to 67 metres.<ref name=":24" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodwin |first=Godfrey |title=A History of Ottoman Architecture |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=1971 |isbn=0500274290 |location=New York |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=99–100}} Its height was only surpassed by the minarets of the [[Selimiye Mosque, Edirne|Selimiye Mosque]] in Edirne (1574), which are 70.89 meters tall and are the tallest minarets in Ottoman architecture.<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|page=226}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Geisler |first=Philip |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUnSDwAAQBAJ&dq=tallest+ottoman+minaret&pg=PA126 |title=The Heritage of Edirne in Ottoman and Turkish Times: Continuities, Disruptions and Reconnections |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |year=2019 |isbn=978-3-11-063908-7 |editor-last=Krawietz |editor-first=Birgit |pages=126 |language=en |chapter=Challenging the Hagia Sophia: The Selimiye Mosque in Edirne as Ottoman Empire Branding |editor-last2=Riedler |editor-first2=Florian}}</ref> Later Ottoman minarets also became plainer and more uniform in design. The trend of multiple minarets culminated in the six minarets of the [[Blue Mosque, Istanbul|Sultan Ahmed Mosque]] (also known as the Blue Mosque) in [[Istanbul]].<ref name=":24" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Islam|Architecture}}
*[[Bell tower]]
*[[List of oldest minarets]]
*[[List of tallest minarets]]
*[[2009 Swiss minaret referendum]]
*[[List of tallest mosques]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|40em}}

== Further reading ==
* Jonathan M. Bloom (1989), ''Minaret, symbol of Islam'', Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-728013-3}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Minarets}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929083459/http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?articleID=647 "The Minaret, Symbol of a Civilization"]
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Minaret|year=1905 |short=x}}
{{Islamic architecture}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Islamic architectural elements]]
[[Category:Mosque architecture]]
[[Category:Architectural elements]]
[[Category:Arabic architecture]]
[[Category:Minarets| ]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]
[[Category:Architecture in Iran]]
[[Category:Religious towers]]