Mesopotamia, Islam Medieval Y Casa De Bagdad

Some Examples of Medieval Muslim Theorizing on Urban Planning and Development

WRITTEN BY SPAHIC | 08 DECEMBER 2012
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spahic Omer
Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design
International Islamic University Malaysia
E-mail: spahico@yahoo.com

Because of the remarkable developments in the Abbasid state in the first half of the 3rd AH century (the first half of the9th AC century) when the city of Baghdad was in its prime and when the city of Samarra, a new temporary Abbasid capital, was founded, theorizing about the principles and methods of urban planning and general development in Islam was gaining its momentum. At any rate, the Islamic idea of planning, development and urbanization is as old as the Muslim community. Its fundamental principles have beencomprehensively laid in the Holy Qur’an, as well as in the sayings and practices of the Prophet (pbuh). Certainly, the best example of the earliest Islamic planning, development and urbanization is the establishment of the Muslim community in Madinah in the wake of the migration (Hijrah) from Makkah. Henceforth, the matter was evolving steadily, corresponding with both the rapid spread of Islamthroughout the world and the incredible growth of the civilization and cultures inspired by the Islamic worldview and its value system. However, it was not till towards the middle of the 3rd AH / 9th AC century that urbanism, urban development and city life commenced to be a considerable concern of some Muslim scholars’ speculative and philosophical thought. The reasons for this were related to thechanges and developments of Islamic eclectic society, at the center of which stood the mosque institution as the society’s engine of growth, as well as to the expansion and diversification of Islamic socio-economic thought that resulted from the former.
The first scholar who extensively and systematically theorized about the principles and regulations of Islamic urban planning was Shihab al-DinAhmad Ibn Abi al-Rabi’ (d. 272 AH / 885 AC). In his famous book Suluk al-Malik fi Tadbir al-Mamalik (The Manners of the Ruler in Administering People), Ibn Abi al-Rabi’ discussed -- among other things as regards the city, state and Islamic polity -- the requirements for planning and developing cities.[1] The book was dedicated to the Abbasid caliph al-Mu’tasim (d. 227 AH / 842 CE) who built the cityof Samarra. The book signified, in certain ways, some practical suggestions to the caliph as to the ways he ought to administer the country and its people, with the city of Samarra as the new Abbasid capital to function as a hub. The subject of planning cities and towns in the thought of Ibn Abi al-Rabi’ is just one aspect in a matrix of issues and ideas which must be duly considered if cities andtowns with their populace were to achieve the desired standards of happiness and fulfillment.
It is interesting to note that Ibn Abi al-Rabi’ mentions as one of the eight conditions for establishing a fine city: “to build in the middle of a city a principal mosque (jami’) for prayers which will be near and accessible to all citizens”.[2] Some other important conditions for an excellent citymentioned by Ibn Abi al-Rabi’ are related to the provision of sufficient and safe drinking water, networks of wide streets and roads, strategic and well supplied markets, a protective wall, housing according to tribal affiliations, and the presence of scholars, merchants and experts in various required fields.[3]
It can be gauged from the exposition of Ibn Abi al-Rabi’ that during his time and thetime of caliph al-Mu’tasim, the builder of the city of Samarra, placing a mosque in the middle of a Muslim settlement has become an urban regulation and standard from which there was no deviation. The importance of not just having a main mosque, but positioning it right in the middle of a city or a town as well, was on a par with the importance of the other indispensible elements vital for human...