.    EARLY ISLAM    .

Muslims do not show the face of Muhammad- instead, they use this symbol to represent him

This map shows Islam's central position in the religious map of the Eastern Hemisphere- in 750 and in 2004

The early bedouins live on in Arabia as merchants and traders as seen here

FAMOUS EARLY MOSQUES

Early mosque (700's) from Damascus, Syria-- like the church, the mosque was the center of town

The Mosque of Baghdad, Iraq, the first city built as an Islamic capital

The mosque of Najaf in Iraq, holy site for Shi'ite Muslims

The Muslim world is split into two groups: Shi'ite and Sunni, with sunni being the majority

Egypt was conquered in the 700's and is still a Muslim country today- this is the famous mosque of Cairo

Islam expanded east to Lahore in India (now Pakistan)- where this famous mosque was built

THE THREE GREATEST MOSQUES OF THE WORLD

Close up of Israel's most famous mosque, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem- where Allah brought Mohammad into heaven

The 2nd most famous mosque is in Medina, where Mohammad the Prophet fled to and where Islam began

The Medina mosque is also a place of pilgrimage for Muslims in Arabia

The Great Mosque of Mecca, Arabia is the most famous in the world

People making pilgrimage to the Great Mosque, with the Ka'aba at the center right-->

THE 'TURKISH STYLE' OF MOSQUE BUILDING

Conquered in 1453 by the Turks, the Church of Holy Wisdom was converted into a Muslim Mosque- its style was

used in building new ones as well...

The 'blue mosque' of Turkey, (notice the reflection), was modeled after it

Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent in Turkey

Around the time of the conquest of Constantinople (1400's), the Spanish forced Islam out of Spain

and built this church at Cordoba, in commeration of that event, called the reconquista

A mosque in Kazan,  Russia, this city has a large non-Russian Muslim population

Islam spread to the far east (Indonesia) and today that country has 200 Million Muslims

MOSQUES BUILT IN THE LAST TWO HUNDRED YEARS

The UAE's most famous mosque, with the modern downtown in the background

The oil rich UAE has this modern mosque in front of a tall building, symbolizing the unity of faith and business

The mosque of Brunei, a small oil rich country in SouthEast Asia attests to the great energy of Islamic faith

Minarets are used to call the faithful to prayer 5 times a day

Pakistan's new capital city, Islamabad, has a mosque built in the modern style

Central Asia's most famous mosque, in Turkmenistan- compare it with the one in Toledo, USA

MOSQUES IN THE UNITED STATES

With more Muslims coming to the USA, our country is seeing more mosques built- like this one in New York

Many new mosques have been built in the USA, over 100 since 2000- like this one in Chicago

Architectually, this mosque in Toledo, Ohio is also done in a traditional way

Detroit has America's largest Muslim community, and this traditional style mosque

Detroit is the first city to play the Islamic call to prayer over public loudspeakers, which has caused some .controversy

Islam is very successful, and is the fastest growing religion in the world.

This Mosque is outside of London, England- where today, more people attend a mosque at least once

a week, than a church (980,000 in mosques vs. 915,000 in churches in 2005)- and today there are nearly a thousand mosques in England

 Site Design: David Tamm