ISLAM

The central theme of Islam is the Unity of God. The main ritual is the prayer performed five times a day, ordained after Kalima, the creed or the belief in the Unity of God and the apostleship of Prophet Mohammed. This is the second pillar of the Faith. The other three are: Fast, Alms and Pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca.

Masjid lit. means a place where one prostrates oneself (before God). At the second call to prayers (takbir), worshippers stand in rows behind the Imam offer prayers at this  place of divine service and public assembly for offering prayer in a congregation. "And verily, the mosques are for God only, hence invoke not anyone else with God therein" (Koran, Chapter LXXII, verse 18).

There are many mosques in the Indian sub-continent:

• Kalan Masjid in Delhi (1387, built by Junan Shah, prime minister of Firuz Tughluq)
• Khirki Mosque in Delhi (built by Khan-i-Jahan)
• Shah Alam's Mosque in Wazirabad near Delhi (late Tughluq period)
• Moth-ki-Masjid, Delhi (built by the prime minister of Sikander Lodi)
• Quwwatul-Islam Mosque, near Qutb Minar, Delhi (built by Qutbud-Din Aibak during 1191-96)
• Arhai-din-ka-Jhonpra, Ajmer (built by Qutbud-Din-Aibak in 1199)
• Jamat Khana Mosque, behind Nizamud-Din Auliya's tomb in Delhi (during Alaud-Din Khilji's reign)
• Qala-i-Kuhna Mosque in the Purana Qila, Delhi (built in 1541 by Sher Shah)
• Adina Masjid at Pandua (Dist. Malda, West Bengal)(built in 1369 by Sultan Sikandar Shah)
• Bara Sona Mosque, Gaur (Dist. Malda)(built in 1526 by Nusrat Shah)
• Atala Masjid in Jaumpur (built in 1408 by Ibrahim Sharqi)
• Jami Masjid at Mangrol in Gujarat (built in 1384 by Firuz Tughlaq)
• Jami Masjid in Ahmedabad (built in 1424 by Ahmad Shah I)
• Jami Masjid in Champaner, Gujarat
• Rani Sabrai's Mosque, Ahmedabad (built in 1514 by Rani Sabrai, widow of Sultan Mahmud I)
• Sidi Said Mosque, Ahmedabad (built in 1572, left incomplete)
• Malik Mughiz in Mandu (built in 1432 by Malik Mughiz, chief minister of Hoshang Shah)
• Jami Masjid inside the fort at Gulbarga (built in 1367 by Muhammad Shah Bahmani)
• Jami Masjid of Bijapur
• Zanjiri Mosque at Bijapur (built in 1587 by Ibrahim Adil Shah II)
• Makka Masjid, Hyderabad (Deccan) (built during 1617-1693 by Muhammad Qutb Shah, Abdullah, Abul-Hasan and Aurangazeb)
• Jami Masjid, Srinagar (built by Sultan Sikandar and Zainul-Abidin, 14th cent.)
• Shah-i-Hamadan Mosque, Srinagar
• Jami Masjid, Fatehpur Sikri (built c. 1571)
• Moti Masjid in Agra Fort (built in 1646 by Shah Jahan)
• Jami Masjid, Delhi (built by Shah Jahan during 1650-56)
• Masjid-i-Ala at Seringapatam, Dist. Mandya, Karnataka (built in 1786-87 by Tipu Sultan)

Learn more about Islam

«Back