Pulpits

The minbar is a high place in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver the Friday sermon, and the minbar in the Arabic language is: a portable marqah with degrees (the dictionary surrounding) and has other definitions in the linguistic references that are consistent with this meaning

The Prophet Muhammad used to preach to Muslims in his honorable mosque while he was standing at one of the logs that hold the roof and leaning on a stick of "dom" wood. The Muslims noticed that this position was difficult for the Messenger and exhausted him, so they suggested that he take something to sit on and rest on. So he agreed with them, and a man called it made it for him. (Dogs) was in the service of his uncle Al-Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib, a pulpit made of atlal wood

It consists of three levels: the first and second are for ascending, and the third is for sitting, and its height is two arms and three fingers and one arm width, and that was in the seventh year of migration

Muslims mastered in making pulpits and innovated, until the pulpits were one of the areas that showed their aesthetic taste and their ability to creativity with full force.

The history of the pulpits testifies that it began a very simple and very modest beginning, but it soon took off quickly - with the era of the great mosques in the main cities - until it became a prominent landmark of the mosque wherever it is, and even the admiration of scholars of its elements, who follow the art of Islamic architecture.

The pulpits are no longer only places for speech and rhetoric. Rather, its primary function has varied to a greater extent, as it is a manifestation of sovereignty and leadership, a sign of wealth and taste, and a sublime and sublime position that only scholars, advocacy, and clear goals in thought and life relate to

What is a platfor

It is noticed that historians differed regarding the word (platform): is it an alien to the Arabic language from the point of view of Abyssinia, and then it was Arabized and used by the Arabs? Or is it an authentic Arabic derived from "Naber"?

According to the first view, it was originally in Abyssinia (and nabr) meaning a chair or a large seat for the king's chair or the chief of the court. Then she converted the waw into a meme, and it became (a platform), and it is still used in the Ethiopian language to this day

As for the other saying, the meaning of (nabbar) is elevated, and whoever emphasizes something has raised it, and thus the pulpit is the seat of the suitor, it is called a platform for its height and height, and the prince is considered: he rose above the pulpit

The first pulpits in Islam

When the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, rose on Friday as a preacher, he stood leaning against a stump of palm tree trunks that hold the roof, which follows the kiss of the mosque, and spoke to the worshipers, relying on a stick held in his hand. And so on until the seventh year after the migration.

The words of the men of biography agreed that the first pulpit made for the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was made of wood, and that it was composed of two levels, with a third above them for sitting

Al-Bukhari narrated on the authority of Jabir bin Abdullah, may God be pleased with him, that a woman from the Ansar said to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace: O Messenger of God, should I not make something for you to sit on, for I have a carpenter boy? He said: If you wish. So I made the pulpit for him, and when it was Friday, the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, sat on the pulpit that was made for him. Ibn Bashkawal said: The name of this boy is Amina.

There is no contradiction between this hadith and other hadiths that referred to others who made the pulpit. Perhaps the first pulpit was not straightened for a long time, as it was indicated in some accounts that the pulpit was made eight years old for migration by another boy, and according to the suggestion of Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, may God be pleased with him, the uncle of the Messenger of God, may God bless him. Salaam, or with the sign of Tamim Al-Dari, may God be pleased with him, after he saw the pulpits of the churches in the Levant

Perhaps some hypocrites ambiguated at the time about the pulpit, which was not previously known to the Arabs. The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, answered them - as in the great dictionary of al-Tabarani - saying: “If he takes a platform, then Abu Ibrahim has taken it, and if he takes a stick, then Abu Ibrahim has taken it.”

Rather, the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, took the pulpit - after making it - sometimes to teach people the manner of prayer. In Bukhari and Muslim, he, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, when he placed the minbar, he sat on it for the first time and grew bigger, so the people grew up behind it, then knelt while he was on the pulpit, then he rose and went down So he prostrated himself at the base of the pulpit, then returned until he finished his prayer. Then he said: "O people, I just did this, so that you could trust in Me, and let you know my prayer."

The merits of the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace

Several hadiths were mentioned in the merit of the pulpit of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. Why not? It is the first pulpit made in Islam, and it is the shrine of the call to truth and the guidance of creation to God

Abu Hurairah and Sahl bin Saad, may God be pleased with them both, narrated that, may God bless him and grant him peace, after the carpenter finished making it, he came and stood on him, and said, peace and blessings of God be upon him: “This pulpit is on a canal from the canals of Paradise.” Narrated by Ahmad and it is authentic. And he said: “Menbari lists salaries in heaven,” Al-Nasaa’i narrated and it is correct. He said: “Between my house and my pulpit is a kindergarten from the gardens of Paradise and my pulpit is on my basin.” Narrated by Al-Bukhari. He warned against a false oath under him, so he said: “No one shall swear at this pulpit -or- at the pulpit on a sinful oath, even if only you are wet, unless the fire becomes necessary for him -or- unless he takes his seat from the fire.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah and Ahmad, and it is true 

And if these hadiths are mentioned in the merit of the pulpit, may God bless him and grant him peace, then they refer to the matter of subordination and attachment - even in a lighter and lesser way - to the virtue of pulpits in general in mosques and their status, because they share with the most venerable first pulpit in the purpose, purpose and use

The first pulpits in the mosques

Perhaps it was the first pulpit whose news was conveyed to us - after the first pulpit - Amr ibn al-Aas, may God be pleased with him, who built it in the city of Fustat after the conquest of Egypt

Al-Maqrizi mentions that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, informed him that Amr ibn al-Aas, may God be pleased with him, made a wooden pulpit in his mosque in Fustat, Egypt, which is called (the Crown of the Mosque), so Omar wrote to him a patch in which he said: It is promoted on the necks of Muslims, or what you think is that you stand up with the Muslims under your heels! So I resolved against you when you broke it

And it was said: Qurrah ibn Sharik renewed the pulpit in the Mosque of Amr ibn al-Aas after that in the year 92 AH with the order of al-Walid bin Abdul Malik.

Then, when the mandate of Marawan ibn Muhammad was in the year 132 AH, Musa bin Nasir, his ruler over Egypt, ordered that the pulpits be taken in the villages (i.e., the major cities)

As was the case in Egypt, pulpits began to enter the mosques and take place in them in the early early reigns of the Umayyads in the Levant, Iraq and the Hijaz. On the minbar that the Kaaba is permissible, it was also mentioned that Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah, who took over the caliphate after his father, established in Jund Qasreen a mosque with a minbar

Types of platforms

The pulpits are divided in terms of their manufacture into: wooden pulpits and stone pulpits

It is also divided in terms of stability and movement into: fixed platforms and mobile platforms

It is also divided in terms of its forms into: old, traditional, and modern pulpit

Wooden pulpits

Wood is the first material from which the pulpit of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, was made, then people used to do that, except that with the development and complexity of life and the people's interest in appearances and ornamentation, and building luxurious mosques that cost a lot of money, and mastering them in everything in them, the interest of the makers has emerged in pulpits. Wood, which led them to choose special types of durable or precious wood, such as ebony, sandalwood, walnut, beech and other types of strong and luxurious wood, as they used to inlays some pulpits with pieces of mosaic and oud.Or engrave some verses or hadiths, the names of rulers and sultans, the names of the pulpits makers and their history on them, and decorate and decorate them with well-known Islamic motifs, such as polygonal stars, the famous Arabic calligraphy, or similar Arabesque art. The pulpits often became exquisite and precious pieces of art, indicating the vast king's keen interest and exquisite craftsmanship. The wooden pulpit is rightly the master of pulpits

Stone pulpits

These pulpits began to appear in general during the Mamluk era and then in the days of the Ottomans, and while stone was stiffer than wood, however, the hand of the Muslim architect was unable to bend him to the principle of caring for pulpits, decorating, decorating and writing on them. Speaking of Bani's ability to express the highest levels of feelings and glorify the place of the Friday pulpits

Mobile platforms

Most of the pulpits are fixed, whether they are wooden or stone, and they are often placed next to the minbar to the right of the one who is heading to it, but we have seen some pulpits - on a few - that were not fixed, but rather in order not to occupy a space in the mosque that interrupts the first or second row. Designed for these pulpits wheels are pushed over them to be placed after the sermon in their own rooms next to the qiblah, until they go out again for the next Friday sermon, and so on.

And on this, some mosques in Andalusia and North Africa are used. Then that custom spread to some mosques in Egypt. We see this at some point in the Zitouna Mosque, Sfax, Monastir, and the Al-Azhar Mosque minbar, among others

It was also in the Great Mosque of Mecca and is still a portable pulpit placed opposite the door of the Kaaba at the sermon, then it is moved to a far place, so as not to hinder the circumambulation around the Kaaba.

The portable pulpit in Makkah, may God protect it, is very old. It was mentioned on the authority of Muawiyah that he took the pulpit with him from the Levant to Mecca to preach on it, and Ibn Battuta also mentioned that he saw the portable pulpit in Makkah

Traditional pulpit

It is the minbar with a projection perpendicular to the qibla wall and the first row, which extends interrupting the rows according to its length, and is raised above the heads of the worshipers, provided with a door behind which is a curtain, and with a staircase and handrails on its sides and a khatib’s majlis at the upper end, and which is surmounted by a jossuq above which a small dome

This image of the pulpit is the traditional image of pulpits in general, whether wooden or stone, and it is the predominant one of the old mosques built in the Islamic era, from the days of the Umayyad state until after the fall of the Ottoman Empire

Modern platforms

These are multiple innovative images in how it can fulfill the primary purpose of the pulpit in terms of raising it to the preacher, to appear to the public and see the far and near, while creating bodies that were not known before.

Some pulpits - which are often the most common - became part of the mihrab, to which it enters from inside the cavity of the mihrab, and then rises by two or three degrees, no more, to reach a balcony inside the qibla wall with carved wood railings, and such minbars often have two balconies on either side of the mihrab

Some pulpits have a door in the qibla wall, from which a hidden staircase is entered behind that wall, and several steps are raised, some of which reach ten or more, then the preacher overlooks the worshipers from an upper balcony that may be next to the mihrab or perhaps directly above it, and such balconies are distinguished. To rise above the heads of the congregation, rising between us

Some of the pulpits were created in the form of an apparent staircase adjacent to the qibla wall, which rises diagonally towards the mihrab and ends in a manner similar to the platform adjacent to the mihrab

Some of these modern pulpits were built in the shape of an inverted crescent, one of its heads on the ground and the other under the feet of the preacher.

And every day, the minds of Muslim architects agree on new ideas, some of which are inspired by the old and an extension of it, and some are innovative new, but they all agree in purpose and content, even if they differ in form and appearance

Secondary platforms .. multiple platforms

It is not customary for a single mosque to have only one minbar, but every rule must have an exception. Abu al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi reported that he was in the Dar al-Sultan Mosque in Baghdad, a minbaran.

Although the existence of two pulpits in one mosque is anomalous, because it is inconceivable for two preachers to stand on them simultaneously, this did not prevent the existence of what we might call secondary pulpits, such as a pulpit for the preacher less high and elegant than the pulpit of the preacher, and is usually used to deliver a lesson on weekdays Or just before the Friday sermon, and perhaps the pulpit of the preacher was mobile that could be carried and transformed, and perhaps it was more like a special chair with clear care, and the presence of such (small) pulpits is common in many mosques according to the importance of the lesson, the teacher, the preacher, or the majesty of the mosque ... etc

The role of the platform

The role of the pulpit was not limited to Friday to deliver the Friday sermon from above it. Rather, it had a wider and more comprehensive role since the days of the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him. Other than that.

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, had many sermons besides the Friday sermon at different times. The most important role of the minbar - except for the Friday sermon - was that it was in the first chest a place to pledge allegiance to the caliphs when they took over the affairs of the Muslims, as the rightly guided caliphs, Umayyads, Abbasids, and others were pledged over it

Tribune traditions

The customs of people differ in their lives according to their different generations and peoples, and as for the pulpit, some traditions have accompanied it since ancient times, some of which have become extinct and some of them are still remaining.

1- The number of steps in the pulpit remained for a long period of time not exceeding nine degrees, starting from the days of Marwan bin Al-Hakam when the levels of the minbar of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, increased to nine, but in the time of modern pulpits we witnessed the emergence of pulpits that do not adhere to a specific number in The degrees of the pulpit, perhaps more or less than the old custom

2- The preachers of the pulpits used to carry a sword during the Friday sermon in countries that were opened by force and force, while they leaned on a stick in countries that opened a peace and covenant

3- The Friday preachers continued to pray after the Friday sermon for the caliphs and their sultans with their names and persons, until this became a common and common custom, without a sign of obedience and pledge of allegiance. on him.

4- For a long time, flags were raised on the sides of the pulpit, and it seems that this custom began when the caliphs themselves took up the rhetoric on the pulpits, and the interest of the Fatimids increased in the rulers of Egypt

5- Some pulpits have special doors that are opened to the preacher only, and not others. These doors are usually behind the minbar in the qiblah wall, and the time of the sermon is used so that the sermon does not need to cross the necks of the worshipers from the regular doors to the mihrab

The most famous platforms

Some pulpits are rare pieces of art due to the accuracy of their decoration, the age of manufacture, the beauty of their shape, or the preciousness of their wood and metal, and among those famous pulpits that have become famous:

The pulpit of the Mosque of Cordoba, built by Al-Hakam Al-Mustansir, and it took seven years to build, and was described as being unlike anything else above the ground

Including the minbar of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which he ordered to be made before the expulsion of the Crusaders Nur al-Din Zangi, and remained in Aleppo, where he made twenty years, until Salah al-Din al-Ayyubid liberated Jerusalem, so he carried it to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and placed it in it to fulfill the dream of Nur al-Din the great Mujahid, and he was a sign of beauty and perfection

Including the pulpit of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Turkey, made of precious alabaster

Among the famous modern pulpits: the minbar of the King Hassan II Mosque in Rabat, and the minbar of the Rawda Mosque in Aleppo al-Shahba

The minbar in which there is a picture is a pulpit that was made and made by a carpenter. Rather, an Egyptian artist, Asma al-Usta Samir, was made for his wife as a constant charity for her. ......Praise to Allah, Lord of the Worlds