On the origin of the minaret 21, February 2010
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Islam, Syria.Tags: Damascus, Minaret, Omayyad Mosque, Omayyad Mosque photo, Origin of the minaret
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Also at the book launch at the Ismaili Center [see the previous post] the editor discussed a popular story relating to the birth of the Minaret. Back in the x century Arab forces retook Damascus. They went to what is today the Omayyad Mosque which was then a huge Christian church and saw the bell tower towering above them and decided that that would be a good place from which to announce the call to preyre. Lo and behold the idea of the Minaret was born. Or at least, so that particular story runs. Competing ‘versions’ of the origin of the Minaret are welcome…
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