Arabic-Islamic Cities: Building and Planning Principles

by Besim S. Hakim

This is a pioneering study of how traditional towns and cities were conceived, organized, and developed over long periods of time following simple rules that were based on the society's norms and ethical values. Sources were used that date back to the fourteenth century and earlier. Although the study is embedded in the Arab-Islamic culture of North Africa and the Middle East, its implications are universal particularly in light of scientific discoveries of natural processes and the underlying principles of complexity theory and the processes that bring about emergence. Generative processes that shaped urban form are clearly demonstrated in the book. The study also sheds light on the implications of responsibility allocation to the various parties who are involved in the development process and the resulting patterns of decision-making that affect change and growth in the built environment. All of these issues are of significance when trying to understand the concepts that relate to various aspects of sustainability, the future potential of eco-cities, and the nature of policies and programs that are required for the immediate present and for the future. This work is a major contribution for enhancing the theories and practice of urban planning and design.

Genres: Architecture

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a long while since I have read something similar, the last one being: Urban Form In The Arab World.

What's different in this one is: the focus of the author is on the Maghreb: North Africa and Southern Spain. It starts by identifying the authentic sources of city making under the rule of Islam. the author clearly states that this is not to be confused with what other scholars would call oriental architecture and urban design, it is rather the product of the Fiqh: the legal framework in Islam - Islamic law

Why this interest? According to the author, of the four main Fiqh school the closest to the Madina Munawara (which was the first city founded in Islam) is the Maliki and it happens that the region of Maghreb follows this school of Fiqh. Architecture and urban design there is considered to be at its purest form.

Why Fiqh is important? Islamic law proved to be the best source for design guidelines and principles since it has addressed and managed the process of city building within the framework of Islamic values.

The authors tried to follow the main jurists in Maliki school of law and come up with not only a set of principles and behavioral guidelines but also of values and social guidelines that self-organize in building cities:

1- Encouragement to keep things clean including the interior and exterior fina;
2- Encouragement to feel responsible and sense of public awareness;
3- Beauty without arrogance;
4- Trust, respect and peace amongst neighbours;
5- Defects should be announced not hidden when selling a property.

The author then explains how it was possible to design cities and who was in charge of managing conflicts within the city. First of all this was the realm of jurists and judges in cities, and to do so they usually baed their decisions on old manuscripts that are generally a collection of litigation cases.

And despite the fact that some manuscripts were say 350 years apart, like Isa ben Moussa's manuscript or Al Hiram by Ibn al Roumi, the author found a striking resemblance in references and design solutions which has resulted in the similarity we now see in Medinas located in the vast geographic area of North Africa and Andalusia.

The book specifically addresses one case study: Tunis Madina (old city) and conducts a quantitative analysis in studying the ratios of public/private areas, covered/uncovered, residential/community spaces ... etc

I'm sure that even if you're not a professional you'd find a curious case in this book. Oh did I mention that it was accompanied by architectural sketches and diagrams that explained the bifurcation of cases and instances of urban conflicts.

[Jamima C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arabic-Islamic Cities: Building and Planning Principles by Besim S. Hakim. set out to provide information to help bridge the gap between the traditional practice which developed over the course of a millennium and the current one, mostly imported from the West, in the Arab-Islamic world. To do this, Hakim identified and recorded the building and planning principles which shaped the traditional Arabic-Islamic city. The foundations and principles of the social, economic, and legislative frameworks were established during the first three centuries of Islam’s conception. Urban activity occurred at an accelerated pace and created a demand to regulate and adjudicate on those problems. Islam created a uniform legislative guidleine and an identical socio-cultural framework which along with similar climate conditions and constriction techniques produced a similar approach to the city building process (the beehive pattern) across the Islamic world. Deviations from this mostly pattern were a result of micro-climates, economic conditions, available building materials, and localized stylistic approaches and influences. Hakim chose the city of Tunis as the central study because it closely followed the Maliki School of Thought which is the closest to the traditions and practices in Medina, the Prophet’s city, since the societal framework, attributes, and the experiences gained during the first Arabic-Islamic community under the leadership and guidance of the Prophet is considered the model to emulate.

The first chapter explored Islamic law and the neighborhood building guidelines. The development of Islamic law fulfilled the demand for building and urban design guidelines and a framework for adjudicating conflicts. The four sources of law (in order of importance) are the Quran (the holy book), the Sunnah (the divinely inspired behavior of the Prophet), Ijma (the consensus of the entire Muslim community), and Qiyas (the use of human reasoning). The Quran and Sunnah (through Hadiths (the collected precedents and sayings of the Prophet)) take precedence over the other two. All principles and guidelines in the book are identified with Quranic verses and sayings (hadiths) of the Prophet because of their direct or indirect meaning and guidance on matters related to urban living. Additionally, specific cases and their solutions were selected in the city of Tunis where precedents were established as well as fatawi (opinions by religious scholars) to get the full picture.

Islamic planning is guided by a few core principles which then manifests physically into the built environment. Most frequently cited is the notion of harm, one should exercise one’s full rights in what is rightfully his, provided the decision/action will not generate harm to others. The next concept of importance is privacy; the privacy of others must be respected and its invasion is prohibited. The Quran teaches the virtues and importance of privacy, the right to it, and respect for it. We see this in things like the deliberate placement of doors, the use of setbacks, the height of windows being above eye level, and roofs could not allow for overlooking . Rights of original (or earlier) usage is the idea that certain rights/privileges are given to older and established facts e.g. to resolve disputes related to restoration and ownership of rights of walls, windows, etc. Other important concepts are interdependence (self-regulatory behavior through values of acceptable behavior which also creates a public responsibility), respect for the property of others (with special emphasis on the rights and obligations of adjacent neighbors), pre-emption, the prohibition of the obstruction of any public thoroughfare (whether it be permanent or temporary), excess water not to be barred from others, and the prescription of seven cubits as the minimum width of public thoroughfares (to allow to fully loaded camels to pass). To a large extent, the Arabic-Islamic city was self policing in terms of informing the authorities of any wrongdoing sanctioned in the Quran. These were continuous practices within the Maghribi traditions until the early part of this century.

The second chapter covered the design language as well as urban and architectural elements. Hakim’s research uncovered the existence of a language of physical elements made up of relatively few elements and components yet provides maximum flexibility and diversity in its powers of combination and structuring, making it an effective building language. As Islamic culture and civilization developed, it began to be molded by regional cultural characteristics which is why there are distinct variations within regions of the Islamic world, however, the physical components, form and function, remain relatively unchanged across centuries. This is also evidenced by the fact that the majority of components have names of Arabic origin across countries. The overall urban complex of a mature and large Arabic-Isalmic city is made up of the Medina (whole urban complex) containing the metropolis, provincial towns, and villages. A Medina, or city, requires a Masjid Al Jami (the friday mosque), a governor who can execute his duties, and a suq serving the needs of the people in the city (system of main through streets), a countryside, and some scholars also believe a Hammam (public bath) is an essential feature. All urban elements share the common organizational feature of being organized around a patio open to the sky. This is a fundamental physical feature underlying the organization and planning of the traditional Arabic-Islamic city.

In the Arab-Islamic city, decisions made by the ruler (or governing authority) primarily affected the macro environment and building decisions, while activity by citizens primarily affected the micro environment, with the aggregate impact becoming more significant and having a direct impact on people. The book concludes by discussing the merits of studying traditional building and planning. In the past few decades, scholars have played down the importance of Islam on the city, but this study demonstrates that the studying its impact is sound. Much of the building and urban development, from Spain to Pakistan, are products of fiqh (the mechanism and application of Islamic divine law, or Sharia). The Quran and Sunnah are crucial for the transfer of the value system to design and urban form as they not only prescribed, but there was a physical manifestation. Their impact on the built form was distinct from that of a mechanism based on numerical standards as with Contemporary Western Zoning and subdivision regulations. Unlike current zoning laws which are centreally created and applied at the local level without being responsible to specific micro-conditions, the Fiqh mechanism developed various subtle interpretations within regions of the Isalmic world (through scholars and respect granted to local traditions). Therefore, the mechanism was successful in being responsive enough to allow for diversity and complexity on a micro-level, but firm enough to allow for similarities in the built form throughout the Islamic world on a macro-level.

I think the main principle driving this book was to show a different, but equally valuable building and planning approach, one that stems from tradition. Contemporary cities in the Arab and Islamc world, after decades of colonization and influence, have been adopting elements of modern Western civilizations such as planning and architecture which have not been the most beneficial. Western planning codes are fundamentally different from those that evolved in the Islamic world, not to mention the differences in climate and socio-cultural contexts, so it is not necessarily the best approach to blindly adopt those same principles. Modernization and technological developments are not incompatible with the features and values of the traditional Arab-Islamic city. Through investigations of ancient Arabic manuscripts and historical records that shed light on the city building process, the author was able to conclude that the area of Islamic Law (Fiqh) was the best source as the problems that arise from the process were recognized and addressed within the framework of Islamic values and ethics. The main sources of data beyond Quranic verses, hadiths, and examples of legal disputes (mainly between neighbors), were visual. There were detailed illustrations of a technical nature which were hard to follow, but the hand drawn maps were helpful in placing all of the elements belonging to a traditional Islamic-City such as the Suqs, Babs, and Masjids. It helped create a visual field especially with the “foriegn” names. In addition, there were many photographs that would’ve aided with understanding, however, they were almost completely useless since they were too dark to see.

The book itself was a very fascinating read. Western planning often takes up much of the conversation, but there is immense value in studying the traditions of other cultures. Unfortunately, the book is a bit narrow in its approach, it is very much a study on Tunis (other cities are mentioned, but very briefly). I think it would be more useful to have explored more of the regional differences, what contributed to these differences, and also other schools of Islamic thought. It was too technical to the point where it became tedious and the principles would get lost. I think it would’ve been beneficial to have seen comparisons to traditional and modern planning that was explored in the conclusion throughout the book, in an effort to make it more relevant rather than seemingly talking about something of the past. There is discussion of the benefit of recognizing and continuing a strong heritage, but a lack of exploration of how to actually do so. I think planners who are interested in historical and international planning would definitely benefit from this book, however, I think it is much too specific for the average working planner.