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Help me to understand.. Symbology of a Minaret ? (Vanity)

Posted on 08/16/2010 7:35:34 PM PDT by Celerity

Hello Freepers !

Not all churches have steeples, and not all mosques have Minarets.

What is the purpose of a Minaret ? My internet research is taking me into places I would rather not dwell (Like Islam conversion sites and other mind-numbing dreck)

I see a few Mosques on US soil - But this Minaret thingy seems to suggest that a mosque is special in some way. Anyone know ?


TOPICS: Ecumenism; Islam; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: conquest; freeperbait; idiotalert; minaret; mosque; stuckonstupid
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To: Salvation
Why not just ring the bells like Catholics do?

Actually that is a good question. Not necessarily regarding bells, but is there a cultural or religious prohibition to something like this in Islam like there is regarding artistic depictions (which led to the unique artistic styles on classical Islamic architecture)? Bells or horns could be more efficient and certainly wouldn't be unknown.

21 posted on 08/16/2010 8:04:18 PM PDT by mnehring
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To: Celerity

seems rather obvious to me that a minaret is a stylized representation of a flame. A giant torch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Basil_Moscow_crop.jpg


22 posted on 08/16/2010 8:07:06 PM PDT by mamelukesabre (Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum (If you want peace prepare for war))
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To: Celerity
The purpose of a Minaret?
 

23 posted on 08/16/2010 8:11:34 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
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To: Celerity

It’s where hajjis go to bang goats, away from the prying eyes of the Imam.

(It’s not that the Imam MINDS if the hajjis bang goats — it’s that if a peon happens to have a cute one, the Imam will take it for himself. Allahu akbar! Goat is good!)


24 posted on 08/16/2010 8:18:07 PM PDT by Nervous Tick (Eat more spinach! Make Green Jobs for America!)
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To: Celerity
The explanation for the minaret is very simple.

Back before Islam when the Arabs were pagans worshipping many gods, demons, spirits, and so forth they had a "SKY GOD" and an "EARTH GOD" just like everybody else on the planet at one time or the other. (SEE FRIDAY and WEDNESDAY for a rough explanation).

Anyway, unlike virtually everyone else, the Arabian "skygod" was FEMALE while the Arabian "earthgod" was MALE.

The Arabs built minarets to commune with the skygod.

The 6th and 7th century "reforms" kept the minarets sans their original pagan meanings (supposedly).

The other deal is there really aren't any trees in most of Arabia so if you wanted to climb up one to see who was coming over the hill you'd first need to build one. And as phallic as they may be the Arabs have yet to come up with a minaret to rival the Washington Monument!

Take that sand pounders.

25 posted on 08/16/2010 8:18:29 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Cindy

Thanks for that Cindy. Missed it.

One of the links included is very illuminating.

http://www.zimbio.com/Islamization/articles/goXKJCengHT/Christianity+Minarets+Originally+Used+Islam

Christianity’s Minarets Originally Used By Islam To Show Dominance In Conquered Lands
EmailWritten by Cole2 on Dec-6-09 12:15pm
From: islamizationwatch.blogspot.com

Some excerpts:

“...in 1998, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the ruling Islamist party and current Prime Minister of Turkey, recited: “The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...

“Muhammad founded a creed, perfect for the underdeveloped desert Arab Bedouins. He opposed creating buildings on a grand scale, saying that “Truly the most unprofitable thing that eats the wealth of a believer is building” and that “Every expense of the believer will be rewarded except the expense of the building”.

“... a mosque should be simple and modest, a booth, like the booth of Moses.

“Minarets became a part of mosques in the period of the “Godless” Umayyad dynasty that came to power by ousting the Prophet’s grandson Hasan (661 CE), and later exterminating the Prophet’s offspring, including his other grandson Husayn...

“Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I (r. 695-715) was the first to introduce minarets to mosques, emulating the steeple, a bell-tower structure that was a feature of Christian churches. This move faced strong resistance from the pious, who objected to constructing anything higher than walls of the mosque. They also condemned the rulers for incorporating Christian symbols to sacred mosques.”


26 posted on 08/16/2010 8:52:21 PM PDT by Bhoy
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To: muawiyah


27 posted on 08/16/2010 9:00:30 PM PDT by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: mnehring
is there a cultural or religious prohibition to something like this in Islam like there is regarding artistic depictions (which led to the unique artistic styles on classical Islamic architecture)?

Islam prohibits almost everything. Here is what Google found:

"Mohammed has said that “the bell is the devil’s pipe”" (link.)

28 posted on 08/16/2010 9:10:40 PM PDT by Greysard
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To: muawiyah
And as phallic as they may be the Arabs have yet to come up with a minaret to rival the Washington Monument!

Maybe not a minaret, but that new Abu Dhabi skyscraper is sure of symbol of some sort.

29 posted on 08/16/2010 9:25:19 PM PDT by Will88
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To: Cvengr
Better start keeping a real close eye on the local flight schools. It's just way too tempting for some of these guys.
30 posted on 08/16/2010 9:25:39 PM PDT by bornred
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Comment #31 Removed by Moderator

To: Celerity
Bat Ye'or discusses a related issue in her book "The Dhimmi" Notice that all non-Muslim , 'dhimmi' structures had to be lower, or demolished to the extent that it was lower than any Muslim structure. The minaret soars above all the other structures as a symbol of dominance and conquest. One should also consider that in this day and age of time keeping devices and mobile devices, there is ample variety of methods to send out the call to prayer five times a day without the use of minarets and loudspeakers blaring that awful belly-achin triumphalism.. .allahu akbar (our god is greatest). Also note Robert Spencers “Blogging the Koran” :
The Fatiha (Opening) is the first sura (chapter) of the Qur’an and most common prayer of Islam. If you’re a pious Muslim who prays the five requisite daily prayers of Islam, you will recite the Fatiha seventeen times in the course of those prayers.
From Wafa Sultan’s book “A God Who Hates” pg. 168:
“A Muslim prays five times a day, and on each occasion he recites the Fatiha, the first verse of the Koran, a number of times. This verse describes Christians as “those who have gone astray” and Jews as “those who have incurred Your wrath.” We see from this that Muslims execrate Christians and Jews a number of times in the course of a single prayer, which they repeat five times a day.

32 posted on 08/16/2010 9:40:00 PM PDT by wtd
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To: Celerity
continued. . .via dictionary.com
execrate –verb 1. to detest utterly; abhor; abominate. 2. to curse; imprecate evil upon; damn; denounce: He execrated all who opposed him.
No mosque - anywhere, in which the call to prayer takes place, and in which congregants chant the fatiha - is interested in building bridges or extending tolerance. They are however fully intent on gaining exceptional degrees of tolerance from all non-believers. When it comes to Islam, tolerance is a one way street. Believe it or else.
33 posted on 08/16/2010 9:42:28 PM PDT by wtd
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To: Celerity

It symbolizes what they’re going to stick up our asses, if we don’t soon wake up.


34 posted on 08/16/2010 9:48:31 PM PDT by weeder
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To: Bhoy

You’re welcome Bhoy.


35 posted on 08/16/2010 10:17:00 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Will88

It has people living in it ~


36 posted on 08/17/2010 3:48:32 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: muawiyah
It has people living in it ~

That doesn't change the who's got the biggest one nature of all this skyscraper construction.

37 posted on 08/17/2010 4:07:27 AM PDT by Will88
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To: Celerity

Wonder if the architechs of the ground zero mosque intend to build these high wnough that they become part of the NY skyline?


38 posted on 08/17/2010 6:17:56 AM PDT by fire4effect
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To: mnehring

Hell’s bells is the sound of the catawaller(sp?) screeching from the minaret’s.

That sound is oppression to all those below.


39 posted on 08/17/2010 12:08:53 PM PDT by bayouranger (The 1st victim of islam is the person who practices the lie.)
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