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