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Al-Firdaws Madrasa
Al-Firdaws Madrasa (), also known as School of Paradise, is a 13th-century complex located southwest of Bab al-Maqam in Aleppo, Syria and consists of a madrasa, mausoleum and other functional spaces. It was established in 1235/36 by Dayfa Khatun, who would later serve as the Ayyubid regent of Aleppo. It is the largest and best known of the Ayyubid madrasas in Aleppo. Due to its location outside the city walls, the madrasa was developed as a freestanding structure.Firdaws Madrasa
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Historical background and environment

Built in 1236 by the queen al-Malika Dayfa Khatun, the Madrasa al-Firdaws was funded through the queen's personal resources. These funds stemmed from ...
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Madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning. In countries outside the Arab world, the word usually refers to a specific type of religious school or college for the study of the religion of Islam (loosely equivalent to a Seminary, Christian seminary), though this may not be the only subject studied. In an Islamic architecture, architectural and historical context, the term generally refers to a particular kind of institution in the historic Muslim world which primarily taught Sharia, Islamic law and Fiqh, jurisprudence (''fiqh''), as well as other subjects on occasion. The origin of this type of institution is widely credited to Nizam al-Mulk, a vizier under the Seljuk Empire, Seljuks in the 11th century, who was responsible for buildi ...
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Abraham
Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenantal relationship between the Jewish people and God in Judaism, God; in Christianity, he is the spiritual progenitor of all believers, whether Jewish or gentile, non-Jewish; and Abraham in Islam, in Islam, he is a link in the Prophets and messengers in Islam, chain of Islamic prophets that begins with Adam in Islam, Adam and culminates in Muhammad. Abraham is also revered in other Abrahamic religions such as the Baháʼí Faith and the Druze, Druze faith. The story of the life of Abraham, as told in the narrative of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, revolves around the themes of posterity and land. He is said to have been called by God to leave the house of his father Terah and settle in the land of Canaan, which God now promises to Ab ...
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Ayyubid Architecture In Syria
The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin had originally served the Zengid ruler Nur al-Din, leading the latter's army against the Crusaders in Fatimid Egypt, where he was made vizier. Following Nur al-Din's death, Saladin was proclaimed as the first Sultan of Egypt by the Abbasid Caliphate, and rapidly expanded the new sultanate beyond Egypt to encompass most of Syria, in addition to Hijaz, Yemen, northern Nubia, Tripolitania and Upper Mesopotamia. Saladin's military campaigns set the general borders and sphere of influence of the sultanate of Egypt for the almost 350 years of its existence. Most of the Crusader states fell to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187, but the Crusaders reconquered the Syrian coastlands in the 1190s. After Saladin' ...
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Mosques In Aleppo
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were simple places of prayer for the early Muslims, and may have been open spaces rather than elaborate buildings. In the first stage of Islamic architecture (650–750 CE), early mosques comprised open and closed covered spaces enclosed by walls, often with minarets, from which the Islamic call to prayer was issued on a daily basis. It is typical of mosque buildings to have a special ornamental niche (a ''mihrab'') set into the wall in the direction of the city of Mecca (the ''qibla''), which Muslims must face during prayer, as well as a facility for ritual cleansing (''wudu''). The pulpit (''minbar''), from which public sermons (''khutbah'') are delivered on the event of Friday prayer, was, in earlier times, characteristic of the central city mosque, ...
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Buildings And Structures Completed In 1236
A building or edifice is an enclosed structure with a roof, walls and windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for numerous factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, land prices, ground conditions, specific uses, prestige, and aesthetic reasons. To better understand the concept, see ''Nonbuilding structure'' for contrast. Buildings serve several societal needs – occupancy, primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a physical separation of the human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) from the ''outside'' (a place that may be harsh and harmful at times). buildings have been objects or canvasses of much artistic expression. In recent years, interest in sustainable planning and building practi ...
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Zawiya (institution)
A ''zawiya'' or ''zaouia'' (; ; also spelled ''zawiyah'' or ''zawiyya'') is a building and institution associated with Sufism, Sufis in the Islamic world. It can serve a variety of functions such a place of worship, school, monastery and/or mausoleum. In some regions the term is interchangeable with the term ''khanqah'', which serves a similar purpose. In the Maghreb, the term is often used for a place where the founder of a Sufi order or a local saint or holy man (e.g. a ''wali'') lived and was buried. In the Maghreb the word can also be used to refer to the wider ''tariqa'' (Sufi order or brotherhood) and its membership. Etymology The Arabic term () translates literally as "corner" or "nook". The term was first applied to the cells of Christian monks, before the meaning was applied to a small mosque or prayer room. In the later medieval period, it came to denote a structure housing a Sufi brotherhood, especially in North Africa. In modern times, the word has still retained t ...
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Khanqah
A Sufi lodge is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood or ''tariqa'' and is a place for spiritual practice and religious education. They include structures also known as ''khānaqāh'', ''zāwiya'', ''ribāṭ'', ''dargāh'' and ''takya'' depending on the region, language and period (see ). In Shia Islam, the Husayniyya has a similar function. The Sufi lodge is typically a large structure with a central hall and smaller rooms on either side. Traditionally, the Sufi lodge was state-sponsored housing for Sufis. Their primary function is to provide them with a space to practice social lives of asceticism. Buildings intended for public services, such as hospitals, kitchens, and lodging, are often attached to them. Sufi lodges were funded by Ayyubid sultans in Syria, Zangid sultans in Egypt, and Delhi sultans in India in return for Sufi support of their regimes. Terminology Sufi lodges were called by various names depending on period, location and l ...
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Ribat
A ribāṭ (; hospice, hostel, base or retreat) is an Arabic term, initially designating a small fortification built along a frontier during the first years of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb to house military volunteers, called ''murabitun'', and shortly after they also appeared along the Byzantine frontier, where they attracted converts from Greater Khorasan, an area that would become known as al-ʻAwāṣim in the ninth century CE. The ''ribat'' fortifications later served to protect commercial routes, as caravanserais, and as centers for isolated Muslim communities as well as serving as places of piety. Islamic meaning Historical meaning The word ''ribat'' in its abstract refers to voluntary defense of Islam, which is why ribats were originally used to house those who fought to defend Islam in jihad. They can also be referred to by other names such as ''khanqah'', most commonly used in Iran, and ''tekke'', most commonly used in Turkey. Classically, ribat referred to t ...
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Minbar
A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation. Etymology The word is a derivative of the Arabic root ''n-b-r'' ("to raise, elevate"); the Arabic plural is ''manābir'' (). Function and form The minbar is symbolically the seat of the imam who leads prayers in the mosque and delivers sermons. In the early years of Islam, this seat was reserved for the Islamic prophet Muhammad and later for the caliphs who followed him, each of whom was officially the imam of the whole Muslim community. It eventually became standard for all Friday mosques and was used by the local imam, but it retained its significance as a symbol of authority. While minbars are roughly similar to church pulpits, they have a function and position more similar to that of a church lectern ...
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Mamluk Architecture
Mamluk architecture was the architectural style that developed under the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo. Despite their often tumultuous internal politics, the Mamluk sultans were prolific patrons of architecture and contributed enormously to the fabric of historic Cairo. The Mamluk period, particularly in the 14th century, oversaw the peak of Cairo's power and prosperity. Their architecture also appears in cities such as Damascus, Jerusalem, Aleppo, Tripoli, and Medina. Major Mamluk monuments typically consisted of multi-functional complexes which could combine various elements such as a patron's mausoleum, a madrasa, a khanqah (Sufi lodge), a mosque, a sabil, or other charitable functions found in Islamic architecture. These complexes were built with increasingly complicated floor plans which reflected the need to accommodate limited urban space as well as a desire to visually dominate their urban en ...
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Mihrab
''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". The '' minbar'', which is the raised platform from which an imam (leader of prayer) addresses the congregation, is located to the right of the ''mihrab''. Etymology The origin of the word ''miḥrāb'' is complicated, and multiple explanations have been proposed by different sources and scholars. It may come from Old South Arabian (possibly Sabaic) ''mḥrb'' meaning a certain part of a palace, as well as "part of a temple where ''tḥrb'' (a certain type of visions) is obtained," from the root word ''ḥrb'' "to perform a certain religious ritual (which is compared to combat or fighting and described as an overnight retreat) in the ''mḥrb'' of the temple." It may also possibly be related to Ethiopic ''məkʷrab'' "temple, sanctua ...
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