ADar al-Muwaqqit (Arabic:دار المؤقت), ormuvakkithane inTurkish, is a room or structure accompanying amosque which was used by themuwaqqit ortimekeeper, an officer charged with maintaining the correct times of prayer and communicating them to themuezzin (the person who issued thecall to prayer).[1]Dar al-Muwaqqit was the Arabic term given to such structures added to many mosques in Morocco from theMarinid period onward. In theOttoman Empire the equivalent of such structures were known in Turkish as amuvakkithane ("lodge of themuwaqqit").
Muslims observesalah, the daily ritual prayer, at prescribed times based on thehadith or the tradition ofMuhammad (c. 570–632). Each day, there are five obligatory prayers with specific ranges of permitted times determined by dailyastronomical phenomena.[2] For example, the time for themaghrib prayer starts aftersunset and ends when the redtwilight has disappeared.[3][4]
Because the start and end times for prayers are related to the solardiurnal motion, they vary throughout the year and depend on the local latitude and longitude when expressed inlocal time.[5] The termmīqāt in the sense of "time of a prayer" is attested to in theQuran and hadith, although the Quran does not explicitly define those times.[4][6] The termʻilm al-mīqāt refers to the study of determining prayer times based on the position of the Sun and the stars in the sky and has been recorded since the early days of Islam.[6]
Before the muwaqqits appeared, themuezzin ormu'azzin (Arabic:مُؤَذِّن) had been the office most associated with the regulation of the prayer times. The post can be traced back to Muhammad's lifetime and its role and history are well documented. The main duty of a muazzin is to recite theadhan to announce the beginning of a prayer time. Before the use of aloudspeaker, this was usually done from the top of aminaret.[6] The minaret provided the muezzin with a vantage point to observe phenomena such as sunset which marks the start time of maghrib.[5]
The main duty of the muwaqqit was timekeeping and the regulation of daily prayer times in mosques,madrasas, or other institutions using astronomy and other exact sciences.[7] At its zenith in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, major mosques often employed prominent astronomers as muwaqqits. In addition to regulating prayer times, they wrote treatises on astronomy, especially on timekeeping and the use of related instruments such asquadrants andsundials.[6][8][9] They were also responsible for other religious matters related to their astronomical expertise, such as the keeping of theIslamic calendar and the determination of theqibla (the direction toMecca used for prayers).[8]
.jpg)
The Dar al-Muwaqqit of Fes's most important mosque was added by theMarinids in 1286 when renovations were carried out on the mosque's oldminaret.[10]: 62 The chamber was equipped withastrolabes and all manner of scientific equipment of the era in order to aid in this task.[10] It also housed a number of historicalwater clocks mentioned in historical sources, of which one survives today. The first was commissioned by the Marinid SultanAbu Yusuf Ya'qub in the 13th century and designed by Muhammad ibn al-Habbak, afaqih andmuwaqqit.[11][12] Another one was constructed on the orders of SultanAbu Sa'id in 1317 and was restored in 1346.[10]: 62 [13]: 492 However, the only one to survive today (though no longer functional) is the water clock of Al-Laja'i. It was made on the order of the SultanAbu Salim Ali II (r. 1359-1361) by themuwaqqit Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman ibn Sulayman al-Laja'i (d. 1370). Al-Laja'i had studied mathematics withIbn al-Banna al-Marrakushi at theAl-Attarine Madrasa. The clock was finished and put in place on 20 November 1361, two months after the death of the sultan.[14][15]
Another structure known as the "Dar al-Muwaqqit" was built across the street from the Qarawiyyin Mosque bysultanAbu Inan in the mid-14th century.[16] It includes a prominent tower known as theBorj Neffara, which is often mistaken for aminaret.[17] The structure consists of a house with two floors arranged around a central courtyard, with the tower rising on the house's southern side.[17][16] The tower is reported to have served several functions, including asfire lookout tower, but the principal function appears to have been as a platform forastronomical observation carried out by themuwaqqit.[17][18]
.jpg)
TheDar al-Magana is a house on Tala'a Kebira street in Fes which stands opposite theBou Inania Madrasa and Mosque. The structure is believed to have also been built by Abu Inan alongside his madrasa complex, with one chronicler (al-Djazna'i) reporting that it was completed on May 6, 1357 (14Djumada al-awwal, 758AH).[13]: 492 Its street facade features a famous but poorly-understood hydraulic clock, which was overseen by the mosque'smuwaqqit (timekeeper). The Bou Inania's clock may have followed similar principles as the earlier water clock built for the Dar al-Muwaqqit of the Qarawiyyin Mosque by SultanAbu Said in 1317.[13]
_(edited).jpg)
Many mosques in Morocco had a dedicated Dar al-Muwaqqit, especially from the Marinid period onward. Like the one found in the Qarawiyyin Mosque, they were almost always adjoined to the mosque's minaret, often on a second floor above the gallery overlooking the mosque'ssahn (courtyard), and marked by an ornate double-arched window. The Dar al-Muwaqqit of theGrand Mosque of Fes el-Jdid, built around 1276, may have been the earliest example of this type of chamber in Marinid architecture, and served as a model for the one built soon after at the Qarawiyyin Mosque.[19][10]: 62 Other later examples include the Dar al-Muwaqqit of theAlaouite-eraLalla Aouda Mosque inMeknes (between 1672 and 1678 under SultanMoulay Isma'il)[20] and the Dar al-Muwaqqit of theZawiya of Moulay Idris II in Fes (probably from its expansion by Moulay Isma'il between 1717 and 1720).[21][22][23] The Dar al-Muwaqqit of the Zawiya of Moulay Idris II is also notable for featuringmarblespolia from theSaadian palaces ofMarrakesh (from theBadi Palace or another structure), looted by Sultan Moulay Isma'il.[23]: 271
_(muvakkithane).jpg)
The Turkish historian of scienceAydın Sayılı noted that many mosques in Istanbul have buildings or rooms called amuvakkithane ("lodge of themuwaqqit").[24][25] Ottoman sultans and other notables built and patronized them as acts of piety and philanthropy. Such constructions became more common over time, peaking during the late eighteenth and the nineteenth century.[26] Ottoman astronomers produced prayer timetables in locations previously without them,[27] and in the eighteenth century, the architect Salih Efendi wrote timekeeping tables which were popular among themuwaqqits of the imperial capital.[24]
As the use of mechanical clocks became common during the eighteenth century, themuwaqqits included them as part of their standard tools and many became experts at making and repairing clocks.[28] Ottomanmuwaqqits also adapted existing tables to the Ottoman convention of defining 12:00 o'clock at sunset, requiring varying amounts of time shifts each day.[29] Setting one's personal watch according to the clocks atmuvakkithanes was a common practice after the spread of personal timepieces in late eighteenth century.[28] Activities of themuwaqqits were also recorded in Syria (especially the Umayyad Mosque) and Egypt up to the nineteenth century.[27]
| Styles | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elements |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Types |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Resources | |||||||||||||||||||
| Influences | |||||||||||||||||||
