The Islamic moderate philosophy in Islamic architecture A case study: Gaza Strip's Masjids

Since the dawn of the Islamic era, the masjid has been playing a vital and effective role in the life of Muslims. It has become a central and influential place for all Muslims in their daily lives, which is associated in their movements and Stillness. The masjids hold prayers, resolve governance issues, receive science, as a place for socialization, enable the fraternal relations, and the perform marriages.
 
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) said: "Seven are (the persons) whom Allah will give protection with His Shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His Shade (i.e., on the Day of Resurrection). One of them, he said, a person whose heart is attached to the mosque." (Book one, Hadith 659) (Bukhari, 119/2). God's houses are authorized to raise and stating his name. As a result, it needs to be different from the other parts of the ground. Abu Huraira narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, "The dearest parts on the face of the earth near Allah are its mosques" (Narrated by Muslim, 0.671).
Masjid also received a considerable attention in terms of construction and building starting from our Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and the subsequent Muslim rulers until the present days. Islamic spiritual and the sensual aspects have influenced the architecture of masjids by the simple configuration of masjid, integration of its spaces, and strength correlation between its members.
Masjids have become optimal witness to the architectural culture of the place and age that it has been constructed. It has also reflected the level of social, cultural and economic development for that period. The aim of the construction of masjids: strengthen faith in the hearts of Muslims by creating a spiritual atmosphere appropriate to the performance of the pillars and the Good works.
Over time until the present, the role of masjids gradually declined, and the number of worshipers decreased. Some of the problems emerged that contributed to the declining role of the masjids includes weakness in the urban planning of urban communities, poor design that does not take into account the functional requirements related to the message of the masjid as well as failure to maintain the location of masjid within the residential areas and public domain of cities. In addition to that, random building for masjids on pieces of land that are not intended for that use led to a lack of space as well as poor lighting, ventilation and public services.
Design of masjids have been affected by foreign culture, which do not take into account the masjid as a central place, making some design of masjids influenced by exotic forms inspired by cultures alien to Islamic notion. All of these reasons had a negative impact on the delivery of the message of Islam to the community and its influence on them.
The importance of research originates by approaching an important religious subject that touches Muslims’ life daily, and represents a sacred element and the center of Islamic civilization for Muslims. This study addresses the status of masjids nowadays because of weakness in the application of the concept of moderation in the Islamic approach to contemporary architecture construction, especially the masjids. Most of the masjids in this time are far away from the spirit of moderation and tend to exaggerate and hyperbole in the decoration and external configuration of the masjid. As a result, the need for practical application of Moderation and practical focus on mosques arises nowadays. The importance of the paper lies in a serious attempt to implement a clear Islamic philosophy to contemporary architecture, especially for the masjids represented by moderation concept, to be a strong cornerstone for architecture in every place and every time.
The study concludes that moderation does not mean inertia and bias, but rather a source and a state of evolution and innovation. Moderation realizes spiritually and mentally dimensions of balance, harmony, and compatibility with contemporary and future requirements of humanity, in order to achieve the concept of continuity.
Architectural configuration of the mosque stems from the perspective of internal simplicity and tranquility, to deepen the sense of supplication in prayer in order to achieve the meaning of faith. As a result, colors and decorations should not constitute a distraction for a worshiper. Through the Islamic curriculum and the Hadith, there are architectural determinants in the formation of masjid, and thus diligence and innovation remains within a defined legitimate framework.
The study addresses four main sections, the first section represent the concept of moderation and its application in the content of Islamic architecture. The second topic dealt with the masjids and their evolution over time until its status in the present time, the third section demonstrates decoration and characteristics should use as art in masjids and what controls should take for this decoration. The fourth section is a comparative study between the old masjids in addition to findings and recommendations.