Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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and/or transformed already existing towns and villages. The Mediterranean basins,
Damascus, Antioch, Alexandria easily fell under Muslim control. At the beginning,
Muslim invaders settled in the vicinity of the conquered towns, out of which the Muslim
sections grew with a distinctive character resembling the physical organization of Makkah
and Madinah. However, eventually Muslims founded purely Islamic cities such as Fustat
(later Cairo), Kufa and Basra. In al-Maghrib (North Africa) and al-Andalus (Iberia),
military outposts and encampments were developed into major capitals such as Qayrawan,
Fez, Marrakesh and, in Spain, Cordova and Seville. In East-West Asia, the new
settlements of Sultaniyya, Isfhan, Nishabur, Herat and Bukhara and Samragand were
brought into new urban centers.
The advent of Islam signaled a new era of political unity under the auspices of a
strong, growing and relatively permanent state in lands that had hitherto rarely enjoyed
security. The resulting political stability was the prerequisite for progress of Madinah,
which increasingly became a teeming center of the expanding empire. This stability set in
motion an urbanization process for centuries to come. As the Islamic empire expanded and
attained power, workers and resources were brought together from its expansive
surroundings. Cities sprouted on the frontiers and on the major routes connecting the core
with the enlarging periphery. Many of the new cities grew from tents and makeshift
encampments dotting the expanding empire. Like all states, the Muslim state, whenever in
strength, nurtured, protected and regulated the economic, social and cultural affairs of its
subjects and provided public amenities for regions under its control. Less than a century
following the Prophet's message, the Islamic empire encompassed a vast territory
stretching from the west shore of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrnees to the borders of'
China, in the east.
During the time of the great geographer, al-Maqdisi (9th century A.D.), the Muslim
world contained the major following metropolises: Asmara, Baghdad, known for its
nobility and virtue, Kufa in Iraq for its refinement, Basra for industry, and Misr (Cairo) as
a bustling trade center. Outside the Middle East, there was Balk known for its
ostentatiousness and Samragund touted for its craftsmanship. Classical Islamic urbanism
reached its climax at the height of its territorial expansion and cultural apogee, between 3rd
H. and 4th H. (9th and 13th centuries A.D.), during which time the classical type of city
was fully manifested.