Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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ahistorical, a term which denies both time peculiarities and culture. Moreover, the wide
usage of the term Muslim/Islamic city by scholars attests to its convenience. 58
K. Brow (1986), commenting on the use of the concept of "Muslim City" in research
in Britain and France, contends that much of the researcher's work has been similar to
those concerned with the interpretation of change in urban life in European urban literature
which usually focuses on the "'progression' from the city of Virtue (the Muslim City) to
the city of Vice (the colonial city) to the city Beyond Good and Evil (the modern city)." 59
According to Brown, such studies of space, social structures and processes no longer
isolate the Islamic influence on urban life. However, the Sluglettes (1986), in their
historical study of Aleppo, reject the validity of the term "Muslim City" as the conceptual
tool for the study of the late 19th and 20th century city. They argue that "by the end of the
19th century new forms of identity and association, political, economic and ethnic, had also
become firmly rooted in the Weltanschauung of many Aleppines." 60
The model of the Islamic City recognizes the urban nature of Islam, where the city is
perceived as the place where, more than the village, adherents can fulfill the true Muslim
life. It also acknowledges that with the advent and swift spread of Islam, Muslim created
settlements. The model is also a formless, irregular, and haphazard collection of quarters.
The outcome is an organic organization of the city's elements. According to this model,
winding streets and cul-de-sacs result from the absence of civil authority. Sauvaget, who
lamented the dissolution of the Hellenistic structure of Aleppo under Islamic control,
describes the "formlessness" of the Islamic city as emanating from a "law of anarchy." 61
The basic premise for the Islamic city's model is that Islam is an urban religion
because it envisioned a large and complex social community that only a city system could
handle. An examination of Islam's basic traits makes it evident that Islam is a religion of
urban people. The Prophet Mohammed was born and raised in the urban enclave of
Makkah, a highly developed religious and trade center, fifty miles inland off the western
coast of the Arabian peninsula. In discussing the model's reference to disordered
organization of the city's built elements and the meandering street network, Bonine alludes
to its pre-industrial technology and its hot climate. Given these two properties, the Islamic
city was rationally organized for its inhabitants. 62 The narrow road network provided
protection from the scorching sun and the densely-packed buildings increased shadowed
surfaces, hence maintaining cooler spaces.