This is a very common Ottoman mosque-complex layout with the mosque in the center and various social institutions around it. This is a specific arrangement its creators preferred over alternatives. But what lead them to prefer it?
The answer lies in getting a "feel of the ..
The answer lies in getting a "feel of the ..
.. land" of the mind of the specific society that gave birth to it. There is a wonderful analogy to architecture here.
Imagine you are in the courtyard of the mosque depicted above. Even if you don't have the plan like above, you would have the layout of the complex in your ..
Imagine you are in the courtyard of the mosque depicted above. Even if you don't have the plan like above, you would have the layout of the complex in your ..
.. mind, and as such, would be able to navigate it with ease. Because you have been to the complex many times, walked from one building to the other many times, a plan of the complex emerges in your mind in an instinctive manner.
We know that certain buildings are close to ..
We know that certain buildings are close to ..
.. each other, and we know that the mosque is in the center. For example, when we think of the bathhouse, we say to ourselves "the building towards the south-west corner of the mosque."
Concepts are also arranged in our minds in a similar fashion. We can speak about their closeness to each other or the centrality of some. For example, profit-making is central in the head of the entrepreneur- whenever he wants to understand (or express) another idea ..
.. (such as art) he first orients himself with a rough estimate of where this idea lies in relation to profit-making.
So then, to understand why Ottoman society produced this layout, which puts the mosque in the center, we need to understand that this relates to the layout of ..
So then, to understand why Ottoman society produced this layout, which puts the mosque in the center, we need to understand that this relates to the layout of ..
.. their minds.
But how can we speak about the layout of the mind *of a society*? Shouldn't we be speaking about the mind of individuals? Individuals have minds, not societies.
While this is true in the literal sense, we need to consider that the individual is like a bound ..
But how can we speak about the layout of the mind *of a society*? Shouldn't we be speaking about the mind of individuals? Individuals have minds, not societies.
While this is true in the literal sense, we need to consider that the individual is like a bound ..
.. variable. The individual, who emerges from a specific society, does not get to choose what he/she is to be from an infinite set of possibilities. Instead, the possibilities are bound, the set of possibilities is finite. The nature of this finiteness allows us to speak ..
.. about the mind of a society, its coloring. For example, an individual cannot become American in the Soviet Union- he/she needs America for that.
Returning to our initial question of the layout of the Ottoman mind, the layout of the complex itself actually reveals the ..
Returning to our initial question of the layout of the Ottoman mind, the layout of the complex itself actually reveals the ..
answer. The mosque, the building with the main purpose of worship, is at the center because the idea of worship is at the center of the Muslim mind. When an Ottoman individual asks him or herself, "what should I put in my grand social project," the idea of the mosque jumps ..
.. to him, it is impossible for him to overlook it. It is the elephant in the room. Even if the madrasah (which is presumably an institution of education) comes to his mind first, this concept cannot but bring to his mind worship and the mosque. This is like when we say "baby" ..
.. and the idea of "mother" immediately jumps to us. There is simply no escape from it.
And this situation, this mind-state, how does it emerge? How does it come to be?
The architectural analogy again helps us find the answer. Just as how the layout of the complex ..
And this situation, this mind-state, how does it emerge? How does it come to be?
The architectural analogy again helps us find the answer. Just as how the layout of the complex ..
.. emerges in our mind through our frequent use of it, living in it, this layout of the mind will emerge in our consciousness when we, from childhood, live a certain way. When we move around life (a movement that is metaphorical) a certain way, we will discover that ..
.. a certain mind-state has taken over us.
Is this a deterministic process? Are we, who have lived under the dicta of modern capitalist society forever barred from finding the same mind-state the Ottomans found which had worship at the center?
This process is ..
Is this a deterministic process? Are we, who have lived under the dicta of modern capitalist society forever barred from finding the same mind-state the Ottomans found which had worship at the center?
This process is ..
.. quasi-deterministic. While it bends individuals to its will (as I explained with the bound variable example) it also creates the possibility of freedom within it. The individuality of every individual necessitates that every now and then, especially among those who spend ..
.. the necessary effort, aberrations from the norm will occur. These aberrations are like fissures in the wall- if cultivated, and sufficiently codified (not necessarily in written fashions) eventually they will substitute their own "set of possibilities" (referring to the ..
.. example of the bounded variable above).
So, the goal of the Muslim scholar would then be to open a fissure in the wall- so that the emergence of an alternative "mind-state," "set of possibilities," paradigm, or whatever we call becomes possible.
Conceptualized like ..
So, the goal of the Muslim scholar would then be to open a fissure in the wall- so that the emergence of an alternative "mind-state," "set of possibilities," paradigm, or whatever we call becomes possible.
Conceptualized like ..
.. this, this task is a joint effort, possible only through an "ummatic" effort that draws power even from the grandfather who will never write down a single paragraph (ummî).
This is me trying to put down to text some ideas that have been floating around in my mind for a ..
This is me trying to put down to text some ideas that have been floating around in my mind for a ..
.. while. I draw from countless sources without acknowledging them (and familiar people might recognize them). I assume it might require actual dedication to make sense of what I wrote (partly because of the way I wrote, but partly because I believe the ideas are complex).
May Allah help us and show us the truth for what it is.
It might be that I emphasized scholarship too much here. The important thing is creating these aberrations (which is no other than being aberrant). Because of this, the grandfather I mentioned is perhaps in a more advantageous position because he doesn't expose himself to ..
.. things like Youtube or Twitter, as we do. Furthermore, the scholar in academia cannot himself be the aberration when it comes to commerce (unless he is also a merchant-type). He can only imagine it. So, conceptualized like this, this plan gives everyone something to do ..
.. which only they can do.
The emphasis on scholarship is only for one side of the coin, which is the "codification." A revolution that fails to routinize (normalize) fails at being a revolution.
The emphasis on scholarship is only for one side of the coin, which is the "codification." A revolution that fails to routinize (normalize) fails at being a revolution.
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