Why Mosques Look the Same

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The dome and the minaret have become the icons for mosques around the world. But you can find mosques in many different shapes and forms. So how did we get here? It all has to do with the conquest of a Christian stronghold and modern geopolitics.
Watch this video ad free at Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/thepresentpa...
00:00 - 01:09 - Do you know how a mosque looks?
01:09 - 02:28 - Can you draw a mosque?
02:28 - 02:53 - A place of prostration
02:53 - 03:46 - Minaret and dome as a symbol
03:46 - 06:49 - The Hagia Sofia Influenced Mosque Design
06:49 - 07:22 - That fuzzy feeling
07:22 - 08:01 - A new standard
08:01 - 14:38 - Modern Mosques
Research/Story/Edit: Jochem Boodt
Motion Graphics: Haris T & Jochem Boodt
Artwork: @hoogyoutube
Sources:
Hoteit, A. (2015). Contemporary architectural trends and their impact on the symbolic and spiritual function of the mosque. International Journal of Current Research.
Khan, H. (2008). Contemporary Mosque Architecture. Isim Review
Kishwar Rizvi - The Transnational Mosque. Architecture and Historical Memory in the Contemporary Middle East.
M Hattstein & P Delius (Eds. 2000), ‘Islam Art and Architecture’, Konemann.
Saqer Sqour - Influence of Hagia Sophia on the Construction
of Dome in Mosque Architecture
news.stanford.edu/2020/08/07/...
teachmideast.org/articles/a-l...
Hi there, my name is Jochem Boodt. I make the show The Present Past, where I show how the present has been influenced by the past. History, but connected to the present and fun!
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[@ThePresentPast_]

Comment for corrections: Dome of the Rock is actually not a mosque but a shrine. My bad!

[@ailediablo79]

Abasised and Ummayads where way more powerful incomprisen to the Ottomans. Also interms whom can win then first Caliphate still moreover regardless of technology.

[@novalarifin9703]

so does Taj Mahal, that is actually a mausoleum

[@ailediablo79]

@@novalarifin9703 yes it is Muslim.

[@novalarifin9703]

@@ailediablo79 u know mausoleum, right?

[@ailediablo79]

@@novalarifin9703 you mean Museum ?

[@nenenindonu]

Fun fact : Minaret architectures are actually much richer in diversity compared to actual Mosques. Ottoman, Mamluk, Abbasid, Seljuk, Timurid Minarets are just some of the many iconic structures

[@ThePresentPast_]

some beautiful examples around

[@thedstorm8922]

I like the Andalusian style its the best one by far

[@naisa9705]

@@thedstorm8922 it’s umayyad style obviously

[@AdamAzzr]

@@naisa9705 nah, omeyad style is like the omeyad mosque of damas which was an ancient byzantine church.

[@naisa9705]

@@AdamAzzr do you study architecture?? Also what you called moroccan architecture is also Umayyad architecture. Even architecture buildings in europe, genuinely speaking, they are highly inspired by Umayyad architecture

[@DevSarman]

The 'traditional' style of mosques in Indonesia/Maritime Southeast Asia are marked by having a distinct pyramid-shaped roof. A good example of these is the Great Mosque of Demak in Central Java province, along with mosques in more rural areas of both Minang and Banjar people as well.

[@tivo3720]

The pyramid shape roof !!! Is not it's from hindu - Buddhist history and architecture?!

[@XsimD]

Yes, exactly! Most mosques in Indonesia looked like the one in Demak up until the Dutch conquered Aceh. They destroyed its Grand Mosque, which looked like a traditional Indonesian mosque, and when they wanted to rebuilt it, the Dutch architects who were hired to design the new mosque used their own interpretation of what a mosque looks like, which was an amalgam of different Islamic styles. They combined Mughal domes with Ottoman minarets and Persian ornaments. After it was built, mosques in Indonesia slowly started to mimic the one in Aceh.

[@NateVDZ]

*The Malay archipelago. It's not just Indonesia, also Malaysia and the Philippines (though I'm not sure if there are still mosques left in the Philippines that were built in this traditional style)

[@ThePresentPast_]

Yeah it's something completely different!

[@Mrityormokshiya]

@@XsimD shouldn't matter, the Dutch colonisation consolidated Islam in the Malay archipelago, pushing non-Muslims further to the corner. Indonesian Muslims should be happy about this

[@kmmmsyr9883]

Another huge Turkish impact on Islamic community as a whole is its symbol. Many people consider crescent (sometimes with a star) to be the symbol of Islam. However, it has no religious roots. In fact, it is the symbol of Islam because Muslims around the world adopted the flag of the Ottomans, who were also caliphs, de jure leaders of the entire Sunni community. When you look at the flags of Muslim countries, you can see that countries that didn't want much to do with Ottomans don't have crescent on their flags. Arab countries except Tunis, Algeria and Libya don't have crescent on their flags, because they were founded by rebellion against Ottomans, while Tunis, Algeria and Libya has because they were taken by force from Ottomans by European colonists. Ottomans failed to conquer Morocco multiple times, it doesn't have crescent on its flag. Iran is a Shia country that fought Ottomans for centuries, again, it doesn't have crescent on its flag.

[@Zaid-vs2zz]

i dont want to take away from the turkish impact on the islamic community as it surely was immense. But the crescent was already in use by muslims before the ottomans were even founded at the end of the 13th century ad. Two examples are the flags of the mamluks and the kingdom of tlemcen. also, there are many modern islamic countries that were never part of the ottoman empire and still have a crescent in their flag like pakistan, mauritania or the maldives.

[@abedmarachli7345]

@Царят на мрака Not from the eastern Romans, but from the origin of the Turks from the Oghuz and the regions of northern China and Mongolia, even the Mongols, their symbol was the crescent, if the matter was mine, the symbol of Islam would be a circle.

[@naisa9705]

Not really. It is considered as architectural style (islamically speaking). Many star styles are used in islamic architecture. Even before the Ottomans, Crescent was also used in Andalusia. I don’t against our turkish brothers and sisters. We love you for the sake of Allah

[@naisa9705]

@@Zaid-vs2zz true. You can also find in andalus

[@naisa9705]

@@abedmarachli7345 that’s not true. The origion of that symbol is from Mesopotamia civilization. The byzantine, arabs, even persia have this symbol

[@nugzarmikeladze]

Mosque in Batumi, Georgia is an old building and never had a dome, but few years ago they added the golden dome.

[@burakahmettr8193]

nice

[@auliarifaldi1939]

There is an architecht in Indonesia that has a modern view on mosque architecture. His name is Ridwan Kamil. He designed many mosques across the country and some across the world. Examples of mosque designed by him are Asmaul Husna Tangerang, Al Irsyad Padalarang, and Al Safar 88 km. All of his mosques have design that completely artistic and modern yet have so many islamic value that conscripted through its architecture. The Al Safar one is a controversial one for the conservatists since it adopts so many triangles in its design that viewed as "illuminati". There's also an open debate between an islamic scholar and Ridwan Kamil about how mosque should be properly designed. Despite of that, he has build mosques everywhere. He is now governor of West Java and he is stil building mosques. Two mosques that is in his works right now. The one is Al Jabbar as a grand mosque for West Java (I personally love this mosque architecturally), and the most recent is Al Mumtadz as a tribute for his son who died in Switzerland while swimming. Really, you should see mosques designed by him. They're majestic!

[@bars2225]

thank you !

[@nizarb.arsantaka2740]

Just checked them out, super cool imo.

[@xXxSkyViperxXx]

they look like art deco museums

[@Zibonnn]

I Googled the mosques you mentioned. All three of them look phenomenal! Whatever you do, there will always be backlash, especially on religious issues. I applaud him for his courage to take a new approach to Mosque designs. His works are not just a mosque that looks like 9999 other mosques in the world, each of them is a piece of art!

[@dvmas]

@@Zibonnn more like 99999

[@adamjones7538]

Bro very nice and respectful video. As a Muslim i love the way you spoke with no stereotypical or satire comments about mosques or Muslims.

[@antonio0apv]

Nice video, but there's a minor mistake at the beginning: the Dome of the Rock is not a mosque, the mosque of the area is the Al-aqsa, which is useful as an example of a non ottoman mosque.

[@ThePresentPast_]

woops, thanks for point that out.

[@antonio0apv]

@@ThePresentPast_ I'm happy to help, I think I was not successful in my wording and it ended up sounding a bit assholeish, specially because the extremely minor error didn't defeat the point you were making. Anyway the dome of the rock is a fascinating building, one that symbolizes identity politics for a community trying to figure out what they were and were not. The history of aesthetics of early and ummayad islam is fascinating, both an affirmation and a confrontation of ten prevalent roman/christian aesthetics of power. That dialog went on for some time, specially in ummayad spain where the mihrab was decorated by roman artists with roman material sent all the way from Constantinople as a consequence of geopolitics. You might have loads of fun researching that for a future video, let me know if I can help. And of course congratulations for the channel, I am a massive fan 💜

[@mimimusa757]

The dome of the rock is and al masjid al qibili and al masjid al marwani are alqsa mosque the whole area is called al aqsa mosque .

[@mightykimo]

The picture was for Dome of the Rock mosque.. It was built during Ummayed era in the seventh century by Abdul malik ibn marwan.. It is a mosque and people did and still do pray there.. It is still different from the Aqsa mosque..

[@YTLSF]

The Taj Mahal is however not in any way in the Ottoman style, it is Mughal style, with strong Safavid inspiration

[@OshinAttari]

Taj Mahal Built by Persians for A Persian Woman

[@infinityxtanishq8712]

@@OshinAttari not really, no

[@OshinAttari]

@@infinityxtanishq8712 Taj Mahal Built By "Ostad Ahmed Lahori" Who Was Persian From Afghanistan and Taj Mahal has Built For Shah Jahan Wife " Mumtaz Mahal" who was Iranian

[@wyqtor]

In Morocco the minarets are all square towers. Even the bell tower of the Cathedral of Sevilla, called La Giralda, started off as one.

[@antoniousai1989]

Even the towers in the Alhambra palace are like that. Or better, the towers built before the Reconquista are like that. Cause some circular towers were added later by the Spaniards

[@bless00]

Almohads and Amoravids built those amazing mosques in Andalous which they became churches ... just llike the ones they built in Marrakesh and Meknes...

[@h.p.734]

You are my go to history trivia channel now. It's honestly unbelievable how such a new channel has got this much "professional" content presentation. I really love your videos man!

[@ThePresentPast_]

appreciate it man!

[@thefuryofthedragon8715]

@@ThePresentPast_ Bro Ottomans arent thte biggestt islamic empire, the Umayyads are, think before you speak. Also Islamic architecture is mainly Persian influencedd not ottoman, even the Muqarnases which are in the "pencil minarets" are from the Persians and so are the domes.

[@originalsusser]

@thefuryofthedragon8715 Well, your version of this history goes against EVERY historical reference regarding this subject I've ever heard... you may be right, but I wouldn't bet any money on you being so

[@berdigylychrejepbayev7503]

ottomans might be strongest islamic empire since they lived more than abbasid and umayyads combined. but I think greatest was abbasids since science was developed at those times. but military might of ottomans were unparalleled for centuries on earth and sea. and second domes arent from persians. persians were not only nation to use domes in their designs. @@thefuryofthedragon8715

[@miliba]

Many Chinese mosques have the same architectural exterior design as other traditional Chinese buildings. Ive been to the mosque in Beijing and have seen many more in Yunnan

[@aysenur6761]

Hi Jochem! Just wanted to say that you spoke in a good amount of nuance in a relatively short amount of time, so great job! I'm a uni student who volunteers in the Süleymaniye Mosque every week. I got the opportunity to talk about the mosque, Islam, and Turkish culture with many visitors from all over the world. Just yesterday I enjoyed talking like 2 hours with a Czech guy who lived 10 years in China and we also had this exact same topic. We compared the pictures we took from mosques in China and Istanbul and other places and it's pretty interesting to come across to your video after that discourse. You had a sub my friend👍 And if you visit Istanbul again, I hope I can come across you in Süleymaniye!

[@ThePresentPast_]

That is great to hear!

[@makotopark7741]

Check out mosque architecture in Indonesia. They range from classical domes to impressive contemporary, futuristic designs. Southern Philippines have adapted some mosque designs such as pagoda style.

[@mendelopdenorth5263]

What a great video once again! I’ve been subscribed for a couple of weeks now, and I’ve liked all your videos, but somehow this one jumped out to be me as having particularly high production value. The street interviews, the animations, the facts and the narrative are all top notch. But above all, I think, for lack of a better word, your ‘vibe’ is just outstanding. It’s genuine, curious, humble, attentive and understanding. I feel like you explain enough for everything to be clear, but not so much as to be over-explaining. In other words: I feel like you take your audience seriously, and don’t talk down to them. You expect us to pay attention, to already know something about the world, and to be curious as well. I think that allows you to make videos that are challenging and interesting, without being snobby or overly pretentious. Keep up the good work!

[@Journal_Haris]

I was a fan before watching this...now I'm an entire AC unit 💯 Really unique and less talked about topic that definitely needed some light shed on. Keep it up Jochem

[@ThePresentPast_]

Hahaha I'm gonna steal that line

[@abaan8911]

Very Haris moment

[@kriswibowo7408]

In Java, Indonesia the oldest Mosque architect was assimilated and acculturated with traditional Java architecture influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism. especially in Kudus, Central Java they built Minaret looks like Hinduism Temple

[@Byepixle]

Great video, I also like that you're a curiosity stream partner now. Usually I see that being advertised by other, bigger educational creators like Tom Nicholas, LegalEagle,ReallifeLore etc. Glad to see you establish yourself in such a group of high quality content creators.

[@hpsauce1078]

You could argue the same for the typical gothic style of church however, I visited china and Japan before and was quite bemused to see protestant churches which were relatively common built to look like they had been plucked directly out of the English or German countryside, sitting smack dab in the middle of a brutalist megalopolis, it was very strange to see, especially given they had the visual trappings of a European structure but abstracted from the reasons such architectural choices were made, for example the steeple was usually just a long thin concrete box placed on top of a wide flat concrete box and then plastered to look like it was medieval, I would have loved to see more ambitious cultural translations rather than just shallow copying. My favourite religious structures I saw whilst in Asia were instances where Christian churches had been reformatted to conform to the local vernacular religious style, where they followed the traditional construction aesthetic of a typically Chinese or Japanese temple buildings, using dogong and wood with hipped roofs etc, but the actual plan of the building still followed a Christian format with a nave, narthex and whatnot. This style of construction is more common in South Korea, a great example is the Dojae Catholic Church, sadly this way of doing things is still in the vast minority, most Christian religious structures in Asia are still built in a very overtly shallow western style. When you travel, you want to feel like you've actually gone somewhere, so seeing carbon copies of things that you can easily find back home is always a bit of a let down.

[@AlbertAdamsLincoln]

But you know unique western-style building in eastern nation could be a good tourist place for local people. There's several churchs in Taiwan are famous tourism place because of it.

[@itsdavidmora]

Brilliant use of one very visual item to weave together history! I also really appreciate you highlighting the cultural exchange - not just clash - between religions and cultures.

[@ThePresentPast_]

thanks man :)

[@sRazor96]

@@ThePresentPast_ "cultural exchange" is a funny way of covering up genocide and hundreds of years of oppression.

[@fafddzfaf]

Highly recommend going to the Islamic Art Museum in Kuala Lumpur. They have an incredible collection of miniature versions of famous mosques all around the world throughout history. You'd see a very diverse range of architecture details and philosophies, not just the "onion" dome. For example, a Chinese mosque adapted traditional Chinese courtyard designs into the praying area of the mosque. Those miniature models attempt to be as faithful to the real things as possible, with very intricate details. They also explain the meaning of each detail and how it was developed in the first place. You'd be able to see some back and forth architectural influences among the mosques from all around the world over time.

[@rajeshsoundararajan]

I visited KL recently and we were planning to go here... But we couldn't find the entrance to the museum. We tried asking around but nobody seemed to know or nobody spoke English.

[@wes4736]

Byzantine Christians like to model churches after Hagia Sophia as well. The Cathedral of Philadelphia, my metropolitan center, is an example.

[@arolemaprarath6615]

Is Philadelphia a Greek city?

[@wes4736]

@@arolemaprarath6615 - nah, it's in Pennsylvania.

[@arolemaprarath6615]

@@wes4736 did you mean transylvania? Is the Dracula castle there too?

[@wes4736]

@@arolemaprarath6615 - no, I mean Philadelphia. Liberty bell, cheese steaks, that city 😅. Lots of Ukrainian Catholics in Pennsylvania, so the Cathedrals there in the City. It's the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, if you search for pictures you'll definitely be able to see Hagia Sophia's influence.

[@arolemaprarath6615]

@@wes4736 wow 👌 That seems interesting. I want to go to this mysterious pensilvania place 😍

[@mukhtar__]

love your style of videos, dude! keep up the amazing work

[@IMPERIALYT]

Great video man! Love the topic!

[@goodfortune4317]

2:51 the tower does not have a Big Ben vibes. It is inspired from the Ummayed style minarets. It was 1300 years before the Big Ben was even built.

[@ihab_7]

Moorish architecture original to morocco

[@ar.ardilla]

If you had been my history teacher I would have gotten a novel or something already! I love how you started with architecture went through politics, religion and still included the view of a bystander in a video full of information with some funny remarks.

[@fireislow7270]

I'm so glad to find your channel. Its nice to finally find a youtube channel that has a similar perspective and approach to what history should be treated like and what kind of ideas can be worth pulling from it. "KZbin history" always seems to be plagued with the typical prideful "epic" story telling, superficial dramatization, or immersion in political narratives. Its mildly frustrating when so many people seem to have their entire perspective of history built from these types of media.

[@TanvirKlion]

This channel is a gem. Thanks for the analysis. I enjoyed a lot and will look forward to your next content.

[@Fallacia_Uplifting]

Traditional Islamic architecture (mosques) is very diverse, like the Sudanosahelian in West Africa, the Maghrebi & Moorish in N.W. Africa, the classical Arabic, the Ottoman, the Persian-Central Asian and Central Asian-Indian (mungul architecture) and at the end the Omani, Yemeni and Swahili architectures that are so alike (+ Somali).

[@upamast]

Loving your channel! Makes learning history so much fun.

[@richardwilson88]

Subscribed after your Johnny Harris vid, knew your research/edit/presenting skills were great, but this video is next level! So interesting, so professional. Super keen if you choose to do a deep dive into history through an architectural lens.

[@alichahin]

Calling the well known type of Moroccan mosque minaret, that has been prevalent in the country for centuries, as having Big Ben style completely missing the chance to mention that Morocco has never been occupied by the Ottomans and has had its own separate and different architecture.

[@EFU127]

Oh man! The tiny puns, the background music, the animation where should I start?? This is SOOO BRILLIANT! I think this could be my new favourite episode of yours~~ also learned SO incredibly much from this episode already and I'm only 5mins in xD

[@amineamoune678]

Great video man!

[@osamintv6135]

I love the Moroccan mosque style

[@Ahmed-ef3bg]

Building a mosque is considered the best of sadaqa jariya (charity and deeds that will continue after you die) I.e the rewards one recives in the after life for every prayer done inside. Not only politicians but there are also wealthy individuals who develop a lot of them world wide. It isn't just a turkish drive its quite every islamic. In the US you can find a lot of communities that are Somali Bosnian/ Afghani mosques that aren't very turkish inspired and more prevalent. They're just noticed more in Europe I think.

[@ammarahsan2157]

There are many styles of mosque, many mosques look completely different from Turkish-style mosques. Every style has its own charm.

[@thorerik4279]

Hope you can read this: Actually, you are a bit mistaken here. Its not just because og haghia sophia. And to point out haghia sophia was never built with minarets it a completely later addition* But you can see dome be prevalent even before, and one of the many reasons is because the sound. You see in the old days, you didnt have loud speakers and microphones. The dome helps with sound tranfering more easily through the mosque, from iman to those present in the mosque. I would say that was the main feature. And minar the pencil style was never there before ottoman conquest. It was added in 15th -16th century by no other than ottomans. So minar its there from very beginning because og sound transfer, you needed a higher place to stand and call muslims to prayer. You would see domes from arab/indian built before ottoman empire where more like a bigger dome that bent innwards. So more a full dome that was prevalent, but not half dome. So if its specially half dome you are referring too then yes you are rigth but not any dome. The more full dome than bend innwards is prevalent much before and thats why muslims assosiate every mosque with a dome. But again acoustics are really important here for dome just distributes sound more even throughout the building and that why its was something prevalent from quuite eraly in islamic empires. Ottoman came much later. Ottomans did invent the pencil minar but its not the only one it exists and, you can again. see mosques with minar in a maybe dome on top. But here a weather plays a big part its gets much more colder and you also start to see mosques more closed in a sense because the weather also comes into play, it becomes more colder, and the mosque building need to retain heat, rather than desipate, which was the case in more hotter arab areas, and minaret had a more open roof. Unlike ottoman pencil ones who needed to be closed bacause of weather and rain .... Faisal mosque totally different its more a modern arquitecture, and sound acousticts are not that important with modern technology, otherwise that would be horrible, in terms of sound. Now you would say that there are mosques without dome from old days. Of cource that there are, but Im referring to mosques ment for bigger audiances of people, in many thounsands. And built by good funding from king and khalifas so it maked only sense that it would go for the dome route. Islam was spread not just by conquest but trade was a major part (indonesia, mali zanzibar etc..) to thats why when traders went to some place and maybe some people converted the would simply make/buy a building and form that into a mosque so thats why you see many old mosques is local style. but when people traveled to mecca for piligramage and islam was more bigger in that area they would build mosque resembled more the mosques at the time. To sum it up dome its prevalent in mosques before ottomans, because of mainly sound acoustics which is important for bigger mosques. The dome distributes sound more evenly throughout the building But half dome can I agree that might be influenced by hagia sophia, but not pencil minar. Its was never a part of hagia sophia but an later addition. I understand that its easy to make mistakes but appreciate that you tryed to make a video in topic that its not easy but hope it clarifies somewhat. And the important thing is that we learn.

[@lambert801]

There were many mistakes in the video as you pointed out. Another thing that bothered me was how the author hugely overestimates the influence of Ottoman architecture. Ottoman architecture was only confined to the borders of the Ottoman Empire. Architecture to the east of the Ottoman Empire-anywhere from Iraq to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to Bangladesh-was based on Persian architecture, and had little to no Ottoman architectural influence. Southeast Asians had their own mosques built based on Buddhist architecture. North African architecture took little influence from the Ottomans. And on my own personal opinion is that most people around the world would associate mosques with those iconic onion shaped domes (except maybe in Europe which mosques are usually based on Ottoman architecture) which are a signature of Persian-style architecture, simply because most historical mosques around the Islamic world were built in that style.

[@Sandouras]

Are you actually denying that all these mosques are copies of the Hagia Sophia?

[@greekbuddha2131]

Hopefully one day we can get our Church back one day.

[@EFU127]

1min in and I'm overly excited for this episode!!! Soooo many amazing shots of Istanbul btw

[@ZimConstantine]

This youtube channel is a hidden gem! I just checked this video out of curiosity, thought I'd skip it in a few minutes, but I really enjoyed watching this, so much so it felt like a 2 minutes video. I'm subscribed.

[@harryli5979]

Very insightful and well made video

[@DanielSann]

4:00 I think that's misleading. The Ottoman empire ruled over Budapest for 150 years, Algiers and Mecca for 300 years. Anyway great video.

[@Yasin07091]

Very unique. In Bangladesh our mosques are usually box shaped with multiple gates instead of one large gate. Dome and minarets are more inspired by Mughal architecture than Ottoman but recent mosques are more modernised with no dome or minarets.

[@nevermindname8741]

Mughals were in contact with Ottomans a lot

[@YouKnowMe0666]

@@nevermindname8741 when and which period.

[@invoker7826]

@@YouKnowMe0666 Babur had Ottoman engineers during his conquest of India

[@YouKnowMe0666]

@@invoker7826 😂😂😂 so can you give some proof of your information.

[@ASZG0]

A very informative and helpful video !! Tanks

[@albaihaqi4871]

You need to check mosque in Indonesia, it generally follows local architecture or modern contemporary architecture. Ottoman architecture is very rare here.

[@ambertapping7919]

Hey firstly just want to say I'm really enjoying this channel! You have a really calm yet engaging presentation style and your videos are clearly well researched and nuanced. Also really cool to see you ended up collaborating with Jonny Harris- I'm off to watch that video next! I wonder if I may offer some constructive feedback on 2 points, just from a viewers perspective? 1. You don't need the memes- your content is entertaining and engaging enough. It feels a little incongruous with the measured but witty dialogue and so throws off the momentum of the video somewhat. 2. I personally would prefer a clearer demarcation between the educational content and the sponsored portion of the video. Totally understand that you need to get paid! But I think it would enhance your credibility as an educator if you were to avoid segues like 'you know what else is interesting? Today's sponsor!' etc in favour of something clear and honest like 'The work of this channel wouldn't be possible without funding from today's sponsor...' Even better if it's visually distinct too- different framing/location/lighting or even just a different angle would make it feel less influencer-y. That may not bother you at all but I personally feel it's best practice particularly with educational content as your voice carries authority. I hope this doesn't come across as rude or patronising 😬! Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to seeing what you create next.

[@19382q]

This is why you don't have an engaging KZbin channel

[@ThePresentPast_]

Thanks for the nuanced critique! I'm still developing my style and sponsor messages. I like memes tho :)

[@hanafikamsin3706]

In Malacca, Malaysia, the masjid shape have influenced by chinese merchant dated from 15 century

[@alpmogulkoc9148]

That was quite interesting. Thanks for the new information.

[@mouaragon2774]

Beautiful video! It's great to learn about different cultures and religions

[@Egilhelmson]

I might point out that the mosque that you seem to display most is the Roman Emperor Justinian The Great’s Cathedral of Holy Wisdom (or Hagia Sophia, in Greek). All that the Turks did was build the minarets at the corners and claim it to be converted to a mosque by painting over the Roman frescos.

[@Zaid-vs2zz]

Wrong. The body of the mosquee was expanded greately (and the minarets were added of course as you mentioned already), as well as the dome entirely rebuilt. the only thing that remained of the original hagia sofia is the large hall at the center and a few blocks surroundinig that hall.

[@I0H0II0H0I]

Finally something I can really chip in on (did some papers on Ottoman architecture in Uni). If you want a comprehensive book on Ottoman architecture, I would suggest Doggan Kuban's Ottoman Architecture. The narrative that all Classical mosques are a copy of Haghia Sophia is not entirely wrong but for a different reason than you might think and in general way to rough of a cut - do you consider all Western-christian churches to be copies of the Roman Basilica because that's their origin - the best example of this being the Aula Palatina in Trier which is literally an old Basilica. Pragmatic as they were, the Ottomans just enrolled many different Rumeli ('people of Roman descent' basically the whole of the Balkan) craftsmen who very often referred back to their own culture - even Mimar Sinan is actually a devshirme - a Rumeli (non Turk) enrolled into the Ottoman military and or administration. A scaled down version, but with (nearly) the exact same floorplan is known to have existed in Athens and been built at least 50 years before the Süleymaniye and designed by a Greek. Besides that domed architecture was already pretty popular among the Seljuks, which were the persian overlords of the pre-Ottoman Anatolian Turks until their empire collapsed. Before they became this mastodont of a state another typology was much more prevalent than the equi-rectangular ulu-cami's you present as the now dominant typology (which is not really true): the Zaviye or Imaret (served a somewhat similar public as modern day homeless shelters provided, while also serving as a place of worship). Many of these buildings still exist. Then on the real point of this video: The Ottoman Classical Ulu-cami as the prototype of all contemporary mosques. This is hardly true. Most camis are relatively small covered spaces owned and manage by local communities in anonymous looking buildings. Although their is something to be said for Islam as a (political) unifying force for Muslims all over the world who feel disenfranchised and that their are state actor that want to use this to their advantage, tend to use certain references. The same can be said for nearly any category of buildings though. Houses of democracies more often than not refer to Greek Temples and cathedrals have Latin plans. Do we have to worry about the Greeks and Romans having had excessively exported their for-long culture during the Renessaince? The real problem is not that the Turks are exporting their culture, but that government in all these countries the Turkish (but also Saudi's and Emirates) are financing the construction of mosques are failing to emancipate their local Muslim communities and create the propper funding and taxation frameworks as they have in place for other religions. If we are worried that the Turks are building mosques in Turkmenistan, maybe we should start funding the construction of libraries and school or create opportunities for people of these countries to come study and live in our countries. Instead we've been reducing foreign aid and are ever more tightening the flow of emigration. Even worse we, are still, making geopolitical blunder after blunder in dealing with the Middle East, completely distabelzing the region to the point that it is very hard to blame the average Muslim living in the broader region to look at the West with disdain. We should not blame other states for taking advantage of the (collective) failing by Western states to exert soft (or hard) power abroad and integrate foreigners. This is much more on us than on Erdohan.

[@TheMagicJIZZ]

The Haghia Sophia as you called it originally was a pagan temple to Juno before a Church or mosque. It's domes come from the Roman pagan faith

[@furkankaya2144]

Selcuks are not persian

[@nevermindname8741]

Sinan is actually a Karamani orthodox Turk 👌( a Turk, not Roman).

[@Polo-rn8ly]

@@nevermindname8741 yok. Devişirme olduğu kesin bilinen biri. Türk değil.

[@nevermindname8741]

@@Polo-rn8ly üzerine ciddi çalışmalar yapılmış. Devşirme evet ama Hristiyan Türk yani karamanlı Türk. Devşirme olduğu kesin bilgi. Kanıtlar da Karamanlı Türk olduğunu işaret ediyor.

[@SubAnima]

Cool video Jochem!!

[@mryuk1621]

egypt have several mosques that are older than ottman empire ever existed and they had domes amr ibn el aas , el refaay , sultan hassan mosque and school

[@kazakhdoge1822]

Btw, you might want to look at how Tatar mosques look like cause their architecture is very different from Middle Eastern ones.

[@nikolasmacedonites917]

Tatar onion domes where pesumably influenced by the Persian ones that were prevelent in central asia and the caucasus at the time.

[@OshinAttari]

Central Asia Mosques are Persian method

[@thedstorm8922]

Central Asia: Persian style North Africa: Andalusian style East Asia: mughal style Europe: Ottoman style Sub Saharan African: Malian style The ME: Fatimid+Umayyad+Abbasid style South east Asia adopted their own style

[@mehmetsahsert3284]

It is indeed interesting how a orthodox Greek church cathedral influenced the public images of mosques all around the world and became the most popular type of architecture when it comes to making mosques

[@pomeoxfl]

Yep, because Turks/Ottomans seized seized the biggest and the most significant Greek churches. In any imaginary world they'd captured Latin/Gothic, we'd probably have spires and pointed arches.

[@mehmetsahsert3284]

yeah that would be funny western roman style mosques haha. truly facinating the history and how one even majorly effects the way we build things for hundreds of years to come @@pomeoxfl

[@kalai_doscope]

Cool video mate

[@CGMediaproductions]

Thank you for this amazing explanation. I applaud you!

[@keremdelialioglu2197]

Fun fact, it's quite likely that even the star and crescent (☪) as a symbol was adopted by the Ottomans from the Byzantines. Mehmed II didn't just conquer Rome, he saw his state *as* Rome, and the change in iconography and adoption of the 🇹🇷 corrolates to this change in self-identity.

[@husted5488]

Didn’t the Mamlukes use the crescent before 1453 tho?

[@Forlfir]

@@husted5488 it's an ancient symbol, not muslim or christian

[@Handle0108]

@@husted5488 Mamluks were also Turks, and the Crescent is an ancient Turkic symbol that predates Islam.

[@Forlfir]

@@Handle0108 it's not a turkish symbol either lol

[@Handle0108]

@@Forlfir you’re right, well, then the mamluks probably used it because it was a popular symbol across the Middle East which even the Byzantines used, and the Byzantines did control Egypt.

[@ferirahmatchandrapiliang5333]

I am glad that someone can debunk one of the features of this religion because mosques are places of worship for many Muslims. However, suppose the intention is to describe only the face of modern mosques, similar to the Turkish description of mosques; in that case, it seems to be missing the more significant part of it. It is of what is the actual mosque. I understood that the Ottoman Empire influenced how modern Europeans and First World perceive Islam and Mosque architecture, considering how intense the Ottoman Empire was and their political ties with them. Later, the Turkish Republic struggles to define itself in the nation-building process as the remnants of the Ottoman Empire and the diaspora of the Turkish population around the globe. Since we are talking about this title there, "Why All Mosques Look the Same?", then the description in the video did not answer directly to the question. I applaud the explanation of how the Ottomans got their mosque style, almost copied from orthodox Christian churches in Constantinople then. Then, the cause went further to describe the intense works of the Ottomans and, later, the Turkish Republic defining their national identity as an important Islamic civilisation. Due to this national identity through immigration and foreign affairs, they "exported" the concept of Turkish mosques to many parts of the world. I did not want to exclude the crucial historical moments in how the Ottoman Empire shaped the Islamic civilisation nowadays, considering thousands of years of their influences in the past and now in the future for the world. However, let us see the bigger picture. There are many parts of the Muslim world where the mighty influences of the Ottomans for centuries were almost non-existent. Such places exist in Southeast Asia, the Far East, and many parts of Africa. For centuries Islamic and mosque architecture in Southeast Asia mimicked the local architecture, particularly in how local Hindus and Buddhists perceived places of worship. The Great Kudus Mosque, for example, strikingly combined two different types of architecture: the Javanese Hindu temple and, much later, added dome and minarets. However, there are also local mosques in Java that employ only terraced roofs than domes. These mosques are Banten's Great Mosques and the Royal Kauman Mosque in Yogyakarta. In Sumatra and the Malay world, mosque architecture adapted to the local Minangkabau and Malay architecture with distinctive walls and roofs. This style also spreads to nearby Malay worlds, such as Malaysia and Southern Thailand. Again, this video does gives the audience an understanding of how Ottoman Islamic architecture spreads across the globe, but with the current title, it does not entirely represent the whole description of it. Nevertheless, you did a fantastic job, and I want to see more videos with this strong and powerful messages like this. Thank you.

[@sosigking6358]

Bro, with your production quality, I would expect 930k subs, not 93k. Great vid. You earned another sub. Hoping you reach 1 mil soon

[@slymnkeles]

Great video! Another bit of trivia to add about minarets is the number of them also mattered. You can see all the big mosques being built today can have 4 to 6 minarets. But earlier only the mosques commissioned by the sultan had the privilege to be built with up to 4 minarets. And these mosques had the be inside the capital Istanbul

[@REOsama]

To be honest I don't like the dome-minaret design, it is so uniform and typical by now that it no longer holds any aesthetic value for me. I much prefer the older more creative designs with the open big yard in the middle and a wider, shorter square minaret. Like my favorite, The Omayyad Mosque.

[@putra4101]

I don't have time to draw, but I had time to smoke a weed, what a Dutch culture indeed

[@wassimulator]

Stumbled upon your Johnny Harris video and I can’t stop watching your work. Fantastic! I appreciate the research and effort you put into this.

[@ThePresentPast_]

Great to hear mate!

[@mahmudmarsudi4430]

You should see indigenous mosque of Indonesia and Malaysia

[@ilyasbouriaz1767]

the Hassane 2 mosque is build without a dome not because it is modern. But because is the moroccan style of building a mosque. You can see it in evry city in morocco.

[@ilyasbouriaz1767]

@𒂢 the style do not exist any other place except Morocco.

[@ilyasbouriaz1767]

@𒂢 It existe in Spain because of the moroccans. The style in algeria and tunisian is different from the moroccan style.

[@ilyasbouriaz1767]

@𒂢 exactly pre Islamic architecture is what caused the difference because it was differente. Roman-cartagian was different from numidian and was different from mauritanian.

[@danuegamuhammad6865]

A mosque was built in a school in Padang, indonesia. It was a nice modern minimalist style building with no dome. After a while, the parents protested the design, and said that mosque should have dome to be a real mosque, so they just stick metal dome to the flat concrete roof.

[@lotbrouwer6314]

Leuke video, Jochem! Ik moest erg lachen om de foto's nadat je vroeg wat jij op je 21e deed, want dit is ook precies waar mijn hoofd naartoe ging - "Oh, ik weet dat wel hoor" :') Weet me te vinden als je ooit wat meer wil doen met interreligieuze uitwisseling. Ik denk zelf namelijk dat je niet helemaal kunt stellen dat de Bijbel hiervan een voorbeeld is, maar er zijn talloze andere, super interessante voorbeelden! Zeker een onderwerp dat meer besproken mag (moet!) worden.

[@ThePresentPast_]

Haha ja dat waren mooie tijden ^^ mocht ik binnenkort weer een reli onderwerp maken weet ik je te vinden! Zag dat je je ook voor de lijst had aangemeld, vet leuk!

[@flazo9152]

interseting video! my personal favourite mosque design is the ' Faisal Masjid ' in Islamabad, Pakistan. It does not consist of a regular dome; instead a unique pyramidal dome surrounded by four towering minarets. The white concrete shell it is made up of really ties it all together. And yes, the mosque is equally beautiful from the inside!

[@manetho5134]

Domes and Minarets predate the Ottomans, look at Mamluk Mosques in Cairo they have large domes and minarets with outstanding intricacy and details

[@zevginsberg7535]

To be frank I was a little bothered by your including that interaction with the guy smoking weed. Seemed a little mean to include that; he obviously didn’t want to filmed from what we could see.

[@____-pb1lg]

Yeah like stop the passing agressiveness

[@wouldyoureturntomonke2452]

Hello, I think you need to improve your sound quality production. For example, make the volume more consistent. Anyway, your channel is great and going in the right direction.

[@MuratAsl00]

For me, this was the best recommendation from KZbin! Love your Video

[@eva9996]

Surprisingly the mosque in Ljubljana doesn't have the domed roof, just a minaret tower.

[@ThePresentPast_]

Interesting!

[@abcdefg91111]

If you go to Spain and Morocco you can see how the mosques have got this Moorish style, but the more east you go to nations like: Algeria, Tunisia, etc (regions that have fallen under Ottoman rule) You'll see more of the Ottoman style. Its interesting how it transistions, eventhough the nations arent that far apart from each other

[@shrekwithawillsmithface465]

its actually called the moorish-andalusian style not the arab style

[@__Man__]

It's Maghrebi-style mosque, real Arabic-style was cubical, no dome at all. The real one was like during the Prophet PBUH era. Now, mosques in Muslim countries are either dominated by Maghrebi-style, Ottoman-Byzantine style, Indo-Persian style or South East Asian archipelago local style. The last one is contemporary style, although it doesn't belong to the traditional styles

[@abcdefg91111]

@@shrekwithawillsmithface465 ty for correcting

[@sakurakou2009]

@@shrekwithawillsmithface465 true the masjid nabawi prophat mohammed s.a masjid didnt have dome originally

[@bracco23]

Great video!

[@geronimolaffitte3254]

Great vídeo! Love your style and how you speak. Don't you Buy a microphone with the logo of the channel? Regards from argentina

[@ThePresentPast_]

i did! Hadn't arrived yet for this video

[@thekraken1173]

Cool video, your pronounciations are actually very good. Best I have seen from a Foreigner. Greetings from Turkey 🇹🇷. Edit: Also your knowledge of Turkish politics and information about tensions between Secularists and Islamists is very accurate.

[@mefromad]

The video title is not correct.. it should be ottoman style of mosques … because manarat and domes are there before the ottomans.. check the Umayyad mosque in Syria it has a manarat and doom this mosque was built in 715 . 2nd example Al aqsa mosque and the doom of the rock … and they are more and more in Iraq Syria and Egypt.. you need to do more research 🧐

[@lennard3993]

8:06 the switch: "why do we have so many modern mosques" this man calmy enriching us with other information based of facts.

[@lennard3993]

-(based of off facts)- based on facts*

[@johansjournal]

love ur videos hehe

[@nenenindonu]

While pretty much all mosque architectures have some degree of a Mesopotamian influence the Ottomans based most of their styling on the Roman model which ended up becoming the very stereotype of mosques around the world

[@arolemaprarath6615]

Byzantine Greek architecture * Even Roman architecture are based on the Greek architecture

[@jupiterbirlesikgezegenleri9884]

@@arolemaprarath6615 actually chinese architecture is also thanks to greeks

[@lambert801]

By Roman you mean Byzantine, and Byzantine architecture had a lot of influence from Persian and Parthian architectures which themselves were heavily influenced by Mesopotamian architecture. And Ottoman architecture isn't solely based on Byzantine architecture-it also has strong Persian influences.

[@Polo-rn8ly]

@@jupiterbirlesikgezegenleri9884 alakası bile yok. Yunan tarihi Hollywood da yeterince pohpohlanıyor zaten. Gerek yok böyle iddialara

[@jupiterbirlesikgezegenleri9884]

@@Polo-rn8ly adamla dalga geçiyorum zaten

[@Omer1996E.C]

We are proud of our heritage. Ottoman empire is an Islamic pride, and as an ethiopian Muslim, I want to tell you that modern mosques are a great thing, but traditional mosques are still, the best, and here, in ethiopia, we are planning to build the largest mosque in ethiopia, and it is planned to be in turkish style. Life long islamic TURKIYE

[@arolemaprarath6615]

Ur originally Christian Ur a Muslim because the Arabs tried to invade your Axum. Islam began with invasion of the your Arab prophet who is in regard heretic in Christianity.

[@Omer1996E.C]

@@arolemaprarath6615 lol. Even in ethiopian history books, it is taught that Muslims entered ethiopia in peace. Then it was the Christian highland kingdom which tried to annex Muslim lowlands (afar and Somalia), and the first major Christian-Muslim war started in ethiopia, with Christians trying to get control of the major ports of the horn of Africa

[@TheBlackRock-]

Great video🎉

[@imperiumgraecum9126]

Ottoman: "can I copy your homework?" Byzantium: "sure just change it a bit so it doesn't look obvious" Ottoman: "ok..."

[@musikan1218]

I am a Turkish guy from Istanbul and I can tell you that you described the case better than I ever could :) A very informative and well prepared video. Thank you!

[@premodernist_history]

I wonder if part of this is due to Western cultural expectations that have been exported to the rest of the world. The stereotypical images of the mosque we see at the beginning of the video derive from Western movies and cartoons from the early and mid 20th century, which come from Ottoman styles. Europeans were far more aware of the Ottoman world than the rest of the Muslim world due to 19th-century European tourism. You note the power of the Ottomans, but the Mughals were arguably a more powerful empire. But the Mughals did not have as much impact on the European imagination. I'm glad to hear someone noting the continuity between the Byzantines and Ottomans. That is definitely underappreciated in modern perceptions of the Middle Ages.

[@euroschmau]

Great video, I love Islamic architecture. The Hagia Sophia is one of my favorite buildings, but it too was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. It's incredible to think how one building inspired architects for almost 2000 years and places as diverse as India to the USA; even Tsinghua University in Beijing copied the Pantheon.

[@yavuzselimkaraoglu3168]

I would suggest you to check architect Sinan, He built amazing masterpieces. Greetings from Istanbul. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimar_Sinan

[@qefewfwdcwdc]

the hagia sophia and domes are not islamic aritecture.

[@user-xv9rf2ll3m]

@@qefewfwdcwdc domes existed in Islamic Architecture even before Ottomans...

[@qefewfwdcwdc]

@@user-xv9rf2ll3m no they didnt lol

[@RosencrantzJr]

Some of the mosques in Indonesia are post-mo (postmodernism). You can look at them particularly in greater Jakarta.

[@MsStormdust]

Great video, keep it up!@

[@Alpos212]

Below I wrote about the parts where I think you can improve yourself Eastern roman architecture ceartianly had some influence on Turkish architecture but the idea of domes didnt come from eastern rome. If you look at some of the earley Turkish architectures like Seljuk and Timurd architecture. You will see there were domes already. They just had a different shape or they were the same shape but were smaller. The reason at first times ottomans didnt had a big dome wasnt because they didnt had the idea. It is because they didnt had the money and the comitment for it because they were a new state that were trying to survive and estabilsh itself in the region. Atatürk didnt built many mosques because there wasnt a need for new mosques. … is building so many unnecessary mosques in Turkey beacuse he is trying to manipulate people by using religion. Turkish goverment is building a lot of mosques around the world not because it has imperialst ambitions like chinese and westerners do. It is building some of them to symbolise friendship between two countries and some of them expand its cultural influence. Building mosques in other countries was common before Erdoğan and it mostly has nothing to do with neo ottomanism. For example I encourage you to do more research on mosque in Japan. The reason turkish architecture is so dominant around the world is because Ottomas was the most powerful and influential majority muslim state for centuries. For example star and crecent has nothing to do with islam. They are old turkish symbols from the time were turks were still nomads and worshiped the sky god (tengri). They are used as symbols of islam by westerners beacuse of the same reason as before. Atatürk didnt try to fully westirnize turkey. He tried to get us away from the east in the process getting us closer to west and catching a blance between east and west so we can fully embrace our turkish identity again. As Turks we arent eurpeans or middle easterners we are simply tukish. I think you are looking from the perspective of a westerner who is looking everyone else from above. Because of this in my opinion you were very biased and twisted the things to be in line with your vision rather than be unbiased. In some cases your research was lacking. I think you have great potantial. But you could improve yourself by being unbiased and doing research from multiple sources.

[@yomamasofatwhenshewalksshe2401]

Yes indeed. I recently knew that Cresent and Star has nothing to do with Islam.

[@CutieZalbu]

The Turks aren’t building it as a sign of “friendship” that simply isn’t true….They’re do It to expand their influence! Why don’t they build it in regions like Iran,Afghanistan of Saudi & the emirates….They only do it in poorer countries than them & European regions with a whole lot of Turkish immigrants…BFFR! Japan is the only exception! Not the rule!

[@burakahmettr8193]

@@CutieZalbu turkey is not a strong country anymore, i dont think we can influence others while suffering from economy.

[@wojak5308]

Indian mosque are totally different to Ottoman mosque

[@myhamismad]

Super interesting!

[@swerveutexas]

What about mosques like Shah Faisal mosque? Samarkand mosques? Many many other modern mosques in Pakistan. Domes are not just a part of ottoman architecture. They have been adopted in Islamic architecture from Central Asia as well. Your assertion that the Turkish style is the originator of most modern mosques is a very Eurocentric view. Many many numerous examples of other architectural styles exist and adopt the dome. Not just from Turkey, but from Persia and Central Asia as well. Additionally many modern styles exist too. So I think you are speaking about a minority of mosques that are Turkish inspired and making them out to be all mosques in general. Quite a biased video.

[@gideon9096]

Good video, the dome of the rock is a shrine, not a mosque tho :) (I live in Jerusalem, that qualifies me to point that out)

[@Journal_Haris]

Just curious because I've literally prayed there countless times 5 daily prayers take place from it Not to mention the entire al aqsa compound is regarded as a mosque

[@gideon9096]

@@Journal_Haris Yeah but qubbat al sakhra and al aqsa are two different entities (although both are situated on the Temple Mount)

[@R0DBS2]

Israel of Palestine

[@ImadHadjersi]

One of the beautiful sights of Palestine

[@sultan_e_hind5051]

4:55 i was also thinking that🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ave390]

There is also a Mosque in Indonesia with Hindu-Buddhist architecture, characterized by its tiered roof! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demak_Great_Mosque

[@boboboy8189]

That's not Hindu Buddhist, that design is before Hindu Buddhist came. It's similar to ziggurat

[@TheJayman213]

Enjoyed the episode. But the continuation on Indonesia is still coming, right?

[@ThePresentPast_]

It is!

[@sabeelmakhdoom8415]

I think this video erroneously attributes common mosque features too strongly to Ottoman influence. Mosques with large domes and tall minarets in Islamic architecture predate the Ottoman Empire by many centuries as they already common place under the Mamluk Empire in the Middle East. Christian influence in Islamic influence also predates Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. Admittedly, this did have a great impression on Ottoman styles, it is a great stretch to suggest the Mughal architecture of South Asia was influenced by the Hagia Sophia mosque. The Mughal rulers that commissioned mosques in the region originated from present-day Uzbekistan where the 14th century Timurid architecture exhibits the same features the video solely attributes to Ottoman styles. This is true of most South Asian mosques which exhibit far greater Persian influence. The video suggests there is complete Turkish hegemony on contemporary Islamic architecture, which is far from the truth. Arguably, Turkey has a disproportionate influence due to their relative wealth when compared to the much of the rest of the Muslim world, but they are only one nation among several that sponsors modern mosque construction. This video also fails to acknowledge the impact the composition of the local Muslim community has on the styles of architecture that is employed to construct local mosques. Asking passersby, what a mosque looks like in one area is going to be heavy biased by the style of mosques built in that area. And just because of style is more iconic and well known to a western audience is not equivalent to the statement that “All Mosques Look the Same”. For comparation, if I were asked to draw a church, I would draw a gothic steeple and nave. That does not been I am unaware of other Christian architectural styles. Being British, I am also aware of the baroque St Paul’s Cathedral in London and the 60s modernist Liverpool Catholic Cathedral. Gothic churches are just the most common in Britain and are most identifiable from their basic silhouette. Ask someone from a predominately East Orthodox country and they will draw a church with onion domes. Of all the purpose-built mosques in my local area, I would not describe any of them as being Ottoman inspired. I think this video has much more relevance when discussing recent Islamic architecture in the former Ottoman Empire and areas of Europe where Turks are the predominate Muslim diaspora. There exists Ottoman influence in mosques styles outside these areas, but this cannot be assigned to “all mosques”. This video is presumably targeted at non-Muslim audience and people unfamiliar with Islamic architectural history. It understandable that outsiders might miss the nuances and subtle difference between styles they are unfamiliar with, but I do not think this video effectively helps dispel these misconceptions. There are several other Islamic styles that have significant cultural influence and are heavily represented in contemporary Islamic architecture. Loosely, I would define these as being Moorish, Persian and Indo-Islamic. Many mosques in France and Spain have greater Moorish influence reflecting their majority Muslim population from the Maghreb. Within South Asia and South-East Asia where the British Empire used to rule, Indo-Islamic architectural influence is far more prevalent that Ottoman styles and this still applies to recently built mosques. Malaysia and Indonesia have a high number of Indo-Islamic inspired mosques. The same is true of many mosques built in China in the last few decades. So, the observations of this video are not true for all the world. A large number of modern mosques designs incorporate an eclectic mix of styles, e.g. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. This mosque features three prominent onion shapes domes, very commonly features in Mughal mosques of South Asia. The plan of the mosque very closely emulates a Mughal mosque’s layout and only the numerous cascading smaller domes indicate obvious Ottoman influence. Its minarets exhibit distinct Mamluk influence. Mamluk styles, which predate Ottomans’, have arguable stronger influence in many of the countries in the Middle East. Take Islam two holiest sites, Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi both have received recent updates which prominently feature Mamluk architectural influence rather than any Ottoman influence. This is most obvious in their minarets. This video also ignores the influence other preexisting Islamic architecture had on the Ottoman’s style of mosque building. This undoubtedly had been influenced from earlier Christian architecture too. As Egypt and the Levant had both been ruled under the Christian Eastern Roman Empire when they were lost to the Muslim Arabs. Another element that is overlooked in this video is the significance of the aforementioned holy sites in Islam and the referencing of them which is so common. In Medina, the Prophet’s Mosque’s oldest part was created by the Ottomans (and Mamluks), but it is very atypical of their usual styles. The iconic green dome is emulated all over the world due to is connection with the prophet Muhammad SAW. This is unrelated to Turkey’s soft power projection, which this video touches on. In the UK this style is most prevalent with many purpose-built mosques featuring a single green dome and a minaret. These mosques often feature exposed red brick, a vernacular British architectural element also exhibited in some of Britain’s most iconic buildings. The accompanying minarets often feature Indo-Islamic, Mamluk, Persian and other non-Ottoman architectural features. There are also many mosques built in untraditional styles too. Cambridge Mosque, which is shown on the map in this video as one of the mosques partially funded by Turkey, the project largest donor, employs a contemporary Islamic style without any obvious Ottoman influence. I think this video ignores a lot of the nuance in mosque architecture and inaccurately attributes a lot of common features found in mosque architecture disproportionately to Ottoman influence. Generally, mosque architecture is more diverse and varied than its Christian counter parts, which usually only falls into a few distinct categories, e.g. gothic, neoclassical and byzantine. A video could equally analyse why most churches lookalike. This phenomenon is clearly not exclusive to mosque architecture. I do agree that Classical Ottoman architecture has a disproportionate influence on contemporary Islamic architecture, in part due to the relative wealth and prosperity of Turkey. However, this is far from the sole influence in contemporary Islamic architecture and it highly dependent on the region being considered. To its credit, the video does explain valid reasons why a disproportionate number of mosques built in the last half century are styled on Classical Period Ottoman mosques, but the original question it attempts to answers is poorly formed. I feel this video exaggerates the homogeneity of modern mosque architecture whilst largely ignoring the nuanced influences from different cultures which go into their designs. Yes, Turkey is a great sponsor of international mosque building, but they are not the only ones. And a lot of money is contributed locally towards to communities’ own mosques which represents tastes based on ethnic origins and local vernacular styles as well. There are some other factors I would like to mention. Another reason why the Classical period Ottoman style would dominate over other historical Ottoman Styles preceding and succeeding it. The Tulip Period architecture closely followed European influence and signified a decline in Islamic power; therefore, there is less interest in replicating those styles. Some architectural styles better suit larger mosque designs as well. Often, scalarly up a arhitectural style does not work asthestically. The Mughal style suits spaces where a larger court yard is compatible. With limited space, replicating the Classical Ottoman styles is more feasible. Of all the most famous historical Islamic styles, the Ottoman style gives amonst the most covered space for total floor area when replicated faithfully. In Northern Europe, with its colder climate and frequent rain, the practicality of an open court yard is less than in the Muslim World. Large parts of the Islamic world have also lost their finer examples of Islamic architecture during colonisation. So, they look to extant Islamic architecture for inspiration. The Ottoman architecture in Istanbul is amongst the best-preserved Islamic architecture, so will look particularly attractive as potential inspiration. As much as I enjoyed watching this video and listening to some of the arguments given, I unfortunately deem it as exaggerating the homogeneity of modern mosque architecture whilst largely ignoring the nuanced influences from different cultures which go into their designs. Yes, Turkey is a great sponsor of international mosque building, but they are not the only ones. And a lot of money is contributed locally towards Muslim communities’ own mosques which represents tastes based on ethnic origins and local vernacular styles as well. I do not want people to ignore the wide variety of Islamic architecture and dismiss mosques as all being poor replicas of grand Ottoman mosques.

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​@Zaydan Alfariz Indonesia isn't richer if you look at GDP per capita. Despite having a larger overall economy, Indonesia has a far larger population than Turkey. Consequently, Turkey has more disposable money to invest in other countries and build up soft power.