Time fascinates man, but how to measure it? Hundreds of years before the Industrial Age a Muslim scholar named Al-Jazari created a clock that was more than a mere time piece. It was a feat of engineering and a symbol of the plural and peaceful nature of Islam. The Elephant Clock, recently rebuilt for the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai, was a 12th century masterpiece that can be marveled at today.

Originally built by Al-Jazari at the end of the 12th century in Diyar-Bakr, the Elephant Clock displayed the passing of hours on its dial and the number of minutes by the rotation of the Scribe.

As a pious Muslim, Al-Jazari understood the importance of time for keeping the five daily prayers and tracking the events in the Islamic calendar. The Holy Qur’an states, “I (Allah) swear by the time, surely man is in loss, save those who believe and do good work and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and the Patience and Endurance.”

Al-Jazari wanted to create something more than a timepiece: he wanted to celebrate the diversity of mankind, to create a symbolic representation of coexistence that will leave a lasting impression on those who see it.

For his Elephant Clock, Al-Jazari used Greek water technology, Indian Elephant, Arabian Figurines and architecture, Egyptian phoenix and Chinese dragons to express the universal and peaceful nature of Islam.

Who was Al-Jazari?

Badi Al-Zaman Abu Al-Izz Ismail Bin Al-Razzaz Al-Jazari came from the city of Diyar-Bakr, a few hundreds kilometers north of Baghdad. As a pious Muslim and a highly skilled Mechanical Engineer, he served under the rule of Nasr Al-Din, the son of the great Saladin (died 590 AH, 1193 CE).

Al-Jazari built machines that revolutionized engineering. In 1206CE he documented his incredible inventions in his “Book of Knowledge on Ingenious Mechanical Device”. He developed one way valves, crank mechanisms, cams and introduced the concept of automation in his machines.
           
He designed some of the earliest automated alarm clocks, more sophisticated, more elaborate, more opulent and more beautiful than anything previously. They were equivalent to the “Big Ben” of our time.

How does it work?
           
The most important feature in the clock was Al-Jazari’s perforated bowl. This device was a culmination of his best work: a timepiece that governed the entire workings of the clock.

The number of hours past was shown on the dial situated above Saladin on the castle. The Scribe sitting below rotates about his base, indicating the number of minutes gone by. To mark every hour, a weighed ball is released that triggers a special chain of events:

• The perforated bowl sinks and releases trapped air that is forced through a glass flute to generate a phoenix song. A ball is then released from inside the castle.
• The ball falls onto a turbine which spins the phoenix.
• The ball falls onto a channel mechanism that moves Saladin’s arms.
• Simultaneously, the dial rotates to reveal the true house.
• The ball then travels through the falcon’s beak into the dragon.
• The ball unbalances the dragon and so, descends towards the elephant.
• The ball falls into a vase and hits a cymbal.
• Finally the ball travels onto a lever system that moves the mahout’s arms.

For more information on Al-Jazari and his marvelous elephant clock including a short animation then visit www.MuslimHeritage.com/Al-Jazari.

Courtesy: Foundation of Science Technology and Civilisation

The Al-Jazari painting and the manuscript were commissioned by FSTC. Images copyright FSTC

Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall, words Sarah Joseph

Amidst a glittering spectacle, the Ibn Battuta mall opened to the world on 13th April 2005. Sarah Joseph was invited to the opening ceremony of Dubai’s latest attraction and the Middle East regions largest themed shopping mall.

What has the legendary Ibn Battuta and the largest themed shopping mall in the world got in common? The answer is that the latter is themed on the travels of the former. The new Ibn Battuta mall in Dubai started out in 2003 as a routine project – the Garden’s Shopping Mall, and it was to be part of the Garden City development, an ambitious project by the major real estate developers, Nakheel. They are the same people who have given us The Palm and The World, both amazing island developments built on land reclaimed from the sea.

Nakheel had the idea to theme the mall, creating different courts from different countries. As Ibn Battuta’s travels were over 75,000 miles long and took in many countries, his journeys became the theme. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of Nakheel said at the opening, “The Ibn Battuta mall is more than a shopping mall: It is a land-mark in itself, depicting the richness of Arabian culture and history.”

To realize Nakheel’s vision, specialists were brought in from around the world. Amongst them were South African theming consultants, MTE Studios. They began the difficult talks of creating plans for six courts reflecting Ibn Battuta’s great journeys in the 14th century through the Far East, Middle East and North Africa. They needed specialist knowledge of the history, architecture and other elements of the period, so Muslim Heritage Consulting (MHC) became another component in the project.

MHC, being the commercial arm of the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), drew on their extensive scholarship and credibility to put together plans for around 30 models and exhibits of Islamic scientific inventions to bring to life the theming.

“The details of the design started only a year ago thus making the project a real challenge. A team of 21 specialists from different parts of the world worked on this venture, along with Muslim Heritage Consulting, in the fields of art direction, sculpting, design, engineering, architecture and related disciplines on Islamic inventions and the 1000 years of missing history,” said Ludo Verheyen, director of MTE Studios.
           
Spreading over 3.5 million square feet, with 1.2 million square feet of retail space, 275 retail outlets, 5000 car parking spaces, 21 cinema screens and 200,000 square foot of supermarket, it is the perfect place for some serious retail therapy. But it is more than just a retail experience. The theming makes it a tourist attraction, and the edutainment (educational entertainment) will make it a unique interactive experience. The Ibn Battuta mall is set to become one of Dubai’s major landmarks.

Historical background of the six courts
           

The mall has drawn on the rich heritage of the Muslim world to create a stunning experience for the visitor. Each of the six courts has been lovingly themed on some of the world’s finest architecture.

North Africa Court
           

This court has a triangular form consisting of four whitewashed villages depicting the general built environment of Tunisia, and two concourses. At its three corners there are three towers also taken from Tunisian prototypes.
           
The main inspirational sources for the design of this court were the Tunisian setting of the 14th century as might have been seen by Ibn Battuta. The court is ornamentally very rich combining various elements from various sources.
           
The archways surrounding the court and leading to various parts of the mall, consist of a central large horseshoe arch flanked by tow smaller arches, combining between Moroccan and Tunisian Royal palaces and markets as they were in the 14th century and in many cases remain so till present.
           
The main concourse which comes immediately after the main entrance is characterized by the dazzling vibrant artwork of its ceiling which is mostly borrowed from the decorative scheme of Al-Bahia Palace in Morocco.

Andalusia Court
           
The façade was made from a mixture of features from great buildings in Cordoba and Granada. The red stone walls and terracotta tiled roof give an impression of the al-Hambra style. The geometrical mesh pattern, known as Shabka, adorning both sides of the main entrance is also an Andalusian theme extensively used in the minaret of the Great Mosque of Seville (1172-1182), famously known as the Giralda, in addition to the al-Hambra in Granada and many other buildings. The intersecting horseshoe arches decoration appearing on the side of the main arched entrance is inspired from Spanish Toledo, from the façade of Bab Mardum Mosque (1000 CE), also seen lightly on the same façade of the Great Mosque of Cordoba.
           
The horseshoe shaped entrance is an imitation of the Mihrab of the Great Mosque of Cordoba. This beautiful arch was first introduced in Islamic architecture in Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus built by Caliph Al-Walid II, between 706 and 715CE. In some cases these arches were intersected, sometimes with multifoil arches, to produce a fascinating decorative interlace as seen in the Cordoba Great Mosque.

Persia Court
           
Persia court is dominated by the magnificent central dome. The main entrance and exterior façade of the court displays common Persian architectural elements. The pishtaq, a rectangular ornamented frame adorns of the main gate covered with geometrical mosaics of blue ground, and behind it, is a larger frame of washed sandstone. In the center is an ogee arched window incorporating wooden work. The bottom half of the façade walls are covered with panels of blind pointed arch filled with geometrical patterns adding to its Persian look. Behind the Pishtaq framed door, the huge onion shaped dome creates a perfect Persian skyline.
           
The design of the dome was based on the scheme used in Lutfullah Mosque in Isfahan, built between 1603 and 1619, one of the great splendours of the Safavid dynasty.
           
In Persia court, the center of the dome is occupied by a rosette of blue and turquoise colours. The outside circle of the rose is made of geometrical pattern based on Sussa moulding seen in the North African court.
           
From the rosette descend tiers of olive-shaped medallions growing in size with the curve of the dome, just as they are found in the dome of Lutfullah Mosque. The medallions are decorated with floral motifs which play against the monochrome background. The light was carefully distributed around the edge of the dome to accentuate the cove shapes.

Egypt Court
           
The Egypt court consists of four main sections – the main court, the minor court of the Pharaohs, and the two concourses. The design scheme of the court was based essentially on the Mamluk architecture of Cairo, as witnessed by Ibn Battuta. The whole scheme was developed from a lithograph of an English painter David Roberts……..

India Court
           
The India court is awesome.  Much of its theming was based on Mughal building prototypes.  It is well known that the culmination of the Indo-Islamic art and architecture was accomplished during the Mughal period, particularly under the reign of Sultan Akbar (1542-1605) and Shah Jahan (1628-1658).  The India court is, therefore, a tribute to the achievement of these two great emperors.

The entrance and façade of India court displays the elegant look of the red stone of early Mughal architecture in India.  It resembles the façade of the Humayun mausoleum built by Emperor Akbar (between 1562-1571) for his father, particularly in the marble white colored trimmings.

The central feature of this court is the giant dome colored in red, broken by stucco pattern of white plaster ending with a band of lotus flower running along its base.  The dome shape and ornamentation are the inspiration of the dome of the Taj Mahal (Agra, 1632-1643).

The dome is raised on eight double columns resembling very much those used in the Red Fort in Agra.  Above the columns are large lobed arches in the fashion of the Pearl Mosque and at the Fort of Agra as well as many other Mughal buildings such as Sawan Pavilion in the Red Fort at Delhi (1648).

The India court is graced with Al-Jazari’s Elephant clock, recreated for the first time after 800 years.

The elephant clock is the first exhibit in the mall.  It was FSTC that first spent several years deciphering the original manuscripts and recreated this 12th century water clack using virtual engineering.  Nakheel and MTE Studios took the challenge further and worked for five months to build the clock under the supervision of MHC.  Originally built by Al-Jazari, the clock was documented in his “Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.”

To find out more about the original clock, turn to Inspired by Islam on page 98.

China Court
           
China court comprises of one main court and three minor ones.  The whole design scheme is based on traditional Chinese palace architecture.

The colossal entrance gate resembling that of the Shenwu gate (Gate of Military Prowess) at the north of the Forbidden City, is displayed at the façade of the court.

Leading from the main gate to China court, is a hall in the form of large corridor composed of multi-tiered white marble beams, carved with intricate floral design, a reminder of stone gates of ancient China.  The flat ceiling is divided into large square bays covered with large flowers of typical blue and green Chinese colors.

In the China court there is a model of junk used by the Ibn Battuta to travel to China.

The knowledge behind the theme
           
The Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), a British not-for-profit institution provided the academic and historical input into the edutainment element of the Ibn Battuta mall. The FSTC was founded in 2000 by Salim Al-Hassani, professor of Mechanical Engineering at UMIST (now Manchester University ) together with non-Muslim and Muslim scholars and professionals. Professor Hassani speaks about the genesis of the FSTC and its progress so far, “In 1990 Professor Donald Cardwell, the founding head of the Department of History of Science and Technology at UMIST took me aside and said I should do something about the 1000 years of missing history. The period known in European history as the Dark Ages was actually a period of great scientific innovations and technological discoveries and the public should be informed of this fact.

After my initial astonishment I decided to take up the challenge and began to read widely on the subject and came across machines and inventions that no one seemed to have heard of. Almost all the original literature was in Arabic and the little which had been translated lay buried in the vaults and basements of major Western libraries. I also found some scholarly works in English and European languages but none seemed to be referred to in the national curriculum or by the media. I read about items of everyday use that had their origins in the Islamic world: numerals, algebra, trigonometry, chemistry, the camera, spectacles, paper, automatic machines, rocket propulsion, carpets, fountains, tulips, the guitar, the piano and much more.”

“I invited some of my students and many colleagues to research into the scientific discoveries of this period of our history and they took up the challenge with great enthusiasm. The IT engineers started producing virtual models of machines which are extant and could only be seen in old manuscripts. These models are now available for building real life machines, hence bringing life to Muslim Heritage.”

“I then thought of writing a book about my new found knowledge but decided instead to produce an audio/visual presentation and went on the road lecturing at venues across the UK. My audiences were amazed. The Muslims were proud to be associated with such a glorious past. Many of them were thoroughly inspired that Muslim scientists motivated by Islam had made such tremendous discoveries. And my non-Muslim audience was equally “wowed”. I remember on one occasion speaking in Watford in the presence of the Mayoress. After my speech she stood up and said she was angry at two things. I initially thought I had offended her, but she went on to say the first thing was the failure of Muslims to speak in this way, i.e. On matters beyond politics and religion (which were inherently confrontational) and their failure to address matters of culture and common heritage. The second thing she was angry about was the absence from our school curriculum of the Muslim world’s contribution to civilization during the Dark Ages.”

“A satisfying achievement was when we established our website. It is the number one site in the world on Muslim civilsation. A few years ago a school in Manchester saw on our website that the human blood circulation system wad discovered by the Muslim scientist Ibn Nafis, whereas its textbooks said it was William Harvey. They wrote to the
Department on Education for clarification and their response was the accolade did belong to Ibn Nafis who had described the system 300 years before Harvey.”

“Another achievement is the close contact we have with TV film producers who seek authentic information. For example in the recent BBC2 production on What the Ancients Did For Us, by Adam Hart Davis, we advised on the 10 Muslim inventions and scrutinized the script for accuracy. I think such developments are a vital step in shedding light on the thousand missing years known as the Dark Ages and I am honoured to be involved in such a project.:

“Of course, being consultants to the Ibn Battuta mall has been very satisfying. I think the theme itself will attract many visitors. It has been a unique venture and I am hopeful the idea will catch on regionally and globally.”

The court employs the pointed arch which is widely used in Egypt.  The referring point here is the mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun which was built between 876-879CE.  The pointed arch was invented by Muslims and first introduced in earlier buildings, such as Raqqa Cistern (Syria, 775), Al-Aqsa mosque (Jerusalem, first built in 634 but rebuilt in 780) and Ukhaidir Palace (774-775); all of them were Abbasid buildings.  Many scholars thought that the pointed arch was transferred to Europe at the end of the 11th century through Amalfitan merchants who had trade connections with the Fatimid Egypt.

Upcoming icon exhibits

The mall’s vision highlights same major contributions from the forgotten millennium of 600-1600 AD, where Muslim scholarship contributed so much to the world and influenced modern day civilization.

Muslim Heritage Consulting (MHC) has launched a major research and consulting exercise to support the next phase of the project, to provide the mall with more than 30 exhibits from the period of the Muslim Golden Era.  Every detail is studies to bring life to these Islamic inventions to ensure they are authentic and historically correct.  To name a few, they include:

The Abbas Bin Firnas 9th Century Flying Machine

600 years before Leonardo Da Vinci, Abbas Bin Firnas designed and tested a flying machine in an attempt for mankind to conquer the skies.  MHC will complete the research that will allow the Flying Machine to be recreated in the mall.

Al-Jazari’s Castle Clock

Following the success of the Elephant Clock, Al-Jazari’s 13th Century Castle Clock was the grandest and most complicated clock in his entire collection of ingenious mechanical devices.  Very soon, visitors of the mall can marvel and appreciate the complexity of the time keeping device before their eyes.

Water Raising Machines

Integral to the development of civilization, is the improvement of sanitation, irrigation, and health.  Many Muslims technologists recognized that harnessing power from both water and animal can increase the output.  The exhibit is dedicated to the evolution of water raising machines during the Muslim Golden Age, and to celebrate the impact of their contributions today.