Beyond the call to prayer: the surprising political origins of the mosque minaret

History · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: While we associate minarets with the daily call to prayer, their history is far more complex. Early Islamic mosques functioned without these towers for centuries. When they finally emerged in the 9th century, they served primarily as potent symbols of religious authority and territorial identity rather than practical acoustic tools.

The etymology of the word minaret reveals its original purpose. Derived from the Arabic root n-w-r, meaning light, the terms manāra and manār historically referred to lighthouses or lamp stands. During the early Islamic period, these structures functioned as landmarks or signs. For the first few centuries, the call to prayer was performed from rooftops or doorways, as practiced in Medina during the Rashidun Caliphate between 632 and 661.

A significant scholarly shift occurred in 1989 when Jonathan Bloom argued that the earliest true minaret towers did not emerge until the 9th century under Abbasid rule. Before this, Umayyad mosques utilized platforms or small structures known as ṣawma῾a, or monk’s cells, to facilitate the call to prayer. Bloom suggests that the first tower minarets were not designed for the muezzin but were instead adopted as prestigious symbols of Islamic presence. This explains why rival regimes, such as the Fatimids, initially avoided constructing them.

The architectural diversity of minarets reflects the socio-cultural contexts of the regions where they were built. From the massive, helicoidal brick tower of the Great Mosque of Samarra, completed in 852, to the slender, pencil-thin Ottoman spires, these structures evolved to suit local materials and aesthetic preferences. In the Ottoman tradition, molten iron was used to bind stones, enhancing resistance to seismic activity. By the 11th century, the minaret had become a nearly universal feature of the mosque, cementing its role as both a functional vantage point and a visual marker of Islamic governance.

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