manāwir or manā'ir] Minaret, lighthouse. A minaret is the tower on a mosque from which

Manāra (Ar.) [pl. manāwir or manā'ir] Minaret, lighthouse. As the former this is one of the great universally recognized symbols of Islam. A minaret is the tower on a mosque from which the call to prayer is made or broadcast. Throughout history its design has provided considerable scope for the skills and tastes of the Islamic architect: minarets range in shape from the square towers of North Africa, to the more ornately decorated minarets of some of the Cairene mosques and the 'finger' minarets of Istanbul (q.v.), embracing the very simple and the spiral. An excellent, and unique example of the latter in Egypt, is to be found in the great Mosque of Ibn Tūlūn (q.v.) in Cairo (q.v.). (See Adhān; Art and Architecture, Islamic; Hilāl; Masjid; Mu'adhdhin; Qutb Mīnār; Sawma'a.) Manāt Major deity revered in the Jāhiliyya (q.v.) by the Aws (q.v.) and the Khazraj (q.v.) tribes. (See al-Lāt; al-'Uzzā.) Manslaughter See Murder and Manslaughter.