ABSTRACT
Islam is more than a faith; it is a complete way of life. Its architecture is the embodiment of the precepts of the faith of the Muslim Ummah (polity of believers) and of the perspectives of its historical ethos in the lands where Islam flourished. The mimar in Muslim communities practiced his art in the tradition of the universal man and not merely as a constructor of buildings. His education, relying on the growth of knowledge of matters both mundane and metaphysical, created personages such as Sinan, Omar Khayyam, Ustad Issa, and many others. Educating architects in this tradition on the threshold of the twenty-first century requires reappraisal and a true renaissance.
