Domestic Courtyard Enhances Islamic Teaching and Practice: Oman as a case study

Abstract

Islamic domestic courtyard diffuses in many varieties throughout all Islamic countries extending from
Arabian Gulf to Atlantic Ocean and towards Pacific Ocean. Islamic domestic courtyard house, same as
other courtyard houses, is the end product of a complex development throughout history. Most
importantly, Islamic domestic courtyard is a very significant phenomenon in the aspect of cultural,
environmental, structural and most importantly religion.
Among the advantages of courtyard houses are introverted orientation, space organizer, transitory
space, climatic moderator and multi-functional space. These advantages contribute considerably to the
house entity in fulfilling its roles and functions as a focal point of Muslims to inculcate divine principles
into their lives.This research intends to analyze the Islamic practice and teaching pertaining to domestic
living and how domestic courtyard houses enhance this teaching. Furthermore, Oman, an Islamic
country that enters to the fold of Islam at its early advent, with its unique courtyards houses designs is
used as a case study for this research in order to analyze how courtyard houses conform to Islamic
domestic way of living.