Transition from Equality to the Hierarchical Social Structure and Urban Form in the Early Islamic Cities

Abstract

Early Islamic social structure has been characterised as one of equality and its urban forms as ones with little differentiation as typified by Medina. However, it seems that unlike Medina (Madnat al-Nab) the City of the Prophet, the form of newly established Islamic cities, such as Baghdad and Samarra (founded ca. 1.5 centuries after the Prophet) account for changes in the structure of Islamic society and reflect the introduction of a class society.

The main focus of this research is, therefore, to examine whether establishment of such cities may be an indication of transition from equality to the hierarchical social system and urban structure in the Islamic era. The present paper also attempts to show how the pre-Islamic social system and urban spaces had been affected by Islamic thought following prevalence of Islam and invasion of cities by Arab Muslims, and how much this influence had reflected on the form and spatial structure of the converted and newly-established cities.