World class cities are few and far between, sometimes referred to as ‘global cities’ or simply ‘world cities’. There are no more than a dozen metropolitan areas in the world that can claim this kind of global status. London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo sit at the top of this world city hierarchy. They have enormous concentrations of economic, political, and cultural clout – measured by such things as the number of corporate headquarters, the size of their stock exchanges, the presence of national and international political bodies, and their role in music, fashion, and other cultural activities. What would it take to make a city claimed by two nations and central to three religions “merely” a city, a place of difference and diversity in which contending ideas and citizenries can co-exist in benign yet creative ways? The intractable conflicts in the Middle East and the cycle of violence among Israelis and Palestinians are deeply embedded in historical struggles over national sovereignty and the right to territory. For this reason, questions about whose state will prevail in what physical location have defined the terms of conflict and negotiation. This also has meant that most proposed solutions to “the Middle East problem” have revolved around competing claims of nation-states, their rights to existence, and their physical and juridically-sanctioned relationships to each other. While true generally, this framing of the problem has been especially dominant in the case of Jerusalem, a city that is geographically and historically an overlay of spaces and artifacts that carry deep meaning for competing peoples and nations. The current struggles of Palestinians and Israelis to each claim this hallowed ground as their capital city has added yet another layer of complexity, conflict, and political division, all of which is reflected in the competing/dual nomenclature Al-Quds/Jerusalem used to refer to the city –as well as the violence and contestation that continues to accelerate unabated.

Islam is a religion with complete code of life where all functions of personal, social, national, and international are well defined with the holy Quran, Sunnah, Ijma’, Qiyas and the lifestyle of Muhammad saw and his followers of that time. A Muslim can not but follow the rules and regulation of his life. Moreover, it is ever modern and modern so forth, only need to cautious in implementation the adaptability of invention of science. Architecture is a structure which has been carrying history century to century as well as creating links between generation to generation. In this paper I have tried to show how can architecture reflect Islamic life, and how can an architect became da’i by his creation or design.

This paper tries to make a documentation and analysis based on the second source of Islam which is Prophetic traditions in providing an alternative approach for the design of modern mosques in Malaysia. This research is done by gathering traditions from the compilation of al-Bukhari and Muslim which are then being interpreted and used as a framework to answer different type of problem, issue, crisis in mosque design in Malaysia. The study is divided into two main sections. The first section contains issues and problems in mosque design in Malaysia while the second section try to analyze the compilation of hadith in attempt to view issue and problems in mosque design in Malaysia. It is expected that through this paper we can understand the use of Prophetic traditions as one of the main foundations and framework for the present and the future modern mosque designs in Malaysia.

As a social being, interaction with others is one of human’s essential needs. These interaction and socialization in a society is often conducted in a settlement. A settlement as a community ecosystem has an important role in shaping people’s characters in a society. The condition of settlement can be an indication of the condition of its community. On the other hand, Islam as a rahmatan lil 'alamin religion actually provides its followers a set of values on islamic aspects in the house and settlement. Islam gives some lessons of how a house could become not only as a gathering place for family members, but could also be a place of education and learning for its inhabitants. Islam also gives us lessons of how a house is closely related to its settlement and environment, and how every elements in a house should be in harmony and unity with its social and natural environment. This paper tries to analyze many aspects of slums based on some aspects of islamic housing. The deficiencies and problems found in slums are expected as a consideration in the future efforts to overcome the problems holistically and integrally.

Jasin is one of the area in the state of Malacca in Malaysia, known for its long winding history. Located in the middle seat of government of the Empire of the famous Melaka Sultanate, Jasin district does have a number of quality historic buildings. One of the old buildings found in one the villages located quite close to the town of Jasin is the unique domeless Air Barok Village Mosque. Its location is situated along the main road, easy to reach. In a study stated in this paper, it shows how the unique architecture of this mosque of Air Baroque Village can be appreciated. This paper presents a study of the design elements and architectural features that are unique to the mosque around this region. This paper stated on the approach in creating this structure is different compared to most of the existing mosque currently and previously being built around the state. The concept of neo-archipelago idea to have the Chinese Buddha features in a Muslim mosque was unique found on this religious building located at the side of the world. Expectations for this study to reveal the noble efforts of the Government bodies involved in restoring old buildings such as this mosque can indirectly maintain the cultural arts of the local Malays who are the largest race in Malaysia. Efforts should also be given to maintain old buildings; not only religious buildings but also other building types; in the effort to ensure local arts and culture still exist and can be appreciated by future generations.

The most famous Islamic cultural heritages is the use of geometric patterns in Islamic art and architecture. This can be seen from the historical buildings that still exist in Alhambra which is located in Granada city, Andalucia, southern Spain. The way to make a layout plan, fasade, and ornaments that decorate the buildings were arranged in a simple mathematical art. The designing and building technique of Alhambra is based on geometry with the 1:5 ratio method.