This paper explains that despite the Koran's strictures against sumptuousness and grandeur, the
mosques are built with opulence
and splendor. The author points out that early Islamic art offers a striking contrast to Christian art and architecture by the avoidance of religious symbolism found in Christian churches and art. The paper relates an additional feature of the Great Mosque at Samarra: the ziyadas, an outer enclosure or extension common to early Islamic
mosques which surrounds the structure on the north, east and west sides but not on the
qiblah wall (the wall in the direction of Mecca which Muslims face in prayer).