Architecture, of all the arts, comes nearest a craft, whence those who have constructed hierarchies of the arts place it lowest.
It is uncertain whether we are entitled to speak of Islamic architecture, though we now possess a library of volumes dealing with “Arabic” or “Mohammedan” art.
It seems likely that the architects of the great Islamic buildings were regularly foreigners, either members of other religions, or converts to Islam from them.
And just as we have seen that the church of St. Sophia was copied by mosque builders throughout the Ottoman Empire, so the same process of copying a pattern seems to have been adopted in the earlier Islamic states.
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The architecture of Egypt is therefore Coptic, that of the Eastern Caliphate largely Persian. For building the Kaabah, according to a tradition, the services of a Egyptian architect were required.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that Islamic decoration exhibits a considerable amount of originality. This consists largely of elaborate geometrical designs, worked in stone, wood, and mosaic.
Three elements have been distinguished the stalactite, the interlacing and the ornament proper, consisting in linear involution. To the practised eye the result displays endless variety, to the untrained it is monotonous.