The Suleymaniye Mosque

The Suleymaniye Mosque is located near the center of Istanbul, so it was a central location for most people. On the day of worship, many Muslims would congregate here to practice their religion, and mingle with other Muslims. Catherine mentioned that the Muslims "would probably give Suleyman more political support because his support of Islam showed them he agreed with their personal views, but the non-Muslim community would probably feel less welcome because of the expense being made for Muslim monuments."  I disagree with this statement. The non-Muslims would be happy to be allowed to keep their beliefs. They would know that he could build a mosque, because that was his religion. They would let him practice his religion, since he lets them practice theirs. I do agree that the Muslims would be thrilled to have a huge mosque being built to practice their religion. The building itself was rich with culture. The architect in charge was Mimar Sinan. He imported many different materials from other places, like Egypt and Greece. One reason they used imported materials was to show off Suleyman's power and wealth. It cost a large some of money to import heavy materials like granite all the way from Greece. The mosque is very large, also demonstrating power and wealth. In construction, Mimar Sinan made sure that everything was the exact size he had designed it, so that the final product would be how he designed it. He was very clear on the units of measurement, so that the construction could be as exact as possible.

I did most of my research here.