Exploring the principles and strategies of Islamic urban planning in organizing the fabric of pilgrimage sites (case study: the pilgrimage fabric of the holy city of Qom)

Amini Kashani, Amin; Molaei, Asghar; Pirbabaei, Mohammad Taqhi

doi:10.22034/uep.2025.549658.1721

Exploring the principles and strategies of Islamic urban planning in organizing the fabric of pilgrimage sites (case study: the pilgrimage fabric of the holy city of Qom)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Amin Amini Kashani ¹

Asghar Molaei ²

Mohammad Taqhi Pirbabaei ³

¹ Ph.D. Candidate in Islamic Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran

² Associate Professor, Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran

³ Professor, Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran

10.22034/uep.2025.549658.1721

Abstract

This study aims to explore the principles and strategies of Islamic urbanism as a normative and practical framework for organizing contemporary pilgrimage fabrics, seeking to answer the question: What are the principles and strategies of the epistemic system of Islamic urbanism for structuring contemporary pilgrimage fabrics? The case study focuses on the urban fabric surrounding the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (SA). The research is applied in purpose and qualitative in methodology, conducted through a descriptive-analytical approach within the value-oriented Islamic paradigm. Data were collected from theoretical and jurisprudential texts, urban documents, field observations, and expert interviews, and analyzed through directed content analysis. Findings reveal that Qom’s pilgrimage fabric is simultaneously influenced by two opposing forces: its sacred historical heritage and contemporary urban interventions. The interaction of these forces has led to central challenges, including weakened spatial cohesion, disruption of spatial hierarchy, reduced depth of meaning and sensory-symbolic experience, distortion of the sacred landscape and visual legibility, and functional, managerial, and economic incoherence. Spatial analysis indicates that these challenges not only diminish the quality of the pilgrimage experience but also undermine the process of producing and transmitting socio-cultural capital. Based on these findings, four strategic priorities are proposed: strengthening spatial cohesion and consolidating the sacred boundary; organizing functional pathways and pilgrimage services; reconstructing the meaningful, sensory, and symbolic experience of space; and establishing integrated management and economic transparency. Overall, the primary strategy for organizing the pilgrimage fabric should focus on creating an orderly, calm, meaningful, and human-centered environment.

Keywords

Holy City of Qom

Pilgrimage fabric

Principles of Islamic urbanism

Spatial cohesion

20.1001.1.28212118.1405.7.4.6.8

Subjects

Urban planning

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