Minarets are tall shafts. Each contains a staircase and a gallery, from which a muezzin calls Muslims to pray five times each day. Daily prayer is an important element of Islamic life.

One of the most important features of any mosque, a Muslim place of worship, is the space to broadcast the regular call to prayer. In the Middle Ages particularly, this was achieved through building a thin, tall tower at one corner of the mosque. This high tower was called a "minaret" and was often the tallest building in a medieval Islamic society.

The qibla is the wall in a mosque oriented toward Mecca that indicates the direction of prayer for the congregation. The minbar is a niche in the qibla wall, often arched like a doorway or passage toward Mecca, while the minbar is a raised, stepped platform from which the imam addresses the congregation. The minaret is a tall, slender tower in a mosque from which the faithful are called to prayer.

Minarets are the surrounding towers in a mosque. Mosques have anywhere from one to four minarets (sometimes more).

A pagoda is a type of roof and cannot be the answer. Columns and balusters are not common in Islamic architecture, but these two are not usually independent structures.

Though minarets share the shape of an obelisk, they are not as minimalist in design.

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An architrave is the structure that rests above the tops of columns and is found primarily in Greek and Roman architecture. All the other techniques or components are found in Islamic architecture. Examples include the following:

Joggled voussoirs: Madrasa-Mausoleum-Mosqure of Sultan Hasan, Cairo

Muquarnas: Court of the Lions, Alhambra, Granada

Mosaics: Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem

Wooden strapwork: Kutubiya Minbar, Marrakesh

Calligraphy is the one of the most common artistic expressions due to adherence to Qur'an ideals that prevent idolatry by banning the artistic rendering of figures. Mosaic is characteristic of Islamic architecture, but calligraphy is present in both architecture and sculpture.