What Defines Mosques? Descriptive Analysis of Mosque Character-Defining Elements in Alexandria's Ottoman-Town The mosques of Alexandria's Ottoman town are an important part of the mosque's history, both in number and location, and they differ from the stereotype of an Ottoman mosque. However, the precise character-defining elements of a mosque in this historical context have not been thoroughly investigated. This study aims to fill this gap by systematically documenting, analyzing, and defining key architectural elements such as spatial configuration, mihrab, minbar, cisterns, shops, prayer hall configuration, prayer hall volume, etc. From 1577 to 1992, Despite the significance of these elements, there is a noticeable gap in research that describes them and connects their chronological development with the broader architectural identity of Alexandrian mosques from the Ottoman period to the late 20th century. To address this, we take a mixed research methods approach, combining qualitative research methods in documentation and stylistic analysis with quantitative research methods in frequency analysis and other descriptive examinations of these elements. The findings emphasize the changing nature of mosque architecture in the Ottoman Town of Alexandria, demonstrating how some elements remained constant while others adapted to change. We conclude that these character-defining elements work together to create a distinct architectural identity, capturing the essence of what defines a mosque in the Ottoman town of Alexandria as a unique example of a resilient and evolving mosque architectural design. This study claims to identify and define the core architectural elements that have characterized mosques in the Ottoman town of Alexandria for four centuries. The findings have significant implications for architects, historians, and cultural heritage preservationists. Building on these findings, a subsequent study will look into the impact of these character-defining elements on the creation of meaning within architectural environments. This preliminary study not only fills a critical gap in our understanding of Alexandrian mosque architecture but also lays the groundwork for further research into the relationship between architectural elements and the creation of meaning in Islamic architecture.

Revisiting the question: “What makes mosques meaningful?”, This research aims to examine the nature of interaction between mosque users and architectural character-defining elements that contribute to the mosque's architectural meaning. This question is applied within the context of the mosques in Alexandria's Ottoman town. The preceding sequential study to this one focused on the description of the physical character-defining elements of the architecture of 42 significant mosques. These buildings' reliance and value made them stand as examples of historical and cultural richness throughout half a millennium. This time, richness, resilience, and architecture combined with human interaction managed to build an interactive meaning creation for the users of these buildings. The study transcends simple architectural documentation to investigate how these elements, when combined with human engagement, create spaces of spiritual and cultural meaning. The study of meaning creation by human interaction with architectural elements in historic buildings represents a gap in existing research. This research aims to address this gap by using a mixed research method approach. Where it combines qualitative research methods such as computational phenomenology, which employs NLP “natural language processing” to process and analyze the user’s responses to certain questions on their interaction with the buildings, and quantitative research methods utilizing frequency analysis and other methods to validate the qualitative results. Among the resulting aspects of meaning creation examined in this study are space navigation, emotional associations, functionality, etc. The findings demonstrate how architectural elements and human interaction together are essential to the meaning that mosque architecture conveys. The study concludes that a mosque's essence extends beyond its physical form to include its users' lived experiences and cultural contexts. This study, along with the previous paper, “What Defines Mosques?” claim to provide a comprehensive methodological and conceptual framework for understanding and assessing mosque architectural significance by incorporating the dynamic interactions between architectural elements and human meaning creation. In addition, they help architects and scholars to find, evaluate, and create a mosque's architectural elements of significant meaning to users.