Unity without Uniformity: A Comparative Study of the Great Mosque of Xi’an and the Tabačka Mosque in Visoko

Abstract

This article presents a comparative architectural and urban analysis of mosque traditions in China and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It argues that mosques in these two regions should not be interpreted as peripheral or simplified variations of a presumed Middle Eastern archetype, but as historically grounded Islamic spatial traditions shaped by regional adaptation, socio-political negotiation, and material translation. The paper shifts the discussion from a form-based definition of the mosque to a focus on ritual and spatial understandings of mosque architecture. Using selected case studies—the Huajue Lane Great Mosque in Xi’an and the Tabačka Mosque in Visoko—the article examines dimensions of construction, material systems, spatial sequences, orientation strategies, and urban embedding. Drawing on the principles of critical regionalism, the analysis demonstrates that Chinese and Bosnian mosques each reconfigure Islamic religious space through distinctive local traditions, including timber or masonry construction cultures, climate adaptations, and institutional histories. By bridging two contexts, the paper contributes to a decentralized historiography of Islamic architecture and advocates a broader framework for conceptualizing the mosque as a plural, regionally produced, and historically evolving architectural form.