hosiar_nooraddin

data from the previous field work and literature study.

The literature study covers three topics:

1. Modern studies on street life and its relation to the physical

design.

2. Old Islamic literature on

al-fina'

in Islamic eities in

general.

3. Old literature on

al-fina'

of Cairo before the modernization

period.

The outdoor space and street life have been studied by a

large number of researchers in non-Islamic eities, yet any

generalization of their findings cannot be accepted without

further research in other local contexts. Thus, the role of the

local culture should be taken into account.

Even though the transformation process of regular streets

to irregular in old Islamic cities is explained in many present

studies, little attention has been paid to aspects of

al-fina'

in relation to these processes in the past and present.

Literature study of older Islamic jurisprudence sources

shows an influence of Islam on the different applications of

al

fina'

in the street environments of all Islamic cities, starting

with the emergence of Islam and continuing over the whole Islamic

period. The major force behind this was was that Islam influenced

the local cultural schemata of the Muslims by involving Islamic

principles in their everyday life. This meant that the resulting

schemata of each particular society was different, varying with

the local traditions and the local contexts.

Further, the literature study of Cairo provided more

detailed data on how Islam influenced the local cultural schemata

there and how it was applied in creating a large number of

settings in the space of

al-fina'

of the residential and

commercial streets. The data from these settings and the process

of their development provide important explanations for the