Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- Rafiq Hariri as a Lebanese Actor: Lifetime -- Rafiq Hariri as a Political Actor: Legacy -- The Muhammad al-Amin Mosque: A Political History -- The Muhammad al-Amin Mosque: An Architectural History -- The Muhammad al-Amin Mosque: Between Sacred Space and Political Territory -- The Making and Maintenance of Hariri Political Territory -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1: Composition of Hariri-led Governments, 1992–2011 -- Appendix 2: Dar al-Fatwa Statement (2004) on the Muhammad al-Amin Mosque with Corresponding Translation -- Appendix 3: Cadastral Excerpt of Parcel 323 (the Port) with Corresponding Translation -- Appendix 4: Decree 8572, as Published in the Official Gazette of 31 August 2002 with Corresponding Translation -- Bibliography -- Index.

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In Architecture, Power and Religion in Lebanon , Ward Vloeberghs explores Rafiq Hariri’s patronage and his posthumous legacy to demonstrate how religious architecture becomes a site for power struggles in contemporary Beirut. By tracing the 150 year-long history of the Muhammad al-Amin Mosque – Lebanon’s principal Sunni mosque – and the subsequent development of the site as a commemoration venue, this account offers a unique illustration of how architecture, religion and power become discursively and visually entangled. Set in a multi-confessional society marked by social inequalities and political fragmentation, this interdisciplinary study analyses how architectural practice and urban reconfigurations reveal a nascent personality cult, communal mourning, and the consolidation of political territory in relation to constantly shifting circumstances.