The Role of Environmental Factors on the Sense of Spirituality in Iran's Mosques based on Grounded Theory (Scope of Study: Mosques of Yazd and Isfahan)

The sacred space and the feeling of spirituality are well-understood in mosques as the great examples of Iranian architecture. Unfortunately, the place of the sacred and spiritual sense has been damaged in the creation of the space in some contemporary mosques. Therefore, it seems necessary to pay attention to the sense of spirituality in the architecture of mosques and use valuable models of traditional architecture and understand it. Hence, the aim of this study is to identify the components of the sense of spirituality in the congregational mosques of Iran.

The current research is qualitativein terms of the methodology. The elements creating a sense of spirituality in three mosques of Yazd, Isfahan, and Abbasi were explained using the method of "grounded theory". Data collected through continuous presence of the researcher in the environment and in-depth interviews with 35 experts according to the "constructivist approach" were analyzed in three stages of open, central, and selective coding. NVivo.12 was used for qualitative data analysis, coding and checking the frequency of the extracted codes from interviews.

The feeling of spirituality can be enhanced using the semantic, physical, geometric, and spatial patterns found in the prominent examples of traditional Iranian mosques. 35 interviews were conducted and 225 codes were extracted in the research process. 25 open codes, 11 central codes, and 5 selective codes were extracted through multiple revisions and integration of the codes according to their similarity during several steps.

Five indicators of "unification of components in a meaningful whole", "traditional decorations based on mystical knowledge", "spatial openness and greatness in the body", "meaningful presence of light and creating penumbra", and "centripetal geometry and local symmetry" are the components that give a sense of spirituality to the mosques.