For the Umayyads architectural patronage was a demonstration of the power of the new faith in general and their own dynasty in particular. Umayyad patronage included major religious buildings such as the Dome of the Rock and the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and the Great Mosque of Damascus.
The mosque as an architectural type unique to Islam was created during the pre-Umayyad period on the basis of the House of the Prophet in Medina. The Umayyads contributed new features that in time became characteristic components of every mosque: the minaret (symbolic of the presence of Islam and from which the call to prayer is made); the mihrab (to symbolise the presence of the Prophet) and the maqsura (an enclosed space reserved for the imam, the leader of prayers, or caliph) next to the mihrab.