maqsurah
Sign in to savethumb|The wooden maqsura in the Great Mosque of Kairouan ([[Tunisia) |alt=]] Maqsurah (, literally "closed-off space") is an enclosure, box, or wooden screen near the mihrab or the center of the qibla wall in a mosque. It was typically reserved for a Muslim ruler and his entourage, and was originally designed to shield him from potential assassins during prayer. The imam officiating inside the maqsurah typically belonged to the same school of law to which the ruler belonged.
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thumb|The wooden maqsura in the Great Mosque of Kairouan ([[Tunisia) |alt=]] Maqsurah (, literally "closed-off space") is an enclosure, box, or wooden screen near the mihrab or the center of the qibla wall in a mosque. It was typically reserved for a Muslim ruler and his entourage, and was originally designed to shield him from potential assassins during prayer. The imam officiating inside the maqsurah typically belonged to the same school of law to which the ruler belonged.
There also may have been some spiritual connotation similar to the chancel screen in Christian churches. They were often wooden screens decorated with carvings or interlocking turned pieces of wood (similar to a mashrabiya). Sometimes, Muslim saints are buried behind a maqsurah in a similar way to a zarih.