Strong family ties built on the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah produce excellent foundation in forming a household which are constantly under the protection and blessing of Allah and in turn contribute to the overall health of a community. A dwelling filled with the remembrance of Allah will no doubt find an aura of peace and tranquillity. This is called a home, a place for a family to worship Allah, to relax body and mind, enjoy legitimate worldly delights, teach, learn and propagate the message of Islam. Therefore, provision and design of a dwelling should be considered important to make it a blessed home. This includes the provision of spaces for religious activities, daily basic chores of households, social production, reproduction hygiene needs, privacy and security. Cultural, religious and sustainable aspects of inhabitants should be considered in the planning and design process of a dwelling in the Malaysian context. The Syariah sources have provided basis for its design to conform to Islamic criteria, thereby facilitating various ibadah activities for the inhabitants and users. A review of theory and philosophy of dwelling from Islamic perspective is analysed to justify the comprehensive living approach as promoted by Islam. This paper aims to review literature pertaining to housing principles in Islam and to present basic principles for developing housing criteria based on Islamic teachings. � 2017 by MIP.

Illuminance in spaces is important criteria in rating building performance. These also a strategy to develop some passive design criteria to meet the occupant visual comfort. The aim of this study is to investigate the fluctuation of the illuminance level and the impact of daylighting in an optimum performance zone. This study also investigates the effects of occupant density whether affect the illuminance level in two selected office buildings. Qualitative survey has been conducted on the occupant's perception toward visual comfort and obtaining the comparison on the glare effect by using IESVE computer simulation while visual test has been conducted involving selected workers. The maximum occupant density and physical conditions; window to wall ratio of 25%, 40% and 70% of typical office space were identified by using IESVE simulation. Findings from experiment of visual performance and daylighting simulation showed more than 50% occupancy in typical office room with 70% of WWR affected the extend of the daylight zone and the acceptable of illuminance level is not achieved. There high contract between 50% of the occupancy in a room is also changed the illuminance level of more than 26%. The findings contribute towards the improvement of an acceptable visual comfort ranges and design recommendations for optimum performance zone in a single office space in Malaysia. � 2018 Web Portal IOP. All rights reserved.