Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Vikas Bhushan and Varun Soni, 

“Intoxicated Spirit: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Art 

of Qawwali,” Sufi 44 (1999): 8–12; Regula Burckhardt 

Qureshi, “The Mahfil-e Sama: Sufi Practice in the 

Indian Context,” Islam and the Modern Age 17 (1986): 

133–166; Regina Burckhardt Qureshi, “Sama in the 

Royal Court of Saints: The Chishtiyya of South Asia.” 

In Manifestations of Sainthood in Islam, edited by Grace 

Martin Smith and Carl W. Ernst, 111–127 (Istanbul: 

Editions Isis, 1994); Hiromi Lorraine Sakata, “The 

Sacred and the Profane: Qawwali Represented in the 

Performances of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan,” The World of 

Music 36, no. 3 (1994): 86–99.

qibla

The qibla is the Arabic term for the direction all 

Muslims face when they pray—toward the k

aaba

in  m

ecca

. In 

mosqUe

s the qibla is indicated by 

the 

mihrab

, a concave niche located in the wall 

that faces Mecca, usually to the left of the pulpit 

(

minbar

) inside the main prayer hall. In addition 

to serving as the orientation for daily 

prayer

, the 

qibla is also the direction toward which the dead 

are oriented when they are buried, and animals 

are turned toward it when sacrificed in accordance 

with Muslim 

dietary

 

laWs

. Conversely, observant 

Muslims avoid facing the qibla when they relieve 

themselves, and they avoid sleeping or sitting 

with their feet toward it so as not to insult the 

holiness of Islam’s most sacred place.

Orientation in prayer had become a practice 

among Jews and Christians in the Middle East 

well before Islam’s appearance in the seventh cen-

tury. Ancient Jews, the Israelites, faced toward the 

temple on Zion in J

erUsalem

. Later, the Holy Ark 

containing the scrolls of the t

orah

 was placed in 

front of the synagogue wall that faced Jerusalem, so 

that worshippers prayed toward both the Torah and 

K  568  

qibla

---

Jerusalem. In a parallel manner, Christian churches 

were built with the altar on the eastern side, ori-

ented toward the rising sun. Such practices are still 

common among Orthodox Jews and Christians.

Islamic accounts differ about which direction 

Muhammad prayed when he still lived in Mecca 

before the h

iJra

 to m

edina

 in 622. Some say he 

faced toward the Kaaba, others say that he faced 

toward Syria (probably Jerusalem). Later sources 

tried to reconcile these two different accounts by 

saying that he prayed on the south side of the 

Kaaba facing northward, which allowed him to 

face both that shrine and Jerusalem at once. The 

decisive moment, however, came after the emigra-

tion to Medina, where the first qibla recognized 

by the new Muslim community was Jerusalem. 

Then, perhaps as a result of the failure of Jews in 

Medina to recognize Muhammad as their prophet,

the following revelation was received: “Therefore 

we shall turn you toward a qibla that will please 

you. Turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque; 

wherever you may be, turn your face toward it” 

(Q 2:144). At this point in their early history, 

Muslims began to make a clear break with Jews 

and Christians, setting the course for Islam’s 

emergence as a distinct religious tradition. Later 

commentators maintained that in changing the 

prayer direction Muhammad was simply return-

ing to the original qibla of a

braham

.

The  q

Uran

, together with the 

hadith

 and 

community consensus, established the Kaaba as 

the  qibla for Islam. In theory, therefore, as con-

quest, trade, and travel took Muslims far away 

from Mecca, the qibla lines of orientation from all 

directions would converge at one point in Mecca, 

as long as one allowed for the curvature of the 

earth. In reality, however, qibla directions varied, 

even within the same city, like medieval c

airo

.

The qibla of the Great Mosque in c

ordoba

, Spain, 

faced south rather than southeast. This may have 

been because the builders were emulating the qibla

of the U

mayyad

 c

aliphate

 (r. 661–750) far to the 

east in Damascus, s

yria

, where mosques face to the 

southward to Mecca. Orientation of other mosques 

may be affected by the natural or urban landscape, 

or imprecise mathematical calculations. Despite, 

and perhaps because of, such variations, and with 

the benefit of advances in 

mathematics

 and 

science

between the ninth and 14th centuries, Muslim 

astronomers and geographers went to great lengths 

to calculate the exact qibla from a given locality. 

Syrian astronomer Shams al-Din al-Khalili (14th 

century) finally found the trigonometric formula 

for determining the exact qibla from any longitude 

and latitude on the surface of the earth, and qibla

compasses were developed soon thereafter. Based 

on these methods, Muslims living in the mainland 

United States and Canada have determined that 

their prayer direction is to the northeast.

Muslims have consulted each other and reli-

gious scholars to determine the qibla when they 

are not in a mosque. Now they are posting signs 

and using modern devices to do this, too. Hotel 

rooms in some Muslim countries have signs indi-

cating the prayer direction, and satellite-guided 

qibla compasses can be found on passenger air-

craft, such as those owned by Saudi Arabian Air-

lines. Qibla compasses are also widely available for 

purchase, and they can be programmed in digital 

watches, cellular phones, and computers.

See also 

FUnerary

 

ritUals

.