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 hiJra to medina 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 abraham.
The qUran, 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 cairo.
The qibla of the Great Mosque in cordoba, Spain,
faced south rather than southeast. This may have
been because the builders were emulating the qibla
of the Umayyad caliphate (r. 661–750) far to the
east in Damascus, syria, 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.Further reading: David A. King, “Architecture and
Astronomy: The Ventilators of Medieval Cairo and
Their Secrets,” Journal of the American Oriental Society
104, no. 1 (1984): 97–133; ———, Astronomy in the
Service of Islam (Aldershot, England: Varorium, 1993);
Nuha N. N. Khoury, “The Mihrab: From Text to Form,”
International Journal of Middle East Studies 30 (1998):
1–27; F. E. Peters, Muhammad and the Origins of Islam
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994),
207–209.qiyas See fiqh.
al-Quds See jerusalem.
al-Quds 569 J