Qibla

The qibla (Arabic: قِبْلَة; lit. 'direction') is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to be a sacred site built by prophets Ibrahim and Ismail, and that its use as the qibla was ordained by Allah in several verses of the Quran revealed to Muhammad in the second Hijri year. Prior to this revelation, Muhammad and his followers in Medina faced Jerusalem for prayers. Most mosques contain a mihrab (a wall niche) that indicates the direction of the qibla.

Quotes

• In [this year] al-Walid b. Abd al-Malik ordered the pulling down of the mosque of the Messenger of God, may God bless and preserve him, and the pulling down of the rooms of the wives of the Messenger of God, may God bless and preserve him, and the incorporation of them into the mosque. Muhammad b. Umar mentioned that Muhammad b. Ja’far b. Wardan al-Banna (i.e., “the builder”) said: I saw the messenger sent by al-Walid b. Abd al-Malik. He arrived in the month of Rabi‘i in the year 88 (February–March 707) with a turban wound round his head. He entered into the presence of Umar b. Abd al-Aziz bearing al-Walid’s letter ordering him to incorporate the rooms of the wives of the Messenger of God, may God bless and preserve him, into the mosque, and to buy [the land, etc.] behind it and beside it so that it might [measure] two hundred cubits by two hundred cubits. He also said to him [in the letter]: “Move the qiblah [wall] forward, if you are able, and you are able, because of the standing of your maternal uncles; they will not go against you. If any of them objects, order the people of the misr [garrison town] to estimate a fair value for him. Then demolish and pay them the prices. You have good precedents for this in the actions of Umar and Uthman.
  • Muhammad ibn Jarir Al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari, vol. XXIII, “The Zenith of the Marwanid House,” trans. Martin Hinds (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 141.
  • Tabari writing about the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina

• We are people who turn to the same qiblah as you and hold your creed.
  • The people of Kufa appealing for the good will of Ibn al-Zubayr.
  • Muhammad ibn Jarar al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari, vol. XXI, “The Victory of the Marwanids,” trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 107.