Collection: THE QIBLA OF THE WORLD’S MAJOR CITIES

The Direction of Prayer Towards the Kaabah in Makkah al-Mukarramah.

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 its use as the qibla was ordained by Allah in several verses of the Quran revealed to Muhammad in the second Hijri year.

Before the development of astronomy in the Islamic world, Muslims used traditional methods to determine the qibla. These methods included facing the direction that the companions of Prophet Muhammad had used when in the same place; using the setting and rising points of celestial objects; using the direction of the wind; or using due south, which was the direction of the qibla in Medina.