Qibla
Videos
The qibla 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. According to Isl
Muslims surrounding and facing the Kaaba for prayer
The Mihrab in one of the walls of a mosque indicates the qibla direction to be used for prayers. Picture from the Shah-i-Zinda, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
A portion of the qibla table compiled by astronomer and muwaqqit Shams al-Din al-Khalili of Damascus in the 14th century. The qibla directions are listed in the Arabic sexagesimal notation.
The Islamic Center of Washington (founded 1953), one of the early mosques in the United States. Its qibla faces the northeast in line with astronomical calculations.
Kaaba
Videos
The Kaaba, also spelled Kaʽba, Kaʽbah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʽba al-Musharrafa, is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site, the Masjid al-Hara
The Kaaba
The Black Stone is seen through a portal in the Kaaba.
"Muhammad at the Ka'ba" from the Siyer-i Nebi. Muhammad is shown with veiled face, c. 1595 CE.
Miniature from Jami' al-tawarikh, 706 AH (1306/1307 CE), depicting Muhammad and others moving the black stone into the Kaaba