Qibla
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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.
Muwaqqit
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In the history of Islam, a muwaqqit was an astronomer tasked with the timekeeping and the regulation of prayer times in an Islamic institution like a mosque or a madrasa. Unlike the muezzin who was us
The muvakkithane ("lodge of the muwaqqit") in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
The quadrant, often produced and used by muwaqqits.
The Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in Fustat (today part of Cairo), where the official title of muwaqqit was first recorded.
The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, a major centre of muwaqqit activity in the 14th and 15th centuries.