Islam is one of the youngest religions on the planet, it is significantly different from ancient religious beliefs and today has the most followers around the world. For the uninitiated or recently converted, it is very difficult to observe all the daily rituals that are prescribed to be performed by faithful Muslims. It is especially difficult for many to determine the direction of the qibla, without which it is impossible to perform namaz and a host of other ritual actions. But this is a serious deviation from the rules, which in Islam is considered a sin. In our article, we will tell you how to determine the qiblah’s direction in different ways, and explain why this landmark is so important for the faithful.
Qibla: the term and its meaning
The term "Qibla" arose literally in parallel with the emergence of Islam; in literal translation from Arabic, it means "that which is opposite." Almost every Muslim knows that with his help, from anywhere in the world, you can determine where Arabia is located. Mecca (city) and the holy Kaaba are the direction to which the faithful should pray. This moment is very important for any person who professes Islam. But these are far from the only actions that govern the qibla direction.
Everyday life and daily affairs of Muslims, depending on the location of the holy Kaaba
In order for the faithful to know exactly what to do in this or that situation, the Prophet Muhammad left behind him a reminder of the hadith. Qiblah is even mentioned in several of them. For example, this topic is disclosed in the hadiths of Bara ibn Azib, Jabir ibn Abdallah, Amir ibn Rabiy. Thanks to these pious people, almost no moment was left in the daily life of Muslims that could not be explained and planned. So, let's look at rituals and everyday actions that imply the need for information about which side of the qibla is:
- Burial of the dead. Hadiths determine the special position of the Muslim body during the burial - it should be turned on the right side, facing the Kaaba.
- Slaughter of animals. If any Muslim plans to slaughter cattle, then he must lay the animal on his left side and turn his head to Mecca.
- Sleep. Muslims should go to bed, strictly observing a ritual identical to laying down the dead. After all, every person may not wake up in the morning, so according to the Qur'an, a dream is equated with death.
- Management of natural needs. The faithful are strictly forbidden to do this by turning their backs or facing Mecca.
- Namaz. This is the most important daily action, for which you need to know exactly the direction of the qibla. Since a prayer is performed several times a day, and a person constantly moves during this time, he should be able to receive reliable information about which side of the world Mecca is.
Of course, this is not all the actions indicated in the hadiths. We have given only the most common and interesting. However, there is a certain list of peculiar exceptions to the general rules when it is permitted not to look for a direction to the Qibla during prayer. There are only two such cases:
- During the travelling. If you are on the road, and the time comes to perform a prayer or other action of the above, then the direction in which the vehicle is moving will be considered a qibla.
- Danger or severe illness. In the event that you are in mortal danger, a terrible disease is approaching, or another critical situation arises, you are allowed to pray without focusing on Mecca.
We think from all of the above you already understood how important the qiblah is in Islam. Almost any person can easily determine its direction in the modern world without much work. But where did this term come from and why is Mecca the main guideline? We will tell you about this now.
Qibla
From the very first days of the emergence of Islam as a religion, a tradition appeared to build mosques and perform all the rituals, focusing on one direction. But originally it was the city of Quds (Jerusalem). It was considered a sacred place, and all the faithful, defining the qiblah, turned to face him.
However, over time, a dispute arose between the Jews of Medina and Muslims. The former constantly reproached the fact that they and the Prophet Muhammad could not even independently determine the Qibla and learned this art from the Jews. The Prophet turned to Allah with a request, and the Almighty heard his prayer, the Muslims received a new Qibla. Now they had to turn to the holy Kaaba. Since that time, the direction has never changed, so it is so important, regardless of your location anywhere in the world, to know where Mecca is located.
Qibla: how to determine the direction
Muslims know many ways by which the qiblah's direction can be calculated. Some of them have been preserved since ancient times, others arose thanks to the technological advances of our time. We have collected in the article the most detailed list of all known methods:
- mosque;
- geographic map;
- compass;
- nine scientific methods of Abdel-Aziz Sallam;
- computer programs (Qibla Compass);
- mechanical watches;
- question to an authoritative person.
Since this is a rather important and interesting question, we will analyze each method separately.
Qibla definition by mosque
If your city has a mosque, then you will not have problems with the definition of qiblah. After all, initially every religious building in the Muslim world was built in such a way that all worshipers are always facing Mecca.
If you go to the mosque and carefully look around, you will notice a small semicircular niche - mihrab. It is from her that the imam leads a collective prayer . The niche is always oriented towards Mecca. Therefore, when praying in a mosque, you can always be sure that you are facing in the right direction.
When there are a lot of people in a mosque, a prayer rug helps identify the qibla. On many of them, the arrow indicates the direction, signed by the word "qibla." This greatly facilitates the life of Muslims who observe all the instructions of Allah. Also, in many hotels in the world you can see signs with arrows pointing to Mecca.
It is interesting that in antiquity astrologer-wise astrologers were always attracted to the construction of mosques, who could absolutely say in what direction the holy Kaaba is located. Subsequently, these questions were addressed to architects, who, in addition to their main responsibilities, did an excellent job of determining the direction of the qibla.
Now it’s much easier to build mosques, because you can correctly indicate the direction with the help of many technical means that allow you to determine the location of Mecca with respect to a certain point on the ground with an accuracy of one degree.
It is interesting that among all Islamic mosques there is one that stands out for its special characteristic - it has two qiblah. We could not fail to mention this miracle in our article.
Unusual building in Saudi Arabia
In Medina, there is the Two Qiblah Mosque, or Masjit Al-Qiblathain. This building is one of a kind, because it has two mihrabs, which means it points to two qiblah. The first niche is focused on Jerusalem, and the second on Mecca. One of the most ancient Muslim traditions is associated with this mosque.
During the life of the prophet Muhammad, when Quds served as a qibla, he often performed prayers at the site of today's mosque. It is believed that it was here that the prophet prayed to Allah to send a new qibla in connection with the protracted dispute between Muslims and Jews. Right during the prayer, Muhammad received a revelation from the Almighty and instantly turned towards Mecca. All worshipers immediately followed his example. Thus, in the eyes of many people an important event took place - the Qibla change. And the mosque, which has become a symbol of this significant change affecting the life of every believer, has two mihrabs.
The religious building itself is made in the best Muslim architectural traditions. It has a strict geometric shape, emphasized by two minarets and domes. Since the mosque is located on a slope, it is noticeable how the prayer hall passes from one level to another and consists of many arches. The false dome, symbolizing the ancient direction for prayer, smoothly connects with a small gallery to the main domes and the hall. This traces the description of the qibla change process that occurred many years ago.
Outwardly, the mosque is not much different from most such structures. At the moment, it is reconstructed and is operational.
How to determine the qibla direction by compass
This is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to determine where the holy Kaaba is located relative to you. After all, a compass is an item that is sold in many stores and costs quite a bit of money. In addition, many others are somehow connected with this method in one way or another, which we will describe in the following sections of the article.
For example, you perform namaz in Moscow. How to determine which way you need to turn your face? Everything is simple. For prayer you need to know that regarding the inhabitants of central Russia, Mecca is located in the south. Therefore, you must take a compass and determine the cardinal points, and then turn south. If you follow all these simple steps, you will always know the right direction.
And what about other areas of our country and neighboring states? How to know, for example, the qibla direction by compass in Makhachkala? This is an equally simple process: those who live in the Caucasus, in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan should look for the southwest. It is there in relation to them is Mecca.
For the north-west of Russia and Ukraine, the qibla direction extends to the south. Slight deviations from generally accepted calculations have St. Petersburg, but this is not a special violation. In the hadiths it is indicated that for prayer and the performance of rituals it is not required to observe accuracy down to degrees. It is enough just to navigate in space correctly. And how to determine the qibla direction without a compass? This is a fairly common question, and we will give an answer to it.
Geographic map - an assistant in the definition of qibla
If you don’t have a compass at hand, and the geographical map is in your hands, then you can easily cope with the task of determining the location of the Kaaba. Let's take the same example: you are performing a prayer in Moscow and want to find the Qibla. You just need to find two points on the map - Moscow and Mecca, and then, using the definition of the cardinal points, orient yourself to the south. Many believers are confused by this particular point of the recommendation, because without a compass it is quite difficult to determine the cardinal points. We will give you a hint:
- Shade at noon. If the sun is outside the window, then you need to go outside and turn your back on our luminary. The cast shadow will become an indicator of the north, with east and west, respectively, on the right and left sides. This rule applies when you are in the Northern Hemisphere. In the South, your shadow will point, on the contrary, to the south.
- Polar Star. This ancient signpost for sailors and travelers may be useful in finding the qibla. If the night sky is clear, then you can easily find the North Star located at the tail of the constellation Ursa Minor. If you draw a perpendicular from it to the ground, then it will point you north. Behind will be south, on the right - east, and on the left - west.
We hope that with the help of our tips you can always easily determine the direction of the qibla.
Qibla and mechanical watches: a simple and affordable method
This method is closely related to the previous two, because you also need the sun and knowledge of exactly where you are in order to understand which side of the world you need to look for.
You need to position the watch on a flat surface so that the small arrow points to the sun. The angle formed between the arrow and the twelve o'clock mark is divided into two equal parts, its bisector and will point to the south. Moreover, keep in mind that until noon the south will be on the right side of the body, and after - on the left. You can use this method from six in the morning until six in the evening.
Scientific work of Abdel-Aziz Sallam
It is especially difficult to determine the exact qibla direction for Muslims living in America. After all, usually the direction is calculated based on the shortest distance between two points on land. Therefore, among American Muslims, there is no unity on qiblah. Sometimes prayer is performed relative to the opposite ends of the world.
About seventeen years ago, a whole symposium was devoted to this serious issue, at which Abdel-Aziz Sallam spoke, who devoted his life to the study of qiblah. He presented to the audience his scientific work, containing nine scientific methods that, if you have certain knowledge, can be used in everyday life:
- Arithmetic. Here the rules for solving spherical triangles are applied, as well as the half-angle sine formulas.
- Trigonometric tables. They are used in two methods and are based on the calculations of the ancient Egyptians.
- Celestial sphere. This method is ideal for sailors who need to correlate the meridians and latitude of the Kaaba with the angle of inclination of the celestial sphere. The method described in the fifth scientific work is identical, but the circle of the celestial sphere is used here.
- The sixth and seventh methods are based on the adoption of the Kaaba as a starting point in navigation instruments.
- Perpendicular to the sun. Twice a year, our luminary becomes perpendicular to the Kaaba, this can be observed from around the world. Therefore, it is enough to see this phenomenon once and draw up approximate guidelines for yourself, so that in the future you can always look towards Mecca.
- Namaz card. It was specially made for the inhabitants of America and allows using the indicated angles to calculate the desired direction.
It is worth noting that all such different methods are recognized as correct and can be used at any time.
Computer programs
The direction to qibla during prayer helps to determine various computer programs. Now they are very popular and widespread, there are applications for smartphones and tablets, which at startup show you where to pray when you need to turn your face.
Despite the fact that these programs are very diverse, many Muslims generalize them under the same name - Qibla Compass. Indeed, in any case, a drawn compass appears in front of you, the arrow of which points to the Kaaba. Typically, such programs have common characteristics:
- sound notifications about the beginning of prayer;
- compass;
- audio recordings of texts from the Koran;
- list of nearby mosques;
- Muslim calendar and the like.
In principle, such programs greatly facilitate the life of believers, because you can use them anywhere in the world. Now it is practically the most accurate qibla method of all known.
Question to another muslim
If you cannot independently determine the qibla direction for one reason or another, then it is permissible to ask a Muslim who is credible with a question. Many are concerned about such a moment that the respondent may also make a mistake and incorrectly indicate the direction. Keep in mind that in this case someone else's mistake will not be considered a sin. You can calmly pray with your face in the direction indicated, but if you find out the right direction, you should change it. And perform further rituals in the right direction.
It is interesting that if as a result of any actions during the prayer you realize that you are making a mistake, you must immediately turn your face in the right direction and continue your prayer.
A few words in conclusion
We hope that our article turned out to be useful to you, and we have given all the answers to questions related to the qibla. Now you can always perform namaz and other rituals facing the Kaaba. And this is right, because this is exactly what Allah commanded to do through the Prophet Muhammad. But, trying to perform all the actions correctly and in accordance with the Qur'an and Hadith, do not forget about the main thing.The life of a true Muslim should be filled with spiritual purity and the desire to live according to the covenants of the Almighty, and if for some reason you cannot determine the direction of the qiblah, do not be discouraged. In the hadith it is written that it is better to pray sincerely, not knowing where Mecca is, than to pray without a spark of faith in the heart, but in the direction of the qibla.