2006-12-29 01:16:35 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
For any reference point on the Earth, the Qibla is the direction to the Kaaba. Muslims are ordered to face this direction during prayer (Qur'an 2:143-144). While it may appear to some non-Muslims that Muslims worship the Kaaba, the Kaaba is simply a focal point for prayer, in a similar fashion to the cross for Christians or the Western Wall for Jews.
The earliest Muslims prayed towards Jerusalem. According to Islamic tradition, when Muhammad was praying in the Al-Qiblatain mosque (in Medina), he was ordered by God to change the qibla direction from Jerusalem to Mecca and the Kaaba. Various theories are advanced as to the reason for the change. [2]
Muslim groups in the United States differ as to how the qibla should be oriented - some believe that the direction should be calculated as a straight line drawn on a flat map, like the familiar Mercator projection of the globe; others say that the direction is determined by the shortest line on the globe of the earth, or a great circle. At times this controversy has lead to heated disputes. Flat-map Muslims in the United States pray east and slightly south; great-circle Muslims face in a north-easterly direction. In both cases, the exact orientation will vary from city to city. [3]
Some Muslims carry qibla compasses (such as these) that tell them which direction to face no matter where they are. This method requires one to align the north arrow with a particular point on the compass corresponding to one's location. Once so aligned, one simply turns toward the direction indicated by the compass's Qibla pointer, which is often in the shape of a minaret. "Qibla numbers" for various locations are listed in an accompanying booklet and also indexed online.
2006-12-29 01:24:58 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
huh ?.. if u r pointing towards the kaaba ..then u r totally wrong ...
prophet ibrahim pbuh with this son .. built the kaabah .. when Allah almighty ordered him to do so ...
after the era of propeht ibrahim ..many mushrakeen made kaaba as their idol worshipp house ... they put 360 idols in it .. n worshipped them every day ..
then when prophet Muhammad pbuh was ordered to smash down the idols .. he went and smashed down every idol there .. n prophet Bilal pbuh offered the first azan there ...
then the kaabah was used as a mosque ( Allah home ) as it was supposed to be ...
after that its surface area was increased n the ppl cmae from the whole world for HAJJ or pilgrimage ... once a year ..
kaaba is not a preislamic shrine ..
propeht ibrahim buitl it b4 propeht Muhammad's era ... but u cant say it was a PRE ISLAMIC SHRINE ...
prophet ibrahim pbuh was sent by Allah with the same message that was ONENESS OF GOD .. ..
he built it for the worship of Allah ...
but then aftet him idol worshippers turned that into a idol house ...
2006-12-29 09:40:32 · answer #2 · answered by terrorismbuster 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Abraham(pbuh) was a Muslim and he built the Ka'aba but the pagans rendered it into a pagan shrine, and after Muhammad(pbuh) returned it to an Islamic shrine.
2006-12-30 04:17:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Muslims pray towards Kaaba. and this place has a history, It was built by Ibrahim before Islam. Also this is not a shrine.
2006-12-29 13:17:53 · answer #4 · answered by digital 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If someone ask about Islam please don't use the word "ignorant" about him, as someone above in the answers has used it about the asker, I apologise on behalf of Mr. Stick.
Islam is a religion that was not just started/belong to only Muhammad (pbuh), but it was gone thru a series of refinement by all the prophets from Adam (pbuh) to Muhammad (pbuh) one by one.
Finally it was completed, got fully refined shape and came in front of us at the time of the last prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
holy Kaaba was there from Adam(pbuh) to Muhammad (pbuh) by a number of times reconstructions.
So it was never pre-Islamic as Islam was always there.
2006-12-29 15:24:31 · answer #5 · answered by Ishfaq A 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Kaaba is where Muhammed dedicated himself and the people to G-d. Why do the Jews pray facing the East? Basically the same reason-----it is toward where the Temple stood-where they dedicated themselves to G-d.
2006-12-29 10:13:44 · answer #6 · answered by Shossi 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because Muhammad turned it into an Islamic one when he fought and subdued Saudi Arabia of the time. That is where the effigies of the 300 or so gods worshiped by the people where kept, one of these gods was also Allah.
2006-12-29 09:24:31 · answer #7 · answered by markos m 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Why did Christianity take over the sacred wells of the Goddess Brigit in Ireland and turn them into wells of "saint" Brigit?
Same reason.
Conquest (of a people) and conversion (of holy things).
2006-12-29 11:14:00 · answer #8 · answered by Praise Singer 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
We Muslim do not pray to Kaaba, it is nothing but a square wall. It does not benefits us nor effect us. but we pray in that direction only.
2006-12-29 11:19:59 · answer #9 · answered by green tree 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
good point. yes the kaaba was a form of moon worship by ancient arabs.mohomed copied it to islam
2006-12-29 09:18:39 · answer #10 · answered by exmuslimah 1 · 3⤊ 1⤋