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The qibla is the direction of the Kaaba, a cube-like building at the centre of the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjid al-Haram) in Mecca, in the Hijaz region of Saudi Arabia. Other than its role as qibla, it is also the holiest site for Muslims, also known as the House of God (Bayt Allah) and where the tawaf (the circumambulation ritual) is performed during the Hajj and umrah pilgrimages.
In exceptional cases, the mihrab does not follow the qibla direction, such as is the Masjid al-Qiblatayn, or the Mosque of the Two Qiblas, where Muhammad received the command to change the direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca, thus it had two prayer niches. In 1987 the mosque was renovated, the old prayer niche facing Jerusalem was ...
The prayer hall consists of a series of arches which support barrel-vaults running parallel to the qibla wall. These vaults are interrupted by two domes which establish an axis in the direction of Mecca. [12] The main dome to the south is raised on a drum of clerestory windows which allow light to filter into the interior directly above the mihrab.
The mihrab is a niche or alcove, typically concave, set into the qibla wall (the wall standing in the direction of prayer) of a mosque or other prayer space. It symbolized and indicated the direction of the qibla to worshippers. It also acquired ritual and ceremonial importance over time, and its shape was even used as a symbol on some coinage.
[65] [d] Excluding the two aisles on each side of the central nave, each aisle was made up of eleven arches running perpendicular to the qibla. The central nave was twice the breadth of the other aisles and had a gabled roof with a dome. [68] [e] The mosque likely lacked the side doors of its predecessor. [57]
The qibla wall should, in a properly oriented mosque, be set perpendicular to a line leading to Mecca, where the Kaaba is located. [83] Congregants pray in rows parallel to the qiblah wall and thus arrange themselves so they face Mecca. In the qibla wall, usually at its center, is the miḥrāb, a
The mihrab, which indicates the Qibla (direction of Mecca), in front of which stands the imam during the prayer, is located in the middle of the southern wall of the prayer hall. It is formed by an oven-shaped niche framed by two marble columns and topped by a painted wooden half-cupola. The niche of the mihrab is two metres long, 4.5 metres ...
The Qibla wall also features subtle fibre-optic lighting, which is integrated as part of the organic design. In total, three calligraphy styles — Naskhi , Thuluth and Kufic — are used throughout the mosque and were drafted by Mohammed Mandi Al Tamimi of the UAE, Farouk Haddad of Syria and Mohammed Allam of Jordan .