Prayer in a certain direction is characteristic of many world religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baháʼí Faith.
Judaism
Jews traditionally
pray in the direction of
Jerusalem, where the "presence of the transcendent God (''
shekinah'')
esidedin the
Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies (Hebrew: ''Qōḏeš haqQŏḏāšīm'' or ''Kodesh HaKodashim''; also הַדְּבִיר ''haDəḇīr'', 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where God's prese ...
of the Temple."
Within the Holy of Holies lay the
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant,; Ge'ez: also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, is an alleged artifact believed to be the most sacred relic of the Israelites, which is described as a wooden chest, covered in pure gold, with an e ...
that contained the
Ten Commandments tablets given to the prophet Moses by God; this is the reason that the
Temple of Solomon became the focal point for
Jewish prayer
Jewish prayer ( he, תְּפִלָּה, ; plural ; yi, תּפֿלה, tfile , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with i ...
.
In the
Bible, it is written that when the prophet
Daniel
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...
was in Babylon, he "went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open to Jerusalem; and he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously" (cf. ).
After the destruction of the Temple of Solomon, Jews continue to pray facing Jerusalem in hope for the coming of the
Messiah whom they await.
The
Talmud (''
Berakhot'' 30a) instructs Jews outside the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
to face the Holy Land while praying; Jews residing in Israel should turn towards the city of Jerusalem; those living within Jerusalem should orient themselves towards the
Temple Mount, and those next to the Temple Mount should turn towards the former site of the Holy of Holies.
The
Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) thus specifies that in synagogues, the
Ark should be placed such that "worshipers may pray in the direction of the Holy Land and the place of the Sanctuary in Jerusalem".
When synagogues are erected, they are built to face Jerusalem.
The
Mizrah (literally, "East") is a plaque or other decorative wall hanging which is placed on the eastern wall of many homes of Jews in the
Diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
to the west of Israel, in order to mark the direction of Jerusalem towards which prayer is focused.
A Mizrah plaque is often an artistic, ornate piece, being written in calligraphy and featuring a panorama of Jerusalem. Mizrah wall hangings typically feature the Hebrew word ''Mizrah'' ( he, מזרח), and may include the verse from the
Torah which states, "From the rising of the sun unto its going down, the Lord's name is to be praised" (cf. ).
Christianity
Since the time of the
early Church
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
, the eastward direction of Christian prayer has carried a strong significance, attested by the writings of the
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
.
In the 2nd century, Syrian Christians hung a
Christian cross on the eastern wall of their house, symbolizing "their souls facing God, talking with him, and sharing their spirituality with the Lord."
Two centuries later,
Saint Basil the Great declared that one of the unwritten commandments of the Church was to pray facing east.
Nearly all
Christian apologetic
Christian apologetics ( grc, ἀπολογία, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity.
Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in th ...
tracts published in the 7th century AD in the Syriac and Arabic languages explicated that the reason that Christians prayed facing the east is because "the Garden of Eden was planted in the east () and that at the end of time, at the
second coming, the Messiah would approach Jerusalem from the east."
Throughout
Christendom, believers have hung or painted a
Christian cross, to which they
prostrated in front of, on the eastern wall of their home in order to indicate the eastward direction of prayer, as an "expression of their undying belief in the coming again of Jesus was united to their conviction that the cross, 'the sign of the Son of Man,' would appear in the eastern heavens on his return (see )."
Communicants in the
Oriental Orthodox Church
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...
es today (such as those of the
Coptic Orthodox Church
The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي ...
and
Indian Orthodox Church), and those of the
Mar Thoma Syrian Church
The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...
(an
Oriental Protestant denomination) pray the
canonical hours
In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers.
In ...
contained in the
Agpeya and
Shehimo
Shehimo ( syr, , ml, ഷഹീമോ; English language, English: Book of Common Prayer, also spelled Sh'himo) is the West Syriac Rite, West Syriac Christian breviary of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the West Syriac Rite, West Syriac Saint Tho ...
breviaries, respectively (a practice done at
seven fixed prayer times a day) facing the eastward direction.
Islam
In Islam, the direction of prayer is known as the
qibla and this direction is towards the
Sacred Mosque
, native_name_lang = ar
, religious_affiliation = Islam
, image = Al-Haram mosque - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg
, image_upright = 1.25
, caption = Aerial view of the Great Mosque of Mecca
, map ...
(''al-Masjid al-Ḥarām'') of
Mecca. Originally the qibla of Muhammad and his followers in
Medina was towards
Jerusalem, but it was changed to Mecca after the Quranic verses (Al-Bakarah 2:144, 2:145) that Muslims believe was revealed in the second Hijri year (624 CE), about 15 or 16 months after Muhammad's
migration to Medina
The Hijrah or Hijra () was the journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri and Solar Hijri calendars; its date eq ...
.
If a person does not know which direction they are facing, that individual should pray in the direction that he/she feels is towards Mecca. All mosques are supposed to be designed to be oriented towards the qibla.
A niche known as the
mihrab
Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
is built into the wall of a mosque that faces Mecca so that Muslims know in which direction to pray.
The determination of qibla has been an important problem for Muslim communities throughout history. Muslims are required to know the qibla to perform their daily prayers, and it is also needed to determine the orientation of mosques. Originally,
various traditional methods were used to determine the qibla, and from the eighth century onwards Muslim astronomers developed methods based on mathematical astronomy, especially computations techniques based on
spherical trigonometry using a location's latitudes and longitudes. In the fourteenth century, the astronomer
Shams al-Din al-Khalili
Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Khalīlī ( ar, شمس الدين عبد الله محمد بن محمد الخليلي ; 1320–1380) was a Mamluk-era Syrian astronomer who compiled extensive tables for astronomical ...
compiled a table containing the qibla for all latitudes and longitudes. Scientific instruments, such as the
astrolabe
An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستارهیاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
, helped Muslims orient themselves for prayer facing the city of Mecca.
According to the author
Dan Gibson early Islamic Qiblas pointed towards the city of
Petra
Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...
and not
Mecca.
Baháʼí Faith
In the
Baháʼí Faith, the
Qiblih is the direction of prayer towards which adherents focus.
It is a “fixed requirement for the recitation of obligatory prayer”.
See also
*
Fixed prayer times
Fixed prayer times, praying at dedicated times during the day, are common practice in major world religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Judaism
Jewish law requires Jews to pray thrice a day; the morning prayer is known as Shachari ...
*
Hygiene in Christianity
In certain denominations of Christianity, hygiene in Christianity includes a number of regulations involving cleanliness before prayer, as well as those concerning diet and apparel.
History
The Bible has many rituals of purification relating ...
*
Islamic hygienical jurisprudence
References
{{reflist, 2
Jewish practices
Christian prayer
Salah
Horizontal coordinate system