kabah

The direction in which the believer orients himself or herself for salat, the prayer of Islam.The qibla is always directed towards the Ka'ba of Mecca, but for 1,5 years in the early Islam, the qibla was Jerusalem (from 622 to 624). Other religions had their qiblas at the time of early Islam, and even before Muhammad. The change of qibla is recorded in the Koran, as a reprimand to people complaining:

KORAN
Chapter 2136...Unwise people will say: What made them change the qibla they had? Answer them: God is of the east and of the west, he guides the ones he pleases on the right path...

What qibla did Muhammad and the first Muslims have before they started to turn towards Jerusalem? On this point, three versions exist in the Sunna: Jerusalem was the qibla; Ka'ba was the qibla; and the qibla was on a line, the one running from Jerusalem to Ka'ba.Qibla is in a mosque indicated by a mihrab, a niche in the wall. Salat performed outdoors, use a sutra, which can be almost any object, to indicate the qibla. For some older mosques, the indication of the qibla is with errors due to limited knowledge on how to find the correct direction.The qibla has importance to more than just the salat, and plays an important part in everyday ceremonies. The head of an animal that is slaughtered, is aligned with qibla. People are buried with their face in direction of the qibla. Lovemaking is best done with the heads facing qibla. The qibla is important, and it is believed that directing things towards the qibla, will decide whether the act done is good or useless.