Qibla
The qibla (
The qibla is also the direction for entering the
The most common technical definition used by Muslim astronomers for a location is the direction on the great circle—in the Earth's Sphere—passing through the location and the Kaaba. This is the direction of the shortest possible path from a place to the Kaaba, and allows the exact calculation (hisab) of the qibla using a spherical trigonometric formula that takes the coordinates of a location and of the Kaaba as inputs (see formula below). The method is applied to develop mobile applications and websites for Muslims, and to compile qibla tables used in instruments such as the qibla compass. The qibla can also be determined at a location by observing the shadow of a vertical rod on the twice-yearly occasions when the Sun is directly overhead in Mecca—on 27 and 28 May at 12:18 Saudi Arabia Standard Time (09:18 UTC), and on 15 and 16 July at 12:27 SAST (09:27 UTC).
Before the development of astronomy in the Islamic world, Muslims used traditional methods to determine the qibla. These methods included facing the direction that the
Location
The qibla is the direction of the
The qibla status of the Kaaba (or the Sacred Mosque in which it is located) is based on the verses 144, 149, and 150 of the
There are different reports of the qibla direction when Muhammad was in Mecca (before his migration to Medina). According to a report cited by historian
Religious significance
Etymologically, the Arabic word qibla (قبلة) means "direction". In Islamic ritual and law, it refers to a special direction faced by Muslims during prayers and other religious contexts.[5] Islamic religious scholars agree that facing the qibla is a necessary condition for the validity of salah—the Islamic ritual prayer—in normal conditions;[8] exceptions include prayers during a state of fear or war, as well as non-obligatory prayers during travel.[9] The hadith (Muhammad's tradition) also prescribes that Muslims face the qibla when entering the ihram (sacred state for hajj), after the middle jamrah (stone-throwing ritual) during the pilgrimage.[5] Islamic etiquette (adab) calls for Muslims to turn the head of an animal when it is slaughtered, and the faces of the dead when they are buried, toward the qibla.[5] The qibla is the preferred direction when making a supplication and is to be avoided when defecating, urinating, and spitting.[5]
Inside a mosque, the qibla is usually indicated by a
Ayn al-ka'ba and jihat al-ka'ba
Ayn al-ka'ba ("standing so as to face the Kaaba head-on") is a position facing the qibla so that an imaginary line extending from the person's line of sight would pass through the Kaaba.
A minority of Islamic religious scholars—for example Ibn Arabi (d. 1240)—consider ayn al-ka'ba to be obligatory during the ritual prayer, while others consider it obligatory only when one is able. For locations further than Mecca, scholars such as Abu Hanifa (d. 699) and Al-Qurtubi (d. 1214) argue that it is permissible to assume jihat al-ka'ba, facing only the general direction of the Kaaba.[17] Others argue that the ritual condition of facing the qibla is already fulfilled when the imaginary line to the Kaaba is within one's field of vision.[12] For instance, there are legal opinions that accept the entire southeastern quadrant in Al-Andalus (Islamic Iberian Peninsula), and the southwestern quadrant in Central Asia, to be valid qibla.[18] Arguments for the validity of jihat al-ka'ba include the wording of the Quran, which commands Muslims only to "turn [one's] face" toward the Great Mosque, and to avoid imposing requirements that would be impossible to fulfill if ayn al-ka'ba were to be obligatory in all places.[19] The Shafi'i school of Islamic law, as codified in Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi's 11th-century Kitab al-Tanbih fi'l-Fiqh, argues that one must follow the qibla indicated by the local mosque when one is not near Mecca or, when not near a mosque, to ask a trustworthy person. When this is not possible, one is to make one's own determination—to exercise ijtihad—by the means at one's disposal.[20][21]
Determination
Theoretical basis: the great circle
A great circle, also called the orthodrome, is any circle on a sphere whose centre is identical to the centre of the sphere. For example, all lines of longitude are great circles of the Earth, while the equator is the only line of latitude that is also a great circle (other lines of latitude are centered north or south of the centre of the Earth).[22] The great circle is the theoretical basis in most models that seek to mathematically determine the direction of the qibla from a locality. In such models, the qibla is defined as the direction of the great circle passing through the locality and the Kaaba.[23][24] One of the properties of a great circle is that it indicates the shortest path connecting any pair of points along the circle—this is the basis of its use to determine the qibla. The great circle is similarly used to find the shortest flight path connecting the two locations—therefore the qibla calculated using the great circle method is generally close to the direction of the locality to Mecca.[25] As the ellipsoid is a more accurate figure of the Earth than a perfect sphere, modern researchers have looked into using ellipsoidal models to calculate the qibla, replacing the great circle by the geodesics on an ellipsoid. This results in more complicated calculations, while the improvement in accuracy falls well within the typical precision of the setting out of a mosque or the placement of a mat.[26] For example, calculations using the GRS 80 ellipsoidal model yields the qibla of 18°47′06″ for a location in San Francisco, while the great circle method yields 18°51′05″.[27]
Calculations with spherical trigonometry
The great circle model is applied to calculate the qibla using spherical trigonometry—a branch of geometry that deals with the mathematical relations between the sides and angles of triangles formed by three great circles of a sphere (as opposed to the conventional trigonometry which deals with those of a two-dimensional triangle).
If a location , the Kaaba , and the north pole form a triangle on the sphere of the Earth, then the qibla is indicated by , which is the direction of the great circle passing through both and . The qibla can also be expressed as an angle, (or ), of the qibla with respect to the north, also called the inhiraf al-qibla. This angle can be calculated as a mathematical function of the local latitude , the latitude of the Kaaba , and the longitude difference between the locality and the Kaaba .
Applying this formula in the spherical triangle (substituting )[30] and applying trigonometric identities obtain:
, or
[29]
This formula was derived by modern scholars, but equivalent methods have been known to Muslim astronomers since the 9th century (3rd century AH), developed by various scholars, including
When the qibla angle with respect to the north, , is known,
Shadow observation
As observed from Earth, the Sun appears to "shift" between the Northern and Southern Tropics seasonally; additionally, it appears to move from east to west daily as a consequence of the Earth's rotation. The combination of these two apparent motions means that every day the Sun crosses the meridian once, usually not precisely overhead but to the north or to the south of the observer. In locations between the two tropics—latitudes lower than 23.5° north or south—at certain moments of the year (usually twice a year) the Sun passes almost directly overhead. This happens when the Sun crosses the meridian while being at the local latitude at the same time.[36]
The city of Mecca is among the places where this occurs, due to its location at 21°25′ N. It occurs twice a year, firstly on 27/28 May at about 12:18 Saudi Arabia Standard Time (SAST) or 09:18 UTC, and secondly on 15/16 July at 12:27 SAST (09:27 UTC).[36][37][b] As the sun reaches the zenith of the Kaaba, any vertical object on earth that receives sunlight cast a shadow that indicates the qibla (see picture).[36] This method of finding the qibla is called rasd al-qiblat ("observing the qibla").[38][28] Since night falls on the hemisphere opposite of the Kaaba, half the locations on Earth (including Australia as well as most of the Americas and the Pacific Ocean) cannot observe this directly.[39] Instead, such places observe the opposite phenomenon when the Sun passes above the antipodal point of the Kaaba (in other words, the Sun passes directly underneath the Kaaba), causing shadows in the opposite direction from those observed during rasd al-qiblat.[36][40] This occurs twice a year, on 14 January 00:30 SAST (21:30 UTC the previous day) and 29 November 00:09 SAST (21:09 UTC the previous day).[41] Observations made within five minutes of the rasd al-qiblat moments or its antipodal counterparts, or at the same time of the day two days before or after each event, still show accurate directions with negligible difference.[36][37]
On the world map
Spherical trigonometry provides the shortest path from any point on Earth to the Kaaba, even though the indicated direction might seem counterintuitive when imagined on a flat
A
Traditional methods
Historical records and surviving old mosques show that throughout history the qibla was often determined by simple methods based on tradition or "folk science" not based on mathematical astronomy. Some early Muslims used due south everywhere as the qibla, literally following Muhammad's instruction to face south while he was in Medina (Mecca is due south of Medina). Some mosques as far away as al-Andalus to the west and Central Asia to the east face south, even though Mecca is nowhere near that direction.[51] In various places, there are also the "qiblas of the companions" (qiblat al-sahaba), those which were used there by the Companions of the Prophet—the first generation of Muslims, who are considered role models in Islam. Such directions were used by some Muslims in the following centuries, side by side with other directions, even after Muslim astronomers used calculations to find more accurate directions to Mecca. Among the directions described as the qiblas of the companions are due south in Syria and Palestine,[52] the direction of the winter sunrise in Egypt, and the direction of the winter sunset in Iraq.[53] The direction of the winter sunrise and sunset are also traditionally favoured because they are parallel to the walls of the Kaaba.[54]
Development of methods
Pre-astronomy
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.[55] When Muhammad lived among the Muslims in Medina (which, like Mecca, is also in the Hejaz region), he prayed due south, according to the known direction of Mecca. Within the few generations after Muhammad's death in 632, Muslims had reached places far away from Mecca, presenting the problem of determining the qibla in new locations.[56] Mathematical methods based on astronomy would develop only at the end of the 8th century or the beginning of the 9th, and even then they were not initially popular. Therefore, early Muslims relied on non-astronomical methods.[57]
There was a wide range of traditional methods in determining the qibla during the early Islamic period, resulting in different directions even from the same place. In addition to due south and the qiblas of the companions, the Arabs also knew a form of "folk" astronomy—called so by the historian of astronomy
With astronomy
The study of astronomy—known as ilm al-falak ("science of the celestial orbs") in the Islamic intellectual tradition—began to appear in the Islamic World in the second half of the 8th century, centred in Baghdad, the principal city of the Abbasid Caliphate. Initially, the science was introduced through the works of Indian authors, but after the 9th century the works of Greek astronomers such as Ptolemy were translated into Arabic and became the main references in the field.[60] Muslim astronomers preferred Greek astronomy because they considered it to be better supported by theoretical explanations and therefore it could be developed as an exact science; however, the influence of Indian astronomy survives especially in the compilation of astronomical tables.[61] This new science was applied to develop new methods of determining the qibla, making use of the concept of latitude and longitude taken from Ptolemy's Geography as well as trigonometric formulae developed by Muslim scholars.[62] Most textbooks of astronomy written in the medieval Islamic World contain a chapter on the determination of the qibla, considered one of the many things connecting astronomy with Islamic law (sharia).[29][63] According to David A. King, various medieval solutions for the determination of the qibla "bear witness to the development of mathematical methods from the 3rd/9th to the 8th/14th centuries and to the level of sophistication in trigonometry and computational techniques attained by these scholars".[29]
The first mathematical methods developed in the early 9th century were approximate solutions to the mathematical problem, usually using a flat map or two-dimensional geometry. Since in reality the Earth is spherical, the directions found were inexact, but they were sufficient for locations relatively close to Mecca (including as far away as Egypt and Iran) because the errors were less than 2°.[64]
Exact solutions, based on three-dimensional geometry and spherical trigonometry, began to appear in the mid-9th century. Habash al-Hasib wrote an early example, using an orthographic projection.[65][e] Another group of solutions uses trigonometric formulas, for example Al-Nayrizi's four-step application of Menelaus's theorem.[66][f] Subsequent scholars, including Ibn Yunus, Abu al-Wafa, Ibn al-Haitham and Al-Biruni, proposed other methods which are confirmed to be accurate from the viewpoint of modern astronomy.[67]
Muslim astronomers subsequently used these methods to compile tables showing the qibla from a list of locations, grouped by their latitude and longitude differences from Mecca. The oldest known example, from c. 9th-century Baghdad, contained entries for each degree and
The accuracy of applying these methods to actual locations depend on the accuracy of its input parameters—the local latitude and the latitude of Mecca, and the longitude difference. At the time of the development of these methods, the latitude of a location could be determined to several arc minutes' accuracy, but there was no accurate method to determine a location's longitude.[69] Common methods used to estimate the longitude difference included comparing the local timing of a lunar eclipse versus the timing in Mecca, or measuring the distance of caravan routes;[67][33] the Central Asian scholar Al-Biruni made his estimate by averaging various approximate methods.[67] Because of longitudinal inaccuracy, medieval qibla calculations (including those using mathematically accurate methods) differ from the modern values. For example, while the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo was built using the "qibla of the astronomers", but the mosque's qibla (127°) differs somewhat from the results of modern calculations (135°) because the longitude difference used was off by three degrees.[70]
Accurate longitude values in the Islamic world were available only after the application of
Instruments
Muslims use various instruments to find the qibla direction when not near a mosque. The qibla compass is a magnetic compass which includes a table or a list of qibla angles from major settlements. Some electronic versions use satellite coordinates to calculate and indicate the qibla automatically.[71] Qibla compasses have existed since around 1300, supplemented by the list of qibla angles often written on the instruments themselves.[72] Hotel rooms with Muslim guests may use a sticker showing the qibla on the ceiling or a drawer.[16] With the advent of computing, various mobile apps and websites use formulae to calculate the qibla for their users.[23][73]
Diversity
Early Islamic world
Because varying methods have been used to determine the qibla, mosques were built throughout history in different directions, including some that still stand today.[74] Methods based on astronomy and mathematics were not always used,[75] and the same determination method could yield different qiblas due to differences in the accuracy of data and calculations.[76] Egyptian historian Al-Maqrizi (d. 1442) recorded various qibla angles used in Cairo at the time: 90° (due east), 117° (winter sunrise, the "qibla of the sahaba"), 127° (calculated by astronomers, such as Ibn Yunus), 141° (Mosque of Ibn Tulun), 156° (the rising point of Suhayl/Canopus), 180° (due south, emulating the qibla of Muhammad in Medina), and 204° (the setting point of Canopus). The modern qibla for Cairo is 135°, which was not known at the time.[77] This diversity also results in the non-uniform layout in Cairo's districts, because the streets are often oriented according to the varying orientation of the mosques. Historical records also indicate the diversity of qiblas in other major cities, including Córdoba (113°, 120°, 135°, 150°, and 180° were recorded in the 12th century) and Samarkand (180°, 225°, 230°, 240°, and 270° were recorded in the 11th century).[77] According to the doctrine of jihat al-ka'ba, the diverse directions of qiblas are still valid as long as they are still in the same broad direction.[18]
In 1990, the scholar of geography Michael E. Bonine conducted a survey of the main mosques of all major cities in present-day Morocco—constructed from the
Indonesia
Variations of the qibla also occur in Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population. The astronomically calculated qibla ranges from 291°—295° (21°—25° north of west) depending on the exact location in the archipelago.[84] However, the qibla is often known traditionally simply as "the west", resulting in mosques built oriented due west or to the direction of sunset—which varies slightly throughout the year. Different opinions exist among Indonesian Islamic astronomers: Tono Saksono et al. argues in 2018 that facing the qibla during prayers is more of a "spiritual prerequisite" than a precise physical one, and that an exact direction to the Kaaba itself from thousands of kilometres away requires an extreme precision impossible to achieve when building a mosque or when standing for prayers.[16] On the other hand, Muhammad Hadi Bashori in 2014 opines that "correcting the qibla is indeed a very urgent thing", and can be guided by simple methods such as observing the shadow.[85]
In the history of the region, disputes about the qibla had also occurred in the then-Dutch East Indies in the 1890s. When the Indonesian scholar and future founder of Muhammadiyah, Ahmad Dahlan, returned from his Islamic and astronomy studies in Mecca, he found that mosques in the royal capital of Yogyakarta had inaccurate qiblas, including the Kauman Great Mosque, which faced due west. His efforts in adjusting the qibla were opposed by the traditional ulama of the Yogyakarta Sultanate, and a new mosque built by Dahlan using his calculations was demolished by a mob. Dahlan rebuilt his mosque in the 1900s, and later the Kauman Great Mosque would also be reoriented using the astronomically calculated qibla.[86][87]
North America
Places long settled by Muslim populations tend to have resolved the question of the direction of the qibla over time. Other countries, like the United States and Canada, have had large Muslim communities only in the past several decades, and the determination of the qibla can be a matter of debate.[89] The Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. was built in 1953 facing slightly north of east and initially puzzled some observers, including Muslims, because Washington, D.C.'s latitude is 17°30′ north of Mecca. Even though a line drawn on world maps—such as those using the Mercator projection—would suggest a southeastern direction to Mecca, the astronomical calculation using the great circle method does yield a north-of-east direction (56°33′).[88] Nevertheless, most early mosques in the United States face east or southeast, following the apparent direction on world maps.[89] As the Muslim community grew and the number of mosques increased, in 1978, an American Muslim scientist, S. Kamal Abdali, wrote a book arguing that the correct qibla from North America was north or northeast as calculated by the great circle method which identifies the shortest path to Mecca.[g][90][23] Abdali's conclusion was widely circulated and then accepted by the Muslim community, and mosques were subsequently reoriented as a result.[89] In 1993, two religious scholars, Riad Nachef and Samir Kadi, published a book arguing for a southeastern qibla, writing that the north/northeast qibla was invalid and resulted from a lack of religious knowledge.[h][91][25] In reaction, Abdali published a response to their arguments and criticism in an article entitled "The Correct Qibla" online in 1997.[i] The two opinions resulted in a period of debate about the correct qibla.[91] Eventually most North American Muslims accepted the north/northeast qibla with a minority following the east/southeast qibla.[23][92]
Outer space
The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth at high speed—the direction from it to Mecca changes significantly within a few seconds.[23] Before his flight to the ISS, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor requested, and the Malaysian National Fatwa Council provided, guidelines which have been translated into multiple languages.[93] The council wrote that the qibla determination should be "based on what is possible" and recommended four options, saying that one should pray toward the first option if possible and, if not, fall back successively on the later ones:[23]
- the Kaaba itself
- the position directly above the Kaaba at the altitude of the astronaut's orbit
- the Earth in general
- "wherever"
In line with the fatwa council, other Muslim scholars argue for the importance of flexibility and adapting the qibla requirement to what an astronaut is capable of fulfilling. Khaleel Muhammad of San Diego State University opined "God does not take a person to task for that which is beyond his/her ability to work with." Kamal Abdali argued that concentration during a prayer is more important than the exact orientation, and he suggested keeping the qibla direction at the start of a prayer instead of "worrying about possible changes in position".[23] Before Sheikh Muszaphar's mission, at least eight Muslims had flown to space, but none of them publicly discussed issues relating to worship in space.[94]
See also
- Direction of prayer
- Jewish faith
- Ad orientem, comparable concept in traditional Christianity
- Baháʼídirection of prayer
- Orientation of churches
- Spatial deixis, spatial orientation relevant to an utterance
Notes
- ^ This reference occurs in Quran 19:11
- ^ For an example of the loxodrome used to find qibla, see #North America.
- ^ King 1996, p. 150 has a picture of one of the instruments
- ^ The details of this method and its proof are provided in King 1996, pp. 144–145
- ^ The details of this method and its proof are provided in King 1996, pp. 145–146
- OCLC 27738892.
- ^ This book is Nachef, Riad; Kadi, Samir (1993). The Substantiation of the People of Truth that the Direction of al-Qibla in the United States and Canada is to the Southeast. Philadelphia: Association of Islamic Charitable Projects.
- ^ This article is Abdali, S. Kamal (17 September 1997). "The Correct Qibla" (PDF). geomete.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2019.
References
Citations
- ^ Wensinck 1978, p. 317.
- ^ a b Wensinck 1978, p. 318.
- ^ Bashori 2015, pp. 97–98.
- ^ Bashori 2015, p. 104.
- ^ a b c d e f g Wensinck 1986, p. 82.
- ^ Wensinck 1978, p. 321.
- ^ Daftary 2007, p. 149.
- ^ Bashori 2015, p. 103.
- ^ Bashori 2015, p. 91.
- ^ a b Kuban 1974, p. 3.
- ^ Kuban 1974, p. 4.
- ^ a b King 1996, p. 134.
- ^ Bashori 2015, pp. 104–105.
- ^ Saksono, Fulazzaky & Sari 2018, p. 137.
- ^ Saksono, Fulazzaky & Sari 2018, p. 134.
- ^ a b c d e f Saksono, Fulazzaky & Sari 2018, p. 136.
- ^ Bashori 2015, pp. 92, 95.
- ^ a b King 1996, pp. 134–135.
- ^ Bashori 2015, p. 95.
- ^ a b c Wensinck 1986, p. 83.
- ^ Bashori 2015, p. 94.
- ^ Waltham 2013, p. 98.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Di Justo 2007.
- ^ King 2004, p. 166.
- ^ a b Almakky & Snyder 1996, p. 31.
- ^ Saksono, Fulazzaky & Sari 2018, pp. 132–134.
- ^ Almakky & Snyder 1996, p. 35.
- ^ a b Bashori 2015, p. 123.
- ^ a b c d King 1986, p. 83.
- ^ a b Bashori 2015, p. 119.
- ^ King 1986, pp. 85–86.
- ^ a b King 1986, p. 85.
- ^ a b King 1986, p. 86.
- ^ Ilyas 1984, pp. 171–172.
- ^ Ilyas 1984, p. 172.
- ^ a b c d e Raharto & Surya 2011, p. 25.
- ^ a b c Bashori 2015, p. 125.
- ^ Raharto & Surya 2011, p. 24.
- ^ Bashori 2015, pp. 125–126.
- ^ Bashori 2015, pp. 126–127.
- ^ Bashori 2015, p. 127.
- ^ Almakky & Snyder 1996, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Bashori 2015, p. 110.
- ^ Tobler 2002, pp. 17–18.
- ^ a b Tobler 2002, p. 18.
- ^ a b King 1996, p. 150.
- ^ King 1996, p. 151.
- ^ a b Snyder 1997, pp. 227–228.
- ^ Snyder 1997, p. 228.
- ^ Tobler 2002, p. 19.
- ^ King 1996, p. 130.
- ^ a b King 1996, pp. 130–131.
- ^ a b King 1996, p. 132.
- ^ King 1996, p. 132, also figure 4.2 in p. 131.
- ^ King 1996, p. 128.
- ^ King 1996, pp. 130–132.
- ^ King 1996, pp. 128–129.
- ^ a b King 1996, p. 133.
- ^ King 1996, pp. 132–133.
- ^ Morelon 1996b, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Morelon 1996b, p. 21.
- ^ King 1996, p. 141.
- ^ Morelon 1996a, p. 15.
- ^ King 1996, pp. 142–143.
- ^ King 1996, pp. 144–145.
- ^ King 1996, pp. 145–146.
- ^ a b c d King 1996, p. 147.
- ^ a b c King 2004, p. 170.
- ^ King 1996, p. 153.
- ^ King 1996, pp. 153–154.
- ^ a b c King 2004, p. 177.
- ^ King 2004, p. 171.
- ^ MacGregor 2018, p. 130.
- ^ Almakky & Snyder 1996, p. 29.
- ^ King 2004, p. 175.
- ^ Almakky & Snyder 1996, p. 32.
- ^ a b King 2004, pp. 175–176.
- ^ Bonine 2008, p. 151.
- ^ Bonine 1990, p. 52.
- ^ Bonine 2008, pp. 151–152.
- ^ a b Bonine 2008, p. 154.
- ^ Bonine 2008, pp. 153–155.
- ^ Bonine 2008, p. 156.
- ^ Bashori 2014, pp. 59–60.
- ^ Bashori 2014, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Kersten 2017, p. 130.
- ^ Nashir 2015, p. 77.
- ^ a b May 1953, p. 367.
- ^ a b c Bilici 2012, p. 54.
- ^ Bilici 2012, pp. 54–55.
- ^ a b Bilici 2012, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Bilici 2012, p. 57.
- ^ a b Lewis 2013, p. 114.
- ^ Lewis 2013, p. 109.
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- ISBN 978-602-361-012-9.
- Raharto, Moedji; Surya, Dede Jaenal Arifin (2011). "Telaah Penentuan Arah Kiblat dengan Perhitungan Trigonometri Bola dan Bayang-Bayang Gnomon oleh Matahari". Jurnal Fisika Himpunan Fisika Indonesia (in Indonesian). 11 (1): 23–29. ISSN 0854-3046.
- Saksono, Tono; Fulazzaky, Mohamad Ali; Sari, Zamah (2018). "Geodetic analysis of disputed accurate qibla direction". Journal of Applied Geodesy. 12 (2): 129–138. S2CID 126128439.
- Snyder, John (1997). Flattening the Earth: Two Thousand Years of Map Projections. Chicago and London: ISBN 978-0-226-76747-5.
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- Wensinck, Arent Jan (1986). "Ḳibla: Ritual and Legal Aspects". In ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.
External links
- Abdali, S. Kamal (1997). The Correct Qibla (PDF).
- King, David A. (2018). "Bibliography of books, articles and websites on historical qibla determinations".
- van Gent, Robert Harry (2017). "Determining the Sacred Direction of Islam". Webpages on the History of Astronomy.