Dictionary

qibla en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɪblə/
• [ˈqibla]
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic قِبْلَة (qibla, “which is opposite”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The direction in which Muslims face while praying, currently determined as the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca.
   • Muslim astronomers from the 8th century onwards concerned themselves with the determination of the qibla as a problem of mathematical geography. 1999, David A. King, World Maps for Finding the Direction and Distance of Mecca, page 56:
   • The other mosques' qiblas are also in the 150°'s range, except for the Andalusian Mosque which has a qibla of 148° (table 7, fig. 17). 1990, Michael E. Bonine, “Sacred Direction and City Structure”, in Oleg Grabar, editor, Muqarnas: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture, volume 7, page 68:
   • The original portico was on the west side (i.e. at right angles to the qibla) and consisted of three bays resting on two marble columns. 2002, Andrew Petersen, Dictionary of Islamic Architecture, page 218:

Forms

Deriveds

qibla compass

Relateds

ghibli · salat · mihrab

Synonyms

qibla direction (direction in which Muslims pray)

Translations (50)

be кі́бла (direction of praying) · ug قىبلە (direction of praying) · hi क़िबला (direction of praying) · ca alquibla (direction of praying) · eo kiblo (direction of praying) · ms kiblat (direction of praying) · tr kıble (direction of praying) · sh kíbla (direction of praying) · ps قبله (direction of praying) · pt alquibla (direction of praying) · tt кыйбла (direction of praying) · ru ки́бла (direction of praying) · ota قبله (direction of praying) · hi किबला (direction of praying) · ba ҡибла (direction of praying) · kmr qible (direction of praying) · crh qıbla (direction of praying) · fr kibla (direction of praying) · pt quibla (direction of praying) · eo Kiblo (direction of praying) · bn ক্বিবলা (direction of praying) · ko 키블라 (direction of praying) · bg ки́бла (direction of praying) · de Qibla (direction of praying) · kk құбыла (direction of praying) · sw kibla (direction of praying) · fa-ira قِبْلِه (direction of praying) · ka ქიბლა (direction of praying) · tg қибла (direction of praying) · ar قِبْلَة (direction of praying) · ja キブラ (direction of praying) · fr qibla (direction of praying) · fa-cls قِبْلَه (direction of praying) · ky кыбыла (direction of praying) · gu કિબ્લા (direction of praying) · fr kiblat (direction of praying) · es alquibla (direction of praying) · uk кі́бла (direction of praying) · fr kiblet (direction of praying) · uz qibla (direction of praying) · tk kybla (direction of praying) · sh ки́бла (direction of praying) · ur قِبْلَہ (direction of praying) · az qiblə (direction of praying) · pl kibla (direction of praying) · acw قِبْلة (direction of praying) · id kiblat (direction of praying) · hi क़िबलाह (direction of praying) · ru кы́бла (direction of praying) · it qibla (direction of praying)