In Islam, Muslims face the qibla when praying during Ramadan—the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca.
The qibla is not a special Ramadan-only direction; it is observed during the five daily prayers throughout the year. The Kaaba stands at the center of Masjid al-Haram, Islam’s holiest mosque, and serves as the shared focal point of Muslim worship worldwide. In a mosque, a wall niche called a mihrab usually indicates the qibla.
Islamic tradition holds that early Muslims in Medina initially prayed toward Jerusalem. Quranic revelations later established the Sacred Mosque in Mecca as the prayer direction, traditionally dated to the second year after the Hijra, around 623 CE. A common mix-up is confusing the qibla with the mihrab: the qibla is the direction, while the mihrab is the architectural feature that marks it. Sahn means a mosque courtyard, and a minbar is a pulpit.