Jerusalem occupies an important place, even if it is not in the foreground, in the symbolic and religious geography of Islam. Its status comes first from the relationship that the Prophet Muhammad had with the city. Evoked furtively by the Koran, these links will be developed in theological thought, Sufi mysticism and popular traditions.
The city was the place of orientation – qibla – of the prayer of the first Muslim community. This term comes from the root qbl, “To be in front”, “to face”. This is how the Prophet’s disciples refer to themselves as the “people of qibla and communion” (Ahl al-qibla wa-l-jama’a).
In a mosque, the qibla (direction of prayer) is clearly indicated by a niche located on one of the walls, very often framed by two columns: the mihrab. This indication is crucial for the prayer, which takes place at dawn (soubh), at noon (dohr), in the afternoon (asr), at sunset (Maghreb) and the night (ichaa).
Change of direction
While Mecca today is the qibla for all Muslims, the first devotees were oriented towards Jerusalem. Tradition reports that if the believers prayed towards the Palestinian city, Muhammad nevertheless took care that the Mecca temple of the Kaaba was always located in front of him, in his prayer towards Jerusalem.
In 622, according to Muslim tradition, the community gathered around Muhammad was forced to leave Mecca, whose inhabitants were hostile to their message, to take refuge in Medina. Around 623-624, a little over a year after this founding event, called hegira (“emigration”), the change in the direction of prayer occurs in the Medinan mosque of the Banu Salima tribe, in the midst of the ritual. of dohr, at noon: the first part of the rite is performed towards Jerusalem, the second towards Mecca. The mosque is also known under the name of Masjid Al Qiblatain, the “mosque of the two qibla”; even today, it has two mihrabs.
Change in direction of prayer strengthens Arab character of nascent Islam
This change in qibla reinforces the Arab character of the nascent Islam. It is not only a question of standing out from the Jews, but also of revaluing the city of Mecca and its Arab temple. “This momentous event, thus writes the historian Edmond Rabbath (1902-1991), had the effect of severing the last link, of a religious and political order, with Judaism, but above all to restore to Islam the authenticity of its Arab soul, by linking it forever to the race of Ibrahim [ou Abraham] and Ishmael, founders of Bayt Al Atiq, of the Ancient House, where the Black Stone is housed ” (Muhammad, Arab prophet and founder of state, publications of the Lebanese University, Beirut, 1989).
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