Keblah
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [1]
is a term by which the Mohammedans designate the direction towards which they are command-. ed to turn their faces in their devotions. "At first,"' says Sale (Koran, p. 17), "Mohammed and his followers observed no particular rite in turning their faces towards any certain place or quarter of the world when they prayed, it being declared to be perfectly indifferent. Afterwards, when the prophet fled to Medina, he directed them to turn towards the temple of Jerusalem [probably to ingratiate himself with the Jews], which continued to be their Keblah for six or seven months; but, either finding the Jews too intractable, or despairing of otherwise gaining the pagan Arabs, who could not forget their respect to the temple of Mecca, he ordered that prayers for the future should be towards the last. This change was made in the second year of the Hegira, and occasioned many to fall from him, taking offence at his inconstancy." (See Kaaba).
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [2]
The point of the compass to which people turn their faces when they worship, as the Mohammedans do to Mecca when they pray.
