The Qiblih in Bahá’í Thought and Comparative Perspective

The adherents of various religions have during times of prayer and worship oriented themselves toward a fixed, sacred direction or location. Since ancient times, followers of Judaism have turned in prayer to Jerusalem. Traditionally, Zoroastrians have prayed facing a source of light—typically the sun or a fire—representing divine truth and presence. By the second and third centuries of the common era, many Christian communities prayed facing the east when offering the Lord’s prayer and other supplications. Initially, Muḥammad and his followers prayed toward Jerusalem, called the “Qiblih” (a technical word first used in the Qur’án for the direction of ṣalát, the Islamic obligatory prayer), but near the midpoint of Muḥammad’s ministry, the Qiblih was changed to the Kaabah in Mecca. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Báb, founder of the Bábí religion, redefined the Qiblih as “Him Whom God shall make manifest,” a figure whose imminent appearance the Báb anticipated. Years later, Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, confirmed the Báb’s designation of the Qiblih and claimed to be the figure promised by the Báb—and, thus, the Qiblih. Since Bahá’u’lláh’s passing in 1892, Bahá’ís have regarded the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh near ‘Akká as their Qiblih. This paper considers three issues related to the concept of the Qiblih. First, it briefly surveys the concept in Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islam, and other traditions. Second, it examines the significance and implications of the Qiblih in Bahá’í texts and their antecedents in Bábí texts. In this regard, it argues that in Bahá’í theology, the Qiblih symbolizes the role, station, and authority of the Manifestation of God, the figure who, in Bahá’í thought, serves as the intermediary between God and humanity from age to age. Moreover, Bahá’u’lláh’s designation of a new Qiblih signaled the independence of the Bahá’í religion. Third, this study explores how from a Bahá’í perspective, Quranic verses concerning the Qiblih may be viewed. These include how Muḥammad’s alteration of the Qiblih to the Kaabah reflected his authority as the Manifestation of God to change a prior law. Further, attention is given to Qur’án 2:143 (“And thus We have made you a middle community…”), which occurs in the midst of the only verses in the Qur’án that decree a change in the Qiblih. Whereas Quranic commentators and scholars of Islam, influenced by the doctrine of Islam’s finality, interpreted the word “middle” (vasaṭ) in this verse as meaning just, moderate, or exemplary, Bahá’u’lláh affirmed the word’s more basic meaning and regarded the Muslim community as a religious community between other communities that preceded it and that will come after it, thus anticipating the emergence of a new religious community, which could potentially have its own Qiblih.