The most important characteristic of a mosque is that it should be oriented toward Mecca. One or more niches (mihrab) on one of the walls of the mosque often serve as indicators of this direction, called qibla.

What is the orientation of all mosques?

For fourteen centuries, with regard to the fundamental unifying force of the concept of the qibla within Islam, mosques have been oriented towards the qibla direction, being indicated by a niche in the focal point of the qibla-wall.

Why are mosques oriented toward Mecca?

In Islam the Kaaba is believed to be a sacred site built by the prophets Abraham and Ishmael, and that its use as the qibla was ordained by God in several verses of the Quran revealed to Muhammad in the second Hijri year. … Most mosques contain a mihrab (a wall niche) that indicates the direction of the qibla.