Why do we turn to the Ka’aba, that is, Masjid al-haram in prayers?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Muslims perform their salahs by turning to the Ka’aba bacause Allah ordered so. The aim is not to worship the Ka’aba, but to carry out the order of Allah. For example, in the early years of Islam, people performed their salahs by turning to the Masjid-al-Aqsa. Later, when Allah ordered Muslims to turn to the Ka’aba , they obeyed this order and turned to the Ka’aba.

The Ka’aba is not only the stone building there. The Ka’aba is like a luminous column extending from the underground to the sky. The intention of the pagans is to worship idols. The intention of the people turning to the Ka’aba is not to worship idols but to obey the order of Allah and to turn to the direction ordered.

The wisdom behind turning to the Ka’aba is to ensure that all Muslims turn to the same direction while performing salah. Just imagine that everyone turns to different directions when you go to the mosque; we cannot mention a unity. However, when all of them turn to one direction and when this salah is the one that is performed in congregation, we can understand the beauty of the unity and the integrity in the salah.

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