The Christian conception of prayer is “enter into thine inner chamber
and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father, who is in secret, and thy
Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.”
With the Moslems the first requirement of correct prayer is
that it be in the right direction; that is, toward the Kaaba at
Mecca. Because of this, private houses, as well as mosques,
all over the Mohammedan world, are built accordingly, and not
on meridian lines. It is often pathetic to hear a wayfarer
or a Moslem who travels on an ocean steamer ask which is the
proper direction to turn at the hour of prayer. To pray with
one’s back to Mecca would be unpardonable. Many Moslems carry a
pocket-compass on their journeys to avoid all possible errors of
this character. (Text.)--SAMUEL M. ZWEMER, “The Moslem
World.”
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