The qibla compass is a compass marked to find the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, the direction a Muslim faces in prayer, and it answers a requirement that is precise and universal.
Facing the Kaaba
Muslim prayer is performed facing the qibla, the direction of the Kaaba, from wherever the worshipper stands on the earth, and determining that direction accurately, especially far from Mecca, is a genuine problem that the qibla compass exists to solve. Traditional examples pair a magnetic needle with a list or table of the bearings for major cities, so that the user aligns the needle and then turns to the marked angle. The device makes portable and immediate a calculation that mosques fix permanently in the orientation of the building and the niche of the mihrab.
Science in the service of prayer
The need to find the qibla, together with the need to fix the times of prayer, drove a great deal of work in astronomy, mathematics and instrument-making in the medieval Islamic world, so the humble compass sits at the end of a long and sophisticated tradition of determining sacred direction. Modern versions include printed tables, mechanical compasses and now applications that compute the bearing from the location of the device, but the purpose is unchanged. The object is a reminder that the daily obligation of prayer set a practical scientific problem, and that the solving of it was itself understood as a service to worship.