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n. Islam 1. A niche in the wall of a mosque or a room in the mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca. 2. A niche design in the middle of a Muslim prayer rug, pointed toward Mecca during worship. [Arabic miḥrāb, probably from Old South Arabian mḥrb, part of a temple, from ḥrb, to fight, perform a certain ritual in a temple; see x̣rb in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]  (click for a larger image) mihrabtop: Sultan Hassan Mosque Cairo, Egypt bottom: Persian prayer rug  (click for a larger image) mihrab |
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