The ruling on praying in a direction other than the qiblah due to ignorance

The questioner:
This is a Yemeni resident in Saudi Arabia who says: I moved from one city to another, and my wife and I were praying in a direction other than the qiblah for six months, and we found out about it afterwards. What is the ruling in this matter?

The Shaykh:
The ruling in this matter is that if you exerted your effort in determining the direction and prayed, and there was no one with you to ask, and you were not in a place where you could ask people about the qiblah, then your prayer is valid if you exerted your effort and tried to determine it. However, if you were in a place with people around you, it is not permissible for you to omit the obligation of repeating the prayer. Yes.

The presenter:
With this answer, we have reached, along with our dear listeners, the end of this episode of your program, Light on the Path. The answers to these questions were provided by His Eminence Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars and a member of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta. May Allah reward you, Shaykh Salih.

The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.