The ruling on repeating the prayer if one doubts the direction of the qiblah after making an effort
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you for your questions. He says: My colleague and I prayed in the wrong direction while we were on a desert trip three years ago. Now I am troubled by doubt, Honorable Shaykh, that we were indeed facing the wrong direction. Do we have to repeat the prayers for those days, even though we stayed for fifteen days?
Answer:
If you made an effort to determine the direction of the qiblah and did your best, and you prayed, then your prayers are valid. This is based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:115-116] This verse was revealed regarding a group of people who were traveling and made an effort to determine the direction of the qiblah, so they prayed. When morning came, they found that they had prayed in the wrong direction, so they asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Allah revealed this verse. So if you exerted your effort in determining the direction of the qiblah and prayed, your prayers are valid. However, if you were negligent and did not exert effort in determining the direction of the qiblah, then you must repeat the prayers, because facing the qiblah is a condition for the validity of the prayer. So you must repeat the prayers if you were lax in determining the direction of the qiblah, knowing its evidence, and asking those around you.
May Allah reward you for your questions. He says: My colleague and I prayed in the wrong direction while we were on a desert trip three years ago. Now I am troubled by doubt, Honorable Shaykh, that we were indeed facing the wrong direction. Do we have to repeat the prayers for those days, even though we stayed for fifteen days?
Answer:
If you made an effort to determine the direction of the qiblah and did your best, and you prayed, then your prayers are valid. This is based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
(115) And to Allah belongs the east and the west. So wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing. (116) They say, "Allah has taken a son." Exalted is He! Rather, to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. All are devoutly obedient to Him,
وَلِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ وَقَالُوا
Source
الصلاة إلى غير القبلة — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.