Determining the Qiblah for those residing in the Americas
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The Shaykh, people are now in the far west in the Americas, especially North America, and they experience a shift in direction regarding their Qiblah between north and south. Some say it is between north and south, but toward the people of the East, while others say it is toward the people of the West, relying on the spherical nature of the earth, and they do not have a clear direction. So, do they rely on the device if they pray in their home? Do they rely on it, since there is no Qiblah in the mosques there when they pray in the mosque, as the Qiblah differs? There is a difference in people’s views,
The Shaykh:
The matter is clear, praise be to Allah. They pray in the direction of the Ka'bah. Everyone on the face of the earth knows where Makkah is located and knows the direction of Makkah and the land of al-Hijaz. No one denies this except one who does not know, or rather, the people of expertise, the people of geography, the people of known instruments, and the people of compasses. Therefore, airplanes today do not get lost; they come and land in Jeddah, coming from America, because they know the direction. The matter is made easy, praise be to Allah. Yes, there are ignorant people there who claim to be scholars. It has been reported to us that some people are causing confusion among people regarding the Qiblah and invalidating their prayers, and disputes have occurred between them, and sometimes even fighting, because there are there those who are deluded and people with corrupt beliefs who want to cause confusion for the people of the Sunnah. So, do not pay attention to them? They pray in any direction, praise be to Allah. And if there are built mosques that they rely on, they pray in them, and the direction remains, praise be to Allah. No one is unaware of the direction, the direction of the noble Makkah from the earth in any place.
The questioner:
Other than in a way that. Yes.
The Shaykh:
The one who prays in a direction where the Ka'bah is not located is to be rebuked for it. If his prayer is invalid, meaning he deviates from the direction that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded, but as I mentioned to you, there are people who cause confusion, either out of ignorance or out of malice, wanting to cause confusion for the people of the Sunnah. So, do not pay attention to them, neither to the ignorant nor to the malicious.
The Shaykh, people are now in the far west in the Americas, especially North America, and they experience a shift in direction regarding their Qiblah between north and south. Some say it is between north and south, but toward the people of the East, while others say it is toward the people of the West, relying on the spherical nature of the earth, and they do not have a clear direction. So, do they rely on the device if they pray in their home? Do they rely on it, since there is no Qiblah in the mosques there when they pray in the mosque, as the Qiblah differs? There is a difference in people’s views,
The Shaykh:
The matter is clear, praise be to Allah. They pray in the direction of the Ka'bah. Everyone on the face of the earth knows where Makkah is located and knows the direction of Makkah and the land of al-Hijaz. No one denies this except one who does not know, or rather, the people of expertise, the people of geography, the people of known instruments, and the people of compasses. Therefore, airplanes today do not get lost; they come and land in Jeddah, coming from America, because they know the direction. The matter is made easy, praise be to Allah. Yes, there are ignorant people there who claim to be scholars. It has been reported to us that some people are causing confusion among people regarding the Qiblah and invalidating their prayers, and disputes have occurred between them, and sometimes even fighting, because there are there those who are deluded and people with corrupt beliefs who want to cause confusion for the people of the Sunnah. So, do not pay attention to them? They pray in any direction, praise be to Allah. And if there are built mosques that they rely on, they pray in them, and the direction remains, praise be to Allah. No one is unaware of the direction, the direction of the noble Makkah from the earth in any place.
The questioner:
Other than in a way that. Yes.
The Shaykh:
The one who prays in a direction where the Ka'bah is not located is to be rebuked for it. If his prayer is invalid, meaning he deviates from the direction that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded, but as I mentioned to you, there are people who cause confusion, either out of ignorance or out of malice, wanting to cause confusion for the people of the Sunnah. So, do not pay attention to them, neither to the ignorant nor to the malicious.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب شروط الصلاة — islamhouse.com (1:02:38)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.