Determining the Qiblah
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Fatwa No. ( 4254 )
Q: 1- Is it permissible to use the Japanese Ka'bah alignment device to indicate the direction of the Ka'bah or not? 2 - Is it permissible to use the European Ka'bah alignment device to indicate the direction of the Ka'bah or not, and which of the two is more correct? 3 - Is it permissible to use astronomical sciences to indicate the direction of the Ka'bah or not? 4 - And if the direction of the Qiblah is contradicted by the Ka'bah alignment device regarding the astronomical sciences, which one should be followed? The difference between them is measured at 17 degrees, and what is the reality of the verse:[Al-Baqarah 2:144] ?
A: The scholars and experts among the Muslims in determining directions used to know the direction of the Ka'bah at night by the North Star and other stars, and by the rising and setting of the moon, and by day by the rising and setting of the sun, and by other types of celestial indicators, before the existence of direction alignment by a Japanese or European device. Therefore, neither device is specifically required for aligning the Qiblah, nor does knowing it depend on them. However, if it is established by trustworthy experts among the Muslims that a device or machine aligns the Qiblah and indicates it precisely, or indicates a direction, the Shari'ah does not prevent seeking assistance with it in this and other matters. Indeed, it may become obligatory to use it in knowing the Qiblah if the one who wants to pray finds no other evidence. And by this, the answer to the first, second, and third questions is known. If it is established by experts that the Qiblah is correctly determined by one of the two devices and not the other, the correct one is used and not the other. If it is established that they are equal in determining it, the one exercising independent legal reasoning in the determination has the choice to use whichever he wishes. And if one of them is more precise, it is preferred over the other, without regard - in all of this - to the place of its manufacture. As for the meaning of His saying, the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:144], it is the obligation to face it precisely for the one who sees it during his prayer, and likewise for the one who is informed by a trustworthy person in Makkah , or similar, of the precise direction of it with certainty; based on its determination by observation, and the obligation
Facing its direction for those who are far from Makkah al-Mukarramah ; such as Yemen and al-Sham and Egypt , for example; because it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said to those in al-Madinah al-Munawwarah and those north of it:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 342Sahih (Darussalam) . And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: 1- Is it permissible to use the Japanese Ka'bah alignment device to indicate the direction of the Ka'bah or not? 2 - Is it permissible to use the European Ka'bah alignment device to indicate the direction of the Ka'bah or not, and which of the two is more correct? 3 - Is it permissible to use astronomical sciences to indicate the direction of the Ka'bah or not? 4 - And if the direction of the Qiblah is contradicted by the Ka'bah alignment device regarding the astronomical sciences, which one should be followed? The difference between them is measured at 17 degrees, and what is the reality of the verse:
So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram
فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِA: The scholars and experts among the Muslims in determining directions used to know the direction of the Ka'bah at night by the North Star and other stars, and by the rising and setting of the moon, and by day by the rising and setting of the sun, and by other types of celestial indicators, before the existence of direction alignment by a Japanese or European device. Therefore, neither device is specifically required for aligning the Qiblah, nor does knowing it depend on them. However, if it is established by trustworthy experts among the Muslims that a device or machine aligns the Qiblah and indicates it precisely, or indicates a direction, the Shari'ah does not prevent seeking assistance with it in this and other matters. Indeed, it may become obligatory to use it in knowing the Qiblah if the one who wants to pray finds no other evidence. And by this, the answer to the first, second, and third questions is known. If it is established by experts that the Qiblah is correctly determined by one of the two devices and not the other, the correct one is used and not the other. If it is established that they are equal in determining it, the one exercising independent legal reasoning in the determination has the choice to use whichever he wishes. And if one of them is more precise, it is preferred over the other, without regard - in all of this - to the place of its manufacture. As for the meaning of His saying, the Exalted:
So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram. And wherever you [believers] are, turn your faces toward it [in prayer]
فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَحَيْثُمَا كُنْتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُFacing its direction for those who are far from Makkah al-Mukarramah ; such as Yemen and al-Sham and Egypt , for example; because it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said to those in al-Madinah al-Munawwarah and those north of it:
What is between the east and the west is Qiblah.
ما بين المشرق والمغرب قبلة
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.