What is the ruling on determining the qiblah using a modern compass?
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The questioner : What is the ruling on determining the qiblah using a modern compass that has numbers indicating the number of each country and region, and determines the qiblah based on them?
The Shaykh : This is a scientific means, and it is permissible to rely on it. It is a precise scientific instrument for determining the four directions first, and then they performed precise calculations that enabled Muslims to know the qiblah from any country in the world. Of course, this is an approximation as close to reality as possible, not a determination that hits the exact center of the Ka'bah. And since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 342Sahih (Darussalam), that is a great concession for those who do not see the exact center of the Ka'bah, and there is no greater concession than that. So this compass brings the determination of the Ka'bah close to what is almost as if one is seeing it, though that is not the case. Therefore, I see that relying on it is one of the scientific means.
Recently, I was gifted a new device here for determining the qiblah, but it turned out that despite its precision, it is not suitable. So I want to add to the previous point about the validity of relying on the compass that modern devices may be produced for determining the qiblah, and one should not rely on them until they have been tested multiple times until their indication is like the indication of the compass that has been in use for many years and does not deviate or contradict. This is all I have.
The Shaykh : This is a scientific means, and it is permissible to rely on it. It is a precise scientific instrument for determining the four directions first, and then they performed precise calculations that enabled Muslims to know the qiblah from any country in the world. Of course, this is an approximation as close to reality as possible, not a determination that hits the exact center of the Ka'bah. And since the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
What is between the east and the west is Qiblah.
ما بين المشرق والمغرب قبلةRecently, I was gifted a new device here for determining the qiblah, but it turned out that despite its precision, it is not suitable. So I want to add to the previous point about the validity of relying on the compass that modern devices may be produced for determining the qiblah, and one should not rely on them until they have been tested multiple times until their indication is like the indication of the compass that has been in use for many years and does not deviate or contradict. This is all I have.