The Ruling on Praying Toward a Fire
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O Shaykh! We are a group of young men who go on outdoor excursions, and sometimes at night the weather is cold, so we light a fire. When the time for prayer comes, we move away from the direction of the fire so that it is not in front of us as a sutrah.So one of the brothers came to us and said: What is the evidence for that? There is no evidence that if the fire is in front of you, you must move away from it. It is permissible for you to pray with it in front of you. We researched this issue in Fath al-Bari and found nothing clear, nor in Nail al-Awtar, so we have no real argument for it. We came to ask you, may Allah reward you with good, if there is any evidence or something?
There is no Prophetic evidence, but if the fire is burning, then the one who prays toward it resembles the worship of the Majus; because the Majus light fires and pray behind them; because they worship them.So then the scholars said: It is disliked; so as not to imitate the Majus, that is all.
And based on this: If it is just embers with no flame, then praying toward it is not disliked.
The questioner: We were informed of this, and the response was: there are those who worship water, and there are those who worship trees, and there are those who worship such-and-such. So he went on at length about the issue that if the worship is of the fire of the Majus, then you do not pray in front of a tree, and you do not pray in front of water; because there are people who worship these things?The Shaykh: Yes.
But which tree do they worship? The specific tree that they worship, we include in this, but do they worship all trees? They do not worship all trees.
The questioner: He said: The fire of the Majus is not like your fire here,He says: It does not come from an oven or from something else.
The Shaykh: Never,In any case, the scholars say: There is no text in it. His statement is that there is no text in it, but in this there is imitation, and perhaps Satan will cast into the heart of the person, especially if he knows that the Majus worship fire, perhaps he will cast into himself that he is imitating them, and avoiding doubt is a required matter.
The questioner: If we pray once in front of it, is there no harm?The Shaykh: No.
The prayer is not invalidated, and there is no problem in this,And were it not for this specification that I told you, we would have said: It is not disliked,For this reason, we know the error of some people when they say: These electric heaters, do not place them in front of the worshippers. This is a mistake. This is a mistake against the scholars and a mistake against the Shari'ah. This is not correct.
There is no Prophetic evidence, but if the fire is burning, then the one who prays toward it resembles the worship of the Majus; because the Majus light fires and pray behind them; because they worship them.So then the scholars said: It is disliked; so as not to imitate the Majus, that is all.
And based on this: If it is just embers with no flame, then praying toward it is not disliked.
The questioner: We were informed of this, and the response was: there are those who worship water, and there are those who worship trees, and there are those who worship such-and-such. So he went on at length about the issue that if the worship is of the fire of the Majus, then you do not pray in front of a tree, and you do not pray in front of water; because there are people who worship these things?The Shaykh: Yes.
But which tree do they worship? The specific tree that they worship, we include in this, but do they worship all trees? They do not worship all trees.
The questioner: He said: The fire of the Majus is not like your fire here,He says: It does not come from an oven or from something else.
The Shaykh: Never,In any case, the scholars say: There is no text in it. His statement is that there is no text in it, but in this there is imitation, and perhaps Satan will cast into the heart of the person, especially if he knows that the Majus worship fire, perhaps he will cast into himself that he is imitating them, and avoiding doubt is a required matter.
The questioner: If we pray once in front of it, is there no harm?The Shaykh: No.
The prayer is not invalidated, and there is no problem in this,And were it not for this specification that I told you, we would have said: It is not disliked,For this reason, we know the error of some people when they say: These electric heaters, do not place them in front of the worshippers. This is a mistake. This is a mistake against the scholars and a mistake against the Shari'ah. This is not correct.