Is it a condition for one who continues his prayer that he not deviate from the qiblah?

The questioner : You said in the previous question that it is better to continue his prayer.

The Shaykh : I did not say it is better; I said it is the stronger position. Yes, because there is a difference between "better" and "the stronger position."

The questioner : The question is: It is known that one of the conditions of prayer is facing the qiblah. So, does the one who goes to perform wudu' have to not deviate from the qiblah?

The Shaykh : If he is compelled, he may deviate. If he is not compelled, he must not deviate.

The questioner : So, is his prayer accepted even if he deviates?

The Shaykh : How could it not be? Do you not imagine with me a prayer performed by a worshipper who is not facing the qiblah?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Say yes.

The questioner : Knowing that it is not permissible for him to deviate from the qiblah.

The Shaykh : No, and even if he does so knowingly. How could it not be? Imagine, my brother, a man fighting an enemy. Do you impose on him...

The questioner : These circumstances...

The Shaykh : My brother, I know you want to say "otherwise," but you did not consider this "otherwise" when you gave an insufficient answer, which was your intentional statement. You said intentionally: he knows the qiblah is here and fights from here. The point is, you are now being held accountable. You are clinging to general texts, and clinging to general texts is obligatory, but that is not the consistent approach in fiqh. That is because if a general text is subject to specification, it is not permissible to nullify the specific text for the sake of the general text, just as it is not permissible to nullify the general text without a specific text.

The questioner : Which general text?

The Shaykh : The hadith I mentioned to you just now. Were you not with us?

The questioner : The deviation from the qiblah, but the hadith is not clear in it that he deviated from the qiblah and performed wudu'?

The Shaykh : Yes. If so, it would have been better for you to ask this last question, to say the hadith is not clear. Now, imagine with me the Prophet's Mosque, and imagine the houses of the Messenger of Allah and his wives. In which direction were they relative to the qiblah, or in the east?

The questioner : In the east.

The Shaykh : Or do you not imagine it? Okay, so did the Messenger of Allah deviate from the qiblah?

The questioner : There is no doubt.

The Shaykh : He deviated from the qiblah, especially when he wanted to take a bath, my brother. This cannot be imagined except in very, very narrow circumstances where one can hardly achieve the requirement of not deviating from facing the qiblah.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good

The Shaykh : And you as well.

The questioner : What if he speaks?

The Shaykh : It is not permissible for him to speak.

The questioner : What if he speaks with his family?

The Shaykh : It is not permissible. Speaking in prayer, as is known by consensus, invalidates it, except for speech related to correcting the prayer. Do you understand this exception?

The questioner : Understood.

The Shaykh : I am asking you: do you understand this exception?

The questioner : Understood.

The Shaykh : Is it agreed upon?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay, so let us return to the previous rule: the general text must be implemented and it is not permissible to discard it unless a specific text comes, in which case we discard from it only the part that the specific text specifies. So, we said the general text: speech invalidates the prayer, and there is a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari on this. But not all speech; if the speech is related to correcting the prayer, it does not invalidate it, as evidenced by the hadith of the man with two hands. So, this man who turned away to perform wudu' or take a bath saw his wife and said to her, "What are you doing, daughter of a free man?" Here, his prayer was invalidated because this speech has no relation to correcting his prayer. However, if the imam said the taslim at the end of three rak'ahs of a four-rak'ah prayer, or at the end of three rak'ahs of a two-rak'ah prayer, and some of the worshippers said to him, "So-and-so, you are praying 'Isha' but you have prayed three rak'ahs," and he turned to the congregation and said to them, "Is your companion correct?" and they said, "Yes," he stood up and said takbir... when he said in the hadith of Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami: .