Ruling on praying in a mosque that is slightly off the qiblah. ?

The questioner : May Allah reward you, my dear brother. We have a prayer hall in the center of the Badr Association. It has a slight deviation from the qiblah, a very small deviation. Does it cause any harm to straighten the rows while facing the qiblah? If the rows are straightened, since the deviation is slight, I mean, I can give you an example of it.

The Shaykh : No, I understood you.

The questioner : Of course, the determination was done with a compass. The qiblah was determined using a compass.

The Shaykh : So where did the deviation come from?

The questioner : No, that is it, the place of determination.

The Shaykh : Ah, so afterwards, I mean?

The questioner : The house was built. We did not build the house as a mosque, I mean.

The Shaykh : I mean, afterwards we used the compass, and it turned out that the wall of the house is slightly off the qiblah, like this.

The questioner : Like this.

The Shaykh : As for him, he did not build a mosque based on the compass.

The questioner : He did not build a mosque.

The Shaykh : That is it, yes. Okay, now, what results from the deviation that you have confirmed based on the compass? If it results in harm, stay with the row facing the wall, even if the row—in this case—is slightly off the qiblah, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): But if it does not result in harm, a person should strive to face the qiblah.

The questioner : No, actually, if we straightened it, it would accommodate more people.

The Shaykh : What happens?

The questioner : It would accommodate a larger number.

The Shaykh : Ah, okay.

The questioner : I mean, if it were perfectly straight toward the wall, instead of, for example, fifty praying, seventy would pray in this place. This is the benefit, I mean.

The Shaykh : So why don't you deviate?

The questioner : Should we do this?

The Shaykh : Yes, why not?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

Another questioner : They do not deviate.

The questioner : No, we do not deviate. If we do not deviate, it accommodates seventy. If we deviate, it accommodates fifty.

The Shaykh : Okay, in any case, the answer is the same. The criterion here is not looking at the few or the many, but rather looking at facing the qiblah. That is one thing. The second thing: increasing the number. We can delay the row, I mean, the imam stands in the place of the first row, and the first row comes after the imam with the large number, the number of seventy. The situation that forces us to be careful not to face the qiblah properly is when the mosque or the house is crowded with worshippers, for example on Friday. In that case, if confusion or harm or something similar results, you pray with this deviation. I mean, I understood completely. Suppose now this qiblah is deviated as you say. Is this angle an obtuse angle? Do you understand this? Or is it an acute angle?

The questioner : It is a right angle.

The Shaykh : No, that is what I mean. The connection of this wall with this wall, does it form an acute angle, a right angle, or an obtuse angle?

The questioner : Correct.

The Shaykh : So now, this qiblah is yours, and this wall is yours. According to what I understood, if you pray with the wall, the row will accommodate seventy. But if you deviate, it will accommodate fifty. Why? Because this wall is deviated like this.

The questioner : No, it is not the row, Shaykh, the whole place.

The Shaykh : No, no, I am telling you, stay with me. This is the place, and the qiblah is deviated, but this wall is not. Now, this wall with this wall—as I understood from you—forms an acute angle.

The questioner : No, actually it forms a right angle, but...

The Shaykh : No, so...

The questioner : Can I clarify it for you? I did not mean one row, but the place as a whole. This is the place. If the qiblah were straight like this, the rows would be straight. But if there is a deviation like this, we line up like this, and one or two rows are lost in the process. Is it clear, my dear brother?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : So by losing one or two rows, the number drops from seventy to fifty.

The Shaykh : No, you asked whether the row becomes seventy or fifty.

The questioner : The total of the rows.

The Shaykh : The total of the rows. Now the matter is different. Okay, does this place fill up with worshippers?

The questioner : Sometimes it fills up.

The Shaykh : Yes, and I am saying that sometimes it is a necessity, but other than sometimes, there is no necessity.

The questioner : No, other than sometimes, we do not do it.

The Shaykh : That is it, yes.

The questioner : May Allah reward you. The expiation of an oath, my dear brother, mentioned in Surat al-Ma'idah, is it sequential or is it by choice?

The Shaykh : I think it is sequential.

The questioner : It is mentioned sequentially in the surah.

The Shaykh : Yes, the verse... I think... it explicitly states feeding ten poor people.

The questioner : whoever does not find

The Shaykh :

The questioner : No, the first thing I believe is freeing a slave.

The Shaykh : Yes, freeing a slave today does not exist.

The questioner : It does not exist, and then what?

The Shaykh : And then feeding ten poor people, and then fasting three days. It is in this order.

The questioner : It is in this order. I cannot move from one level to another except...

The Shaykh : Except by inability. For example, freeing slaves, there are no slaves to free today, so you find the second level, which is feeding.

The questioner : Wiping over socks, do socks have conditions?

The Shaykh : No, except the duration only.

The questioner : The duration of wiping.

The Shaykh: Yes...

The questioner : Does this also include trousers?

The Shaykh : Everything.

The questioner : It includes everything.

The Shaykh : ...

The questioner : Here is a real issue regarding Muslims or some Islamic parties and groups entering parliaments. Is this permissible?