There was no mihrab in the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) mosque, so how did it come about?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Ibn Hajar mentioned that there was no mihrab in the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) mosque. What is the ruling on these mihrabs, and how did they come to be introduced?
The Shaykh : It appears that they were introduced after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but I do not know when. The Messenger’s mosque used the minbar to indicate the qiblah, but if the mosque were empty of both a minbar and a mihrab, people would not know the direction of the qiblah.
The questioner : Some people strongly rejected them and said, “This is...”
The Shaykh : No, no, no, nothing is rejected. What is rejected is what is like the altars of the Christians. As for what differs from that, it is not rejected. For this reason, the middle position in this matter is that establishing mihrabs is permissible; it is not sought after, nor is it prohibited. If there is a benefit in it, such as indicating the qiblah, it becomes preferable from that perspective and becomes recommended for others. This is the practice of most people today.
The reader: Shaykh, three.
The Shaykh : Three, yes.
The Shaykh : It appears that they were introduced after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but I do not know when. The Messenger’s mosque used the minbar to indicate the qiblah, but if the mosque were empty of both a minbar and a mihrab, people would not know the direction of the qiblah.
The questioner : Some people strongly rejected them and said, “This is...”
The Shaykh : No, no, no, nothing is rejected. What is rejected is what is like the altars of the Christians. As for what differs from that, it is not rejected. For this reason, the middle position in this matter is that establishing mihrabs is permissible; it is not sought after, nor is it prohibited. If there is a benefit in it, such as indicating the qiblah, it becomes preferable from that perspective and becomes recommended for others. This is the practice of most people today.
The reader: Shaykh, three.
The Shaykh : Three, yes.