A woman who went once to a foreign country and did not know the time of prayer or the qiblah, but when the time of prayer came in her home country, she would perform wudu' and pray in
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The questioner : She said that she went once to a foreign country and did not know the time of prayer or the qiblah, but when the time of prayer came in my country, I would perform wudu' and pray in the direction I was sure was the qiblah. Is there anything required of me? Please guide us, may you be rewarded.
The Shaykh : It is obligatory for one who is in a country and does not know the qiblah to ask about it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : about the qiblah, because he can find the direction of the qiblah by asking. If he prays without asking, even though asking is possible, and it is later found that he was not facing the qiblah, then he must repeat the prayer, because facing the qiblah is a condition for the validity of the prayer, as Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said:[Al-Baqarah 2:150].
As for if he is in a place where he cannot ask, or if he is in a wilderness, he should try to determine the direction of the qiblah and pray in that direction, and there is no blame on him after that, and his prayer is valid, even if it is later found that he was not facing the qiblah, because he feared Allah as much as he was able, and whoever fears Allah as much as he is able, nothing is required of him, because he did what he was commanded to do in the saying of the Exalted:[At-Taghabun 64:16], and because he was not able to do more than what he did, and Allah, the Exalted, said: [Al-Baqarah 2:286]. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. Hamadi from Morocco says.
The Shaykh : It is obligatory for one who is in a country and does not know the qiblah to ask about it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : about the qiblah, because he can find the direction of the qiblah by asking. If he prays without asking, even though asking is possible, and it is later found that he was not facing the qiblah, then he must repeat the prayer, because facing the qiblah is a condition for the validity of the prayer, as Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said:
And from wherever you go out [for prayer], turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram. And wherever you [believers] may be, turn your faces toward it
وَمِنْ حَيْثُ خَرَجْتَ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُAs for if he is in a place where he cannot ask, or if he is in a wilderness, he should try to determine the direction of the qiblah and pray in that direction, and there is no blame on him after that, and his prayer is valid, even if it is later found that he was not facing the qiblah, because he feared Allah as much as he was able, and whoever fears Allah as much as he is able, nothing is required of him, because he did what he was commanded to do in the saying of the Exalted:
So fear Allah as much as you are able
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْAllah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity
لا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَاThe questioner : May Allah bless you. Hamadi from Morocco says.