What is the ruling on praying in the direction of a fire?
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The questioner : The Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good: We are a group of young men who go on outdoor excursions, and sometimes at night it is cold and we light a fire. So 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. One of the brothers came 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 looked into this issue in *Fath al-Bari* and found nothing clear, nor in *Nail al-Awtar*, so we really have no argument. So we came to ask you, may Allah reward you with good, if there is any evidence or anything?
The Shaykh : There is no evidence; 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 a fire and then pray behind it because they worship it. Therefore, the scholars said: It is disliked to do so, solely to avoid resembling the Majus. Based on this, if it were just embers, if it were an ember with no flame, then praying toward it is not disliked.
The questioner : We were told that the response was that there are people who worship water, and there are people who worship trees, and there are people who worship such-and-such. 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, you do not pray in front of water, because there are people who worship these things?
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, but which tree do they worship? The specific tree that they worship, we include it in this. But do they worship all trees? They do not worship all trees.
The questioner : He said: The fire of the Majus, O Shaykh, is not like your fire here. He says that it does not come from a kiln or from anything.
The Shaykh : Absolutely not. In any case, the scholars say: There is no text in it. His statement that there is no text is correct. But in this there is resemblance, and perhaps Shaytan will cast into the heart of a person—especially if he knows that the Majus worship fire—perhaps he will cast into his soul that he is resembling them. And avoiding shirk (associating partners with Allah) is a required matter.
The questioner : If we prayed once, is there no harm in that?
The Shaykh : No, no, the prayer is not invalidated. The prayer is not invalidated; there is no problem with this. Yes, and were it not for the specific designation I told you about, we would say: It is not disliked. For this reason, we know the error of some people when they say: Do not put these electric heaters in front of the worshippers. This is wrong. This is wrong regarding the scholars and wrong regarding the Shari'ah. It is not correct.
The Shaykh : There is no evidence; 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 a fire and then pray behind it because they worship it. Therefore, the scholars said: It is disliked to do so, solely to avoid resembling the Majus. Based on this, if it were just embers, if it were an ember with no flame, then praying toward it is not disliked.
The questioner : We were told that the response was that there are people who worship water, and there are people who worship trees, and there are people who worship such-and-such. 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, you do not pray in front of water, because there are people who worship these things?
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, but which tree do they worship? The specific tree that they worship, we include it in this. But do they worship all trees? They do not worship all trees.
The questioner : He said: The fire of the Majus, O Shaykh, is not like your fire here. He says that it does not come from a kiln or from anything.
The Shaykh : Absolutely not. In any case, the scholars say: There is no text in it. His statement that there is no text is correct. But in this there is resemblance, and perhaps Shaytan will cast into the heart of a person—especially if he knows that the Majus worship fire—perhaps he will cast into his soul that he is resembling them. And avoiding shirk (associating partners with Allah) is a required matter.
The questioner : If we prayed once, is there no harm in that?
The Shaykh : No, no, the prayer is not invalidated. The prayer is not invalidated; there is no problem with this. Yes, and were it not for the specific designation I told you about, we would say: It is not disliked. For this reason, we know the error of some people when they say: Do not put these electric heaters in front of the worshippers. This is wrong. This is wrong regarding the scholars and wrong regarding the Shari'ah. It is not correct.