Benefits of the Hadith: (We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on a dark night, and the direction of the qiblah became unclear...)

The Shaykh : In this hadith, there is evidence for several benefits, among which is: that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) does not know the unseen, for if he had known the unseen, he would have known where the qiblah was. And among them is: that if one exerts effort or investigates and does not hit the qiblah, he does not have to repeat the prayer, because Allah the Exalted said: However, the condition for this is that he not be negligent in investigating the qiblah. If he was negligent, he must repeat the prayer, because he left a condition of the prayer. An example of a negligent person is a man who stays as a guest with a family and wants to pray, but he does not ask the people of the house where the qiblah is. However, it occurs to him in his heart that the qiblah is in a certain direction, so he prays in that direction, and it turns out that it is not the qiblah. This man repeats the prayer because he did not fear Allah as much as he was able to; he neglected a pillar of the prayer without fearing Allah as much as he was able to. Now, if the people of the house say to him, "The qiblah is here," and he prays in that direction, and then it turns out that the people of the house were mistaken, he owes nothing. Why? Because he feared Allah as much as he was able to. What can he do? The people of the house know better than he does, and they directed him to that direction, so no more is required of him. If he asks a child, "Where is the qiblah?" and the child says, "The qiblah is this way," and then it turns out to be a mistake, he repeats the prayer. Does he repeat it or not? He repeats it. Why? Because a child is not to be trusted, so he is negligent if he relies on the child's statement. For this reason, a person should, when he stays as a guest with someone and wants to pray, ask the owner of the house where the qiblah is, so that he does not fall into error. And among the benefits of this hadith is: that the Noble Qur'an may be revealed initially, or it may have a cause. Where is this taken from? From his saying: فنزلت : فأينما تولوا فثم وجه الله So it was revealed: "So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah" And among the benefits of the Noble verse—yes, from the benefits of the hadiths—may Allah reward you. From the benefits—I intended the verse in the hadith, but yes, it is from the benefits of the hadith. From the benefits of the hadith is: that Allah the Exalted is vast, vast, All-Knowing, encompassing everything. In whatever direction Meaning: there, in the direction you turned, is the Face of Allah. And the purpose of the worshipper in turning toward the qiblah is only that Allah should be before his face, as came in the authentic hadith. And here is a point of difficulty: the word "there" (thumma) is a temporal or locative particle. Is Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in the place you turned to? The answer is: No, and that is impossible. He is in the sky, above His Throne, but He is in the direction you turned to, even though He is above. Facing does not contradict being above; facing does not contradict being above; facing does not contradict being above. Have you seen if you stand at sunset and look at the sun, where is it? Before your face, and it is in the sky. This is a created thing, so how about the Creator, Mighty and Majestic? And among the benefits of the hadith is: from this verse, the affirmation of the Face of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, based on His saying: Is it a real face? The answer is: Yes, it is a real face. So Allah the Exalted has a Face, but nothing is like Him, based on His saying: And what is obligatory for us, O brothers, in matters of the unseen is to believe in them without asking about their modality, because matters of the unseen are deeper than our minds can encompass. So we do not ask and do not imagine except what came in the text. We affirm that Allah has a Face, but we do not ask about the modality of His Face, nor do we affirm its modality in our minds. And this is a rule in all matters of the unseen. Rest your minds; do not strain yourselves with questions. If asking about such matters had been good, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) would have been the first to do it. And if explaining the modality of these matters had been good, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, would have explained it, as He said: So rest your mind and do not exceed what came in the Book and the Sunnah regarding matters of the unseen related to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, or related to the Last Day, or related to the conditions of the barzakh, or anything else. All matters of the unseen are above the level of minds.

The questioner : Now, the known qiblah... deviating from the qiblah slightly...

The Shaykh : There is no harm as long as the matter is broad. Praise be to Allah, there is no harm. Turning toward what one thinks is closer is better, without a doubt. Yes.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : What?

The questioner : He thinks that the qiblah is in the direction of the Ka'bah.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : ... he was informed that the qiblah is contrary.

The Shaykh : On what basis.

The questioner : Because it is.

The Shaykh : Meaning, he measured the mosque and the house. If he made a mistake, he does not repeat his prayer. He repeats the prayer because it is obligatory for him to ask, unless he sees the mosque, like in Quraish, where he sees the mosque and its direction is like this.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : This is it, so if he saw it, he did not make a mistake. Yes.