Discussion of the condition of facing the qiblah in prayer.

The Shaykh : We now begin a new lesson, which is facing the qiblah. Facing the qiblah is obligatory by the Book and the Sunnah. As for the Book, Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: This is an explicit text. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) first arrived in Madinah, he faced the Sacred Mosque in Jerusalem for a year and four months, or seven months, until he was commanded to turn toward the Ka'bah. As for his prayer before that, when he was in Makkah, it appears that he faced the Ka'bah, because there was no need for him to face the Sacred Mosque in Jerusalem, and it is highly unlikely that he faced the Sacred Mosque in Jerusalem while the Ka'bah was before him. However, when he arrived in Madinah and found the Jews facing the Sacred Mosque in Jerusalem, he (peace and blessings be upon him) faced the Sacred Mosque in Jerusalem, taking his cue from the saying of Allah the Exalted: Or for whatever reason he (peace and blessings be upon him) saw fit. But despite this, he longed to face another qiblah. For this reason, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: The word indicates the continuity of his (peace and blessings be upon him) turning of his face, because He did not say, "We have seen," but rather "We see," a present-tense verb indicating continuity. So he would look to the sky, hoping that he would be turned, and Allah, Mighty and Majestic, turned him toward the Ka'bah. The Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned that the Ka'bah is the qiblah of all the prophets, and that the Jews' direction toward the Sacred Mosque in Jerusalem is a distortion of the words from their places and a practice of the Jews, not part of the law of Allah. In any case, the Ka'bah is the qiblah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Ummah until the Day of Resurrection. As for the Sunnah, we will come to it, if Allah wills, the evidence from the Sunnah regarding the obligation of facing the Ka'bah. There is no doubt that the obligation of facing the Ka'bah is the essence of wisdom, correctness, and mercy, because it unites the Muslim community in one direction, which is the Ka'bah. What do you think would happen if every person faced whatever he wanted? The people in the same mosque would, what? They would differ. But Allah the Exalted, by His wisdom and mercy, made the Ka'bah one, and then He, Mighty and Majestic, chose the Ka'bah because it is the first house established for people and the most noble place on the face of the earth. It is the Ka'bah. So this was also another wisdom: that people face this ancient house, which is the first house established for people. But what is the obligation regarding facing the qiblah? As for one who is able to see the Ka'bah, the obligation is to face the Ka'bah itself. As for one who is not able to do so, the obligation is to face its direction. The direction becomes wider as a person moves farther from Makkah, and narrower as he gets closer. As for the statement of some scholars: "One who is in the Sacred Mosque has the Ka'bah as his qiblah, one who is in Makkah has the mosque as his qiblah, and one who is outside Makkah has Makkah as his qiblah," this is not correct. Rather, it is said: One who is able to see the Ka'bah, his obligation is to face the Ka'bah itself, and one who is not able to do so, even if he is in Makkah, faces its direction, meaning the direction of the Ka'bah. And as we have established, the farther a person is from the Ka'bah, the wider the direction. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the people of Madinah: And he said to them: This indicates that if they face the south, the entire south is the qiblah, or if they face the north, the entire north is the qiblah. For this reason, he said: Excluded from this, meaning excluded from the obligation of facing the qiblah, is the one who is unable to face the qiblah, such as a person who is ill and cannot turn toward the qiblah. The evidence for its dropping from him is the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: And His saying: The second is the fearful one, the one who fears for his life from an enemy, a flood, or fire; he faces wherever his face is, by the saying of Allah the Exalted: And it is known that fleeing men or fleeing riders will flee to the direction opposite the feared direction, and the feared direction may be north, south, west, or east. This is two. The third is voluntary prayer during travel, and we will come to it, if Allah wills, voluntary prayer during travel. But how do you know the qiblah? As for one who sees the Ka'bah, it is known by what? By direct observation. It is known by direct observation. As for one who is not able to see the Ka'bah, it is known by evidence, by celestial evidence: the sun, the moon, and the stars. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and so does the moon, and so do the stars. Some stars are fixed and do not cross the sky; they remain in their place or move slightly. These are among the signs. If you happen to be east of Makkah, what is your qiblah? The west. If you are west of Makkah, your qiblah is the east. If you are in the south, your qiblah is the north, between the rising and setting of the sun. And in the north, the south is between the rising and setting of the sun. And the same is said of the moon and the stars. Which stars are the most fixed and strongest? The Pole Star. And in our direction here, we do not see except the North Pole, because the horizon has two poles, the north and the south. We see the north. They say that the North Pole is a faint star that only one with sharp vision sees on nights other than moonlit nights. It is very faint, only seen by one with sharp vision on nights other than moonlit nights, except that around it is a strong, clear star, which is Al-Jadi (Capricorn). So this revolves around the Pole Star, and therefore you find the area of its revolution is like a small disk, because it is close to the Pole Star. The farther the stars are from the Pole Star, the wider their orbit. For this reason, the people among us, and for a long time, have used Al-Jadi to indicate it. Al-Jadi here in our region is behind the right ear of the one praying, behind his right ear. If he places it behind his right ear, he has faced the door of the Ka'bah. So one indicates by the sun, the moon, and the stars. Here, meaning in our current era, Allah has made easy, and praise be to Allah, devices and instruments that indicate the direction of the qiblah. And if they happen not to hit the Ka'bah itself, they certainly hit the direction of the Ka'bah, and that is sufficient. Meaning, it is not for us to delve deep and say: We must hit the Ka'bah itself, and we are far from it. But the direction, Allah has made it easy, and praise be to Allah, in many ways, and it is easy to reach and easy to know. And this is from success. But if it is assumed that a person does not find and does not know the stars, nor the sun, nor the moon, and does not find a sign by which to indicate, then he should seek to determine it. He should seek to determine it, and whatever direction he leans toward and inclines to, he faces it. And this may happen: a person goes out to the desert and has no knowledge of the evidence of the qiblah and has no one to ask. So we say: Look at what your soul is reassured by and face it. Among this is what the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned.