What is your opinion regarding the response of the committee responsible for the mosque in Scotland to your fatwa on the issue of the qiblah direction, in which they stated that there is leeway in the matter and cited the book *Nail al-Authar*?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh: And upon you peace.

The questioner : Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Albani?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : It is the brother who called you from Scotland last time.

The Shaykh : Welcome.

The questioner : How are you, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : I am well, and praise be to Allah.

The questioner : O Shaykh, there are new questions, and I would like to ask you, and I would like to record the conversation if you permit.

The Shaykh : What are the questions?

The questioner : They are new, on the same topic, which is the topic of the qiblah. So I would like, meaning, to read our letter from the young men here and record the conversation between me and you, if you permit.

The Shaykh : What is the letter?

The questioner : Yes, I will read it, and then I will read it again for the recording, if you permit. Again, we are some young men who are zealous for Islam in the city of ... in Scotland. Since you were contacted regarding the issue of changing the qiblah direction, and your fatwa was presented to the committee responsible for the mosque, they were not fully convinced by the fatwa. They said that there is leeway in the matter. We did not come up with this from nothing; rather, we asked a person who directed us to cite the book "Nail al-Authar" by al-Shawkani. After they returned to the book they mentioned, they saw that it is possible to change the qiblah direction by ten degrees, because there is leeway in the matter such that the mosque can accommodate the largest number of worshippers. To explain the current situation to you, the brothers here are divided between supporters and opponents. Some pray with the congregation reluctantly, some pray in the old direction, and some have left the mosque due to their loss of trust in those in charge of the mosque. After a long discussion with them to no avail, they said that this creates fitnah. I do not know, O Shaykh, where the fitnah is in this, and who is creating it? To complete the previous questions, we ask: Is there leeway in the matter? Second, does the prayer become invalid?

The Shaykh : No, no, no, do not prolong it now. First, second, third, and perhaps fifth. Take the answer to each question. As for you re-listing the questions and making me memorize them and then answering them, that is difficult.

The questioner : Yes, yes, O Shaykh, I heard the questions so I can record the call afterwards.

The Shaykh : Okay, list them completely.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. Does the prayer become invalid in the new direction? Third: If the direction is not returned to the correct direction, do we continue praying with them in the new direction, knowing that there is no other mosque? And if there is another mosque, does the previous question and the last question fall away? The imam of the mosque issued a fatwa that the qiblah is a secondary matter and that it is not permissible to differ over it or return it to the correct direction. Does his qualification to lead the worshippers in prayer fall away, knowing that he is not a mufti or a scholar, but when he issued a fatwa on the issue, he had read and issued it? If you permit, I will repeat the question and you answer them, if you please.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Again, we are young men in the city of ... in Scotland, and since you were contacted...

The Shaykh : Finish the question.

The questioner : Yes, is there leeway in the matter?

The Shaykh : I say that the answer to this section of the questions is to be found in my previous answer. I had mentioned to you that his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): I told you, but since it is now possible to determine the direction of the qiblah by a means created by Allah (Mighty and Majestic), it is not permissible to dispense with this scientific means as long as, I say now, as long as there is no violation of any of the rulings of the Shari'ah in using this scientific means. I say and repeat that this hadith is valid and it indicates the leniency and ease of the Shari'ah if the people of the mosque are unable to know the direction of the qiblah. Al-Shawkani did not address the deviation of the mosque by ten degrees, or twenty-five, or less, or more. Rather, this is the opinion of some of those in charge of the mosque, and it appears that they are not from the people of knowledge, so their opinion has no value at all. Especially since they resorted to maintaining the deviation and citing the hadith in its support, while closing their eyes to knowing the qiblah precisely by the well-known compass today, or by other precise calculations. They resorted to the rule that Muslims must not hold onto, which is "the end justifies the means." They say, "We are content with maintaining the deviation from the qiblah, i.e., the one known to them, not the unknown one. But if it were unknown, there would be no harm in that." And in that regard, the hadith mentioned earlier was reported: So they were content with the deviation from the qiblah, although they knew its direction, applying the rule that "the end justifies the means." And this is not a Shari'ah rule. So I remain with my previous fatwa and I confirm it with what you heard or what I mentioned earlier. Ask the second question.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. Do you mean, O Shaykh, that there is no leeway in the matter?

The Shaykh : Yes, yes. Why? Because it is possible to know the qiblah. Was that clear to you?

The questioner : Yes, O Shaykh. May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Okay, the second question.