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Chapter #15 اسْتِقْبَالُ القِبْلَة Facing Qiblah

 Know about Qiblah
 Learn how to face Qiblah for different types of the worshipers
 Know what is Salaatul Khawf

Facing Qiblah (استِقْبَال القِبْلَة)

Ka’bah (كَعْبَة) inside Masjid ul Haraam of Makah is the Qiblah (direction) of Muslims. Facing Qiblah is the third condition of Salaat except for Nafl Salaat (صَلاَة النَفْل) of a traveler or of one who performs Salaat in the extreme fear (صَلاَة الخَوْف).

Finding direction

In finding the direction of Qiblah one need to make sure by

  1. Accepting the words of a trustful person (ثقَة) who knows Qiblah certainly.
  2. Doing his own research (اجْتِهَاد) about Qiblah.
  3. Imitating the person (تقليد) who made a research about Qiblah (مُجْتهِد).

When praying in standing position, one has to direct his chest (صَدْر) to Qiblah. When praying while lying on the side (اضطِجَاع), one has to direct his face and the chest to Qiblah. When praying while lying on the back (اسْتِلقَاء), one has to direct his face and the sole (bottom of the two feet/ أخمصين) to Qiblah.

Salaatul Khawf

Salaatul Khawf (صَلاَة الخَوْف) is Salaat in the extreme (شدَّة الخوف) fear such as the one who is fleeing from the enemy, fire, flood or serpent. He can pray walking, travelling, turning his back to Qiblah etc.

The traveler is allowed to offer Sunnah prayers without facing Qiblah.

This is excerpts from the book Salaat (Brief rulings of Prayer in Shafi Madh’hab) by Abdu Shaheed Azhary. To download the full chapter click the below link. To support us, please consider acquiring the digital copy of the book from Amazon