The Direction of the Qiblah, by Shaikh al-'Uthaimeen

[Maher.ibn.Ahmad.Attiyeh]

Bismillaah Al-Hamdulillaah wa salatu wa salaamu 'ala rasulullaah
Amma-ba'd

The Direction of the Qiblah, by Shaikh al-'Uthaimeen


Excerpt:

Shaikh 'Uthaimeen (rahimahullah) explains the Hadith: "Indeed The Qiblah is direction between the East and the West." [1]

Shaikh Ibn Al-'Uthaimeen (rahimahullah) said in his Majmoo' Al-fataawa (12/341)

"The Messenger of Allaah (sallahallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said to the people of Madinah: That which is between the East and West is a Qiblah. Because Madinah is North of Makkah. For that reason, if you stray from the Qiblah while you're still within the aforementioned range (of East to West), then there's no harm in that, because the acceptable direction is wide; therefore, if the country falls East of Makkah, then we say, 'That which lies between the North and the South is the Qiblah.' Likewise, if the country is West of Makkah, then we say, 'That which lies between The North and South is considered towards the Qiblah.' This is from Allaah's ease upon us because determining the exact Qiblah from afar can be difficult or in some cases impossible. Thus, in cases such that it is impossible or difficult, Allaah has made the affair easy for His servants, and made that which is mandatory merely facing the general direction (as opposed to the exact direction)."

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