Dought - clear - A mistake in the direction of the qiblah .

One of my neighbours told me that the qiblah towards which I was
praying was wrong and was not in accordance with the qiblah of the
neighbouring mosque. Based on this, I changed the direction for a few
months, including last Ramadaan. Then I found out that the first
qiblah had been correct. What is the ruling on prayers that I did
facing the incorrect qiblah? I hope you can answer me because I am
confused. Thank you very much.
Praise be to Allaah.
Facing the qiblah is one of the conditions of prayer being valid.
Everyworshipper has to make sure he faces the qiblah in his prayer,
and strive to make sure he is facingin the right direction, whether by
means of natural signs or using a compass, if he is able to do that,
or by asking trustworthy people in that place who know in which
direction the qiblah is.
It seems most likely in the case that you describe that the deviation
from the qiblah was very slight. This slight deviation is something
that can happen when a person who lives in that area is a little
confused and people do not pay attention to this slight difference in
direction. Ifthat is the case, i.e., if the deviation from the qiblah
was slight, then itdoes not matter and it does not invalidate the
prayer, because those who are far away from the Ka'bah have to face in
its general direction; they do not have to face precisely in that
direction, because al-Tirmidhi (342) and IbnMaajah (1011) narrated
that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The
Messengerof Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"Whatever is between the east and the west is the qiblah." Classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Irwa'.
Al-San'aani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Subul al-Salaam
(1/260). This hadeeth indicates that what is required is to face in
that direction, and not towards the precise location of the Ka'bah
when one cannot see it.
Further evidence to this effect is to be seen in thereport narrated by
al-Bukhaari (144) and Muslim (264) from Abu Ayyoob (may Allaah be
pleased with him) who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "If you need to relieve yourself, then do
not face the qiblah or turn your back towards it, whether you are
urinating or defecating, rather face to the east orto the west."
Shaykh al-Islam (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Sharh
al-'Umdah: This is statingthat facing any directionother than the east
or the west means that oneis either facing the qiblah or turning one's
back towards it. This wasaddressed to the people of Madeenah and
everyone who was in the same direction (in relation to Makkah),
because this was the consensus of the Sahaabah (may Allaah bepleased
with them). 'Umar said: Whatever is between the east and the west is
the qiblah except at the House. Andit was narrated that 'Uthmaan (may
Allaah bepleased with him) said: How can a man make a mistake in his
prayer when whatever is between the east and the west is the qiblah,
solong he does not turn towards the east deliberately.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Thus we
know that the matter is broad in scope. So if we see a person praying
in a direction that is slightly off from the qiblah, that does not
matter, because he is facing in its general direction, and this is
what he is obliged to do.
Al-Sharh al-Mumti', 2/273
But if the deviation fromthe direction of the qiblah was very great,
sothat you were not praying in the direction of the qiblah at all,
such as if you were praying towards the east when the qiblah is
towards thewest or the north, for example, so long as you based your
action on thewords of someone who you know attaches greatimportance to
the prayer and you thought that they knew better about the direction
of the qiblah, then you do not have to do anything,and the prayers
which you offered are still valid, even if you faced the wrong
direction when you prayed, because if a person tries his best to get
it right, he has done what is required of him, as Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"So keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him as much as you can"
[al-Taghaabun 64:16]
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah (6/314): If a worshipper does
his best to figure out the direction of the qiblah and prays, then he
finds out that he was mistaken, his prayer is still valid.
In Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) (10/421)
it says: If a believer does his best to figure out the direction of
the qiblah, when he isin the desert or is in a city in which he is not
sure where the qiblah is,and he prays on that basis, then he finds out
that he prayed in a direction other than the qiblah, then he should
continue to pray according to his latest estimate, if he believes that
it is more correct than his first estimate. His first prayer is still
valid because he did his best to work out the qiblah.

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