"Well, the Qiblah was that direction last time!..."

[Abu_Abdillah2000]

Assalamu 'alaykum brothers and sisters.

Allow me to share an amusing incident that happened to me on the weekend.

I went with my wife, kids and mother-in-law to the snow. We went along with a large number of people from a local Indonesian Muslim group.

We got there at around Dhuhr time, and we left well into 'Asr time. Everyone was getting onto the bus, but no-one had prayed Dhuhr or 'Asr yet! So I asked one of the Indonesian guys (it seemed that he was the most knowledgeable of them - relatively speaking) why they are leaving without praying? He said that they will pray sitting down on the bus (most of them do this unfortunately, and they think its OK to do tayammum on the bus wall too! La hawla wa-la quwwata illa billah!:mad: ).

Anyway, I had a bit of a short argument with him, telling him that it is not allowed in this case because it is not a situation allowing for such an excuse. He said that he agreed, but that these people follow another opinion. I told him this is not an acceptable kind of ikhtilaf, and anyway the argument got nowhere.

So I said to him: "My family and I are going to pray here, standing up, outside the bus." He said, "OK."

Now comes the funny part.

I looked around, but I could not see the sun. I had also forgotten to bring my qiblah compass.

So I asked this Indonesian gentleman: Do you know which way is the qiblah?

He looked around, and said (genuinely confused): :confused: "Oh... ummmm... errr... I don't know actually... hmmm...."

Then he turned to me and said (and he was fairly sure now): "Uhhh.... actually, I think it might be that way (pointing to the right of the bus)... it was that way the last time I came here."

:rolleyes:

[MosDef]

wa alaykum salaam akh,

made me smile :)

[Husain]

Hmm... he seems to overestimate the influence of continental tectonics.

- Husain.

[Nour al Islam*]

Subhana'Allah...

But, on a serious term, how would one be able to find the Qiblah, if given the situation of br. Abu Abdillah?

Jazakum Allahu Khairn. . .

[Abu_Abdillah2000]

But, on a serious term, how would one be able to find the Qiblah, if given the situation of br. Abu Abdillah?

Well, if that guy hadn't shown me the direction, then I would have gone to one or more of the people who work at the ski place we were at, and asked them which way was west (that's where the qiblah is from Australia. They were all kuffar, but of course there were no trustworthy Muslims there who knew the direction of the qiblah, so asking the kuffar is the next best thing in that case.

And if they didn't know, then I would just pray towards whatever direction.

The basis of this last part is an event (can't remember the exact reference off-hand) that happened with some of the Sahabah who were travelling, and when it was time to pray no-one knew where the qiblah was because it was dark and cloudy. So each one prayed facing the direction that he believed to be the closest to the qiblah, and when the time of the prayer had finished, the direction of the qiblah became clear, but they were not ordered to repeat their prayer.

So the ulama understood from this that if you can't find out the direction of the qiblah either from landmarks, the sun, moon etc, or from trustworthy people, then you simply pray towards whichever direction you likely believe the qiblah to be, and if you have absolutely no idea then in any direction. If you later find out that the qiblah was in a different direction to that which you prayed, then if the time of the prayer has passed then you don't have to repeat it (because you did what was obligatory for you according to your ability), and if you are still in the time then it is mustahabb for you to repeat your prayer so it can be done more perfectly, wallahu a'lam.

[Nour al Islam*]

The basis of this last part is an event (can't remember the exact reference off-hand) that happened with some of the Sahabah who were travelling, and when it was time to pray no-one knew where the qiblah was because it was dark and cloudy. So each one prayed facing the direction that he believed to be the closest to the qiblah, and when the time of the prayer had finished, the direction of the qiblah became clear, but they were not ordered to repeat their prayer.

Baraak Allahu feek akhee for your reply. If you happen to stumble upon the reference for the above mentioned quote, I would truely appreciate it.

Jazaak Allahu Khairn. . .

[Abu_Abdillah2000]

Baraak Allahu feek akhee for your reply. If you happen to stumble upon the reference for the above mentioned quote, I would truely appreciate it.

Here's what I could find off-hand:

Hadith # 164 in Bulugh al-Maram:

From 'Amir ibn Rabi'ah, radhiyallahu 'anhu, who said: We were with the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa-sallam, on a dark night, and we had difficulty in locating the qiblah. So we prayed, then when the sun rose, we found that we had not prayed towards the qiblah, so the ayah was revealed: {So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah} [Al-Baqarah: 115].

Narrated by at-Tirmidhi. He graded it dha'if.

[Abu Dharr Al Kashmiri]

Asalaam'alaykum wa rahmatullah'

Alhamdulillah, akhi next time you should take this the QiblaSat (http://www.qiblasat.com/)

[Yasir]

wa'alaikum as-salaam,He said that they will pray sitting down on the bus (most of them do this unfortunately, and they think its OK to do tayammum on the bus wall too! La hawla wa-la quwwata illa billah!:mad: ).Tayammum on the bus wall?

[alkathiri]

Praying in space (http://www.turks.us/article~story~20070502064845245.htm)

To bro Abu Abdullah , i think the best way is to do wudu before you leave our house.

[Nour al Islam*]

Here's what I could find off-hand:

Hadith # 164 in Bulugh al-Maram:

From 'Amir ibn Rabi'ah, radhiyallahu 'anhu, who said: We were with the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa-sallam, on a dark night, and we had difficulty in locating the qiblah. So we prayed, then when the sun rose, we found that we had not prayed towards the qiblah, so the ayah was revealed: {So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah} [Al-Baqarah: 115].

Narrated by at-Tirmidhi. He graded it dha'if.

Jazaak Allahu Khair al Jazaa'

[Abu_Abdillah2000]

Tayammum on the bus wall?

Yep, you read it correctly.