and thus he is discharged from the obligation, like one who is correct. Also, because he prayed toward other than the Kaaba due to a valid excuse, so repetition is not obligatory upon him, like the one who is fearful while praying toward other than it. Furthermore, it is a condition [of prayer] for which he is unable, so it resembles other conditions. As for the one who prays before the time [has arrived], he was not commanded to pray; rather, he was only commanded after the entry of the time, and he did not perform what he was commanded to do, which is contrary to our issue, for he is commanded to pray without doubt, and he was not commanded except for this prayer. When one is unable to fulfill other conditions, they fall away, and it is the same here. As for when he thinks a condition is met but is mistaken, it is not a matter of ijtihad; its counterpart is when he exerts ijtihad in our issue while in a settled residence (hadar) and makes a mistake.

Section: If the certainty of his error becomes clear to him while he is in the prayer, he should turn toward the direction of the Kaaba and continue based on what has already passed of his prayer (12); because what has passed of it was correct, so building upon it is permissible, just as if the error had not become clear to him. If they are a group whose ijtihad has led them to a direction, and they have appointed one of them [as imam], then the error becomes clear to them all at once, they should turn toward the direction in which the truth has become clear to them, like the Banu Salama when the turning of the Kaaba became clear to them. If it becomes clear to the imam alone, or to the followers without him, or to some of them, whoever it has become clear to alone should turn, and some of them may intend to dissociate from others, unless it is according to the position we stated: that some of them may follow one who has differed from him in ijtihad. If there is a blind follower (muqallid) among them, he follows the one he is imitating and turns with his turning. If he is imitating them all, he does not turn unless they all turn, because he began with a certain proof, so he does not turn due to doubt, except for the one whose imitation of the most reliable among them is obligatory; he turns with his turning.

Section: (13) There is no difference between whether the proofs were apparent and visible and he became confused, or if they were covered by clouds or something that obscured them from him, based on the evidence of the hadiths we have narrated, for the proofs were obscured from them by clouds, yet they did not repeat, and because he performed what he was commanded to do (14) in both cases, and he was unable to face the Qibla in both situations, so they are equal regarding the lack of repetition.