Chapter: Facing the Qibla
Facing the Qibla is a condition for the validity of prayer, except in the two cases mentioned by al-Khiraqi, may Allah have mercy on him. The source for this is the saying of Allah the Exalted: "And wherever you are, turn your faces toward it" (31), meaning toward it. As they recited (32): "Will no one convey a message from us to a messenger... and the message does not suffice toward Amr?" (33), meaning toward Amr. The Arabs say: "These people share with us" when their houses face one another. Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Toward it" means toward it (al-Qibla). It was narrated from al-Bara' who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) arrived and prayed toward Bayt al-Maqdis for sixteen months, then he was directed toward the Kaaba. A man passed by who had prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and he came upon a group of the Ansar and said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has been directed toward the Kaaba. So they turned toward the Kaaba. Reported by al-Nasa'i (35).
131 - Issue: Abu al-Qasim said: (And when the fear is intense and one is being pursued, he begins the prayer facing the Qibla, and then prays facing elsewhere, whether walking or riding, gesturing as much as he is able, and making his prostration lower than his bowing.)
The entirety of this is that when fear becomes intense, such that he is unable to perform the prayer facing the Qibla,
(31) Surah al-Baqarah: 144. (32) The verse is unattributed in Tafsir al-Qurtubi 2/159. (33) In Tafsir al-Qurtubi: "Amr as a messenger." (34) In the original manuscript: "he was praying." In Sunan al-Nasa'i: "he had prayed." (35) In: Chapter on the Qibla, from the Book of Prayer; and in Chapter on Facing the Qibla, from the Book of the Qibla. Al-Mujtaba 1/196, 2/47. It was also reported by al-Bukhari, in: Chapter on Turning Toward the Qibla Wherever One Is, from the Book of Prayer; and in: Chapter on What Has Been Reported Regarding the Acceptance of the Report of a Truthful Individual... etc., from the Book of Ahad (Single-narrator reports). Sahih al-Bukhari 1/110, 9/108; and Muslim, in: Chapter on Changing the Qibla from Jerusalem to the Kaaba, from the Book of Mosques. Sahih Muslim 1/374; and al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter on 'Hammad informed us, Waki' informed us from Isra'il', from the Chapters on Tafsir. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 11/85; and Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 4/304.
