the obligation to hit the exact location, the prayer of a long row of people standing in a straight line would not be valid, nor would the prayer of two people far apart who are facing one Qiblah be valid; for it is not permissible to face the Ka'bah with a long row except to the extent of its width. If it is said: "For someone who is far away, the area of alignment is wider." We say: "It only becomes wider with the curvature of the row; as for a straight row, it does not." The 'shatr' (part) of the House is its direction and its Qiblah.

Section: As for the mihrabs (prayer niches) of the disbelievers, it is not permissible to use them as evidence, because their statements are not used as evidence, so their mihrabs are even less so, unless we know their Qiblah, such as the Christians; we know that their Qiblah is the East, so when one sees their mihrabs in their churches, one knows they are facing the East. If one finds a mihrab and does not know whether it is for Muslims or others, one should perform ijtihad and pay no attention to it, because using it as evidence is only permissible with the mihrabs of Muslims, and one does not know if that is the case. Even if one sees the marks of Islam on a mihrab, one should not pray toward it, because of the possibility that the builder was a polytheist mocking it, deceiving the Muslims with it, unless it is something that is not subject to such possibility and one gains knowledge that it is indeed one of the mihrabs of the Muslims, in which case one faces it.

Section: If one prays on a high mountain that extends beyond the alignment of the Ka'bah, one's prayer is valid. Likewise, if one prays in a place that descends below its alignment; because the obligation is to face it and what aligns with it from above and below, as evidenced by the fact that if the Ka'bah were removed, the prayer towards the place of its walls would be valid.

Section: The mujtahid regarding the Qiblah is the one who is knowledgeable of its evidence, even if he is ignorant of the rulings of the Shari'ah, for anyone who knows the evidence for something is among those capable of ijtihad regarding it, even if he is ignorant of other matters. This is because he is able to face it through its evidence, so he is a mujtahid in this regard, just like a faqih. If a faqih is ignorant of its evidence or is blind, he is a muqallid (imitator), even if he has knowledge of other things. The most reliable of its evidence are the stars,