the prohibition, his prayer is invalid, because the Prophet said, “Do not pray.” Here the prohibition concerns the prayer itself. Thus, if he prays facing a grave, his act combines obedience and disobedience, and it cannot be a means of drawing near to Allah, Most High.

If someone were to ask: What is the dividing line with regard to praying toward graves?

We say: A wall constitutes a barrier—unless it is the wall of the graveyard itself, concerning which there is some reservation. But if it is a wall that stands between you and the graves, then there is undoubtedly no prohibition. Likewise, if there is a street between you and them, there is no prohibition. Or if there is such a distance between you and the graveyard that you would not be regarded as praying toward it. Some have defined this as the distance of the prayer-screen for one who is praying (1). On this basis, the distance would be short. Yet there is no doubt that this may give a misleading impression: if someone saw you praying with only three cubits between you and the graveyard, without a wall, it would give the impression that you were praying toward the graves. Therefore, there must be a distance by which it is known that you are not praying toward the grave.

The apparent meaning of the author’s words is that prayer, whether obligatory or voluntary, is valid in all other places. Thus, it is valid in a slaughterhouse, unless one prays on a filthy part of it.

It is also valid in a rubbish dump, if the refuse is pure. But if it is impure, then it falls under the author’s statement that prayer there is prohibited.

It is valid on the thoroughfare of a road; that is, if one prays on the thoroughfare of a road, his prayer is valid. But if the road is in use, then praying there while