people are passing through it is disliked, because it causes distraction and disturbance. If it is used by cars, we may even say that it is prohibited, since one cannot establish the prayer while cars are moving, unless he obstructs people and thereby wrongs them; for people standing in the roadway prevent others from passing through it. Thus, it is an infringement upon them, and the right belongs to them.

An obligatory prayer is not valid inside the Ka'bah, nor above it . . .

His statement, “An obligatory prayer is not valid inside the Ka'bah”: when the term “obligatory prayer” is used without qualification, it refers to that which is obligatory by the original ruling of the Sacred Law. The obligatory prayers are six: Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha, and Jumu'ah. Or we may say that they are five, since Jumu'ah is an obligation at the time of Zuhr.

The evidence that an obligatory prayer is not valid inside the Ka'bah is the saying of Allah, Most High: “And from wherever you go out, turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram.” [al-Baqarah 2:149] One praying inside the Ka'bah is not facing the entire House, since part of it is behind him, to his right, and to his left; therefore, the prayer is not valid.

His statement, “nor above it,” means that an obligatory prayer is likewise not valid above the Ka'bah—that is, on its roof. Thus, it is not valid either inside it or above it on its roof, for the reason we have mentioned: he is not facing the entire House, but only one side of it. The exception is if he stands at the very edge of the wall, such that the entire Ka'bah is before him; in that case, it is valid. For example, if he stands at the outer edge of the threshold of its door, or at the end of the wall on the roof, then the prayer is valid, because the entire Ka'bah is then before him. This is the reasoning they gave. (1)

It is understood from the author’s words that a voluntary prayer is valid inside the Ka'bah and above it.