Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (2/262)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

in prayer between the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone, so that the Ka‘bah was between him and Jerusalem. When he migrated to Madinah, he continued, by Allah’s command, to pray toward Jerusalem for sixteen months and part of the seventeenth; then, after that, he was commanded to turn toward the Ka‘bah. (1)

It is not valid without this, except for one who is unable to do so, and for a traveller riding and offering a voluntary prayer...

His statement, “It is not valid without this,” means that the prayer is not valid without facing the qiblah, due to the Prophet’s saying, “Whoever performs an action that is not in accordance with our command, it is rejected.” (2) Facing the qiblah is a condition, and the principle is that when a condition is absent, that which depends upon it is also absent. For this reason, the prayer is not valid without it.

His statement, “except for one who is unable,” means one who is unable to face the qiblah; in his case, the obligation of facing it is waived. The author has made two exceptions:

The first is the person who is unable: his prayer is valid without facing the qiblah. One example is a sick person who cannot move and has no one to turn him toward the qiblah. In that case, he prays facing whichever direction he is already facing, because he is unable to do otherwise.

The evidence for this is Allah’s saying: “So fear Allah as much as you are able.” [al-Taghabun: 16] And His saying: “Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.” [al-Baqarah:

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, Book of Solitary Reports, Chapter: What Has Been Related Concerning the Acceptance of a Single Narrator's Report, no. 7252; and Muslim, Book of Mosques, Chapter: The Changing of the Qiblah, no. 525, on the authority of al-Bara ibn Azib. (2) Its documentation has preceded (1:186).

في صلاته، بين الرُّكن اليماني والحَجَر الأسود؛ لتكون الكعبة بينه وبين بيت المقدس، ولما هاجر إلى المدينة بقيَ بأمر الله ﷿ يُصلِّي إلى بيت المقدس ستة عشر شهراً وبعض السَّابع عشر، ثم بعد ذلك أُمِرَ بالتَّوجه إلى الكعبة (١). فَلَا تَصِحُّ بِدُونِه إِلاَّ لِعَاجِزٍ وَمُتَنَفِّلٍ رَاكبٍ سَائِرٍ في سَفَرٍ ......... قوله: «فَلَا تَصِحُّ بِدُونِه»، أي: لا تصحُّ الصلاة بدون استقبال القِبلة؛ لقول النبي ﷺ: «من عَمِل عملاً ليس عليه أمرُنا فهو رَدٌّ» (٢)، ولأن استقبال القبلة شرط، والقاعدة: أنه إذا تخلَّف الشرط تخلَّف المشروط، فلا تصحُّ الصَّلاة بدونه لهذه العِلَّة. قوله: «إلا لعاجز»، أي: لعاجز عن استقبال القبلة فيسقط عنه وجوب الاستقبال، وقد استثنى المؤلِّف مسألتين: الأولى: العاجز؛ تصحُّ صلاته بدون استقبال القِبلة، وله أمثلة منها: أن يكون مريضاً لا يستطيع الحركة، وليس عنده أحد يوجِّهه إلى القبلة، فهنا يتَّجه حيث كان وجهه؛ لأنَّه عاجز. ودليل ذلك قوله تعالى: ﴿فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ﴾ [التغابن: ١٦]، وقوله تعالى: ﴿لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا﴾ [البقرة:

(١) رواه البخاري، كتاب أخبار الآحاد: باب ما جاء في إجازة خبر الواحد، رقم (٧٢٥٢)، ومسلم، كتاب المساجد: باب تحويل القبلة، رقم (٥٢٥) عن البراء بن عازب ﵁. (٢) تقدم تخريجه (١/ ١٨٦).