—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—prohibited performing the prayer at those specific times in order to block every avenue that could lead to imitation. In this ruling is an implicit warning that any act of devotion practiced by the polytheists—acts that, by their intention, amount to disbelief or sin—is forbidden for the believers even in outward form, even when they have no such intention, so as to shut the door to that resemblance entirely.

Along the same lines, whenever the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—prayed toward a staff or a pillar, he would set it slightly to his right or left rather than standing squarely in line with it.

For this reason he also forbade praying toward anything that is worshipped besides Allah, even when the person praying harbors no such purpose. Similarly, one must not prostrate to Allah while positioned directly in front of another man, although the worshipper’s intention is purely for Allah, because such a posture resembles prostration to someone other than Him.

Observe how the Sacred Law severs every resemblance, whether related to direction or to timing: just as we do not pray toward the qiblah that they face, we must not pray toward what they worship—indeed, the latter is even more corrupt, for the qiblah