from Us.”1

In the course of refuting them, he—may Allah have mercy on him—explained that the qiblah is whatever a person directly faces. Facing something is the opposite of turning one’s back to it; thus, the qiblah is what a person faces, not what he turns his back to. By universal agreement, however, that toward which a person raises his hand, head, or gaze is not called a qiblah, for he is not facing it, just as he is not turning his back to what lies opposite it. Whoever faces something necessarily turns his back to whatever lies opposite it, just as one who faces the Kaaba turns his back to the direction opposite it. It is well known that a supplicant does not face the sky while turning his back to the earth. Rather, like someone praying, he faces a particular direction—whether the qiblah or another direction—and turns his back to what lies opposite it. It is therefore manifest that regarding the sky as a qiblah is plainly invalid according to reason, language, and the Sacred Law, as is evident to everyone.2

The point is that the qiblah Muslims face in supplication is the same qiblah they face in prayer. They raise their hands toward the sky when supplicating because their Lord—whom they invoke and ask, whose reward and mercy they hope and long to attain, and whom they fear—is in heaven, risen over His Throne and distinct from His creation. He hears their supplications and answers their calls. As He, glorified is He, says:

“The Most Merciful rose over the Throne. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens, whatever is on earth, whatever is between them, and whatever lies beneath the soil. Whether you speak aloud, He surely knows what is secret and what is still more hidden. Allah—there is no deity except Him. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names.”3