orientation.
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As for anyone who can actually see the Kaʿbah, the scholars state that his duty is to strike its very structure with his line of prayer so that not even a fraction of that line falls outside the Kaʿbah. Al-Inṣāf remarks that this is a point of unanimous agreement. The ruling covers a person inside the Sacred Mosque as well as someone outside it who is looking directly at the Kaʿbah.
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Ibn al-Qayyim said: “The correct view is that, the farther one is, the greater the number of lines that coincide with the exact eye of the Kaʿbah. When a circle becomes large, its circumference spreads immensely: the curvature along its perimeter is barely perceptible, so a long straight line will in fact be arched toward the observer’s vision, though the senses do not register that curvature.”
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What Imam Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned rests on a geometric principle: “The circumference of a circle is directly proportional to its radius.” In other words, the farther one is from the Kaʿbah, the more worshipers there are whose prayers share that same general qiblah—namely, the Kaʿbah itself.
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Facing the qiblah is a prerequisite for the validity of prayer. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “So turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque, and wherever you are, turn your faces toward it” (Al-Baqarah 144). Yet the obligation to face the qiblah is waived in certain situations, including:
First: Inability. If a person is unable to face the qiblah because of illness or being tied up, the requirement is lifted and he prays in whichever direction he is oriented, for Allah says: “So fear Allah as much as you are able” (At-Taghābun 16). The same ruling applies to someone in an airplane who can find no space to pray except his seat, which faces away from the qiblah; he prays in the direction of his seat.
Second: Fear. When one is fighting an enemy, fleeing from him, escaping a flood, or the like, and this forces him to face other than the qiblah, he prays in whatever direction he is heading. Allah says: “And if you are in fear, then (pray) on foot or mounted” (Al-Baqarah 239). Whether on foot or riding, a fearful person will naturally head toward the place of safety.
Third: Voluntary prayers while traveling. If a person is on the move—walking or riding—he may pray whichever way he is facing, based on the ḥadīth of ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah who said, “I saw the Prophet ﷺ praying on …”