168 – ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ praying on his mount, facing whichever direction it was heading.” Agreed upon.
Al-Bukhārī adds: “He would signal with his head, and he would not do that in the obligatory prayers.” (1)
Abū Dāwūd narrates, on the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): “Whenever the Prophet set out on a journey and wished to offer a voluntary prayer, he would turn his she-camel toward the qiblah, pronounce the opening takbīr, and then pray wherever the face of his mount carried him.” Its chain of transmission is ḥasan. (2)

— Status of the report:
The ḥadīth of Anas is ḥasan. Ibn Ḥajar and al-Nawawī ruled it ḥasan in al-Majmūʿ, while Ibn al-Sakan and Ibn al-Mulqin graded it ṣaḥīḥ.

— Vocabulary:
• Rāḥilatuhu (his riding animal): From the verb raḥala / yarḥalu (to set out, to travel). Among camels, any beast fit for riding—male or female—is called a rāḥilah or raḥūl; the feminine ending is for emphasis, not gender. Plural: rawāḥil.
• Ḥayth(u): An adverb of place, indeclinable, always annexed to a clause, most often verbal.
• “Wherever it was directed”: that is, to whatever direction the animal was turned, whether toward the qiblah or elsewhere.