than the qiblah; he would bow and prostrate with mere gestures, without placing his face on anything).

Al-Bukhārī, Muslim, al-Bayhaqī and Aḥmad also transmitted the report through another chain from Anas ibn Sīrīn, who said:

“We welcomed Anas when he returned from Syria and met him at ʿAyn al-Tamr. I saw him praying on a donkey, his face turned to this side—that is, to the left of the qiblah—so I said, ‘I have just seen you praying without facing the qiblah?’ He replied, ‘Had I not seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do it, I would never have done it.’ ”

Al-Bukhārī gave it the heading, “Chapter: Voluntary prayer on a donkey.” Ibn Rashīd commented:

“His point is that, for a voluntary prayer performed while mounted, it is not required that the riding animal be free of droppings; the ruling for all mounts is the same, provided the worshiper does not come into direct contact with the impurity. Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd added: From this ḥadith one may deduce that a donkey’s perspiration is pure, for avoiding contact with it is virtually impossible, especially during a long ride when sweating is likely.”

So reports Ibn Ḥajar in Fatḥ al-Bārī, and he then says:

“Another benefit of the ḥadith, in addition to what has preceded, is that if someone prays on a place that contains impurity which he does not actually touch, his prayer is valid, for a riding animal is never entirely free of impurity, at the very least at its orifice.”

Abū al-Barakāt Majd al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyyah entitled the ḥadith in al-Muntaqā, “Chapter: One who prays on a mount that is inherently impure or has been soiled by impurity,” and he cited therein—