3 – Anyone who can see the Kaʿbah, or is effectively in the position of one who sees it, is required to face the structure itself, for “when the Prophet ﷺ entered the House he supplicated in all its corners … and when he came out he performed two rakʿahs in front of the House (in another wording: facing the Kaʿbah; in yet another: at the door of the House) and said, ‘This is the qiblah, this is the qiblah.’”

This report is narrated by Usāmah ibn Zayd. We have omitted the phrase “and he did not pray inside it,” because other Companions have reliably transmitted that he ﷺ did pray within it, as was explained earlier under “The Rulings of Mosques.”

The ḥadith is recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim—the present wording being that of the latter—as well as by al-Nasāʾī and Aḥmad through the chain of Ibn Jurayj, who said:
“I asked ʿAṭāʾ, ‘Did you hear Ibn ʿAbbās say, “You were only commanded to perform tawāf and were not commanded to enter it”?’ He replied, ‘He did not forbid entering it, but I heard him say, “Usāmah related this to me.”’ ”

A second version, which includes the additional wording, comes through ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān, who said: “ʿAṭāʾ narrated something similar to us.” It is recorded by al-Nasāʾī and Aḥmad.