the right of someone facing the door. Those whose homeland is aligned with this pole, such as the people of Harrān and others, thus pray towards that corner. Hence their qiblah is said to be the most accurately aligned. Those whose homeland lies west of them—such as the people of Syria—turn slightly eastwards in proportion to their distance from this line: the farther away they are, the more they turn. Those who live east of them—such as the people of Iraq—adjust their qiblah in the opposite direction. Thus, the inhabitants of those lands keep the pole and what lies near it directly behind their heads. The people of Syria turn slightly, keeping it between the left ear and the hollow at the nape, or behind the left ear, depending on how near or far their homeland is from those people. The people of Iraq keep it behind the right ear. It is well known that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Companions never instructed anyone to take account of the pole, anything near it, al-Jady, Banāt Na‘sh, or anything else of this kind.

For this reason, Imam Ahmad objected to those who instructed people to take account of these things. He instructed them not to determine the qiblah by al-Jady, saying:

“The hadith makes no mention of al-Jady. Rather, whatever lies between east and west is qiblah.”

This is indeed correct. Had determining the qiblah in this way been obligatory or recommended, the Companions would have known it best and been the first to do so, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would have explained it. He left nothing pertaining to the religion unexplained. How, then, could this be so when he expressly stated that whatever lies between east and west is qiblah, and forbade facing the qiblah or turning one’s back towards it when defecating or urinating? It is unanimously agreed among