has no fixed standard, just as those who seek to determine the appearance of the new crescent or the onset of dawn by calculation disagree. There is no consistently valid mathematical proof for this; rather, it is fraught with contradictions and discrepancies. These people have turned away from the latitude afforded by religion and from the proofs of the Sharia, falling into various forms of ignorance and innovation despite their claims to knowledge and expertise. Such is how Allah deals with those who abandon what He has prescribed in favour of innovations and go to excessive lengths in religion.

It is authentically reported in Sahīh Muslim, from al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, from Ibn Mas‘ūd, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Those who go to extremes are doomed.”

He repeated this three times. Ahmad and Abū Dāwūd also narrated it.

Furthermore, Allah said:

“So turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque.”

And He said:

“Everyone has a direction toward which he turns,”

meaning, a direction he faces. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“This is the qiblah.”

The qiblah is that which one faces. He also said:

“Whoever prays as we pray, faces our qiblah, and eats what we slaughter is a Muslim, with the same rights and obligations as us.”

Muslims unanimously agree that, as a general rule, a person praying must face the qiblah. What is commanded, then, is to face the qiblah and turn one’s face toward the Sacred Mosque. The question is whether facing it and turning one’s face toward it require that the centre of one’s face be directed