the sky, his face is now directed upward rather than toward the qiblah, and that invalidates his prayer. The issue is therefore grave, which explains the Prophet’s stern warning when he said, “Let them desist, or their eyesight will surely be snatched away.”

Someone might then ask, “Where, then, should I fix my gaze?” We reply: keep your eyes on the spot where you will prostrate—except when you raise your index finger while supplicating in the tashahhud. At that moment, look at the finger, for when the Prophet ﷺ raised it, his gaze did not move beyond the finger he was pointing with.

Some scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—also exempted looking at the imam so that one can follow his movements, especially when a worshipper cannot hear him and has no other way to follow except by sight. In such a case he may look at the imam, because the Companions used to do so. The Prophet ﷺ once mounted the pulpit and prayed upon it, saying, “I only did this so you might follow me and learn your prayer.” Instruction cannot be accomplished unless the people look at him; indeed, they even described the trembling of his beard during the silent prayers, which shows that they were watching their imam.

Other scholars made an exception for someone praying in the Sacred Mosque with the Kaaba directly before him, permitting him to look at it. Yet this exception is weak; the correct view is that he should not gaze at the Kaaba while praying, because nothing of the sort is reported from the Prophet ﷺ, and because it causes distraction as he watches the people circumambulating, coming and going. Moreover, the claim made by some that looking at the Kaaba is itself an act of worship is mistaken. To the best of our knowledge, there is neither a sound nor even a weak hadith from the Prophet ﷺ stating that gazing at the Kaaba is an act of worship.