The third situation concerns voluntary prayers during travel. Whether one is on an airplane, in a car, or riding a camel, he may offer any supererogatory prayer while facing whatever direction he happens to be turned—such as witr, the night vigil, the mid-morning (duha) prayer, and the like. A traveler is encouraged to perform all optional prayers just as a resident does, except for the regular sunnah prayers that precede or follow Dhuhr, Maghrib, and ‘Isha; the established practice is to omit those three sets. Apart from them, every other nafilah remains fully legislated for the traveler exactly as it is for the resident. Thus, if he wishes to pray voluntarily while on his plane, on his camel, or on his donkey, he should pray facing the direction he is already turned, for this is what is authentically reported in the two Sahih collections from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

These, then, are three situations in which facing the qiblah is not obligatory. As for the person who is unaware of the correct direction, he is still required to face the qiblah; yet if he strives to determine it and, after exerting himself, discovers—even during the prayer—that he was mistaken, he is not required to repeat the prayer. We do not say that the duty of facing the qiblah has been lifted from him; rather, he must face it and do his best. If, after doing so, he later learns he was wrong, he does not repeat his prayer. The evidence is the incident in which some Companions—who had not yet learned that the qiblah had been changed to the Kaʿbah—were praying the dawn prayer one morning in the Mosque of Qubāʾ. A man came to them and said, “Revelation has just come to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and he has been commanded to face the Kaʿbah; so turn toward it.” They immediately turned, even though the Kaʿbah had previously