Summary of Fiqh #15: Facing the Qiblah and Making the Intention

Saturday 26 Nov 2016

Today we covered the following:

  • Recap: Conditions of the prayer:
    • 1-Time of Prayer must be in
    • 2-The Awrah must be covered
    • 3-Must be free from impurity (yourself, your clothes, prayer area)
  • Fourth Condition: Facing the Qiblah when praying
  • The Qiblah is the Ka’bah
  • Meaning of the word “Qiblah” in Arabic
  • what Allah said concerning the Qiblah as evidence of the obligation
  • Three scenarios:
    • If you can see the ka’bah it is obligatory to fully and directly face it when praying
    • What to do if you are near the ka’bah but cannot see the it ?
    • What to do if you are far away from the ka’bah ?
  • What to do if in doubt about the direction?
  • Who is excused from facing the Qiblah?
  • Facing the Qiblah during a journey (eg flight)
  • Methods for working out the Qiblah:
    • Word of mouth
    • Direction of the Mihrab
    • The Sun’s direction
    • Using the stars
    • Landmarks (eg road directions)
  • The Fifth Condition: The Niyyah (Intention)
  • Intention is required for acts of worship
  • Intention is in the heart, not upon the tongue (i.e. not said out loud)
    • The Messenger of Allah never used to say the intention out loud
  • The famous hadith “Indeed, Actions are by intentions” [Bukhari]
  • When to say the intention?
  • You MUST remain upon the intention throughout the prayer
  • What happens if you make the wrong intention?
    • Can you change the intention of obligatory prayer to an optional prayer?
    • Can you do the opposite?
  • Innovations (Bidah) in the Intention:
    • Saying the intention out loud
    • Exaggerating the Intention (e.g. “I make intention to pray dhur, which is 4 rakats, for the sake of Allah, behind this imam…”)
  • Our religion is NOT based on what people spread, but rather based on Evidence:
    • We must follow the what Allah said (quran)
    • What the messenger said and did (ahadith)
    • We must follow the sahabah in how they practised their religion
  • Rectifying the affair of the Muslims
    • Stick to the Quran & Sunnah
    • Follow the sahabah in how they implemented the deen
    • Avoid innovations in the religion (bidah)
  • Explaining the misunderstanding some Muslims have about what Imam Shafi’i said regarding saying the Prayer out loud