['Aalim Network QR] Direction of Qiblah

["Akil M. Karim" <amk@ican.net>]

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|       In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful       |\
|  Greeting of Allah be upon Muhammad and the pure members of his House |\
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Salaamun 'Alaykum

The answer to the following question has been taken from Shaykh Hamid's work, "Contemporary Legal Rulings in Shi'i Law: in accordance with the rulings (fatawa) of  Ayatullah al-'Uzma al-Sayyid 'Ali al-Husayni al-Seestani":


Fee Amaanillah,

Akil Karim
Moderator - 'Aalim Network

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

QUESTION:

The direction of Qibla in North America has been established as North East. However recent discussions among our community in Wichita Kansas and by studying the map shows that it should be South East. This has became a controversial issue as half of the community prays in North east while some do in South East. I would like some clarification from an Aalim in this matter as there is a lot of confusion among ourselves.


ANSWER:

Q26: The views of the ulama differ regarding the (direction of the) qiblah from New York and similar places in North America. Can you explain in some detail how we are to face the qiblah from there?


A: Facing the qiblah from distant places which have the curvature of the earth between them and the revered Ka'bah is determined by the parallel lines that commence from the front of the body of the person praying and the lines of curvature that arch around the surface of the earth in the direction of the revered Ka'bah, in such a manner that the lines end there (the Ka'bah), even if it is only by probability. The direction of the lines may be established on a globe by connecting the position of the person praying to the revered Ka'bah by a thread -- ensuring that it remains on a direct course, rather than veering left or right. According to our tests, the direction of this thread from areas such as New York in North America is to the East, yielding to the North by the degree indicated by the aforementioned thread. 

As for those who say that Mecca lies beneath the 22nd parallel, New York falls above the 40th parallel, and this requires that the person in New York must face the direction of the honored Ka'bah by bearing to the South rather than to the North, the answer to this is as follows: 

This holds true if one uses a flat map as opposed to a global one. The change in the direction of the abovementioned thread on a global model is a result of the portions lying between the two points, if it is viewed in relation to the North and South poles. The support for this is that, if we neglect and do not take into consideration the four cardinal points on the globe, and we turned around a global map putting Mecca in the summit, as if it were the North Pole, we would observe that the direction of the abovementioned thread (in a situation for a person in New York) would be exactly the same as that obtained by the earlier mentioned thread. The person in New York who wants to face the direction of the revered Ka'bah must take this direction and not veer towards the right. 

In short, in our opinion, what is more likely in the method of facing the direction is as explained in the foregoing. It is clearly the better position also with regard to the necessity of observing the imaginary line that passes through the earth directly between the position of the person praying and the Ka'bah. Since it is not possible to face the direction of this (imaginary) line during prayer, it is necessary to follow the direction of the line of curvature parallel to it, and which goes over the surface of the earth. The parallel line just mentioned is the same as that which we already pointed out, whose direction from New York is towards northeast. Even so, however, the prayer of a person facing southeast would be valid if he is acting on a firm shar'i proof in his possession to that effect. God knows best. (MMS, pp. 9-11, Q1)


Note: "MMS" refers to "al-Mustahdathat min al-Masa'il al-Shar'iyyah" by Ayatullah Seestani