Question:
aswr wb, what does a person do if he was praying salah the wrong direction he did not know and only find out after months its wrong direction…does he have to repeat all the salah?Jazakallah.
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
The principle is if the direction of Qibla is unknown, one has to enquire the direction of Qibla[1]. If there is no one to inform of the direction of Qibla, then one has to do apply his discretion in determining the direction of the Qibla[2].
If one performed Salah after enquiring the direction of the Qibla and after applying one’s discretion of the direction of the Qibla, and it turned out the direction of the Qibla was wrong, the Salahs performed in that direction would be valid.
However if one did not enquire of the direction of Qibla and did not apply one’s discretion about the direction of Qibla and performed the Salahs, it would be necessary to do Qadha (repeat) for the Fardh Salahs prayed in the wrong direction.[3]
Hence, in the enquired situation, if you just assumed that Qibla was in the direction you prayed without finding out the direction of the Qibla and without exerting some effort, then the Salaats would have to be repeated.[4]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Arshad Ali
https://fatwa-tt.com
Trinidad
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
[1] الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (1/ 431)
فَإِنْ كَانَ بِحَضْرَتِهِ مَنْ يَسْأَلُهُ عَنْهَا لَا يَجُوزُ لَهُ أَنْ يَتَحَرَّى، بَلْ يَجِبُ أَنْ يَسْأَلَ لِمَا قُلْنَا أَيْ مِنْ أَنَّ السُّؤَالَ أَقْوَى مِنْ التَّحَرِّي اهـ
الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (1/ 434)
قَالَ ابْنُ الْهُمَامِ: وَالْأَوْجَهُ أَنَّهُ إذَا عَلِمَ أَنَّ لِلْمَسْجِدِ قَوْمًا مِنْ أَهْلِهِ مُقِيمِينَ غَيْرَ أَنَّهُمْ لَيْسُوا حَاضِرِينَ فِيهِ وَقْتَ دُخُولِهِ وَهُمْ حَوْلَهُ فِي الْقَرْيَةِ وَجَبَ طَلَبُهُمْ لِيَسْأَلهُمْ قَبْلَ التَّحَرِّي لِأَنَّ التَّحَرِّيَ مُعَلَّقٌ بِالْعَجْزِ عَنْ تَعَرُّفِ الْقِبْلَةِ بِغَيْرِهِ. اهـ
