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The question

Is turning the head during prayer an innovation or does it invalidate the prayer?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Turning in prayer is of several types:

1. Turning with the chest: This invalidates the prayer because it violates the condition of facing the Qiblah.

2. Turning with the head or eye only: This is disliked (makrooh) and diminishes the reward, unless it is for a necessity, in which case there is no dislike. Its permissibility for a necessity has been established by prophetic traditions.

3. Turning with the heart: This refers to the worshiper's preoccupation with thoughts and whispers, which is a snatching that Satan snatches from the servant's prayer, and it diminishes the prayer.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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