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What is the ruling on praying in a mosque whose Qiblah is known to be incorrect, taking into consideration the previous ignorance of the worshippers, the delay in correcting the Qiblah after becoming aware of the error, the stance of those in charge of some mosques who refuse to make the correction, as well as the situation of small mosques where changing the Qiblah might be difficult, and what is the Muslim youth's duty regarding conveying the Sharia ruling on this matter?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the Qibla deviation angle is approximately 45 degrees, this is considered a slight deviation that does not harm those who are far from the Kaaba, because their obligation is to face the direction of the Kaaba, not its exact spot, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "What is between the East and the West is a Qibla." This is supported by Umar's statement: "What is between the East and the West is all a Qibla, except at the House itself," and Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen's statement: "The matter is broad, so if we see someone praying with a slight deviation from facing the Qibla directly, that does no harm; because he is facing the direction, and this is his obligation." As for significant deviation, it is when the Qibla is completely to the right or left of the worshiper. Therefore, prayer in the aforementioned mosques is valid as long as the deviation is slight.

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

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