Question # 342: Salam. I have a question. When you are inside KABA as many Saudi Royal Family persons do, which direction you face to pray.

bismi-llahi r-raḥmani r-raḥīm,

Assalamu ‘laikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

All praise and thanks are due to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى), and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم).

Dear questioner,

First of all, we implore Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) to help us serve His cause and render our work for His sake.

Shorter Answer: There is difference of opinion among scholars about the type of Salah that can be offered inside the Ka’bah. Some scholars are of the opinion that it is permissible to pray nafl (optional) prayers inside, but praying fard (obligatory) prayers is not valid and if offered, should be re-performed. Others say, it is mustahabb (recommended) to pray sunnah as well as fard; but according to Ibn Abbas, it is not correct to pray inside the Ka’bah because one who prays, will make only a part of the Ka’bah as one’s qiblah and not the entire qiblah.

Furthermore, if someone praying inside, faces the direction of the door of the Ka’bah, then his prayer is invalid, except that some part of the interior is between him and the door.  One can pray against the door, if it is little or completely open, and the distance between aatabat – door seal (considered part of Ka’bah) and the one praying is at least Dira’a (approx. 75 cms). However, if the door is completely close, one cannot pray in the direction of the door. Else whatever direction one choses for the prayer inside the Ka’bah is considered qiblah.

Long Answer: Basically, you can pray inside the Ka’bah to whatever direction based on the hadith: It was narrated that Aishah (رضي الله عنها) said: “Pray in al-Hijr when you intend to enter the House (the Ka’bah), for it is a part of the House (the Ka’bah). Your people shortened it when they built the Ka’bah, and they took it out of the House.” (Sunan abi Dawud)

Note that there are some narrations of ibn ‘Abbas saying a prayer inside is invalid, the main opinion of the Dhahiri and Maliki school is that it is permissible to pray nafl (optional) prayers inside, but praying fard (obligatory) prayers is not valid and should be re-performed.

Imam a-Shafi’i has said that if someone prayed inside in the direction of the door of the Ka’bah with no part of the interior between him and the door his prayer is invalid. Else whatever direction he chose for the prayer inside the Ka’bah is a qiblah.

According to most of the scholars, it is mustahabb to pray inside the Ka’bah, sunnah as well as fard, but according to Ibn Abbas, it is not correct to pray inside because you will make only a part of your qiblah and not the entire qiblah. When Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) commanded us to pray in front of Ka’bah, it should be Ka’bah completely and not a part of it. Dhahiri, Maliki and Tabari, all agree on the opinion of Ibn Abbas… and if you perform fard pray inside the Ka’bah, you have to repeat the prayer… According to Tirmidhi, one can pray nawafil in any direction or to the door of Ka’bah.

…An-Nawawi said one has to pray against any wall inside the Ka’bah and one can pray against the door, if it is little or completely open, because it has aatabat – door seal (which is considered part of Ka’bah) and this aatabat is at least Dira’a (approx. 75 cms) apart from the place of prayer. However, if the door is completely close, one cannot pray in the direction of the door.

[Some scholars say that] it is allowed to pray inside Ka’bah according to shari’ah as when Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) opened the door of Makkah, he entered and pray inside two rakats. And the distance between him and the west wall was three Dira’a (approx. 225 cms)… But some scholars say that no fard prayer can be offered inside…, but sunnah/nawafil is allowed because Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) prayed sunnah and not fard. Some other scholars say Fard is correct but it is preferred to pray outside as Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) did…

(The above answer is based on two Arabic resources: Fatawa Shaykh Bin Baaz and Islamweb.net, a web site belonging to the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in the State of Qatar. For most part, my Arabic teacher – Dr. Emad Fawzi helped me with the translation into English)

Allahu A’lam (Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) knows best) and all Perfections belong to Allah, and all mistakes belong to me alone. May Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) forgive me, Ameen.

Wassalaam