the advisory of those who face the qiblah

submission productions presents:

ينـــــــــــــــــــــــــــه املستقبلـــوجيــت

THE ADVISORY OF THOSE WHO FACE THE QIBLAH

وجهة المسافرين ينـتوجهالم رينــلحاضل

directed toward the residents who face themselves in prayer like travelers

Clarification that one must face the direction in prayer, and not a travel route, that the shape of the earth does not influence the prayer direction, that their line drawn over the globe is not an unchanging direction, and that the method that

leads to praying northeast is altogether invalid, like every other rejection of the Sunnah.

b y s t u d e n t s o f o r t h o d o x f i q h

The Advisory of Those Who Face the Qiblah

ALL MAPS AND PROJECTIONS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE ONLY

APPROXIMATIONS

(copyright is religiously invalid)

**website may misalign the table of contents**

UPDATED 06-03-2013


م اهلل الرحمن الرحيمـــبس

In the name of Allah this debate is produced after having the issue of the Qiblah presented in a way that dictated study and concentration. It is a refutation of some of what is in a famous book prepared for the purpose of defending the

north-eastern qiblah in North America. If what will be refuted by this booklet is sufficiently discredited, then everything in that textbook that validates northeast

as the Qiblah in North America is discredited.

Fortunately, that book’s level is above the average person’s understanding and interest, leaving much of it to be neglected by the reader. Unfortunately,

however, it is dangerous from two points of view:

1. He who thinks he understands this issue properly and confirms northeast will become more confused by the book without realizing it. This is because it is jammed with so much information, which in the end was all inserted with the goal of (mis)leading a person towards what is actually a mistake. That book is reminiscent of the books of Dr. York, in the respects that it is loaded with “fact” after “fact”, that by the time the person reaches the end, he thinks he has understood something great, while actually he lost his way.

2. That book’s size and diagrams encourage the person who prays in the wrong direction, and intimidate the person who prays in the correct direction. People see how thick the book is and assume that it must contain the truth. They trust its author and think of him as a forerunning scholar. Truly, the most powerful aspect of the book is only its thickness and its pictures. A number of those misleading pictures are placed in the beginning of the book so that the masses who will not read the book will be satisfied with a (misleading) visual, and so we will address some of those pictures, God willing. When looking past those two issues, and getting to the heart of the proof, it becomes clear that the book is like a cowardly


giant, intimidating others only by its size, while its heart is as weak and measly as that of a child.

Its academic approach may have caused many of those who are on the right path to lower their heads, for the masses of the people are not equipped to deal with

the fallacies and mathematics presented therein. As a service to those poor Muslims who are not vastly knowledgeable about the different aspects of

geography, geometry, trigonometry and the like, and for those who are grateful that this northeast mistake has been brought to their attention, here are answers from basic Fiqh, geography, and simple matters of logic. If one learns this book

properly, he will be able to protect himself and the laypeople from the many fallacies of the northeast argument. In fact, it is probably the best refutation of

this fallacy, and may have the answer to every fallacy they produce. If Allah willed, an index will be included for quick reference.

This book is not necessarily to convince those who pray northeast. They are generally hard to convince, but a little easier to silence. How do you anticipate the

reaction of one who, if disproven, will have to face years of make-up Prayers (qada’)? They would rather fight to the end, believe that when they face northeast,

they are facing the tropical region and not the arctic region, and hope for the mercy of Allah in the Afterlife. Only the honest and sincere slave of Allah

willingly retracts a mistake and is happy to reconcile it. Hopefully they will be convinced, but this booklet is more for assuring and empowering those who face

the proper direction, and swaying those who are doubtful.

There is no math or special terminology that is not easily understood, but there are a few diagrams that address the most basic and vital matters needed to

understand the case and repel the fallacies. One may need to read some passages more than once to understand them; remember that the proper way to acquire the knowledge is by teachers with isnad (chains of narration) and not reading on one’s own. Unfortunately, we have reached the age where the swindlers and slick


talkers have dominated and the ignorance overcame the knowledge. Be careful about him from whom you seek your knowledge. If you are fortunate enough to find this booklet truthful, then question your imam or shaykh, and insist that he

answers the questions in the booklet. Be enraged for the sake of Allah and not for your own sake; because of these people who are misleading the Muslims, and do

not be silent; be proactive to help bring an end to this grave, grave mistake.

Lastly, it is important to know that this document, with its scolding and subtle harshness, is directed toward two types of people:

1. As for the layman who merely followed his imam without verifying the validity of his worship, know that it is obligatory on you to verify, and your imam’s known mistake (i.e. known by the clear Religious Rules) is your mistake if you followed him1. Being a follower who is able to verify the correctness of your worship will not save you from the invalid acts of your imam. This is why the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said in the hadith about the obligation of acquiring the knowledge:

طهب انعهى فريضت عه كم يسهى

“Seeking the (religious) knowledge (that is

relevant to the individual) is an obligation on

every Muslim2”

He also said:

انفق بانخفق

“The Fiqh (detailed religious rules) is acquired by

learning.”

It was on you to acquire the knowledge; to learn what is valid and what is invalid, and then implement it, and it was not proper for you to merely have faith in your imam and live the life of one who is blind, may Allah

1 Among the conditions for the validity of the Congregational Prayer is not to know that the

imam‟s prayer is invalid or to think that the imam‟s prayer is invalid.

2 Deemed a hasan hadith by Hafidh Al-Mizziyy


have mercy on you. Ignorance is not an excuse, so if you do not know what renders the prayer invalid, this does not mean that your prayer is still valid if you committed an invalidator ignorantly. Among what proves that a person might invalidate his prayer, despite his ignorance and despite his good intention, is when the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said three times to the man in the hadith called “the hadith of the man who prayed incorrectly3”:

، فإك نى حصم ارجع فصم

“Go back and pray, for you have not prayed4”

If you know that Makkah is in the hot lands, the direction of which from us is south, and that north is the direction of the cold lands in comparison to our location, then if your imam faces northeast, you know that your imam is facing the wrong way. Make the proper decision and do what is correct, not incorrect, and do not pay heed to any jahil (ignoramus) who tells you that you have to follow your imam even if he faces the wrong way (some people do say so). We are not obligated to follow someone’s known mistake. Also, do not listen to any person who makes excuses for himself and says that if the imams are wrong then they are the people who are accountable, but the followers are not accountable. This is also untrue. Unless you are sleeping, a child, or insane, then as a Muslim you are accountable for you deeds, whether you are an imam or a follower.

2. As for the imams, shaykhs, and people of leadership positions and influence, shame on you, and shame on you again, for ignoring the proper religious rules, solidifying grave mistakes, and calling people to falsehood.

Both groups are like what is mentioned in the authentic hadith about the time of ignorant leaders who mislead their followers5:

3 Hadithul-musi‟i salatahu

4 Al-Bukhariyy

523/ 1) البخاري صحيح ): Sahih al-Bukhariyy


ي بق ل إذا حت العلماء، بقبض العلم ي قبض ولكن العباد، من ي نتزعو انتزاعا العلم ي قبض ل الل إن ذ عالما وأضلوا فضلوا علم، بغي فأف ت وا فسئلوا جه ال، رءوسا الن اس ات

“Surely, Allah does not take (away) the knowledge by

merely erasing it from (the hearts of) the slaves,

rather, He takes it by taking (the lives of) the

scholars. Then, when He does not leave a scholar

remaining, the people will take ignorant heads for

themselves. They (the people) ask them (religious

questions), and they (the ignorant heads) give them

fatwa (religious answers) without knowledge. They go

astray and they lead others astray6.”

This hadith is not about us, for the people who face northeast say that we, those who face southeast, are a minority, but this hadith is not talking about a small group of misguided people; throughout history there have been small groups

misguided by people they considered knowledgeable. Rather, this hadith mentions a general tragedy that befalls the Muslims. Those who face northeast

and use ‘the consensus of the scholars’ as evidence fit this hadith perfectly. They claim that using the original rules for facing the Qiblah and therefore facing

southeast makes us a minority and thus wrong, but we are only calling people to what the nation of Muhammad has practiced for over 1,400 years, so how could

we be the minority?

Not a soul among you who is sane and sightful is in need of a scientist to verify for you that Makkah is not northeast of the United States; you only need to finish

grade school. Nor is some people’s leadership positions over the Muslims evidence for you to defy your own intelligence and face the north to face

something in the south. Our Religion is not like Christianity; they are the people

6 It is not a condition for this to happen that there would be absolutely no scholars. The decline in

the number of scholars will cause this to happen, as in our days, so how about if they are all gone?


who say, “Don’t ask, just believe.” Nor are the numbers of people who are defying their own intelligence proof for anyone of you to face the direction of the cold

region (north) to face something in the hot region (south). Although, admittedly it is bewildering and dumbfounding that thousands of people have made such an

absurd mistake. Many people, upon hearing the proofs, found them so simple and straightforward that they said, “If it were that easy, so many people would not

have made such a mistake.” Then, they find its simplicity farfetched and continue to face northeast.

وا ي أول البصار )> <(فاعتب7

<Reflect, O those who have intellects.>

Use your brains! Think about it! If you are baffled about the great numbers of people who are facing the wrong way, then if you believe in the Messenger , ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

do not be mislead by their multitudes, for he said in the hadith about the strangers:

ين إن سن ت من ب عدي من الن اس أفسد ما يصلحون ال ذين للغرباء فطوب غريبا، وي رجع غريبا بدأ الد

“Certainly, the Religion started as something strange,

and it will return to being strange (i.e. what is

correct will be considered strange), and so good tidings

to the Strangers (al-Ghuraba’), those who correct what

the people have perverted of my Sunnah after me.”

This means that the people will have perverted matters of the Religion, like these people who face northeast have perverted the rules related to prayer. Other people calculate the beginning of the month and thus have perverted rules pertaining to fasting. In recent years, the place of Sa^y has been expanded,

7 Al-Hashr, 2


thereby preventing the fulfillment of millions of people’s Hajj or ^Umrah, and many people are also falsely being taught that they can give their Zakah to any good cause. This is invalid also, for there are specific people allowed to receive

the Zakah. May Allah save the nation of Muhammad, for they are now in a grave situation. The Ghuraba’ (strangers) are those who work to correct those wrongs.

Work to correct those wrongs in this time in which the Religion has again become strange. The physical fact is that Makkah is east southeast of the United States, and even further south from Canada. Northeast is absolutely the wrong way. It is not the people who face southeast in North America who are wrong because they are a minority in North America, for like the rest of the Muslim

world, they face the Qiblah. It is the northeasters, the majority of people in North America, who are in the minority, opposing the entire Muslim world, past and

present, the Muslim world that faces the direction of the Ka^bah.

It is not a condition that this work be comparable to that one in size, for surely Allah gave victory to His Prophet Dawud (David) ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص in the face of the arrogant

giant Jalut (Goliath).

Certainly, Allah supports those who support His Religion, and He helps those who help their fellow Muslim.


Table of Contents THE DIRECTIONS ............................................................................................. 11

THE OBLIGATION OF FACING THE KA^BAH ................................................ 17

The Consensus .............................................................................................. 17

How to face the Qiblah ............................................................................... 20

Adillatul-Qiblah (the Qiblah References) ....................................................... 22

UNRAVELLING AN OPTICAL ILLUSION .......................................................... 29

PEOPLE WHO FACE NORTHEAST DO NOT READ THE MAP ......................... 40

How to read a map ..................................................................................... 44

MORE ILLUSIONS ........................................................................................... 50

MAKKAH IS SOUTHEAST OF THE U.S.A. AND CANADA ................................ 63

FURTHER NORTHEAST FALLACIES .................................................................. 71

1. Rejecting logic and having exaggerated ignorance: .................................. 72

2. Refusal of the Sunnah:......................................................................... 72

3. Considering the surface (or shape) of the earth: ...................................... 74

4. The legend of “the sun over the Ka^bah”. ............................................. 77

6. Claiming the position of the majority .................................................. 87

7. Claiming the permissibility of facing any direction, or praying in both

directions, and claiming to have a valid ijtihad. ............................................. 88


THE DIRECTIONS

There are four cardinal directions and six relative directions. The cardinal directions are

north, south, east and west. They are fixed and do not vary depending on one‟s personal

position. These (cardinal) directions do not change, and the shape of the earth does not

alter them. North is north underground, over ground, in the sky, at sea, or under the sea.

This means that the ground, the surface of the earth, and the shape of the earth all have

nothing to do with the directions. South in Alaska is the same as south in Australia, and

east on a mountain top is the same as east in an underground cavern. West in the eastern

part of the world is the same as west in the western part of the world, and likewise in the

northern and southern. From here, you can know that a person who faces northeast

“because the earth is not flat” has no idea what he is talking about, even if he in an imam or

has a PHD, so do not be fooled or enticed. Some religious references for these directions

will be mentioned briefly.

The relative directions are up, down, left, right, forward and behind. They are called

„relative‟ because what is in front of one person, in relation to another, may be behind.

Therefore, the east, which is a fixed direction, may be to one person‟s right, but to another

person‟s left, since the two sides “right” and “left” are relative directions. As Ahlus-Sunnah

Wal-Jama^ah, we also confirm these relative directions, as At-Tahawiyy8 did in his

documentation of the unanimous conviction of Ahlus-Sunnah:

انبخدعاث كسائر انسج انجاث حذي ال

“The six directions do not contain Him, as is the case of the created things.”

However, it is very important to know that these six relative directions are NOT the

directions we must seek for the Qiblah; the command of Allah in the Glorious Book to

face the direction of the Ka^bah refers to the cardinal directions; to facing north, east,

south or west depending on your location- not “forward”. Forward is not the direction we

8

At-Tahawiyyah هري الطذايح


must seek. Know this to protect yourself from another northeast trick.

A person who supports the north eastern direction should agree that cardinal directions are

fixed and that relative directions vary, or else he would be denying reality, and further

discussion would be futile9, and there are some who disagree10, may Allah save us from the

degradation of contradicting the Religion.

The directions are physically confirmed and existing. This is true because Allah existed

before directions. The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said11:

ول يكن شيء ه غي كان الل

“Allah was (existing), and there was nothing other than

Him.”

This proves that the directions have an actual, created existence, because at once they did

not exist. They are not just mere concepts without actual reality. Some scholars defined the

jihah (direction) as “Muntaha-l-Isharah” , “The extent of the signal (or pointing)”. All who

have sound senses (and intellects) are able to confirm that there are directions, and that

those directions have an actual existence; they are not mere concepts or ideas. One can

simply point, or even look into a direction, thereby confirming it12.

9 So do not continue the conversation, he is too ignorant to understand.

10 Some who believe that the proper Qiblah is northeast believe that the cardinal directions are

relative. They are confused, and have confessed that they are not sure if Africa is east of the U.S.A.

or not.

11 Al-Bukhariyy

12 Whoever may be doubtful if those directions actually exist should resort to his senses, for the scholars of

Creed, as well as the scholars of Usul-Fiqh and Hadith, have confirmed that sound senses are a channel for

creatures to achieve definite, certain knowledge12

. An-Nasafiyy said:

ا نهسفسطائيت. أسباب انعهوخالف ذققانعهو با خ، األشياء ثابخت : ذقائقانذقل أل قا

ل انعق، ا نخبر انصادق، : انذاس انسهيتنهخهق ثالثت

“The people of the truth said:

The realities of things are confirmed, and the knowledge about them is true, as opposed to the Sophists12.

There are three channels through which the creations would have knowledge: the sound senses, the

(absolutely) truthful information12

, and the mind.”


In fact, as a person faces east, the north is to his left, the west is behind him and the south

is to his right. If he faces south, the north is behind him, the east is to his left and the west is

to his right. As clearly seen, one can easily face directions without concerning himself with

travelling or moving. This fact, that one can face a direction without imagining himself

travelling or comparing himself or his prayer to an airplane, is unquestionable and of the

utmost importance. Besides, had one travelled or moved- which is totally irrelevant in the

issue of the Qiblah-, his relative directions would be changing, but still unable to escape

these fixed cardinal directions. In other words, his movement also does not make the

cardinal directions change, so movement and travelling are meaningless. For the Qiblah,

we want a DIRECTION, not a shape, nor a route, motion, arc, or a distance. Remember

this fact for the rest of your life. If you understand it, it will protect you from believing the

northeast fallacy. It will come back for understanding a lot of what is in this booklet.

The Religious proof teaches us, and all humans know -Muslim or not- that the east is the

direction from which the sun rises:

<( مس من امم يأت بمش ن اللبراهمي فا

ق فأت با من اممغرب قال ا ش )>13

< Abraham said, “Certainly, Allah brings the sun from the east. Bring it from

the west”. >

It is from that direction- the east- that we know the time of the Dawn Prayer is first in, even

if one were at the North Pole.

The west is the direction in which the sun sets, and it is from that direction that we know

that the Night Prayer is first in. The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said in the hadith about how

the fasting person breaks his fast14:

انهيم أقبم إذا ا، ي أدبر ار ان ا، ي غربج س أفطر فقد انش

ائى انص

13 Al-Baqarah, 258

14 Sahih Al-Bukhariyy


“If the night approaches from here (and he signaled to the east), and the daylight disappears from here (and he signaled to the west), and the sun has set, the fasting

person breaks fast.”

We watch the western horizon to break our fasts and to spot the new moon.

The north is known by the North Star, and the south is its opposite. The North Star, also

known as the Polaris, is included in the saying of Allah:

<(وبمنجم ه يتدون )>15

<They are guided by the star>.

These proofs were mentioned in case a misguided person produces the idea that the

directions are not truly exiting, like some people who liken Allah to the creations do. It

would not be surprising for a person who is stubborn about the incorrect northeastern

qiblah to claim this if cornered, for as you will see, they have made many absurd claims.

Hence, when determining the direction of prayer, and not the distance between our

location and Makkah, we are concerned with the four cardinal directions that we just

referenced with religious proof: north, south, east and west. That is why the mujtahid,

Imam Abu Hanifah, mentioned these cardinal directions, not front and back, or right and

left when he mentioned the unanimous rule about facing the Qiblah16:

مال وا لة أىل الش لة أىل المشرق والنوب قب لة أىل المغرب والمغرب قب مال المشرق قب لة أىل لش قب

النوب

“The east is the Qiblah of the people of the west, the west is the Qiblah of the people of

the east, the south is the Qiblah of the people of the north, and the north is the Qiblah of

the people of the south.”

15 An-Nahl, 16

101/ 1) الشلثي داشيح الذقائق كز ششح الذقائق ذثييي 16 ):


A map is not the religious reference for facing the Qiblah, as will come. However, if we use

a map to talk about these directions, like a globe, then we must read it as a map, and not

look at it as a mere ball. Our concern is praying, not travelling, relocating or moving. It is

when travelling that one is concerned with the shortest distance between his location and

his destination, with his bearing, and with the relative directions of forward and behind,

above, below, right and left, not when praying17.

Part of understanding the mistake of those who support northeast is knowing that many, if

not all of them, do not know what directions are. One of them said, “The direction is the

direction a person moves.” Then when he was asked, “If I move in a circle, what direction

is that?” he had no answer. Another part of understanding their mistake is knowing that

they have mixed these two sets of directions, the relative and the cardinal. The result of that

mixture is that despite that Makkah is south of the U.S.A., and they know that, their fallacy

is to say, “If one initiates a travel going northeast (which is a cardinal direction), and then

stayed on a straight course in the direction of „forward‟ (which is a relative direction),

without going to the right or the left (relative directions), he would reach Makkah, which is

southeast from us in terms of bearing, not direction.”

The conclusion is that they say that one must face north while knowing that Makkah is

south of the U.S.A. However, to make that southern position of Makkah ambiguous, they

evasively say, “Southeast is the bearing, not the direction.” Nonetheless, the Qiblah is not

an issue of travel, nor an issue of distance, it is a religious issue of facing a direction. Saying

that southeast is the bearing is actually a confession that Makkah is truly southeast of us,

because it would not be the bearing had it not been southeast. Nor is the Qiblah an issue of

math, especially not advanced math, but it is a religious issue that must follow religious

guidelines. They have abandoned the religious rules, the Sunnah, and invalidated their

prayers by leaving out a condition: facing the Qiblah.

17 If one wanted to plot the quickest, shortest course for an airplane, then it would be useful to look at the

globe as a ball, but when labelling directions after that, one must account for all changes in direction in that

plotted course.


امتوفيقوبهلل


THE OBLIGATION OF FACING THE KA^BAH

Linguistically, „qiblah‟ is the name of the thing for which you have „muqabalah‟; the name

of that which you face. Religiously, the Qiblah is the Ka^bah, that known building first

erected by the father of men, Prophet Adam ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, and later rebuilt by our Master, Prophet

Ibrahim (Abraham) ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص after it was destroyed in the flood of Prophet Nuh (Noah) . ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

Al-Husniyy said18:

ي سيج انكعبت صه أل قبهت يقابها يان

“It (The Qiblah) is the Ka^bah. It is named as such (as a „qiblah‟) because the praying

person is opposite of (or faces) it.”

In the Qur‟an, we are ordered with facing the Ka^bah, which is contained in Masjidul-

Haram. This is a condition for the validity of the prayer that would be achieved by two

steps:

1. Establishing the direction of Makkah from one‟s location by comparing the location

of Makkah to one‟s personal location, then,

2. Without concerning oneself with the issues of travel, distance, motion, or the shape

of the earth, and without one imagining himself praying through the earth, over the

earth, or any other irrelevant matter, one uses the religious references to his utmost

ability to simply face that said direction.

The Consensus

We already mentioned that Abu Hanifah clarified the unanimous rule about facing the

Qiblah19:

1844/ 1) االخرصاس غايح دل في األخياس كفايح ): Al-Kifayah

19101/ 1) الشلثي داشيح الذقائق كز ششح الذقائق ذثييي ): Tabyin Al-Haqa‟iq


مال وا لة أىل الش لة أىل المشرق والنوب قب لة أىل المغرب والمغرب قب لة أىل المشرق قب مال قب لش

النوب




Anyone who claims to be a Sunni must conform to the Consensus. At-Tahawiyy conveyed20

what Ahlus-Sunnah, the Sunnis, believe about the Consensus:

ال انست انكخاب يخانف شيئا يدعي ي اع إج ت األي

“And (we do not believe) anyone who opposes the Book, the Sunnah or the Consensus of

the Nation.”

As for the one who is not a Sunni, like the Kamal Abdali who invented the northeast

method, he needs to fix his ^aqidah (creed) before he fixes his Qiblah.

We verify this Consensus, that the Qiblah in the U.S.A. and Canada is southeast, by

pointing out the fact that the Muslims adhered to this rule- that the south is the Qiblah of

the people of the north- since the time of the Prophet .ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص The people of North America

are north of the Ka^bah, so they have to face south. It was the people of North America

who broke that Consensus, only recently in the 70‟s. Some claim that there is no consensus

about the Qiblah in North America, using as evidence the obvious difference about

northeast versus southeast that is now existing. We say that this difference of opinion has

no consideration, because it came after a consensus. Imamul-Haramayn said21:

20الطذايح هري At-Tahawiyyah

2124/ 1) السقاخ ): Al-Waraqat


جتتمع أمت على ضللة والش رع ورد بعصمة ىذه ل ملسو هيلع هللا ىلصوإجاع ىذه المة حج ة دون غيىا لقولو

جاع حج ة على العصر الث ان وف أي عصر كان المة وال

“The Consensus of this nation, and not that of another one, is evidence, because of his (the

Prophet‟s) saying, ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص:

ضالنتال حجخع أيخي عه

<My nation will not gather on a misguidance>.

The Religious Law came with the infallibility of the nation. The Consensus is evidence for

the following era, and for any era to come…”

We must follow the same rule that existed for over a millennium. It applies to us also.

Merely facing the direction, and not knowing the distance, nor having a bearing, is the easy

obligation Allah ordained when He said in His Book:

<(فوموا وجوهك شطره)>22

{Turn yourselves towards its direction}

This only requires vision and knowing how to locate the sun, shadows, stars, and other

creations of Allah.

It is worth noting that some who face the northeast do not translate the word “shatr” in the

verse, which means “direction”, as in Nuh Keller‟s book. This is a direct result of their

deviance in this issue: abandoning the direction. Ash-Shafi^iyy said that the shatr is the

jihah (direction)23.

22 Al-Baqarah, 150

23 ( : أك ذقل هعشف كزا، شطش أقصذ: قلد إرا. العشب كالم في جر: شطش شطش جن يلا أى: كاا ها ديث علين ضففش

...كزا فس قصذ: يعي كزا، عيي قصذ أقصذ )


We are not ordered to calculate a travel route to face, nor to measure the surface of the

earth, nor to know the distance between towns and regions, which not every person is

capable of performing. We are simply ordered to face the direction.

How to face the Qiblah

Very few people who face northeast know the true rules for facing the Qiblah, as well as

many who face southeast. Before proceeding, let us give brief, proper instruction on how to

face the Qiblah. Memorize this quote of Imam An-Nawawiyy24:

ومن أمكنو علم القبلة حرم عليو التقليد والجتهاد وإل أخذ بقول ثقة خيرب عن علم فإن فقد وأمكن

الجتهاد حرم التقليد

“Whoever is able to have knowledge of the Qiblah is forbidden from imitating another and

making a determination (ijtihad). If unable, he takes the word of a trustworthy person who

informs him based on knowledge. If that is missing, and one were able to make a

determination, it is forbidden for him to imitate another.”

This quote spells out one‟s first steps in facing his prayer direction:

1. If you have knowledge25 of the Ka^bah‟s location, which is by seeing it, then you

may not use any other means to face it, not the word of another, nor a

determination by using the likes of the stars or shadows.

2. If you cannot achieve knowledge of the Ka^bah because you cannot see it, then

before making a determination (making ijtihad by the sun, stars, etc.), you take the

word of a trustworthy person who informs you by his knowledge; his seeing the

Ka^bah- not one who is informing you of his own determination (ijtihad).

“He made it obligatory on them to turn themselves towards its „shatr‟ wherever they may be, and in the

speech of the Arabs, its „shatr‟ is its direction. If you said, „I seek the shatr‟ of such and such, it is known that

you are saying, „I seek the very entity of such and such‟, meaning, „I seek the thing itself‟…”

24 Minhaj At-Talibin

25 A realization that complies with reality


3. If you do not have knowledge of the Ka^bah by seeing it, nor are you informed by

a trustworthy person who sees it, then you can make your best determination

(ijtihad), and then face what is your overwhelming speculation (ghalabatudh-dhann)

of its direction. From the U.S.A. and Canada, it is certainly southeast, but the

degree of south varies from place to place. A person following this step cannot

imitate another; you cannot rely on another person‟s Qiblah determination.

4. If you are unable to make a determination because of being blind or a child who

does not yet possess the skill to make a proper determination, then you may imitate

another. This is why An-Nawawiyy also said:

ومن عجز عن الجتهاد وتعلم الدلة كالعمى قلد ثقة عارفا

“Whoever is unable to make a determination, and (unable) to learn the Qiblah

references, like the blind, he imitates a trustworthy, knowledgeable person.”

The synopsis is that if you can see the Ka^bah, you cannot use other means to face it. If

you cannot see it, but a trustworthy person who sees it informs you, then you cannot use

any other means. If you do not have the word of a trustworthy person reporting his

sighting, then you have to make your own determination. You do not follow another

person‟s determination, because like you, he does not see the Ka^bah, and he lacks the

word of a trustworthy person reporting his sighting the Ka^bah to him. You both have the

same obligation. If you cannot make a determination, like a child or blind man, only then

can you imitate someone else‟s determination. The occurrence of this northeast tragedy

makes the wisdom of this rule clear. It is not valid for the one who can determine the

Qiblah to just follow without checking the Qiblah references and making his own

determination.


Adillatul-Qiblah (the Qiblah References)

Over 1,000 years ago, the scholars mentioned the easy, religiously recognized signs for

determining the Qiblah. An-Nawawiyy also said26:

ال اد يصخ ي انقبهت، بأدنت إال االجخ ا كثيرة ا يصفت، كخب في أضعف ياح انر

ا ا الخخالف ا أق انقطب

“It is not valid to make the determination (ijtihad) except by using the (religiously

recognized) Qiblah references, and they are many. There are books authored about them.

The weakest of them is the wind because of its fluctuation, and the strongest of them is the

Polaris (North Star).”

When one makes his determination for the direction, he uses the previously mentioned

signs. We will focus on the strongest sign. As will be repeated, the North Star plays two

roles:

a. Not only does it give the direction of north if one were to face it, and the south

by turning one‟s back to it, but

b. It also proves how far north or south one is (in the northern part of the world):

In Makkah, one sees the North Star very close to the horizon. In the United States, one

sees the North Star even higher; further from the horizon. In Canada, one sees it even

higher, until reaching very far north, where one would find the North Star directly

overhead. This means that Makkah is south of the United States and Canada.

26 (1 /217 ): Rawd At-Talibin


The one who learns properly will be able to find the directions any time of the day or night,

and face the proper direction.

Since Makkah is southeast of our position, one can find the east in the morning by finding

the light of dawn, or the horizon of sunrise, face that direction, and then turn to the right

slightly. At the zenith (noon), the sun is in the center of the sky. One can then know north

and south by facing the sun: In the southern regions like Australia, the sun will be in the

northern sky, and in the northern regions, like the U.S.A. and Canada, it will be in the

southern sky. In the beginning of the night, if he relies on the horizon of sunset, then he

puts his back to it so that he faces the east and then he turns to the right to face south of

east. After the night settles, he may also find the North Star, turn his back to it for the

south, and then turn to his left to face southeast. The southern regions of the earth that

cannot use the North Star have other stars that they can use.

What is mentioned here is simple and applicable by all people, not just mathematicians

and geographers. Anyway, no geographer will claim that Makkah is north of North

America, and nor would a mathematician if he knows geography. It is the northeast person

calling your bluff when he says, “It seems you are lacking in basic geography.” They are the

people who are contradicting geography. If you truly know geography, basic grade school

geography, you can refute a northeast person.

In fact, as will be seen if Allah willed, the method used to (falsely) verify the north eastern

qiblah is impractical for an illiterate person or someone who does not know the shape of

the earth. For example, instead of using the signs we just mentioned, people who support

northeast have said:


“Since Earth has a spherical shape, we can use the formula for great circle to find

qibla direction for any point on the Earth. Indeed, this direction can be easily

computed using the following one-line formula:

where (φ1, λ1) is the latitude-longitude of your location, and (φ2, λ2) = (21.42, 39.83)

is the latitude-longitude of Ka‟ba. The returned value, α, specifies the angle of qibla

clockwise from true North.”

There is nothing easy about that for the layman, and it is in contradiction with the authentic

hadith27:

ب ي ة، ل نكتب ول نسإن ا أم ة أم

“We are an illiterate nation. We do not write and we do not calculate.28”

27 Al-Bukhariyy, Muslim and others

28 Check the explanation of the hadith:

:76/ 3) رجب البن الباري فتح

ه للاه صلى - النب قول: الشرعة األدلة من ذلك على ودل ،(( وهكذا وهكذا هكذا الشهر نحسب، وال نكتب ال أمة، أمة إنا: ))- وسلم عل

. ((عدةال فأكملوا علكم غم فإن لرؤته، وأفطروا لرؤته، صوموا: ))قال ثم الثالثة، ف إبهامه وخنس

كتاب وال حساب إلى حتاج ال دننا أن فتبن

Fathul-Bari by Ibn Rajab: “…The religious evidence that proves that is the saying of the Prophet,

„We are an illiterate nation. We do not write and we do not calculate. The month is like this and

like this…‟ …(Ibn Rajab said) So it became clear that our Religion does not need calculations nor

writing.”

:114/ 4) التقرب شرح ف التثرب طرح

والسببه جهوب الشرع لوه ؤةه ههو إنما ل لم ال الر ساب ذل ك ع قول ه ب الح ه - ل ث ف - والسلمه ةه الصل عل ح الحد ة إنا» الصح هم ة أ هم به ال أ نحس

ث «نكتهبه وال .انتهى الحد

ةه بسطاهه ب ما ظهر وقد ح مههور مذهب ص كم تعل ق ف الجه ة الحه ؤ ها دهون ب الر ر مال ك قال وب ه غ مههوره حن فة وأبهو والشاف ع ن العهلماء وجه م

والخلف السلف

Al-^Iraqiyy says “The Religious issue that dictates the obligation is sighting, not the knowledge of

that by calculation, because of his saying, „We are an illiterate nation. We do not write and we do

not calculate.‟ The correctness of the school of the majority has become clear by what we have

explained with detail, which is making the ruling dependant on sighting, not something else, and

this is what Malik, Ash-Shafi^iyy and Abu Hanifah said, and the majority of the scholars of the

Salaf and the Khalaf.”


We do not cite this hadith to discredit knowledge, literacy or math, and the northeast

people hate for this hadith to be cited. It is a sword against their innovated method. It will

often stop the conversation, depending on how deviant the person is in this issue. It is cited

to prove that the religious obligations are easy matters achieved by both the literate and the

illiterate.

For the northeast person, debunking and nullifying this hadith is of the utmost importance.

The cost is not the concern, only the end: facing northeast. One may think that he should

use calculations, because “they are available”, but the religious references are available too.

In his mind, the calculations are math, and properly applied math is correct, however the

Qiblah is religion, and misapplied religious rules lead to mistakes. The Religion is not by

our opinions. Had it been, then we would have wiped on the bottom of the khuff (footgear

fulfilling certain conditions) because that is the side that gets dirty. However, Imam ^Aliyy

said, “I saw the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص wiping the top.” If the Prophet of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said

that we do not calculate, then why calculate? Once the northeast person says, “Because…”,

then know that he wants to disobey the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص; he does not want to obey

this hadith although he is able to, and he thinks that you are a fool for mentioning it as

:687/ 11) البخاري صحح شرح القاري عمدة

ع وعلق ؤة وغره الصوم الشار أمته عن الحرج لرفع ب الر

Al-^Ayniyy the Hanafiyy says in the explanation of Sahih Al-Bukhariyy about this hadith „We are

an illiterate nation‟: “The Law Bringer (the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) has made the fasting and other things

dependent on sighting, to lift the burden (of calculations) from his nation.”

:196/ 13) البخاري صحح شرح القاري عمدة

ن ) ف وثبت تعالى، للا من أمر( . 686: البقرة{ )فاكتبوه: }قلت فإ ن ح ه للا صلى للا، رسهول قال : قال عمر، ابن عن( الصح : وسلم عل

همة أمة إ نا) ن إ ن: قلت بنهما؟ الجمع فما ،( نحسب وال نكتب ال أ ثه من الد تابة إ لى مفتقر غر ههو ح ن أصل ك للا سهل قد للا كتاب أل ضا والس نن الناس على حفظه ه للا صلى للا، رسهول عن وظةمحفه أ ي وسلم، عل الناس، بن تقع جزئة أشاء ههو إ نما بكتابه أمر والذ

، ذهب كما إ جاب، أمر ال إرشاد أمر فأمروا ه ل مههور، مذهب وههو إ .بأس فل ترك وإ ن فحسن، كتب فإ ن الجه

And he says: “If you say {فاكتبوه} (which means) <Write it>- is an order from Allah to write, but it is

confirmed from the Messenger of Allah: „We are an illiterate nation, we do not write and we do

not calculate‟, so how do you put those two together (so to avoid contradiction)? I say: The

Religion in itself is not in need of writing in the first place, because Allah made memorizing the

Book of Allah easy on the people, and the Sunnahs are also memorized (or preserved) from the

Messenger of Allah. What was ordered (in the Qur‟an) to be written is only some particular

matters that take place among the people. They were ordered with an order to guide them (to a

benefit), not an order of obligation… and this is the school of the majority. If one wrote, it is

good, and he did not, there is no problem.”


evidence. However, his opinion is meaningless in the Religion of Allah. We command

them to obey the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, who said:

ك بسن ت عند فساد أم ت لو أجر ش هيد المتمس

“The one who holds fast to my Sunnah upon the corruption

of my nation has the reward of a Martyr.”

Some narrations mention that he has the reward of 100 martyrs. They blatantly oppose the

hadith. Those who have more knowledge find round-about ways to justify abandoning the

hadith.

The illiterate can still read the stars and watch the sun and shadows. These are the proper

means for determining the Qiblah, not advanced mathematics, nor the earth‟s shape. Had

the earth‟s shape influenced the Qiblah, then what degree does the curve in the earth have

to be to nullify the Sunnah in their claim, and which imam documented that? Which

reliable books of Fiqh document the shape of the earth as reference for the Qiblah? Is

there not a curve between Makkah and Morocco, albeit less than the curve between the

U.S.A. and Makkah? How can they validly be on the Sunnah, but we cannot be? Why are

they permitted to ignore the shape of the earth but we are obligated to know it? Knowing

the shape of the earth is not an obligation, nor a condition for the Qiblah, so do not be

fooled.

If someone were to ask, “Does this mean that we cannot use any new inventions or devices

besides those signs?” The answer is that if those other means comply with the original

„Adillatul-Qiblah‟, then they are permissible, like a tested compass. One should not

purchase a compass and rely on it without testing it against the likes of the North Star. On

the other hand, if devices or new inventions contradict those known signs, like putting a

string on the globe or calculating distance on the earth‟s surface, which leads one to face

north while Makkah is most certainly to our south, then they are rejected and the original

signs are preserved. If a compass that opposes the North Star is rejected, how about a


calculus or trigonometry problem that contradicts it? When it was said to someone who

faces northeast that we only want the original ways of practicing the Religion, and any new

way has to comply with the old, and the northeast people want a new way without concern

about it complying with the old way, he disrespectfully said, “We just want to face the

Ka'aba in obedience to Allah. That‟s all. New, old, yada yada... facing Mecca is the

objective.” His objective should be facing Makkah as per the proper rules. If he wants to

obey Allah, he needs to do the worship properly or else he will be a disobedient sinner.

The North Star is easy, while calculations for the majority of people are not. Obey the

Messenger ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and choose the easy route. He said:

خي دينكم أيسرهو

“The best of your Religion is the easiest of it.”

Certainly, the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. They will not hold fast to the

hadith that negates calculations, because no calculations means no northeast. If Allah

blinds the heart, the person will follow his desire over the evidence, even if he claims

Ahlus-Sunnah.

Here, it is good to warn people from the so called “Qiblah Compasses” that have been

manufactured by people who support the northeastern qiblah. Many of the laymen believe

that these compasses point towards the Qiblah. People who know about compasses know

that a compass gives one the (magnetic) north, not the Qiblah. The way these actually work

is that they point north like any other compass, but it has a prepared line that marks the

northeast. Laypeople then just face the line and have no clue that they have been mislead.

If that is clear, then let us proceed to unravel some fallacies in the book of Nuh Keller.

وبهلل امتوفيق


UNRAVELLING AN OPTICAL ILLUSION

Be certain that each cardinal direction is different from the other; they are not one and the

same. Had they all been the same, there would be no way to distinguish between one

direction and the other, and a person would be unable to point east with one hand and

west in the other direction with the other hand, as reported about the Prophet 29:ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

قال س غابج إذا بيد انش ا، ي جاء انهيم ا، ي ائى أفطر فقد انص He said (by signaling) with his hand, “If the sun

disappeared from here, and the night came from here, the fasting person breaks his fast.”

Thus, north is not the same as south, east or west; south is not the same as north, east or

west; east is not the same as north, south or west, and west is not the same as north, south

or east.

Some of those directions are opposite of the others, like south and north, and some are

not, like south and east. The existence of a thing negates its opposite‟s existence in

reference to the same time and place, like black and white, up and down, existence and

non existence, and south and north.

South is definitely the opposite of north. This is a simple truth, and one may think that

repeating it is an insult to the intelligence, and surely it is not expected that someone would

contradict this, but we will see that Nuh Keller, and many who defend northeast, did

contradict it, and they hinted at an impossibility that is nothing more than an overturning of

reality.

If what has been presented thus far is clear, then understand the fallacy of Nuh Keller, who

used optical illusions to support the northeastern qiblah. Among those illusions is what he

used to deny the reality of the directions, and to give the impression that they are only

virtual:

29666/ 6) هسلن صذيخ ) Sahih Muslim


Figure ‎0-1: Nuh Keller diagram 1

This picture is a cropped scan from his book. It implies that north and south are not

opposites, and in fact, that they have no actual reality, and are instead just ideas of men.

This diagram is not correct for two reasons30

:

1. In reality (the actual physical world), one would never walk in one cardinal

direction, north for example, without turning or curving; without changing

direction, and then that direction becomes the other (south). In the physical world,

the real world, not the imaginary one, all directions are different. Going from north

to south requires a turn (a change in direction); a curve that is not expressed in this

30 This does not mean that there are not other reasons.


diagram, thus promoting one illusion among several. As for the globe, it has a

curve, and the line drawn over it or the string placed over it will certainly change

direction.

Because some of them do not know how to read a map, and others among them do

not want to read the map, they claim that this curve is a straight line and one

direction. They claim that this „unchanging direction‟ is the direction of „forward‟,

which is invalid, because the directions in the issue of the Qiblah are the cardinal

directions, not the relative.

2. This picture implies that there is a place on earth in which east, west and north all

become south; that a person could stand in a place in which what is in front of him

is the same direction as what is behind him, which would also be what is to his right,

which would be the same as what is to his left: south. In the imaginary world, this

place exists as the result of imaginary lines meeting in one place, but in the real

world, this place does not exist.

No one can say that this diagram is like the one who climbs to the peak of a mountain,

because there is no mountain top at which all directions are the same.

Also, denial of this illusion does not imply that we are saying that the earth is flat. Actually,

this diagram itself is covertly saying something that they do not believe: that there is a fine

edge from which one could fall off of the earth, since according to this picture, all

directions disappear but one: south.

Furthermore, had there been such a place on the earth- a place in which there is no

direction but south, no human would be able to fit in that place, because his front cannot

be in the same direction as his back, nor can his right be in the same direction as his left. In

fact, the photographs of the North Pole (which is said to be a place that is not on any stable

land mass) show it to be a place like every other: with four cardinal directions, including the

directions of sunrise and sunset (east and west).


So, whoever confirms that directions are real and that each direction is different from the

other, must confirm that this picture is an illusion, and if this picture does not contain an

illusion, it is valid that all directions- north, east, south and west- would be the same, and

that the sun could rise from one horizon, which would be the south, and set in the other,

opposing horizon, which would still be the south. If someone accepts this impossibility,

then there is no need for further discussion. And so, shame on Muslims who have

accepted such absurdities after the Muslims have been the true masters of logic, and shame

on the one who attributes this to the Religion of Allah, tabaraka wa ta ^ala. Actually, even

the non-Muslims know that the direction from North America and Canada is southeast,

because they read the map. Among them are those who have written against the Muslims

and belittled them for facing northeast in North America, and among them are those who

say to the Muslim, “Your people are praying the wrong way.”

BENEFIT: Some scholars said that there are few people who escape the mistake of

imagination. Muslims do not compare reality to imagination. The religious knowledge

teaches us to distinguish between what is confirmed by the intellect and what is conjured in

the imagination. One should not judge matters that have not been seen or experienced by

what one has imagined. There are many examples, such as:

1. The sun seemingly sinking into the ocean at sunset at the seashore.

2. The two sides of a road seemingly merging in the distance.

3. Many imagine things without actual proof, such as for one to find his friend‟s

bedroom light on while his car is parked out front. A person with an unsound

mind, one who cannot resist and think past his imagination, takes that as definitive

proof for his friend being home.

4. Some of our scholars even counted reflections as a type illusion, and for that reason

a person may see himself wider or taller than he is in reality, or may even see the

vastness of the sky in a small puddle or mirror.


5. Also, it is the imagination that concludes that Allah exists in a place, because one

cannot imagine something without shape, form or color, and without beginning or

end. However, the sound mind dictates that Allah exists without a place, because

He existed before creating places and directions.

These people have believed that the North Pole is a place from which every direction is the

same direction, south, because of imaginary lines used to designate coordinates on a map.

Those lines do not truly exist, and the place at which these imaginary lines merge, the place

that they claim has no direction but south, is only an imaginary place. It will also become

clear, by the help of Allah, that they arbitrarily reject these lines when they want and

reference them when they want. They assumed that reality complies with this imagination.

However, what proves that this imagination is falsehood in the real world is that they

confirm a physical fact that the North Pole has a sunrise and sunset. Here are some other

optical illusions to help you solve this riddle:

Figure ‎0-2: This was called the impossible triangle

The shading in figure two gives the illusion that it is a three dimensional object. It also

appears that the front of the triangle goes to the rear and the rear goes to the front.


Figure 4: illusion of curved lines

One can find many, many optical illusions drawn by people. Among the secrets to making

an illusion is shading or lines that give the false impression of a three dimensional object,

Figure ‎0-3: illusion of black dots


whether cubical, cylindrical or spherical. Now that you are more familiar with illusions,

revisit the diagram of Nuh Keller:

Figure 5: Nuh Keller diagram 1

Recognize the fundamental mistakes in this illusion:

1. Part of his mistake is that he started from the North Pole. The known religious

reference is the Ka^bah, in Makkah, not the North Pole. At this point, the person

who faces northeast is challenged with producing religious reference that one‟s focal

(or reference) point is the North Pole. If he cannot bring it, then he must be silent

about this issue31, and by religious reference, we mean Qur‟an, Hadith, Consensus

31 One person who wishes to undermine the correct direction in North America, and to abandon

the religious rules, was asked why one must consider the North Pole. Here is his answer in

quotation marks and red letters, with the refutation of each point immediately following: He said,

“Direction is determined by using the North Pole as the focal point.” The claimer did not provide

religious evidence for this claim. If this is the focal point for the directions, then how did the

Companions successfully determine the directions without adding the North Pole as a factor? If

they were able to successfully determine directions without factoring the North Pole, then we are

too. If they were unable, then they were all making a mistake by misapplication. If the North Pole

has to be factored in to reach the correct conclusion, then they reached incorrect conclusions for


leaving out a factor. If one says that they did not need the North Pole because they were close to

Makkah, then how far does one have to be for it to become a factor? He said, “The North Pole is

the center of direction and it is used as a reference in order to relate direction.” In our Religion,

the Ka^bah is the center and the focus, and whoever is north of it faces the south, and whoever

west of it faces the east, etc. Where is a religious reference (Qur‟an, Hadith, Consensus or Qiyas)

that we should believe this and factor in the North Pole? Where is the documentation that the one

who wants to face the Ka^bah must consider a third place in his determination; a place other

than his location and the location of Makkah? He has provided none. He said, “However, in order

to determine the direction of the Ka'bah, there will be a drastic change between the earth being a

surface and the earth being spherical and oblate.” Where is this from the rules of the Qiblah? These

people insist on using a method that is foreign to the Religion, and they know it, but do not care.

They want to compete in showing which one has stronger math skills, and who among the people

has enough arithmetic to explain this math problem. Did The Companions use it? Did the Four

Imams use it? If not, how do these northeast people have the permission to add something to the

Religion that contradicts the original rules they practiced? If they say that the later scholars became

aware of what the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص did not know, then they must prove that. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص knew

from Allah by way of revelation what others did not know. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص left the earth and

ascended up into the skies. He received revelation of the Qur‟an with descriptions of the earth,

sky, and more, and he knew the Tafsir (interpretation) of those verses. They have to prove that

the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص was ignorant of what they claim, and as such what he taught was deficient

(which they will wickedly try to do although his Sunnah is applicable all over the world), because

if he knew what they claim and ignored it as a factor, they must do the same, and if he was

ignorant of what they claim and still his method was sufficient, then they must throw all of their

qiblah calculations in the trash. He said, “Consider the following illustration of an orange peel.

When a visible mark is made on the orange peel and the orange is carefully peeled and flattened,

the mark will not remain at the same point.” Firstly, this is totally irrelevant to facing the Ka^bah.

By this they make the issue distorted and convoluted. Secondly, this claim is untrue. The mark

remains where it is, it is the peel itself that moves, just like a ring on a finger. The ring remains in its

place, but the finger moves. If a person‟s chest were cut open, this does not make the nipples of his

chest relocate. It is the chest itself that moved, so the nipples moved with it while in their place.

This example is totally irrelevant for facing the Qiblah. “The earth is a sphere and expressing

directions of this sphere as a surface creates great distortions.” This is untrue. The directions are

clear. The way to read a globe is clear. There is no ambiguity in north, east, south and west on a

globe, or on the real earth. The only thing unclear for the majority of people is the calculations

used to face northeast, and what is even more unclear, is why a person believes that he has to

reject the Sunnah for facing the Qiblah in North America. For this reason, school children can

easily know what is east of what or north of what by using a globe. There is absolutely nothing

difficult about that. What is difficult is the ingredients needed to convince a person that they have

to face north to face the south. He said, “In short distances, this may be insignificant but in long

distances it will matter.” This is untrue. Directions do not change due to distance. North of

Makkah is north of Makkah no matter the distance. This is the same for all other directions. He

said, “Our concern here is the direction of facing Makkah and not the direction one would take to

reach Makkah.” This is the true concern, but it is not truly the concern of the northeast people.

The concern of the northeast person is to face the shortest route to Makkah, and this is not part of

facing the Qiblah. “Whilst the direction to reach Makkah may be many but the direction of facing

Makkah from any point will only be one. Notwithstanding the arguments of the modernists in

their decision, the underlying principle of the Fuqahaa (for those who cannot see the Ka'bah) is to

face the direction of the Ka'bah. “The direction of travelling (i.e. shortest route along the great

circles) undoubtedly cannot be a blanket rule in determining the direction of the Ka'bah due to the

constant change of directions. It is not necessary that the great circle route will always (NOT) be


or Qiyas. The best that they can do for this is bring names of contemporaries who

are pushing the northeast direction, or quotes from Sunni imams with heavy

wording that do not actually prove what they are saying. None of the Sunni Imams

said that you can be north of Makkah and face the south by facing north, unless he

went against the Consensus.

Advice to any person defending the southeastern Qiblah: if this issue comes up in

the discussion; if you ask for proof that one must use the North Pole as a reference,

nothing should be accepted before him producing a reference, or until he admits

that he does not have a reference. He will try hard to slide out of this imposition,

but do not let him. Once he admits that he does not have a reference, then and

only then move on. If he is honest, he will easily admit it, but if his true concern is

to win the debate, or not to be shown as a loser; if actually he does not want to

establish the truth, he will refuse this imposition and refuse to answer.

2. Another part of his mistake is that he abandoned the religiously recognized signs

for determining the directions, and instead, he preferred imaginary markers. Our

Religion is easier than that, applicable by the literate and the illiterate. According to

his diagram, directions are determined by imaginary markers, not the signs of Allah

like the sun and the stars. According to this, a person could be facing the north, and

instead of going back in the other direction, take one step in the same direction,

and be facing the south.

the direction of facing your destination neither will the rhumb line route always be the method of

facing your destination.” Makkah is not our destination, because we are not travelling. He said,

“However, the rising and setting of the sun will determine East and West, and the movement of

the sun is according to the spherical shape of the earth. Therefore, when determining direction on

earth, the spherical shape of the earth cannot be ignored.” This is also irrelevant. The person

seeking the Qiblah does not have to consider the reality of the sun‟s rising and setting. All he has to

know is that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Nothing more is needed in this issue.

There is no religious evidence for their claim. There is only western „science‟, calculus,

trigonometry and other things that a person does not have to know to obey Allah. There is more

talk after these quotes, but perhaps what is mentioned here is sufficient for the person to know

that the North Pole has nothing to do with facing the Ka^bah. One can see that this answer

diverges far from the original question: why must we consider the North Pole? The fact is, no one

has to care about the North Pole to face the Qiblah.


In the real, physical world, a learned Muslim would look for the sunrise to know the east,

for the sunset to know the west, and for the North Star to know the north, and put his back

to it for the south. If he is in the northern part of the world, he can also face the sun at its

zenith for the south, and turn his back to it for the north. Those imaginary markers do not

truly determine the directions, and the globe is not among „Adillatul-Qiblah‟; the religious

proofs for determining the Qiblah. It is by the signs created by Allah that the directions are

determined- at least this is the case for the Muslim who wants to practice like the Prophet

said ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and his Companions. The Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص32

:

عباد الل ال ذين ي راعون الش مس والقمر والنجوم والظل ة لذكر الل راخي إن

“Surely, the best of the slaves of Allah are those who observe

the sun, the moon, the stars and the shadows for the remembrance

of Allah (the Prayer).”

Among what demonstrates that they believe that this imaginary realm exists, this

„dimension‟, is what one of them, who most definitely wants to remain anonymous, posed

in a debate against us, “Another point (among many others) that indicates the invalidity of your

method in some parts of the world is that it becomes insufficient in determining the Qiblah

direction at the two poles. A religiously method that is valid all over the world should not become

insufficient to determine the direction of Qiblah at the poles.” The answer is that had a person

truly been at the Poles, the east would still be the direction of sunrise, and the west would

be the direction of sunset. In our Religion, the sun sets in the west until the day it shall rise

from its place of setting. That is among the Major signs of Judgment Day. On that day, the

Door of Repentance will be closed, and the Beast of the Earth emerges. There is no

inconsistency in using the Sunnah of the Qiblah at the Poles. What this man said is due to

a creed that implies that the Revealed Laws are not applicable all over the world and until

the end of time, a creed generated by misapplying the rules and following wahm (delusion;

imagination).

32 At-Tabaraniyy and others


Had Nuh Keller demonstrated in his picture that there is a curve; a change in direction-

which will be shortly demonstrated-, then we would be unable to argue with this diagram.

However, it would then be useless for him, because he needs something that looks like a

straight line. Instead, he left the impression that there is no curve; no change in direction,

to encourage people to pray in the wrong direction.

For him to explicitly confess that there is a curve (change in direction) is to open himself up

for rebuttal. The direction between points A and B is not the shortest distance between the

two points. It is the shortest distance without a curve (without a change in direction); the

shortest distance with a straight line. As for the shortest distance over a curved surface, this

is the concern of the traveler, not the person performing the prayer.



PEOPLE WHO FACE NORTHEAST DO NOT READ THE MAP

1. globe/glōb/ … A spherical representation of the earth or of the constellations with a map on the surface. 2. Globe [gləʊb] n (Earth

Sciences / Physical Geography) a sphere on which a map of the world or the heavens is drawn or represented ‎3. Globe - a sphere on which

a map (especially of the earth) is represented 4. A sphere on which is depicted a map of the earth (terrestrial globe) 5. Globe [countable] 1 a

round object with a map of the Earth drawn on it…

People who face northeast have disgraced themselves, not for any faulty math, but because

they seemingly do not know how to read a map. This lack of simple and universal

knowledge makes non-Muslims who know of this northeast mistake chuckle at these

Muslims facing northeast. Some do not even know what is a map and what is not, because

they say that the globe is not a map, as one said, “And again a globe is not a map. They are

two completely different things”. More than one of them said, “Maps are flat, the earth is

round.” It is as if he is saying that there are no maps of the earth! Let them tell this to an

elementary school teacher and see her reaction. To that embarrassing confession of

ignorance or arrogance (which is defined by the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص as “raddul-haqq: (intentional)

rejection of the truth”), you may say:

1. If the globe is not a map, why does it have latitude and longitude lines on it?

2. If every map is flat, what is the point of calling a map that is not a globe a flat map?

So, the essence of their mistake is that they looked at the globe, not as a map, but as a mere

ball. If this is not blindness and stubbornness, then it can only be an extremely deformed

ignorance (that causes blindness).

They say, “The earth is not flat, therefore we need a globe to truly express the issue,” then

they pull a string from New York to Makkah and say, “Look how the string goes

northeast.” If the listener does not know how to read a map, he would easily accept. If he

knows how, then he would say, “Wait, the string is turning; it‟s going from northeast, to

east, then to southeast, and that is not an unchanging direction.” The person who faces

northeast would easily ignore that point as if it is the babble of a child, and justify his

northeast argument by saying, “It‟s not changing, actually. Look at it from the top and see

that it is a straight line; the shortest distance from New York to Makkah.” Unfortunately,

for many people, they have denied their own eyes and despite seeing the line change

directions, and perhaps even after knowing how to read a map, they believe that it is an

unchanging direction because of looking from the top (the northern view). This will only


take place for the one who does not look at the globe like a map. Whoever reads it as a

map will be unable to accept it.

It is very important to understand here, that we are not citing maps to verify southeast. The

Qiblah is verified by the religiously recognized signs. It is the map that must comply with

the Qiblah references, not the other way around. They refer to a map to prove the

northeastern direction: a globe, however they do not read it. They merely use it as a ball. It

is this notion that we are attacking. We are not saying that maps are the evidence of the

southeast Qiblah. However, no map contradicts the southeast Qiblah.

In their minds, the person is travelling forward, and therefore is maintaining one constant

direction until reaching Makkah. Refute this claim by reminding the person about the

directions. There are two sets of directions: the fixed, unmoving cardinal directions (north,

east, south and west), and the six, alternating relative directions (over, below, ahead,

behind, right and left). Tell him that your line definitely changes (both cardinal and

relative) direction, and your claim of an unchanging direction is false: If you are going

forward, you would be going forward into one of those four cardinal directions. Therefore,

had you gone forward (east), without changing that direction to go backward (west), while

keeping the constant direction of forward (east) you are still going from side to side (north

then south). This means that you are changing directions; starting northeast, turning, and

ending southeast. This is crystal clear, dubious beyond uncertainty, and cannot be denied

without astounding an intelligent person‟s mind, yet they deny it. Contradicting that makes

the school children laugh, but they contradict it. One of them said, “You do realize that the

pilot is continuing in the same direction he started out in right? That Northeastern

direction. He never steers right, he never steers left, and you know what happens....He

ends up in Mecca. I say: This is proof enough. Just like if I was in Mecca and could see

the Ka'aba from a mile away. If I was to walk strait, never turning to the right, never turning

to the left I would walk right smack dab into the Ka'aba. The reality is, the pilot is going

strait, this Southern direction you say he's going is the result of the Earth's shape, a reality

we don't ignore.” Look at how this person ignored (or did not realize) the fact that north

and south are two opposite directions. O, you who faces the north to face the south, who


said that one can change cardinal directions without changing relative directions? If one is

facing east, the north is to his left and the south is to his right. Silly rabbit, going from

northeast to southeast requires a RIGHT TURN.

To avoid this imposition, he may come up with a number of tricks:

1. He may invent a new way to define „direction‟, or restrict all directions to only one:

“forward; front”. For that, he says “The direction (of facing) of something is such

that it's right in front of us, were we to walk straight we'd reach it.” The key that

eradicates this fallacy and renders him in opposition with his own definition is the

word „straight‟. If straight means „without going to the left or right‟, then we ask,

„Who said that one can go forward eastbound (for example), and change cardinal

directions (from north to south) without changing relative directions (left to right)?‟

2. He may negate that cardinal directions are relevant, but if cardinal directions are

irrelevant, then why is his line called “northeast”?

3. He may introduce the fallacy of „direction vs. bearing‟. He will say, “Northeast is

the direction, but southeast is the bearing.” Upon that you can ask:

a. Who said that bearing is relevant in the issue of the Qiblah? Remember,

though, that references and hadiths are all irrelevant to them. However, you

may insist on the reference because they are very relevant in reality.

b. Is southeast a direction or not? If he says yes, then he contradicted himself. If

he says no, then he exposed himself, because saying that southeast is not a

direction is unheard of. Insist on a yes or no answer. He will most likely refuse

to answer.


These answers of theirs are a result of not actually reading the map, and all of this effort on

their part is to avoid confessing to a mistake.

They are like a person who only looks at the pictures in a book without reading the words,

and then misinterprets the pictures because of not reading. One does not read the book,

either because he does not know how, or because he does not want to. This is why they

discuss the Qiblah with any round object, but reject any map that is not a globe; reading the

map is not their concern, even if it is on a sphere. This is why they ignore the latitude-

longitude coordinates that prove that Makkah is southeast of the U.S.A., whether on a

globe or a flat map, and this is why the issue makes sense in their minds. They imagined

the string that they pulled over the globe as one direction because they saw a line from

point A to point B over a mere ball, but this is not the way to read a map. One of them

said, “I would say put aside north, south, east and west, and just connect two points on a

globe or ball. Then draw your poles and latitudes. Unless one of your points is at a pole, or

both points line up on the equator, you will have a direction that has different bearings

along its path.” Putting those four directions to the side is his confession of ignoring the

map from the beginning, as well as his confession that he is not seeking a direction, which

is against the basis of facing the Qiblah. Connecting two points on a globe (he really intends

by the word „globe‟ a mere sphere and not a globe that is a map) or a ball is the proof that

he is not seeking a direction. Facing a direction does not require connecting two points.

Drawing the poles and latitudes after the fact means that he was not using the globe as a

map from the beginning; not seeking any one of the cardinal directions.

This is why they will never answer these questions with a straight, honest answer: Is

Makkah closer to the Equator than we are? Are we closer to the North Pole? Is it in the

tropical region, and is the U.S.A. north of the tropical region? These questions are only

answered by them, if answered, with lengthy explanation, although they are very simply

answered with a „yes‟. If they were looking at the globe as a map, then their claim would be

as ridiculous to them as it is to everyone who reads it as a map, but if they look at it like a

mere object or sphere, seeking the shortest distance (and not the direction) between points


A and B and not being concerned with the cardinal directions of north, south, east and

west, then their math is correct (for the shortest distance between two points on an object).

How to read a map

This is how one reads a map33: Mapmakers draw two sets of lines: a set of east-west lines,

parallel to the Equator, and a set of north-south lines crossing the Equator. The result is a

grid, a network of reference lines for pinpointing locations and establishing distance and

direction between places:

The position of a point north or south of the Equator is known as its „latitude‟. Its lines are

called „parallels of latitude‟ or simply „parallels‟. Lines of latitude run east-west, but north-

south positions are referenced by them. The entire U.S.A. and Canada has a higher degree

of latitude than Makkah, so Makkah is to the south.

33 What is mentioned here is general guidelines for understanding a map. Maps have other features

not mentioned in this booklet.


A second set of lines passing through the poles is known as „meridians of longitude‟, or

simply „meridians‟. One meridian is designated as the Prime Meridian. The position east

or west of a prime meridian is its „longitude‟. Lines of longitude (meridians) run north-

south but east-west positions are referenced by them. There is no difference in opinion that

Makkah is to our east, but it is not true that east is sufficient for the one who knows that

Makkah is in the desert, and that the warm region of the earth is to our south.

Here are other projections with respective latitude and longitude lines:


Figure ‎0-1: a flat map is still valid if the landmasses comply with the grid properly

Figure ‎0-2: different projections have different goals, but if the parrallels and maridians are correct, the map is

correct

It is for this reason our determination of Makkah being southeast of the U.S.A. does not

contradict any map; we are actually reading the map and following its rules. Again, the map

is not our proof, but the map complies with the reality of the situation. The person who

knows how to read a map knows that as long as the „land masses‟ fall on the grid (latitude

and longitude lines) properly, then the distortion of the map is irrelevant. The distortion


exists because different maps have different purposes. When did the Muslims become

ignorant of how to read maps?

Therefore, the Equator is 0 on any map, even if the projection of that map shows the

Equator bending, broken, closer to the top of the page, or closer to the bottom. Also, the

North Pole is 90 on any map, no matter the projection or distortion of the map. Observe

other projections. If the latitude and longitude lines are properly distributed, then Makkah

is southeast of the U.S.A. on all of them:

Figure ‎0-3: Demonstrating the relationship between a globe and a fat map


And so, we ask the northeast supporter, “Is latitude and longitude relevant or not?” If he

says yes, then he must face southeast as per reading the map as it should be read. If he says

no, then why is he calling his line „northeast‟? Knowing north on the map is by latitude

lines, and knowing east on the map is by longitude lines. That is as far as reading a map is

concerned. In reality, knowing north would be by the North Star and knowing east would


be by the sunrise. However, a mere ball or sphere is not looked at as having north or

south. Once we assign north or south on the ball or sphere, it becomes a sort of map, and

then must be read as maps are read.

The person who supports northeast cannot hold both sides. If he wants to refer to a round

object simply for its shape, then he cannot assign cardinal directions to it and treat it like a

map, and cannot validly call his line „northeast‟, although he can successfully find the

shortest distance between two points on that object by placing a string over it. If he wants a

globe, then he cannot ignore the fact that it is a map, and not a mere ball, and thus cannot

validly name a line „northeast‟ based on the shortest distance; that is not how you read a

map. Nor can he refuse any other map because of its distortion, for all maps have one

thing in common: latitude and longitude lines.

So, if the grid on the map is irrelevant, then based on what is he determining north and east

on the globe when he pulls his string? If he names his line “northeast” because of a North

Pole at 90 and an Equator at 0, then he has to be consistent all the way through, and

accept the latitude and longitude coordinates in between 0 and 90, and face southeast. If

he wants to ignore all latitude and longitude, then he has confessed that he is not seeking a

direction, and has validated that of which we have accused him: not facing the direction.



MORE ILLUSIONS

Now, if it is clear that all cardinal directions are different, then it is clear that if a line

designated as AC were a perfectly straight line; an unchanging direction bearing

north(east), then line CA would not bear north(west), since it should be the opposite

direction. It must bear south(west). To say otherwise is to fall into explicit contradiction,

which is invalid.

This is the same fallacy of Nuh Keller. Here are more optical illusions from his book. Try

to follow the reasoning behind them being illusions and the refutation of them. It might be

more difficult for one to understand this case, especially if one is reading on his own and

not hearing the words of a teacher, but we seek the help of Allah in making this as simple

as possible. Below, there are three globe pictures:


Figure ‎0-1: Nuh Keller diagram 2 (labelled)

A C

A

C

A


How many illusions can you detect?

1. One illusion is that the circles seem three dimensional while they are only pictures

drawn on a flat surface; these are flat and not spherical globes.

2. Another illusion is that line AC in the second and third pictures is bearing

north(east), and line CA , the exact opposite, is also bearing north(west) instead of

south(west).

3. Yet a third illusion is that a line that is not curved occurs over a curved surface:

The illusion of a straight line over a curved surface is clear; if the surface is curved, any line

running over it would also be curved. Therefore:

1. They promote yet another illusion, which is that this „unchanging direction‟ is a

three dimensional object, because in their reasoning, if you look at the line from

“above”, it appears straight, and if you look at it from “the side” it appears to bend,

like a bridge that had you seen it from the side you would see it curving as it

ascends and descends as an arc, but had you seen it from above, it looks straight.

They claimed the northeast qiblah is an unchanging direction because they are

looking from “above”; from the North Pole view. The Qiblah, in reality, is not a

line or a beam that is looked at from the side or the top. Nor is any direction

something looked at from the top or side. This is in terms of reality, not imagined

conception.

2. For him to draw a solid, black line for northeast, and a curved, dotted line for

southeast is dishonesty. Both lines would be curved in reality, because the surface

of the globe is curved, but our point is that the surface and the curve do not

influence the directions. They only effect one‟s ability to move about; to travel. The

cardinal directions will not change because of this curve. At this point, many who

defend southeast will slip and lose their footing in the debate, so be attentive: If they

ask us, “If your line (over the surface) is curved too, it means you have no straight

direction, like us, and no one else has one either.” The answer is that we do not

figure out the Qiblah by drawing lines on a globe, and we do not use the shape of


the earth to determine east, west, north or south. We face the Qiblah by having

foreknowledge of the Ka^bah‟s direction from ours- meaning the cardinal

directions, not the relative ones-, then we use the religiously recognized signs for

determining the Qiblah to face that said direction.

We are now only talking about lines over the globe to refute their method, not

because we use it. It is important for the one who defends southeast to know how

to handle this question properly. The fact that the earth is curved is not a concern

of ours, because the directions do not curve. Know, however, that many who face

northeast believe that directions do turn and bend around the earth. Again, this is a

result of comparing imagination to reality. If you are defending the correct

southeastern Qiblah, do not try to prove your point by drawing a line on a map or

referring to the shape of the earth. Just stick to the religious references and

methods.

Note that in his diagram of three globes, the first of the three images shows a solid line

which we will call AB . From left to right, it goes from south to north:

Nuh Keller (underhandedly) only showed one side, the western hemisphere side, to show

the initial line going northeast. For them, this image is sufficient to prove that the Qiblah is

A

B


northeast, and from this view, they name their entire line „northeast‟. However, it would not

be to their interest, those who are (dishonestly) supporting the northeastern direction by

using these illusions, to show the opposing view; the other side of the “globe”: the eastern

hemisphere side alone, because then the illusion would disappear, and the change in

direction, along with the fact that there is no straight line, would show up for everyone to

see, thereby nullifying their point. However, if showing the western hemisphere side alone

is valid, then showing the eastern hemisphere side alone is valid, especially if it is truly an

„unchanging direction‟ as they claimed, but they hide it because it reveals only a

southeastern line34:

34 This is like how the Wahhabiyyah, the so called Salafis, only refer to Imam Muslim‟s narration of

the Slave Girl hadith, because it has the wording of their choice, but they avoid the narration of

Malik and hide it because it exposes the truth.

B

C


As seen, if the eastern hemisphere side were shown only, the line would be clearly

southeast.

Now take a look at both sides together and see how the illusion of an unchanging direction

disappears:

Figure ‎0-2: Note that “B” represents the same point on both sides of the page

Looking at both sides reveals the obvious curve that alters the direction. Line BC on the

left side is southeast, while line AB on the right side of the page bears northeast (note that

B represents the same point on both sides of the page). Here is another projection of

the curve that they claim is straight:

A

B B

C


Make proper use of the following flat image that gives the impression of a sphere:

A

B

C


So here is a question for those who face northeast: You claim that your line over the globe

is a straight line; one unchanging direction. If it is truly one direction, then what prevents

you from considering only half of the line? For example, had the line from New York to

Makkah been ABC , why cannot you look at the unchanging direction from the halfway

mark; to look at it as: BC only, and forget about the point that starts at New York:

A

B

C


Figure ‎0-3: Nuh Keller diagram 2 (labeled)

Is this refused and rejected because then you will be unable to call it “northeast”? Is it the

name that matters? Is there another agenda to calling this entire line from its beginning to

its end “northeast”, when its end is at Makkah, which from us is clearly southeast35? Why

would it be necessary to consider the point that starts at New York, which is A , if the line is

one unchanging direction? Should we not be able to take from any point of the unchanging

direction? In your claim, since it is an unchanging direction, ABC would be just as valid

as BC , because no actual change took place. If it is truly one unchanging direction, then it

would not matter at what point you start. If you think of a reason why you must start at A ,

then there must be a change before reaching C that you are trying to avoid, as if you know

that according to the way maps are read, your „line‟ is an arc, actually, and you are hiding

35 Such as to deter people from benefitting from the People of Truth who face southeast as per the Sunnah.


that from those who do not know better. If, on the other hand, you say that it is valid to

start in the middle of the „unchanging direction‟; at B , then it would be valid to refer to

this „unchanging direction‟ as southeast, and it will still be the same line that you drew.

Figure ‎0-4: the arrow, which is approximately half of the line they draw, points northwest, so the direction is

southeast

Of course, this will be unacceptable to them, but it is clear from this that their line is not

one straight unchanging direction as they claim. They are merely hiding that change by

positioning the “globe” as they wish, by showing the western hemisphere view to convince

you of the northeastern direction, and by showing the “northern” view to claim that the line

is straight:


Figure ‎0-5: Nuh Keller diagram #2 (unlabelled)

The secret to unraveling this fallacy is knowing that there are three points which all have

something in common. The first point is „northeast‟, the second is „east‟ and the third is

„southeast‟. The common denominator between them is „east‟, one unchanging direction.

Looking from the northern view eliminates the visual of the north-south change, and

preserves only the commonality between all the points: an unchanging direction and

straight line bearing east. If one were to look from the side (east-west) view, instead of the

top (northern view) the change from north to south reappears. It is this change that they

unrightfully and stubbornly deny.


Observe this illusion generated by a northeast person:

The coloring gives the impression of a sphere,

and when the person who generated this image

was challenged by it being said to him, “This is

a flat map,” He said, “No, it‟s a sphere.” Either

he has been deceived by his own illusion, or he

is stubborn, and for both to be true is not

impossible. One sees clearly the line that

changes direction. They deny that what you see

is true, and claim that you have not looked

properly. Then they change the angle, and

voilà: a supposed straight, unchanging direction:

Figure ‎0-7: Northern view that hides the north-south direction change

In simple terms, to call it an unchanging direction, they acknowledge only east, and ignore

north and south. They call the entire line northeast (because of how it starts), and do not

acknowledge the ending direction of southeast as a direction. Then, they get stuck with a

northeast line whose opposite is northwest, which is impossible. It‟s opposite would have to

be southwest.

Figure ‎0-6: east-west view that reveals

the north-south direction change

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fdictionary%2Fvoil%25C3%25A0&ei=ScWdT4imE8b16AHtjMmkDw&usg=AFQjCNES8zbTqu4DYtrHsRs5FbmvtXtoOQ


If someone says that Keller did not put those pictures in his book, instead it is commentary

from someone who did a preface, we say that the book has his name on it in large letters. It

is his name that gives weight to the book in people‟s eyes. If he does not agree with what is

in it, he has to clear himself of it. Otherwise, it is clear that he is the responsible

spokesman.



MAKKAH IS SOUTHEAST OF THE U.S.A. AND CANADA

Their line that starts northeast ends southeast, because ultimately there is no escape from

bearing southeast. This is not merely because “southeast is the bearing”, as they say, but

because Makkah, in reality, is truly southeast of the United States and Canada. That is its

DIRECTION from the U.S.A. and Canada, not its distance, and not merely its bearing. If

the northeast person says, southeast is not the direction to Makkah, it is the bearing, ask

him why it is the bearing. If he says because Makkah is the destination, say:

1. Facing the Qiblah is not a matter of travel.

2. If it were a destination in the north, then there would be no need to bear south.

3. North America is closer to the Arctic, where it is cold, and Makkah is in the tropics,

where it is warm; south of the U.S.A., the direction the birds fly to escape the cold

of winter. This is in terms of the real earth.

4. In terms of maps, latitude and longitude coordinates confirm that Makkah is south

of the U.S.A. If one claims that the globe is sufficient evidence for the Qiblah, then

according to the globe (and every other map), the Equator is 0, and the North Pole

is 90 north of the Equator. Makkah‟s latitude coordinates are 21° N, which is

south of any position in the United States or Canada. Key West, Florida, among

the most southern points in the United States, is at 24 N. In simple terms, 24 N

of the Equator (Kew West, FL) is further north than 21 N of the Equator

(Makkah), making Makkah closer to the Equator, which is south of us at 0, and

making North America closer to the North Pole at 90.

5. South America must face northeast. How is it that the people at the southern extent

of Chile must face northeast, and the people at the northern extent of Canada must

also face northeast? This is a baffling brain teaser that people who face northeast

stubbornly overlook. Perhaps here one of them might leave his own method of

rejecting every flat map, to produce a flat map with an odd projection like some


presented earlier in the booklet:

Figure 8: Some of them abandon their claim of not wanting a flat map or a map without distortion to answer

our question to them, "How could South America and Canada both face the same direction?"

6. Unfortunately, and as already stated, they do not follow the rules of the map. Thus,

according to them, the entire western hemisphere, its northern part and southern

part, must face northeast, and this is clearly absurd.

7. In fact, it is as if they are saying that an entire corner of the earth is missing, because

Siberia faces southwest, Australia faces northwest, South America faces northeast,

and according to them, no one faces southeast.

Whether Makkah is south of the U.S.A. or not is not actually the question at hand.

Ironically, they agree with us on that point- except for some who are exceptionally ignorant

about geography, and there is no point of continuing the conversation with such people,

unless you correct your intention to try to help them understand. However, they most

likely will not willingly confess to the fact that Makkah is south of us. Sometimes, one has

to pry it out of them like pulling a tooth. Some may end the conversation with you if you

insist that he answers the following question with a mere, unadulterated and unexplained

“yes” or “no”: On this earth that is not a map, and has no latitude or longitude lines drawn

on it, is Makkah PHYSICALLY south of the U.S.A.?


Oddly, the question that confused the people was, “Do we face the direction, or do we face

the shortest route of travel?” Those who took by the first option faced southeast, and they

hit the target. As for those who took by the second option, they faced northeast, convinced

their followers that the shortest route (over the surface) is the actual direction, and then

fooled themselves into thinking that one can go from northeast to southeast without

changing direction. They missed the target and invalidated their prayers. To justify this, the

aforementioned illusions were presented to encourage those who turn away from the

Ka^bah to stay steadfast on their divergence.

Note: As previously mentioned, and we repeat and reiterate, the starting point should be

Makkah, not the North Pole; another case of deviating from the Sunnah for the talk of the

non-Muslims and ignorant people. One should start from Makkah, and then go out from

there. The northeast supporter instinctively starts from the North Pole. A true unchanging

direction starting at Makkah and ending at New York is northwest. Therefore, the direction

from New York to Makkah is southeast, as the Consensus of the scholars that was

conveyed by Abu Hanifah dictates36:

مال وا لة أىل الش لة أىل المشرق والنوب قب لة أىل المغرب والمغرب قب لة أىل المشرق قب مال قب لش

النوب




If the direction from Makkah to New York is northwest (which both sides agree upon),

then by necessity, northeast would not be the direction from New York to Makkah. On the

other hand, it is not impossible for the route of travel to start northeast, and then for the

return trip to start northwest. Thus is the difference between the route of travel (because of

the terrain or shape of the surface) - and this is NOT what Allah ordered to face in our

101/ 1) الشلثي داشيح الذقائق كز ششح الذقائق ذثييي 36 ): Tabyin Al-Haqa‟iq


prayers- and the actual direction, which IS what we are ordered to face. The Qur‟an orders

us to face the direction. According to Imam Ash-Shafi^iyy, one must strive to face the exact

entity of the Ka^bah.

To recap: If one were to put a string on a globe from New York to Makkah, it would start

off bearing northeast. This is evidence for the one who supports the northeastern direction.

However, there are several truths to be mentioned:

1. Putting a string on a globe is not a proper way to determine the Qiblah.

2. Eventually, the string would actually curve and change direction, which nullifies

their claim of an unchanging direction and hence nullifies the validity of praying

northeast.

3. When entertaining their claim that it is an unchanging direction by looking from the

top (northern view), if one were to follow that same line back from Makkah to New

York, it goes northwest. This gives the illusion- according to their claim- that there

could be a straight line to Makkah from New York bearing north (east) that goes

back in the exact opposite direction while still bearing north (west) instead of south

(west). In the physical world, this is actually impossible.

And so, the method they use implies that an impossibility could occur; that AC would be

an unchanging direction bearing north, and that CA is also north in the opposite direction.

Here are their anticipated responses:

1. If they get confused and baffled about to how this occurred, we tell them that it is

because it is a mistake that has to be retracted.

2. If they say that this illusion occurred because the globe is round, and not flat, just as

the earth is not flat, we tell them:

A. The illusion did not occur on the globe. It occurred on flat pictures on pages in

Nuh Keller‟s book. These flat pictures are supposed to represent the globe, and

once the reader envisions that flat picture as a round globe, he is fooled by lines

drawn on that flat picture that is envisioned to be three dimensional. As for an


actual globe, there is no straight line that goes over its surface. How could that

be when it is not flat? This is why latitude and longitude lines on a globe can be

referred to as rings (circles).

B. Despite that the earth is not flat, it is impossible to go north and then to go

north in the opposite direction. Therefore, neither the terrain of the surface nor

the shape of earth affects the directions between two points. In other words, it is

true that the earth is not flat, but that fact does not change the fact that Makkah

is south of us, and had the earth been flat, Makkah would still be south of us,

because the shape of the earth does not influence the directions. In other

words, north, south, east and west are not based on shapes or terrains- but

distance can be. Each of the following projections has an assigned north and

south, and hence the shape has absolutely no influence:

The corners and edges resulting from the varying shapes do not change the

directions. And so again, as long as the grid is accurate, the map is correct. For

this reason, Makkah is south of the U.S.A. on every map, no matter its

projection, even a globe. Those who faced northeast were not even reading the


globe and hence were not seeking a direction. They were measuring a sphere

and seeking the shortest distance between points A and B, but Allah only

ordered us to face THE DIRECTION.

If the one who supports the northeastern Qiblah admits that the shape of the earth does

not affect the direction between two stable points, which is true, then there would be no

benefit in specifically using the globe as evidence. If New York and Makkah do not shift or

relocate, then the shape or terrain of the surface does not affect the direction between

them. Hence, the earth‟s terrain is unreliable in determining the direction of Prayer, as well

as its shape, and that is not what Allah ordered us to rely upon.

To make it clearer, if there were a mountain between one and the Ka^bah, he faces the

mountain, thereby facing the Ka^bah, and he does not face the shortest route of travel,

which would be to go around the mountain (make an arc). In our case, the Atlantic Ocean

is like a great mountain between North America and Makkah.

If one were to turn a globe onto its side, he would be able to put his fingers on New York

and Makkah, and the Atlantic would be in between them, like a massive mountain. To face


southeast is to face the mountain, but to also face the Ka^bah. To face northeast is to turn

away from the Ka^bah, so to go around the mountain; i.e., it is a travel route.

Many would disagree and say that the shape of the earth does influence the directions. In

fact, this is much anticipated from them, because otherwise there would be nothing to

prove northeast as the Qiblah. Understand that the entire northeast method is based on

connecting two points on a sphere, not seeking a direction. They want absolutely nothing to

do with a flat map, because with it there is no visual they can use to delude a person. They

therefore are in the direst need to resort to a globe so that they can put a string over it. It is

to their determent that their method does not work with every map. However, it should be

known that claiming that the Qiblah is southeast does not contradict ANY map projection,

not a flat one, nor a globe. There is no map that has Makkah north of the U.S.A. So we

then ask them, that if directions change and vary because of terrain or shape of the earth,

how can we determine the reality of the directions and distinguish between them?

Because of not looking into this case properly, they would not say that the way to

determine the directions and distinguish between them is by observing the sunrise, sunset

and other signs. If they did, then they would validate all of our references and make our

argument against northeast stronger. Instead, as in Nuh Keller‟s aforementioned diagram,

they would most likely say that we must establish markers (imaginary lines) to determine

the directions. They would say, “We establish markers (lines that are drawn on maps and

imagined to truly exist on the real earth) to determine the directions, and if someone passes

one of those markers, he will have “officially interrupted” that direction and commenced a

new direction.” We have already mentioned that the true signs that the Muslims should use

for determining the directions are the sun, stars, and other actual creations, not imaginary

markers.

And so, if they say that this illusion occurred because of the markers used in determining

the directions, we ask if it is valid for those markers to contradict each other.

1. If they say no, then they have invalidated their own method. They are saying that

that illusion of going north and returning north in the opposite direction, which is


truly an impossibility because of its contradiction, is due to the markers they use.

Yet, they would be saying that it is not valid for the markers to contradict. It is as if

they are saying, “The markers we validate are invalid (because they lead to a

contradiction).”

2. If they say yes, it is valid for the markers to lead to a contradiction, they validated a

contradiction. However, contradiction is categorically (in all circumstances and in

every field) invalid.

If the markers used are contradictory, they must be abandoned. But it‟s not the markers,

it‟s them. They are not reading the markers properly. If they are all consistent, but one‟s

method or claim is contradictory, that method or claim must be abandoned. If one‟s

method implies that an unchanging direction changes direction, or that every direction is

the other, or that all the directions are one direction, it must be abandoned. Among the

rules mentioned by the scholars is:

ال االاحملما أ دى ا ىل

“Whatever leads to the impossible is (itself) impossible”.



FURTHER NORTHEAST FALLACIES

Whoever reached this point properly understanding all of the arguments has seen that

there is actually no evidence to disprove the Southeastern Qiblah. It is enough to put the

method that calls for facing northeast to shame that in the end, it is an attempt to refute and

nullify the Sunnah. They justify this by saying that we live on the other side of the world.

However, the Muslim belief is that the Sunnah is applicable all over the world and until the

end of time. They come very close to saying that north and south for Makkah is one way,

and for North America, north and south work differently; are totally different directions.

That is why they say that the North Star works for Makkah and the surrounding lands, but

in North America we must use the calculations. Also, the fact that the first one to introduce

this idea was not a Sunni is a „ta^n (discrediting)‟ of the credibility of the northeast method.

There is no true evidence that we should reject the North Star, sunrise, sunset, or shadows.

The shape of the earth does not prevent those who can see the North Star from using it,

and does not stand proof that we cannot use these references. That is merely their claim

that they support with a quick flip of the globe and some talk about calculations that most

people cannot grasp. Forget not that the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said37

:

ال ذين ي راعون الش مس والقمر والنجوم والظل ة لذكر الل عباد الل راخي إن

“Surely, the best of the slaves of Allah are those who

observe the sun, the moon, the stars and the shadows for

the remembrance of Allah (the Prayer).”

East and west are the same on both sides of the Earth. There is also no evidence that the

globe, which is not a religiously recognized Qiblah reference in the first place, should not

be read as a map when used. The globe is innocent of their claims and methods. They

contradict themselves when they use it, and it does not contradict the fact that Makkah is

southeast of North America. To seal this treatise, it would be appropriate to revisit a few

points and to list and refute a few more fallacies.

37 At-Tabaraniyy and others


1. Rejecting logic and having exaggerated ignorance:

Some people who face northeast are not worth talking to, such as those who think that

directions are not real, and those who think that it is valid for the sun to rise in the south

and set in the south in the opposite horizon. They are the same who believe that it is valid

for one‟s front to be to the south while his back is to the south. Some are not sure which

continents are in the east and which are in the west, and yet accuse others of ignorance of

geography. Some believe that Makkah is actually north of North America, and maybe all of

them believe that the globe is not a map. Some who face northeast say that the earth is

round, so you can face the Qiblah by putting your back to it, because your direction will

swing back around the world and hit the Ka^bah from the other side. This is what

contradicting the rules of the Religion does to a person. To argue against the southeast

Qiblah, one of them said, “I do not know whether the Salaf used to consult the North Star

and whether they were aware that the sun rises sooner in an eastern land than in a western

land.” As for the majority of people who face northeast, they are unaware of these matters

and are only following their imams and what they see outwardly without learning the

proper details. However, when it comes to those who push it and support it, they are

ignorant of both the Dunya and the Din, because not only do they not know how to read a

map, they do not know the religious rules for facing the Qiblah.

2. Refusal of the Sunnah:

They say that the old, esteemed imams did not know of this side of the world, and they did

not know the shape of the earth. This is their claim based on an assumption that the

Muslims were like the Europeans who did not know the shape of the earth, and based on

their fabricating the condition of needing to know the shape of the earth to determine the

Qiblah. They assumed that the scholars made the rules of the Qiblah under the

supposition that the world was flat. It was not our Imams who were ignorant.

These assumptions of the northeast people, which are actually untrue, made them abandon

the Sunnah, and instead rely on approximated maps with (imaginary) markers, such as the

Equator and the Prime Meridian. This is not to say that approximated maps and imaginary


markers are not useful, but they should not be used for determining the Prayer direction.

There is no real situation in which the person who prays would be seeking such a border

line to help him find the Qiblah, because wherever the person is on earth, he seeks the

directions of sunrise and sunset for east and west. He does not use a drawn map and a

compass, for instance, or even a globe, look at his surroundings, and then say, “If I take

one step forward I‟ll cross an imaginary line and be in the west and no longer in the east,

hence my Qiblah is like this, but if I take a step backwards, now my Qiblah is like that...”

One should rely on the real signs: the sun, stars, shadows, mountains, and other signs

created by Allah, and landmarks, such as villages, as mentioned by the scholars of Fiqh

(practical rules). These references give one the ACTUAL directions, and this is what was

done by the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and his Companions. Therefore, whoever prays southeast

because he used the known signs that were used by the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and his Companions

is in compliance with the hadith:

يا أا عهي أصذابي

“(The People of the Sunnah are) those who are upon what

my Companions and I are upon.”

Consequently, using the method that calls for northeast is especially devastating to a

Wahhabiyy (so-called Salafiyy), because anyone who prays northeast while believing that

every innovation is against the Religion has certainly fallen into what he ran away from: an

innovation. Applicable here is the authentic hadith:

رد ف ي نيس يا ذا أيرا في أددد ي

“Whoever innovates into this affair (i.e. Religion)

of ours something that does not comply with it is

rejected.”

They, the people always screaming, “Bid^ah! bid^ah! Imitate, do not innovate,” will most

likely have no words for this document, may Allah expose their misguidance. The method


that leads to northeast does not comply with the rules of the Religion, and hence must be

rejected.

Among what they say, and it is very closely related to the abovementioned fallacy, is that

rejecting the method that calls for northeast is a call to ignorance, since it is an

abandonment of technology, and Islam calls to knowledge, not ignorance. We respond that

foremost, calling to northeast is an abandonment of the Sunnah, as demonstrated. Which

of the two is more deserving to be followed and which is more deserving to be abandoned?

Where is their Iman? To that fallacy, say:

1. Using the Sunnah to determine southeast does not contradict any technology.

2. None of the rules are dependent upon this technology.

If the use of technology leads to what conflicts with the Sunnah of the Religion, then the

technology has no place. The Religious rules practiced by the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and his

Companions have priority over all technology and calculations. This argument of theirs is

also the argument of those who prefer to calculate the beginning of Ramadan instead of

observing the moon.

3. Considering the surface (or shape) of the earth:

Among what is said by the northeast supporters is that we must consider the surface of the

earth and face the northeast, because one does not pray “through the earth”. This is invalid

for two reasons:

1. This thinking is a result of not reading the map, either purposely or ignorantly.

2. Nor does one pray “over (the surface of) the earth”, since the Prayer is not a

traveling entity.

This is further indication that those who face northeast have confused the issues of “travel”

and “direction”. Whoever understands this difference knows that one does not have to

consider the surface of the earth or a route of travel for facing the Qiblah. However, if we

want to entertain this expression of “praying through the earth”, people do travel


underground (through the earth), and the shortest straight line between Makkah and New

York goes through the earth, not over its surface.

Study the following diagram:

Figure 9: The intersection made by the dotted lines represents New York on the other side of the globe. This

diagram is only an approximation designed to show the difference between northeast, southeast, and an arc

that starts northeast and ends southeast (depending on which end of the arc what starts from).

There are three arrows. The red arrow is a true unchanging direction with the real

implication of facing northeast: that one turns away from the Ka^bah. The black

arrow is an unchanging direction going “through” the elliptical object (not over its

surface) and demonstrating the true direction to the Ka^bah: southeast. The giant

curved arrow represents the string placed over the globe, or the route taken by

airplanes. It is an arc, not a (straight) line. It does not give the direction to Makkah,

but it is ideal for travel over the curved surface. Those who face northeast believe

that it is an unchanging direction. They think that this is what represents their

prayer direction, but truly they have only taken the red arrow and invalidated their

prayers by turning away from the Ka^bah, may Allah help them.


In other words, had one inserted a rod through his globe at New York and made it

exit from Makkah, that rod, which is straight and not curved, would be

southeast/northwest (depending on which way one starts). Our brothers who faced

northeast prevent us from using such a rod, saying, “You do not pray through the

earth.” We say, “Nor is your prayer some traveling entity that leaves your body and

treks the surface of the earth, darting over a great curve in the earth, until reaching

Makkah. What is your evidence to accept this and not that? Our evidence is that we

are seeking a direction, and that straight rod represents a direction, not a route of

travel, and directions are not bound to the surface of the earth. North on the

surface of the earth is the same as north under the ground, in the air at sea and

under the sea.”

Had the surface or terrain been a factor for the prayer direction, the person in an

underground cavern or in a valley would have a Qiblah different from the person

on the earth‟s surface, whose Qiblah would be different from the one who prays on

a mountain top, even if the Ka^bah were in the same direction from all of them.

The fact that they all have the same Qiblah proves that the surface has no

consideration:


4. The legend of “the sun over the Ka^bah”.

Among what they say, and this may be their strongest fallacy, is that twice a year, the sun is

directly over the Ka^bah. At that time, the sun can be seen from some location in the far

north rising in the northeast, and since it is valid to face the Ka^bah, or the air above it, or

the earth below it, then facing the sun would be facing the air above the Ka^bah, and thus


the Qiblah is northeast. They believe that they have achieved definitive knowledge of the

Ka^bah‟s direction, and have made this the strongest sign for the Qiblah in North America.

This is a mistake for the one who learned proper Fiqh.

According to the rules, once you lose sight of the Ka^bah, you lose definitive knowledge of

the Ka^bah. If you do not have the word of a trustworthy person informing you of his own

sighting of the Ka^bah, then you cannot imitate another as long as you are able to make

your own determination, as sighted in the beginning of the book.

1. If they say, “Even if you do not see the Ka^bah, you see the air over the Ka^bah,”

we tell them, “Bring the reference for the imam who validated such a practice.”

Now, in reality, to them, this request is an extremely weak opposition. But the

Religion of Allah is not based on whims, so it is actually very strong. Our job is to

follow and not invent. And so, because of their true lack of concern for following

the Sunnah and documentation of the rules, and their fierce desire to follow their

opinions, asking for a reference is meaningless to them. Any northeast person who

claims to be following the Four Schools is easily refuted by the documents of the

schools that the strongest sign for the those who cannot see the Ka^bah is the North

Star, not the sun:

a. If he is a Shafi^iyy, then we have already referenced Imam An-Nawawiyy.

b. If he is a Hanafiyy, then here is the ruling as conveyed by Ibn ^Abidin:

)ق ولو كالقطب( ىو أق وى الدل ة

“The author said, „Like the Polaris.‟ It is the strongest of the (Qiblah)

references.”

c. If he is a Hambaliyy, then you may reference Ibn Qudamah who said38 after

stating that the strongest sign for the Qiblah is the stars:

مال وآكدىا القطب الش

“The most certain of them (the stars) is the northern polar star.”

38314/ 1) قذاهح التي الوغي ): Al-Mughni


d. Ahmad Ibn Mayyarah, the Malikiyy, also mentioned the stars, cited verses that

establish them as references for directions, and he confirmed the Consensus

about it. Some Malikis- or at least people claiming to be Malikis- have said that

they have not found an explicit documentation in the Malikiyy school about the

North Star specifically being the strongest sign, and therefore they can use this

legend of the sun over the Ka^bah and calculations. This is only an excuse for

them to follow their desire instead of the religious rules.

And so again, if this „sun over the Ka^bah‟ theory is so reliable, undeniably logical,

and precisely practical, how come no one talked about it until people in North

America decided to throw away the Sunnah? Where is it from the Sunnah of the

Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and his Companions? Those northeast people have no religious

reference, only imagination. They imagine that if they were at the Ka^bah when the

sun is directly over the Ka^bah, and there is no shadow for those few moments,

that they would be circling the Ka^bah, and hence, circling the sun, and seeing the

sun from all directions. This is mere imagination. They imagine that they can know

when the sun is at its zenith above the Ka^bah when they cannot see the Ka^bah.

God knows how they are certain that they are not too early or too late when seeing

the sun without seeing the Ka^bah.

2. If they say, “But if you can see the air over the Ka^bah, this gives you definite

knowledge of the Ka^bah, and it is just as strong as seeing the Ka^bah itself,” we tell

them, “You have no fiqh. The scholars said that the one who cannot see the

Ka^bah does not have knowledge of the Ka^bah. What fiqh are you upon?”

The rules of determining the Qiblah are stated in the books of Fiqh, not geography or

trigonometry. The strongest sign for the Qiblah is the North Star, not the sun over the

Ka^bah. This is well documented. Therefore, if this scheme, the „sun over the Ka^bah‟

fable, has any authenticity, any relation to the Sunnah, then let them bring the explicit

documentation for it. Do not accept a supposed reference- the name of a book or some big

imam thrown out there. Only accept the exact quote, and insist that he produces it. After

all these years, has no one translated it? Has no one extracted it from its source and quoted


it? You do not have to search for it, rather, the burden of evidence is on the one who

makes the claim, as the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

الب ينة على المد عي

“The (burden of establishing) evidence is upon the

claimer.39”

It is as if they made a rule that the sun becomes the person‟s Qiblah on those special days

at those special few moments, and that all the other days and times in the U.S.A. and

Canada are based on those. They say that seeing the sun at that time is like seeing the

Ka^bah. The essential point that they missed here is that there are rules pertaining to the

one who does not see the Ka^bah. They did not learn them, and those who know them

hide them and abandon them, like those who studied abroad and learned proper Fiqh. O

Students of Knowledge who learned proper Fiqh, do not be like the People of the Book

who mixed the truth with falsehood and hid the truth while they knew it, as Allah told us

about them:

<( مون ي أهل امكتاب مم تلبسون امحق بمباطل وتكتمون امحق وأهت تعل )>40

<O People of the Book, why do you mix the truth with falsehood and hide

the truth while you know?>

Hence, we expose the learned and the ignorant by saying:

1. Who said that facing the sun is like facing the Ka^bah? Yes, they can describe an

imaginary scenario in which a person sees the sun over the Ka^bah and is facing

both of them, but the exact question is who documented that one should face the

39 Narrated by Al-Bayhaqiyy and others.

40 Al ^Imran, 71


sun for the exact direction of the Ka^bah? In fact, they said the opposite of what

the northeast people claim, because they said:

A. If you can see the Ka^bah, you cannot use any other means to face it. So

even if the sun were above the Ka^bah while one is at the Ka^bah, one does

not use the sun to face the Ka^bah in such a situation. This is the meaning

of what An-Nawawiyy said:

ومن أمكنو علم القبلة حرم عليو التقليد والجتهاد

“Whoever is able to have knowledge of the Qiblah is forbidden from imitating

another and (forbidden from) making a determination (ijtihad).

B. If you do not see it, and no trustworthy person who sees it informs you,

your strongest sign is the Polaris, not the sun.

The northeast people hate this fact since it refutes their strongest fallacy, and they willingly

refuse the documentation of all the scholars and schools about it. One should face the

Qiblah by finding the actual direction of the Ka^bah and facing that direction. For

example, if the Ka^bah is in the south, then one faces the south, not the north. From the

beginning, one is making a mistake by making something other than seeing the Ka^bah the

same as seeing the Ka^bah. Seeing the Ka^bah is the strongest means for facing it, because

it gives one definite knowledge. This is the rule, not what the northeast people have said.

The sun is not the Qiblah. The one who faces the air above the Ka^bah only faces it

because he sought the Ka^bah itself, but because of being at a higher elevation than that of

the Ka^bah, he faced the air above it. One should not make the sun above the Ka^bah

equal to seeing the Ka^bah. In fact, he should not even use this method, unless he brings

the explicit quote from the imams verifying that this method is even from the Religion of

Muhammad. One should seek the Ka^bah itself, which is east-southeast of our position,


then face the air above it if he has to, like if he is in a plane41

, or the ground below it if he

has to, like if he is in a valley, cavern or tunnel.

2. Both sides agree that the Ka^bah itself is physically southeast of our position. If

anyone disagrees with that, just produce two things:

a. The fact that on the real earth Makkah is in the tropics; below the Tropic of

Cancer, and

b. The fact that on every map, there are the latitude coordinates that we have

already documented: Makkah is 21 north of the Equator, and Key West, FL is

24 north of the Equator; higher (more northern) than Makkah.

This means that the earth (land) below Ka^bah is southeast in relation to us also. If

Makkah were truly northeast of us, which no one is actually claiming- not even those who

face the northeast- then the earth below the Ka^bah would have to be northeast also. If the

earth below the Ka^bah is southeast, then the air above it would not be northeast, and

hence, seeing the sun in the northeast while it is over Ka^bah in the southeast is not an

indication that the direction is northeast. They do confess and say, “In latitudinal terms,

Makkah is southeast of our position,” but then they dismiss any validity, relevance or

consideration for that fact. They say it with a tone as if that latitude does not matter. The

person who is unaware of how to read maps is unaware that what that actually means is that

in the real physical world, it is truly and literally southeast of us. The latitude coordinates

represent its physical location on the earth.

3. All the other signs that Allah created prove that Makkah is southeast of us, like the

North Star. As mentioned, the North Star plays two roles:

41 This is how one faces his Qiblah in an airplane; he has to figure out the land below him, and then where

the Ka^bah is from there, and in the plane he faces the direction he would face had he been on the ground.

This is because in our Religion, the judgment of the air follows the judgment of the land below it. For this

reason, it is valid to make flights of landings (levels; floors) around the Ka^bah for Tawaf and at the place of

Sa^y; performing the worship on the second and third levels is like performing it on the ground level.

Therefore, it is incorrect to face the sun claiming that the sun gives definitive knowledge of the direction while

above the Ka^bah. This is another misapplication of the rules.


a. Not only does it give the direction of north if one were to face it, and the south

by turning one‟s back to it, but

b. It also proves how far north or south one is (in the northern part of the world):

In Makkah, one sees the North Star very close to the horizon. In the United

States, one sees the North Star even higher; further from the horizon. In

Canada, one sees it even higher, until reaching the high north, where one would

find the North Star directly overhead. This means that Makkah is south of the

United States and Canada.

Had that „sun over the Ka^bah‟ folklore of theirs been definitive proof, it would render the

reading from the North Star invalid and wrong, but two definitive references cannot

contradict each other in one issue. If they do, then one of them is not definitive. Therefore,

either the North Star is wrong, the sun in the northeast for two days out of the year is

wrong, or both of them are wrong. However, the North Star is the most reliable Qiblah

reference. If on every night and from every location in the U.S.A. and Canada, the North

Star gives the reading that Makkah is south of us, because of it being closer to the horizon

in Makkah, and higher in the sky (further from the horizon) in North America, then no

consideration is given to an anomaly that supposedly appears only twice per year at a

certain hour and seen in only a location or two. So, they may ask why we ignore the “sun

over the Ka^bah” method. We answer them, “It contradicts the North Star. Why are you

ignoring the North Star method?” They cannot both be correct if they lead to conflicting

results. Remember what the scholars of Fiqh, like An-Nawawiyy, said42:

ا ا أق القطة

“… and the strongest of them (the Qiblah references) is the Polaris.”

c. Assuming that the sun, which runs across the southern part of the sky in the

northern hemisphere, is visible in the northern sky in the northern hemisphere

on two days, how can they be in North America and certain of the exact

42 (1 /217 ): Rawd At-Talibin


moment the sun reaches its zenith in Makkah? The zenith is an extremely short

time, and they do not even know the exact moment of the sun‟s zenith in the

neighboring town, let alone in a city across the ocean. If they say that they know

it by way of technology, we tell them that religious rules are not dependant on

technology, so this answer nullifies its validity in and of itself. What does the

person who has no technology do to verify it? If technology is the way, then it is

not a religious method that all of the people are obligated to use, and then their

claim that the scholars of the past used this method would be exposed as a lie.

a. If they agree and say that all of the people are not obligated to use it, then

we tell them that we exercise the right to not use it.

b. If they say that all of the people are obligated to use it, then they must

provide the reference for the imam who documented this obligation.

c. And if the verification of the „sun over the Ka^bah‟ depends on technology,

how would one‟s personal obligation be fulfilled? Does that mean that a

person is obligated to have a long distance phone plan and a contact in

Makkah, or else he will be sinful? This is in reference to the person who

could see the sun at such a time. What about the person further south, such

as in New York, or even Florida? They cannot see the sun in the northeast

at that time, so are they obligated two have a three-way, long distance line,

and two contacts, one in Makkah and one in Canada? Or would those

people claim that it is enough for all of North America to base their Qiblah

on the word of some people who camp out with a cell phone and wait for a

call from Makkah to tell them that the sun is over the Ka^bah? In reality,

those people are using a method made by non-Sunnis. If they dare to say

yes, we are obligated to take the word of some people who camp out with a

cell phone waiting for a call from Makkah, then we have already cited Imam

An-Nawawiyy43:

فإن فقد وأمكن الجتهاد حرم التقليد

43 Minhaj At-Talibin


“… If that is missing44, and one were able to make a determination (by using the Qiblah

references), it is forbidden for him to imitate another.”

So if a person is able to use the North Star and other signs to come up with

the proper direction, he should not be made to take the word of those

people.

d. In their claim, the scholars of the past used this method, so how did they

determine the exact moment of the sun‟s zenith in Makkah when they were

far from Makkah without the technology?

e. And how do they account for delay in transmission when they do use the

technology? They must then admit the room for error, which makes it a

guess and an approximation. If they admit that it is an approximation, then

they have contradicted their claim of having definitive knowledge. If out of

desperation they say that the delay does not matter, because the moments

before and after the zenith of Makkah are just as reliable on those days as

the moment of zenith, then what is the point in specifying the moment of

the zenith, which is what they usually do? And if a person missed those

days, would he be unable in North America to find his Qiblah? Rather, his

only other means would be to put a string over a globe in their so called

„evolved fiqh‟. If they say that the days before and after the days when sun is

directly over the Ka^bah are just as accurate, then what is the point in

specifying the days when the sun is over the Ka^bah directly? What, then, is

the encompassing rule that they are practicing? What is the complete rule

in this issue according to them? Then, if they produce a dabit (precise,

encompassing rule), they must produce its reference. The fact is that they

most likely never thought about these details, and would only resort to these

last answers when cornered into them, and make them up „off the top of

their heads‟.

44 I.e., if one neither sees the Ka^bah, nor is informed about its direction by a trustworthy person

who sees it...


f. And we ask them why it is that the people in Philadelphia or Atlanta cannot

see this phenomenon. If they say because the world is not flat, then they

have produced their essential reason for refusing the Sunnah in North

America for the Qiblah issue: the curve in the earth. Why would it be valid

for the people who do not see the sun in the northeast to use that method?

Whatever they say, it would itself be proof that we can use the Sunnah in

this Qiblah issue, despite the curve in the earth.

d. So, if the sun over the Ka^bah is valid for the people of Makkah, as the

supporters of northeast claim, and it is valid for us, despite that we are on the

other side of the world, and if the sun being spotted in the northeast is sufficient

for the people who cannot see the sun in the northeast,

a. why are the other rules used by the people of Makkah invalid for us? Why

is the North Star invalid for us despite that we all see it? Why are they

allowed to use the Sunnah for determining the Qiblah and we have to avoid

it?

b. If it is possible for the people who cannot see both the sun and the Ka^bah

to use the sun being over the Ka^bah, and it is possible for the people who

cannot see the sun in the northeast when the sun supposedly rises over the

Ka^bah to use that method, is it possible for the people in Chile or

Australia to use the North Star despite that they cannot see it? If not, then

why?

c. If they concede and say that it is permissible for us to use the Sunnah and

face southeast, but they claim that it is permissible for them to use the

innovated method and face northeast, we disagree and tell them that it is

obligatory to use the Sunnah and face southeast, and not permissible for

them to abandon the Sunnah and face northeast. They do not fall under the

categories of people who are allowed to turn away from the Qiblah, as will

come shortly.

d. In their claim, the people would be eagerly waiting all year for that day or

two to verify their Qiblah. This is untrue, especially since the Muslims were


the masters of even the worldly sciences; astronomy, geometry, and all the

other sciences that Muslims in North America are misapplying. When did

such waiting start? During the days in Al-Madinah? Or perhaps it was

during the days of the Followers of the Followers? In fact, they had

absolutely no need to await those days for verifying their Prayer directions.

This claim implies that they were uncertain of their Qiblah until the

moment the sun rises over the Ka^bah, and they would hurriedly verify

their Qiblahs before the sun declines from its zenith. Then, after a while,

they would become doubtful again about their direction, so they would

again await that day to verify their Qiblah, and then again and again every

year, fixing their Qiblahs and adjusting their mihrabs45 by the sun being over

the Ka^bah for a few short moments. This is all untrue.

The „sun over the Ka^bah‟ theory is a fairy tale. Fear Allah and accept the Sunnah. Face

the proper direction and advise your loved ones. Be afraid to be someone who will enter

his grave without valid prayers, and come out of his grave without valid prayers, the Day

when there is no turning back.

e. Claiming the position of the majority

Among what they say is that it is an obligation to follow the majority, and the majority of

Muslims in the United States and Canada face the northeast.

1. The obligation of following the majority refers to the majority of the Muslim nation,

not the majority of the Muslims in a particular land, and the majority of Muslims

face their respective directions, not the shortest distance.

2. Had what they understood from this case been true, then whoever goes to Iran

would have to be a Shiite, since they are the majority in that country.

3. Also, had this been a true concern for them, they would have argued that point

before anyone prayed northeast. They would have said, “But the majority does not

face northeast.”

45 The Mihrab is the hollowed structure in the Masjid that shows the Qiblah.


4. Additionally, any Wahhabiyy who prays northeast and claims that northeast is the

position of the majority has abandoned his own Wahhabiyy madhhab, because they

believe that the majority of the nation is innovators and mushrik pagans.

F. Claiming the permissibility of facing any direction, or

praying in both directions, and claiming to have a valid

ijtihad.

After having all of their points pulled from under their feet, many who pray northeast

would say, “Well, it is permissible to pray in any direction”. This also is not true, and had

they believed it, they would not have debated to say that northeast is correct and that

southeast is wrong. As for the verse:

<( فأ يامن توموا فمث وجه هللا )>46,

which some think that it means that the Qiblah is valid in any direction, Imam As-Siyutiyy

said in Al-Itqan47:

لة سفرا ول حضرا وىو فإن ا لو تركنا ومدلول الل فظ لق تضى أن المصلي ل يب عليو استقبال الق ب جاع خلف ال

“Had we been left with only the apparent meaning of the expression, it would have dictated

that it is not obligatory on the one who prays to face the Qiblah, whether traveling or

residing, which is against the Consensus...”

Therefore, it is not correct that it is permissible for a person to face any direction.

So here, it is fitting to remind the brothers who believe that it is valid to face both northeast

and southeast that this is also not the case. The Ka^bah is in one place, and the person

knows that. How would it be valid for such a person to face two directions when he knows

46 Al-Baqarah,115

47 Al-Itqan fi ^Ulumil-Qur‟an, “Knowing the Reason for the Revelation”, pg. 49


that the Ka^bah is in one place? A person who does not want to discredit northeast would

answer that by saying that some scholars have allotted room for error, so as long as a

person prays within certain degrees, his prayer is valid, and hence he can pray in either

direction. One person produced this quote which does not support his claim:

“As for the person who turns away from the qiblah, he can either be of healthy sight or be

blind. If he is of healthy sight and his mistake is made apparent to him while praying, (then

we look at how far he turned). If he turned all the way around (i.e. istadbara = 180

degrees), or turned all the way to the right (sharraqa = 90 degrees to the right), or all the

way to the left (gharraba = 90 degrees to the left), he must now cut his prayer and start anew

facing the qiblah." {Salah, Shurut al-Salah, question 10, What is the ruling of the person

who deviates from the direction of the qiblah?} This establishes that the Maliki opinion

states that a deviation of 90 or more degrees from the qiblah arc invalidates the prayer, and

a deviation of less than this does not.”

1. Firstly, look how he said „qiblah arc‟ and not „qiblah direction‟. The Qiblah is a

direction, not an arc.

2. Secondly, they were not referring to the one who believes the Ka^bah to be in one

direction and intentionally turns to another direction.

This reference he produced clearly refers to the one who was mistaken, not the one who

intentionally turned from the Qiblah. So when the person who produced this reference was

challenged about his understanding, and given this reference from a famous Malikiyy

book48:

صادب انطراز صادف( ش: يشير إن يا قه صادب انذخيرة ع ن ا خانف بطهج إ ص )

صه إن انكعب ت فصالح باطهت أ ا ثى حبي ت فصه إن غير اد إن ج : قال إذا أدا االجخ ص

اجب ان أبي ديفت نخرك د انشافعي ع دا ع

“(Original text): “His prayer is invalid if he opposes (his own determination), even if he

were correct (in the direction he faced)”. (The explanation): He (the author of the original

48

Mawahibul-Jalil هاة الجليل في ششح هخرصش خليل )1 / 805(:


text) is signalling to what the author of Ad-Dakhirah copied from the author of At-Tiraz

(quote): 'If his determination leads him to a direction, and he prays to a different direction,

and then it became clear to him that he actually faced the Ka^bah, his prayer is INVALID

according to us (the Malikiyyah) and Ash-Shafi^iyy and Abu Hanifah, for leaving out the

obligation',”

he had no response.

Fear Allah, stop making excuses to face the wrong way, and learn and apply the Fiqh

properly. Those scholars were referring to the one who is making his best determination

for the Qiblah, and his resulting direction is within a certain range of the Ka^bah or its

direction. What those brothers are doing- intentionally facing northeast sometimes, and

southeast at other times, or facing northeast while knowing that Makkah is in the tropic

region, is a misapplication of the rule. They believe it to be in one place, and intentionally

turn away from it, claiming that they are within permissible boundaries.

The permission for turning away from the Qiblah intentionally is only granted to specific

types of people:

1. It is granted to the traveler who is riding an animal or walking while praying an

optional prayer, and that has its details.

2. It is also granted during extreme fear, such as the battlefield of hand to hand

combat.

The inhabitants (mustawtinun) and residents (muqimun) of North America have been in

peace and safety. They are not travelers (musafirun), and when they are, they are not

usually riding animals49 or walking. They are not in extreme fear. Therefore, both their

Obligatory Prayers, as well as their Optional Prayers, must be prayed facing the Qiblah.

49 Vehicles are not compared to animals in this case. The one who learns the Fiqh properly would

know that even the person riding in the „hawdaj‟ atop the camel must face the Qiblah, as well as

the people in a ship at sea.


Turning away from the Qiblah intentionally invalidates the Prayer. This is the rule, as also

mentioned by An-Nawawiyy50:

ا إ اسخدبر ل أ ت إن حذ دا، أخر ج صالح بطهج ع .

“If he turned his back to it, or turned to another direction intentionally, his prayer is

invalidated.”

Some of them do not argue against southeast, and how could they? They say both are valid,

as per the permission for the Muslims to make ijtihad (a determination derived from

evidence) and differ. The answer to this is what was already mentioned. Making a

determination for the Prayer direction has rules and limits, like the other types of ijtihad.

The hafidh of hadith must use his scope of references for determining the authenticity of a

hadith. For example, the feeling in his heart is not one of those references, so he cannot

validly determine the authenticity of a hadith by referring to his feelings or inspiration. The

Mujtahid in Fiqh must also use the limited references he has to make a proper

determination. For example, if he determined a ruling by taking the Bible as a reference,

his determination (ijtihad) is not valid. Likewise, it is not valid for someone to introduce a

new method to face the Qiblah if it contradicts the old method. The calculations that lead

to northeast contradict the North Star that has been religiously recognized since the days of

the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص, and therefore the determination made from these calculations is invalid.

Truly, it is pitiful that nearly one hundred pages had to be composed to tell people that

they cannot face the south by facing the north. What has sickened a person that they put

this much effort to prove a very stupid mistake?

The person has to make up all the prayers he prayed facing northeast, even if that were 40

years worth. This is the case for anyone who faced northeast while relying on these twisted

methods and knowing that Makkah is to the south, and this is the case for anyone who

believes that he was mistaken when he prayed northeast. He must reperform the prayers

with all of its conditions and integrals fulfilled.

50212/ 1) الوفريي عوذج الطالثيي سضح ):Rawd At-Talibin


If the person truly does not know the direction of the Ka^bah, he will have to make up his

prayers when he figures out the Qiblah, and no direction has priority over the other.

Therefore, this position of praying in both directions or in all of them is problematic for

them.

If a person argues that the author of this document is a Shafi^iyy, and so not all of the rules

stated here are correct in all of the schools, that does not matter, because the northeast

people are not following ANY of the valid schools. At least what is mentioned here is

authentic, orthodox Fiqh. One can replace the rules mentioned here with rules of any valid

school and still refute the northeast people with the Sunnah. The details of the particular

School are not the main focus here. The point is the mistake and invalidity of the northeast

method. Know, though, that those who have more knowledge than others will gather a

number of sources to build a link between these calculations and facing the Qiblah. Do not

be fooled. Your mind is enough to know that you cannot face the south by facing north,

even if someone brought you a stack of documents to tell you otherwise. You do not need

an expert to tell you where Makkah is- as they claim. You only need an elementary school

education. This is also not an issue so complicated and convoluted that a person needs to

delve into issues of Usulul-Fiqh, as they may try to do. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said51:

يي إى لي يسش، الذ يي يشاد دا غلث، إال أدذ الذ قاستا، فسذ أتششا

“Surely the Religion is easy, and no one exaggerated in

the Religion except that the Religion overcame him52, so

seek the (moderate) target53, refrain from (both)

exaggeration and falling short, and take the good

5111/ 1) الثخاسي صذيخ ): Sahih Al-Bukhariyy

52 This is the Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص foretelling that whoever made the religious issue too strenuous on

himself will be rendered disabled and overcome. Everyone who was too overly meticulous and

relentless in his worship was rendered defeated and cut off. This is not an objection to seeking

what is better in one‟s worship, which is good and praiseworthy; instead it is an objection to

exaggeration that leads one to abandon the obligations and the like.

53 This means for one to fast some days and eat on some days, for example, and to pray part of

the night and sleep part of the night, etc.


tidings of the Bliss as reward from Allah (for properly

doing the good deeds, even if they are few)…”

Had those who faced northeast practiced this hadith, then one of them would not have said

when asked, “Is Makkah in the tropical region or the arctic?”, “That‟s like me asking you

for the exact angle going South from East in degrees, that will allow you to hit the Ka'aba

exactly while veering straight, never having to turn to the right or left. This is the question

you should be asking.” The answer to the question is simply “yes, Makkah is in the tropical

region”. He avoids stating the answer because he does not want to confess to his mistake. If

he says, “the tropic region”, we will ask him what direction that is from us. Of course it is

south. Therefore, to avoid the exposure of being mistaken, he exposes himself in a

different way: by avoiding the question.

One must be firm and face the correct prayer direction, no matter what others think. Some

people have abandoned the path of bidding the good and forbidding the evil so that they

can mix with others and not be alienated- or even so that they may teach them. Some have

lost hope and felt that warning against this issue is fruitless. They turn a blind eye, and

some even have found an excuse for themselves to pray with people who are facing the

wrong way. However, there is fruit in speaking up about this issue. Benefitting one Muslim

who fixes his prayer is much more of a concern for us than how annoyed the people who

face the wrong way feel. It is only out of loving for our brothers and sisters what we love for

ourselves that we advise, and even beg them to rethink their position about facing the

northeast. Its method is poison whose symptoms are blindness, arrogance, ignorance,

major sin and foolishness. How can a person accept that a line that changes directions gives

an unchanging direction? How can a person with education refer to an arc as a straight

line? Can one refuse the fact that Makkah is physically in the tropics while we are physically

closer to the arctic? How can one deny that the globe is a map? How can one refuse to

read the map as a map while referring to it? How can one feel safe from the punishment of

Allah for facing the north while Makkah is in the south, and feel safe from the horrors of

Judgment Day? How can one bring up issues of bearing, distance, geometry, trigonometry,

geography, history, Fiqh, trajectory, compasses, and linguistics to convince a person that he


cannot validly face something in the south by facing the south? Do not defy your own

intelligence! We ask Allah for steadfastness and guidance, and that He would support the

truth and eliminate the falsehood,

AND ALLAH KNOWS BEST.


A

Abu Hanifah, 14, 16, 23, 63, 87

Ahlus-Sunnah, 11, 17, 26

C

cardinal directions, 11, 12, 13, 14, 29, 39, 40, 41, 47,

48, 50

D

DIRECTIONS

cardinal directions, 10, 11

distance, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 25, 30, 34, 37, 38, 41,

42, 47, 61, 64, 81, 85, 91

F

fallacy, 4, 13, 15, 27, 40, 48, 58, 70, 74, 79

G

globe, 1, 14, 15, 25, 29, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 45, 47,

48, 50, 52, 55, 57, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 72, 83,

91

H

hadith about how the fasting person breaks his fast, 13

hadith about the obligation of acquiring the

knowledge, 5

hadith about the strangers, 8

hadith about the time of ignorant leaders who

mislead their followers, 6

hadith of the man who prayed incorrectly, 6

I

Ignorance is not an excuse, 6

M

map, 10, 14, 29, 30, 31, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46,

47, 51, 59, 61, 62, 65, 66, 68, 69, 71, 79, 91

movement, 13, 35

N

North Pole, 13, 29, 31, 33, 35, 41, 44, 47, 50, 61, 62

North Star, 14, 21, 22, 25, 36, 46, 68, 69, 75, 76, 77,

80, 82, 83, 84, 88

P

Polaris, 14, 21, 75, 79, 81

R

relative directions, 11, 12, 13, 15, 39, 40

S

sun, 10, 13, 18, 19, 22, 25, 27, 30, 35, 36, 66, 68, 69,

74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84

T

the shape of the earth, 1, 11, 16, 22, 25, 51, 64, 65, 66,

69, 76

the advisory of those who face the qiblah

Spiritual