Ruling on Someone Who Discovers That He Prayed in Wrong Direction

3-5-2017 | IslamWeb

Question:

My husband and I went to At-Ta’if, and we rented a house to live in. We asked about the direction of the Qiblah (prayer direction), and the house owner told us about it. A day and a half later, however, when my husband went to the masjid, we discovered that we prayed towards a wrong direction. Then we started to pray facing the new direction. Are we required to make up for the previous prayers?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

 

If the house owner whom you asked about the direction of the Qiblah is a Muslim who is not known for being disobedient, then you are blameless for depending on his answer. Also, you are not required to make up for the past prayers if you prayed towards a direction near to the correct one. However, if you extremely swerved from the correct direction, as when the Ka‘bah was at your back, right or left side, then you are required to make up for those prayers that you prayed while facing the wrong direction.

Allah knows best.