Non-obligatory prayers inside the Ka‘bah are valid

25-7-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

salamun alaykum Shaykh. The question which I have asked about kabah ...it is not ANSWER of my question ...my question is. Is kabah masjid inside?

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The inside of the Kaʻbah is not in the form of a Masjid as it does not have a Mihraab (prayer niche), but is rather square in shape. It is, however, considered a Masjid in the sense that non-obligatory prayers performed inside it are valid. On the other hand, scholars held different views about the validity of obligatory prayers performed inside the Kaʻbah. Ibn Qudaamah wrote,

“The obligatory prayer is not valid inside the Kaʻbah or on the roof of it. Ash-Shaafiʻi and Abu Haneefah, however, held that it is valid because it is a Masjid, and because it is a place for performing voluntary prayer; therefore, an obligatory prayer performed inside it should also be valid, like the area outside it. In our favor is that Allaah The Exalted says (what means): {And wherever you (believers) are, turn your faces toward it (in prayer).} [Quran 2:144] The worshipper who performs prayer inside the Kaʻbah or on its roof is not facing towards it, and the basic principle with regard to voluntary prayers is that the rules pertaining to them are less stringent, as evidenced by the fact that they may be prayed in a sitting position and in a direction other than the Qiblah when one is traveling on a riding beast.” [Al-Mughni]

Allaah Knows best.