Subail, now complete with new and correct Qibla. (Okaz photo) JEDDAH: Worshippers at a mosque in the Jeddah district of Al-Subail were recently taken aback to find that they had been praying in the wrong direction for 30 years, after renovation work led to specialists noticing that its “Qibla” had been incorrectly located. “For 30 years nobody noticed,” said Ahmad Hakami, a frequent visitor to the mosque. “The mosque was in a state of disrepair and needed rebuilding, and when a donator provided the money they started work.” As required, a committee from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs arrived at the site to inspect proceedings and soon discovered that the Qibla that indicates the direction to the Ka'ba in Makkah, was off. “As you can imagine, it was a bit of a surprise when the committee informed us. It would appear that the people who built the mosque did it wrong, and now we're all wondering about the validity of our prayers over the last 30 years.” Muhammad Al-Nujaimi, a member of the Fiqh Assembly and a teacher at the Islamic University, said that the western region of the Kingdom has a “not inconsiderable number” of mosques with unreliable Qiblas. “More so than other regions,” he said. “Which is a bit surprising given that the western region is so much closer to the Grand Mosque.” Al-Nujaimi was unable to offer comfort to worshippers at the Subail mosque, however. “The correct direction is one of the conditions for the correctness of prayer,” he said. “Greater care should be taken to ensure the Qibla direction is correct.” There is, however, no need to rebuild a mosque should its Qibla be found incorrect. “All they need to do is change the direction of the carpets,” Al-Nujaimi said.
