Aslam

Praise be to Allah.Firstly:

Wa

‘alaykum al-salaam wa rahmat-Allaahi wa barakaatuhu (and upon you be peaceand the mercy and blessings of Allaah). We congratulate you and your

companions for your efforts in getting a place to pray. We ask Allaah to

fill it with you and with people who will stand and bow and prostrate there.

Secondly:

One

of the essential parts (pillars) of the prayer is facing the qiblah; this is

a must. Whoever knows the direction of the qiblah and can face it, but does

not do so, his prayer is invalid and he is a sinner, because Allaah says

(interpretation of the meaning):

“so turn your face in the

direction of Al-Masjid Al-Haraam (at Makkah). And wheresoever you people

are, turn your faces (in prayer) in that direction” [al-Baqarah 2:144].

Unless one has a valid excuse, this is

the requirement in fard (obligatory) prayers. With regard to naafil

(supererogatory) prayers,it is

permissible to face any direction one wishes if one is riding whilst

travelling. But if one is able to dismount, then it is not permissible for

one who is praying a naafil prayer to face any direction other than the

qiblah, when one does not have the excuse of riding whilst travelling.

Thirdly:

Whoever

is near the Ka’bah has to face the Ka’bah itself, because Allaah says

(interpretation of the meaning):

“so turn your face in the

direction of Al-Masjid Al-Haraam” [al-Baqarah 2:144].

Hence the rows

of worshippers around the Ka’bah are circular; the further away they are,

the wider the circle is, and the closer they are, the smaller the circle is.

Whoever is inside al-Masjid al-Haraam has to face the Ka’bah itself.

Whoever is in Makkah has to face al-Masjid al-Haraam; whoever is outside

Makkah has to face Makkah. Facing in that direction is sufficient, because

of the hadeeth, “Whatever is between the east and the west is the

qiblah.” (Narrated by al-Tirmdihi, 342; Ibn Maajah, 1011).

This reference to the east and the west applies

specifically to the people of Madeenah and others for whom the direction of

the Qiblah is the same, because the Messenger [an error occurred while processing this directive] (peace and blessings of

Allaah be upon him) said this to the people of Madeenah.

Fourthly:

After looking at the map – which is what you

should do – if you look at the map and draw a line between California and

Makkah and look at the direction of this line, this will tell you what the

direction of the qiblah is.

(This is according to a fatwa given to us by

our shaykh, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen. The worshipper does

not have to pay attention to the curvature of the earth’s surface when

determining the qiblah; he can work out the direction of Makkah by a

straight line).

When we look at the map, we find that the

direction of the qiblah (from California) is towards the east, with a very

slight deviation towards the south which is hardly worth mentioning.

So your qiblah lies between the north and the

south, so if you face east, somewhere between the north and south, that will

be OK. There is no need to cause big problems and fitnah among the Muslims

concerning this issue which Islam has made easy, when it says that the

qiblah is between the east and the west, and the scholars have stated that a

slight deviation from the direction of Makkah does not matter. So use

whatever means are available to determine the direction of the qiblah.

The Standing Committee was asked about using

astronomical instruments to determine the direction of the Ka’bah, and

they replied as follows:

The Muslim scholars and those who were experienced

in navigation could find the direction of the Ka’bah at night by referring

to the Pole Star and other stars, and the moon as it rose and set, and

during the day by referring to the sun as it rose and set, and by reference

to other natural phenomena, before there were any Japanese or European

navigational devices and the like. So knowledge of the qiblah is not to be

determined solely by use of these tools. But if it is confirmed by

trustworthy Muslim experts in this field that a specific device can show the

direction of the qiblah precisely or approximately, then there is no

shar’i reason why we should not use it; indeed, it may be obligatory to

act in accordance with it if a person who wants to pray cannot find any

other evidence of the qiblah.

May Allaah help us and you to do all that is

good. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.