Question
If someone who goes overseas makes a mistake with the Qiblah direction will the salah have to be repeated?
Answer
If a person intends performing Salaah but the Qiblah is unknown to him, nor is there any person available that could point out the direction of Qibla to him, then he should exercise and apply his mind in determining the correct direction of the Qibla. If after exerting his mind he performed
Salaah in a particular direction and thereafter realized (after completion of his Salaah) that the direction was incorrect then too his Salaah is valid and there is no need to repeat the Salaah.
However, if a person was unaware of the direction of the Qiblah, nor was there anyone available to inform him and he commenced his Salaah without exerting his mind and later found out that he performed Salaah in the incorrect direction then Salaah will not be valid.
If a person performs Salaah in the incorrect direction due to error whereby he faces a few degrees away (less than 45 degrees) from the actual Qiblah then too Salaah is valid and there isn’t any need to repeat Salaah. If he has faced in a completely different direction more than 45 degrees away from the actual Qiblah, then Salaah will have to be repeated.
Checked and Approved By:
Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.
References
Ahsanul Fataawa pg.313 vol.2
Darul Uloom Zakariyya pg.105 vol.2