OFFERING SALAAT INSIDE THE KA'BAH

1. Just as salaat is valid facing the Ka'bah it, in the same way salaat is also valid inside the Ka'bah. Istiqbaal-e-qiblah (facing the qiblah ) will be fulfilled irrespective of the direction in which the person faces. This is because all four sides are regarded as the qiblah . In whichever direction a person faces, it will still be the Ka'bah. Just as nafl salaat inside the Ka'bah is valid, so is fard salaat .

2. If salaat is offered on the roof of the Ka'bah, it will also be valid. This is because that place on which the Ka'bah is, that ground and all the space in line with it upto the heavens - all falls within the qiblah . The qiblah is not restricted to the walls of the Ka'bah. Therefore, if a person offers his salaat on a high mountain whereby he is nowhere in line with the walls of the Ka'bah, even then his salaat will be valid according to all the jurists. But because this will amount to disrespect to the Ka'bah, and because Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has prohibited salaat from being offered on the roof of the Ka'bah, it is therefore makruh-e-tahrimi to do so.

3. It is permissible to offer salaat alone in the Ka'bah and also with jama'at. It is not a prerequisite for the imam and the muqtadis to face in one direction. This is because the qiblah is in every direction. However, this condition remains that the muqtadi must not stand ahead of the imam . If the muqtadi faces the face of the imam , it will still be permissible because in this case, the muqtadi will not be regarded as being ahead of the imam . Being ahead of the imam is only considered when both of them are facing in one direction and the muqtadi stands ahead of him. However, in this case where the muqtadi faces the imam , the salaat will become makruh . This is because it is makruh to offer salaat while facing another person. However, if a barrier is placed between the two, it will no longer be makruh .

4. Salaat will also be valid if the imam stands inside the Ka'bah and the muqtadis stand outside around the Ka'bah. However, if the imam stands alone inside the Ka'bah without any muqtadis being inside with him, then the salaat will be makruh . This is because since the imam is inside the Ka'bah, he will be higher than the muqtadis , equal to the height of one person.

5. The salaat will still be valid if the muqtadi is inside and the imam is outside the Ka'bah. This is on the condition that the muqtadi is not ahead of the imam .

6. If all of them are outside with the imam on one side and the muqtadis around the Ka'bah from all sides, as it occurs today, this will be permissible. However, the condition for this is that no one else should be closer to the Ka'bah than the imam on the side where he is standing. This is because in this case he will be regarded as being ahead of the imam , and this makes following an imam invalid. However, if the muqtadis at the other sides are closer to the Ka'bah than the imam , there is no harm in this. It can be understood through the following illustration:

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a,b,c,d is the ka'bah. e is the imam who is standing 2m away from the ka'bah. f and g are the muqtadis who are standing 1m away from the ka'bah. However f is standing on the same side as e who is the imam and g is standing on the opposite side. The salaat of f will not be valid while that of g will be valid.