Direction during prayer; Facing Mecca
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Not too many days ago I asked a question of this site about prayers and received several answers that were very helpful to someone who is very new Islam. I want to thank everyone for their help.
Now I have another question. As I have been trying to read everything that I can get my hands on, both books and the internet, I have come up with an thought on prayer. According to most of the items I have read it is part of prayer to face Mecca. When I read the Quran I see how it does talk about it being a focal point for us. There are several sites online that will help point out the direction to face for prayer. My question is that since we live on a sphere, and yes I know it is not a perfect sphere, if one person were to face Mecca according to these websites and I were to stand behind them and face the opposite direction, wouldn't I be facing Mecca as well? I know that the distance I would be facing would be a longer route to Mecca, but I am still facing it. In fact, I could almost face in direction and draw a line from my viewpoint and at some point it would come to Mecca.
The reason I ask this question is that I have also noticed that there are several instances in the Quran where it reads that God knows what is in the chests of the people. When I read about Mecca being a focal point and God knowing what is in my chest I take it this way when I pray my direction isn't as important as what is in my heart, that I should know that my focal point of prayer is the Sacred Masjid built by Abraham, the Ka'ba, and not necessarily the shorts physical distance to that point.
Being new to Islam I would really like to hear the opinions of others. I value the different insights that many of you have in the Quran, especially since many of you are able to read the Quran in Arabic and not english translations, which I have found to be different from each other.
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Peace bucklateral
"Focal point" is a concept which has been discussed in past threads
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=15074.msg141795#msg141795
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=14094.msg132485#msg132485
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=13210.msg112157#msg112157
http//free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=13210.msg111584#msg111584Quran 2142
The foolish from among the people will say What has turned them away from the focal point that they were on? Say To God are the east and the west, He guides whomsoever He wishes to a straight path. -
peace bucklateral, all,
Actually, the direction in which you face you would be facing a random point in space, since the earth is spherical. If however you mean, in some way, you were to walk in that direction or draw a line on the surface of the earth in that direction, then yes you may well end up at your target.
However, some simple geometry tells us if you were in the USA for example, and were off by one degree when facing a direction, since the target is far far away, you would be over a hundred miles off from the Kabba (if that was your target), thus logical/mathematical/empirical evidence tells us it is highly likely the vast majority of Traditional Muslims who think they are "facing" the Kabba are actually not. It is almost impossible unless within close proximity of the target.
Now, since we have deduced it is almost impossible for the vast majority of people to actually do, then the obvious question becomes why would God/Quran order an almost impossible task? Once we ponder over this, follow-up questions become obvious if almost impossible, is direction really that important? If direction is unimportant, what is?
Now, it is these questions that will truly give us an insight into the message of The Quran. -
?Goodness is not in turning your face to the east or to the west???.
The Quran teaches instead that God is always with us and asks us to speak to Him directly
?And if My servants ask about Me?behold I am near, I respond to whoever calls on Me, whenever they call, let them then respond to Me, and believe in Me, so that they may benefit.?
?Successful indeed are the believers, who are sincere in their prayers ?( 231-2).
The Quran wants us to know that God is ever present in our lives, and that we can turn to Him at any time to establish prayer. Sincere prayer is not a set of rituals that can become empty and stale over time. God wants our hearts. Sincere prayer is direct communication to God, meditating upon God's omnipotence and mercy, asking God for mercy, praising His presence in our lives...etc. Imposing a set of rituals is compulsion in a format of worship. When the mind is half concentrating on prostrations and rakkats, then prayers become useless, as our whole mind is not involved in our communication with God. The Quran does not prescribe any procedure for prayer. The current form of prayer practiced by so many brothers and sisters are a throwback to pre-Islamic times. It is how the pagans worshipped. This is an example of how Arab culture was infused into religion. Rakkats and prostrations are fine for those who chose to do them, but as they become rote duties to perform, they lose meaning and can damage our relating to God. Alhamdulillah.
