Hadith 23

Commentary

Here, "our house" refers to the apartment of Hafsah ﷺ, the mother of the believers (Umm Al-Mominin) and the sister of 'Abdullâh bin 'Umar ﷺ. Bait Al-Maqdis is situated north of Madinah, while Makkah is situated south of Madinah. Therefore, the Prophet's ﷺ back was turned toward the Qiblah. Based on this narration, Imâm Ash-Shâfi'î and other Scholars of Hadîth (Muhaddithin) have argued that it is permissible to face or turn one's back toward the direction of the Qiblah if one is inside a building. Otherwise, the Prophet ﷺ would not have turned his back to the Qiblah as he ﷺ did based on the wording of this Hadîth. This is the strongest opinion in the matter, for it takes into account all pertinent Hadîth narrations. Furthermore, according to this legal ruling, one saves oneself from speaking without proof - for there is no proof that the ruling contained in this Hadîth is abrogated, nor is there proof that what is mentioned in this Hadîth is specific to the Prophet ﷺ. Besides, what is mentioned about the Prophet ﷺ in this Hadîth is also attributed to Ibn 'Umar ﷺ in a narration that is related in Sunan Abû Dâwûd (At-Tahârâh, Hadîth 11). Nonetheless, whenever possible, one should act cautiously in this matter (i.e., when one relieves oneself inside of a building, one should try to avoid facing the Qiblah as well as turning one's back to it).