I was praying Salah in the wrong direction. Do I have to repeat my Salah?

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.  

In principle, when one is in an area where he does not know where the qiblah direction is, he is obligated obligated to enquire the direction of qibla from a person in that area. If no one is available to give the direction of qiblah, then one may make Taharri. Taharri is to investigate and make an educated guess.  If one investigated and tried his best to work out the direction of the Qiblah (taḥarrī) and the prayer was performed, thereafter this was the wrong direction, the prayer would be valid and there would be no need to repeat the prayer. However, if one did not make taḥarrī and performed the prayer, qaḍā’ will have to be made for the Farḍ and Witr prayers and not for the Sunnah prayers.[1] 

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best 

Ibn Aḥsan

Student - Darul Iftaa

New York, USA 

Checked and Approved by,

Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

(2021-04-08)