al-Qibla wa Qada al-Haja - within Athar al-Muallimi
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- Dar Alam al-Fawa'id lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
al-Qibla wa Qada al-Haja (Facing the Qibla and Relieving Oneself) is a jurisprudential and hadith treatise by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (d. 1386 AH / 1966 CE) examining the legal rulings and prophetic narrations concerning facing or turning one's back to the Kaaba while relieving oneself .
Manuscripts and Publication
The treatise survives in two handwritten fragments preserved in the library of the Holy Mosque in Mecca (under manuscript no. 4692) . Both parts are written in the author's own hand on tall-format paper measuring 32 × 21 cm, featuring marginal notes and source verifications; the first fragment comprises 13 pages and the second spans 10 pages followed by crossed-out sheets . It was published within the jurisprudence section of his collected works (Athar al-Muallimi), occupying part of the sixteenth volume (Majmu Rasa'il al-Fiqh) .
Contents and Methodology
The work investigates the legal and textual aspects of the issue through detailed hadith criticism and legal analysis across its two preserved sections:
- The First Fragment: Al-Muallimi begins by analyzing seven hadiths that prohibit facing the Qibla when relieving oneself, examining their chains of transmission, texts, and textual variations . He examines the phrase إذا أتى أحدكم الغائط ("When one of you relieves oneself"), arguing that it functions as a metonymy for answering the call of nature in general rather than being restricted to open fields, thereby including indoor structures as well . He surveys scholarly positions on reports suggesting a concession (rukhsa)—including opinions claiming abrogation or distinguishing between open desert and enclosed buildings—and favors the stance that the prohibition remains general and applies to both open spaces and buildings . He also addresses three counterarguments, analyzes the narration of Abdullah ibn Umar concerning the Prophet's ﷺ action, and concludes the fragment with a chapter evaluating the transmission chains and narrators of the reports cited for concession .
- The Second Fragment: Al-Muallimi presents the narration of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari and related legal discussions, followed by an extensive critique of the narration attributed to Aisha regarding turning the seat toward the Qibla, detailing its variants, transmission flaws, and the judgments of hadith critics who declared it weak .
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