The ruling on taharri when the qibla direction is unknown

Question

The qibla direction was not known, and the prayer was performed by taharri (determining the direction by one's own reasoned judgement). Later the respected Khalid came, and as soon as he looked he said the direction was wrong. He had a compass, and on checking with the compass it turned out that the prayer had been performed exactly between north and west. Did that prayer need to be repeated or not?

Answer

When the qibla direction was not known and there was no one to indicate it either, and the prayer was performed by taharri, then that prayer is valid, even if it later became known that it was performed in the wrong direction; it is not necessary to repeat it.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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