Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: ... ‘Ayn al-Tamr is a location situated on the route to Iraq, adjacent to al-Sham. As much as possible, one should make an effort to face the qiblah in both obligatory and supererogatory (nafl) prayers. In the aforementioned ahadith, due to an excuse such as being mounted (on a riding animal), a concession has been granted regarding facing the qiblah in supererogatory prayers. However, it is established from Hadith number (435) that the one praying should, at the time of the opening takbir (takbir tahrimah), face the qiblah once; after that, depending on the nature of the journey, there is no harm in turning away from the qiblah. It should be kept in mind that this concession is general for both travel and residence. Commonly among us, it is observed that despite comfortable travel and the availability of vehicles, this sunnah of the Noble Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is not practiced. Rather, the majority are so addicted during travel to listening to music and obscene songs, or watching indecent and immodest films, or engaging in idle chatter, to the point of intoxication. We should make an effort to obey and follow our kind Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).