Al-Kafi · Hadith 21

The Book of Prayer · Performing Salah (Prayer) Inside Ka’bah, on its Top, al-Biya 4, Churches and Places where Performing Salah (prayer) Is Undesirable · Volume 3, book 4, chapter 58, Hadith 21

Original Arabic text

21ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ السَّلاَمِ بْنِ صَالِحٍ عَنِ الرِّضَا (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) فِي الَّذِي تُدْرِكُهُ الصَّلاَةُ وَهُوَ فَوْقَ الْكَعْبَةِ قَالَ إِنْ قَامَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ قِبْلَةٌ وَلَكِنَّهُ يَسْتَلْقِي عَلَى قَفَاهُ وَيَفْتَحُ عَيْنَيْهِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَيَعْقِدُ بِقَلْبِهِ الْقِبْلَةَ الَّتِي فِي السَّمَاءِ الْبَيْتَ الْمَعْمُورَ وَيَقْرَأُ فَإِذَا أَرَادَ أَنْ يَرْكَعَ غَمَّضَ عَيْنَيْهِ فَإِذَا أَرَادَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَ رَأْسَهُ مِنَ الرُّكُوعِ فَتَحَ عَيْنَيْهِ وَالسُّجُودُ عَلَى نَحْوِ ذَلِكَ.

Published English translation

21. Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from Ishaq ibn Muhammad from ‘Abd al-Salam ibn Salih who has said the following: “I once asked al-Rida’ (a.s.), about the case of one who at the time of Salah (prayer) is on the top of al-Ka‘bah. He (the Imam) said, ‘If he stands up there is no al-Qiblah (al-Ka‘bah) for him; however, he lies down on his back and opens his eyes to the sky and keeps in his heart al-Qiblah which is in the heaven, al-Bayt al-Ma‘mur, does the recitation and for Ruku‘ (bowing down on one’s knees) closes his eyes. When intending to raise his head from Ruku‘ opens his eyes and for Sujud (prostrations) he does the same.’”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: ضعيف

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (5/297)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: Catalogue non-inclusion note (not an authenticity grade)

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī

Source records non-inclusion in this scholar's selection; this is not itself a weak or authentic grade.

Source, rights, and attribution

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