Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Translated by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
Is it unlawful or offensive to stretch one’s feet out towards the direction of prayer?
Answer:
The erudite scholar, Ibn Hajar first thought it possible that stretching one’s feet to the Ka`bah could be unlawful according to the Tuhfa (4/86), inferring this ruling from al-Zarkashi’s opinion that it is unlawful to stretch one’s feet out towards a copy of the Qur’an.
However, afterwards he deemed it stronger that the two are different”; i.e. that it is not unlawful to stretch them towards the Ka`bah, although before this, he had said that it was offensive to point towards the black stone with one’s foot. So it seems that this would be the case [offensiveness] for the whole Ka`bah, and Allah knows best.
[In summary, it is offensive but not unlawful to stretch one’s feet towards the Ka`ba as inferred from the words of Ibn Hajar in the Tuhfa as explained by Shaykh Amjad.]
الجواب : احتمل العلامةُ ابنُ حجر في “التحفة” (4/86) حرمةَ مدِّ الرِّجْل إلى الكعبة أخذاً من تصريح الزركشي بحرمة مد الرجل للمصحف، لكنه استوجه بعد ذلك الفرق بينهما؛ أي: عدم الحرمة في الكعبة، لكنه صرَّح قبل ذلك بكراهة الإشارة إلى الحجر بالرجل والظاهر عموم ذلك في جميع البيت، والله أعلم.