Recently as per one news item "Saudi villagers prayed in wrong direction for 10 years". As per the news:
"Muslim worshippers at a mosque in a Saudi Arabian village near Mecca discovered that they were praying for 10 years in the wrong direction. Muslims are meant to pray in the direction of the most sacred site in Islam, known as the Kaaba, a large granite structure in the holy city of Mecca.
Villagers in Hadda, 20 km north-west of Mecca, should have prayed southeast, but instead bent down five times a day in a northern direction. After realizing the error, the mosque's leaders changed the direction of the prayer carpets so the worshippers now face the Kaaba."
As per another news item, "Indonesian Muslims told to change prayer direction". As per the news:
"Indonesia’s Muslims learned that they have been praying in the wrong direction, after the country’s highest Islamic authority said its directive on the direction of Mecca actually had people facing Africa.
Muslims are supposed to face the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia during prayer and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued an edict in March stipulating westward was the correct direction from the world’s most populous Muslim country.
“But it has been decided that actually the mosques are facing Somalia or Kenya, so we are now suggesting people to shift the direction slightly to the north-west,” the head of the MUI, Cholil Ridwan, told Reuters. “There’s no need to knock down mosques, just shift your direction slightly during prayer.”
Now the main question is, in which direction God actually is?
Actually the God is the Omnipresent Soul who is invisible & is all pervasive in this world. God is present all around us & is hidden in this invisible space & is there in all the directions. God gets seated himself always within this all pervasive Space in all directions & sees all our activities & controls this whole world. In the "Antaryami" aspect, God is seated in our heart & listens to all our prayers. So the belief that God is present in only one direction is not correct but that God is present in all directions. In, whatever, direction you pray to God, He will always listen to your prayers. So if you think that you were praying in the wrong direction then just don't worry, your prayers have not been wasted as God has already listened to your prayers as He is sitting in your heart & is always listening to your prayers.
"O Lord, In all directions are Your heads, all faces Your faces,
O Lord, You dwell inside the heart & also in all hidden places.
O Lord, Through the whole universe, You have extended Yourself.
O Lord, You are the auspicious, the ever-present Lord."
"O Lord, With hands and feet everywhere, eyes and ears
Everywhere, heads and mouths everywhere,
O Lord, You have filled up every corner of the space.
O Lord, Smaller than smallest and larger than largest."
"O Lord, Present are You in the depths of our heart.
O Lord, When free of desires and unshaken by sorrow, we
Seek for You only, then by Your grace,
O Lord, Your Form and Your glory stand clearly before us.
Below are verses from Bhagwat Gita which explain about God's Omnipresent nature through which He is present all around us.
sarvatah pani-padam tat
sarvato ’ksi-siro-mukham
sarvatah shrutimal loke
sarvam avrtya tishthati (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Thirteen verse 14)
"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Everywhere are His (God's) hands and feet, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Super Soul (God) exists, pervading everything in this world."
"athakasa-sthito nityam
vayuh sarvatra-go mahan
tatha sarvani bhutani
mat-sthanity upadharaya" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 6)
"Sri Krishna says in Gita: Just like the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, rests always in the sky, so do all created beings rest in Me i.e. in God, who in its unmanifest aspect always rests within this all pervasive space."
"Muslim worshippers at a mosque in a Saudi Arabian village near Mecca discovered that they were praying for 10 years in the wrong direction. Muslims are meant to pray in the direction of the most sacred site in Islam, known as the Kaaba, a large granite structure in the holy city of Mecca.
Villagers in Hadda, 20 km north-west of Mecca, should have prayed southeast, but instead bent down five times a day in a northern direction. After realizing the error, the mosque's leaders changed the direction of the prayer carpets so the worshippers now face the Kaaba."
As per another news item, "Indonesian Muslims told to change prayer direction". As per the news:
"Indonesia’s Muslims learned that they have been praying in the wrong direction, after the country’s highest Islamic authority said its directive on the direction of Mecca actually had people facing Africa.
Muslims are supposed to face the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia during prayer and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued an edict in March stipulating westward was the correct direction from the world’s most populous Muslim country.
“But it has been decided that actually the mosques are facing Somalia or Kenya, so we are now suggesting people to shift the direction slightly to the north-west,” the head of the MUI, Cholil Ridwan, told Reuters. “There’s no need to knock down mosques, just shift your direction slightly during prayer.”
Now the main question is, in which direction God actually is?
Actually the God is the Omnipresent Soul who is invisible & is all pervasive in this world. God is present all around us & is hidden in this invisible space & is there in all the directions. God gets seated himself always within this all pervasive Space in all directions & sees all our activities & controls this whole world. In the "Antaryami" aspect, God is seated in our heart & listens to all our prayers. So the belief that God is present in only one direction is not correct but that God is present in all directions. In, whatever, direction you pray to God, He will always listen to your prayers. So if you think that you were praying in the wrong direction then just don't worry, your prayers have not been wasted as God has already listened to your prayers as He is sitting in your heart & is always listening to your prayers.
"O Lord, In all directions are Your heads, all faces Your faces,
O Lord, You dwell inside the heart & also in all hidden places.
O Lord, Through the whole universe, You have extended Yourself.
O Lord, You are the auspicious, the ever-present Lord."
"O Lord, With hands and feet everywhere, eyes and ears
Everywhere, heads and mouths everywhere,
O Lord, You have filled up every corner of the space.
O Lord, Smaller than smallest and larger than largest."
"O Lord, Present are You in the depths of our heart.
O Lord, When free of desires and unshaken by sorrow, we
Seek for You only, then by Your grace,
O Lord, Your Form and Your glory stand clearly before us.
Below are verses from Bhagwat Gita which explain about God's Omnipresent nature through which He is present all around us.
sarvatah pani-padam tat
sarvato ’ksi-siro-mukham
sarvatah shrutimal loke
sarvam avrtya tishthati (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Thirteen verse 14)
"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, Everywhere are His (God's) hands and feet, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Super Soul (God) exists, pervading everything in this world."
"athakasa-sthito nityam
vayuh sarvatra-go mahan
tatha sarvani bhutani
mat-sthanity upadharaya" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Nine verse 6)
"Sri Krishna says in Gita: Just like the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, rests always in the sky, so do all created beings rest in Me i.e. in God, who in its unmanifest aspect always rests within this all pervasive space."
