Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 2 Al-Baqarah, Ayat 144-147

قَدۡ نَرٰى تَقَلُّبَ وَجۡهِكَ فِى السَّمَآءِ​​ۚ فَلَـنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبۡلَةً تَرۡضٰٮهَا​ فَوَلِّ وَجۡهَكَ شَطۡرَ الۡمَسۡجِدِ الۡحَـرَامِؕ وَحَيۡثُ مَا كُنۡتُمۡ فَوَلُّوۡا وُجُوۡهَكُمۡ شَطۡرَهٗ ​ؕ وَاِنَّ الَّذِيۡنَ اُوۡتُوا الۡكِتٰبَ لَيَـعۡلَمُوۡنَ اَنَّهُ الۡحَـقُّ مِنۡ رَّبِّهِمۡ​ؕ وَمَا اللّٰهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعۡمَلُوۡنَ‏  ﴿2:144﴾ وَلَـئِنۡ اَ تَيۡتَ الَّذِيۡنَ اُوۡتُوا الۡكِتٰبَ بِكُلِّ اٰيَةٍ مَّا تَبِعُوۡا قِبۡلَتَكَ​ۚ وَمَآ اَنۡتَ بِتَابِعٍ قِبۡلَتَهُمۡ​ۚ وَمَا بَعۡضُهُمۡ بِتَابِعٍ قِبۡلَةَ بَعۡضٍؕ وَلَـئِنِ اتَّبَعۡتَ اَهۡوَآءَهُمۡ مِّنۡۢ بَعۡدِ مَا جَآءَكَ مِنَ الۡعِلۡمِ​ۙ اِنَّكَ اِذًا لَّمِنَ الظّٰلِمِيۡنَ​ۘ‏ ﴿2:145﴾ اَلَّذِيۡنَ اٰتَيۡنٰهُمُ الۡكِتٰبَ يَعۡرِفُوۡنَهٗ كَمَا يَعۡرِفُوۡنَ اَبۡنَآءَهُمۡؕ وَاِنَّ فَرِيۡقًا مِّنۡهُمۡ لَيَكۡتُمُوۡنَ الۡحَـقَّ وَهُمۡ يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:146﴾ اَلۡحَـقُّ مِنۡ رَّبِّكَ فَلَا تَكُوۡنَنَّ مِنَ الۡمُمۡتَرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿2:147﴾

(2:144) We see you oft turning your face towards the sky; now We are turning you to the direction that will satisfy you. Turn your face towards the Holy Mosque, and wherever you are, turn your faces towards it in Prayer.146

Those who have been granted the Scripture certainly know that this (injunction to change the direction of Prayer) is right and is from their Lord. Allah is not heedless of what they do. (2:145) And yet no matter what proofs you bring before the People of the Book they will not follow your direction of Prayer; nor will you follow their direction of Prayer. None is prepared to follow the other’s direction of Prayer. Were you to follow their desires in disregard of the knowledge which has come to you, you will surely be reckoned among the wrong-doers.147 (2:146) Those to whom We have given the Scripture recognize the place (towards which one must turn in Prayer) as fully as they recognize their own sons,148 this even though a group of them knowingly conceals the Truth. (2:147) This is a definite Truth from your Lord; be not, then, among the doubters.

Notes

146. This is the injunction concerning the change in the direction of Prayer and was revealed in Rajab or Sha'ban. 2 A.H. According to a Tradition in the Tabaqat of Ibn Sa'd, the Prophet was at the house of Bishr b. Bara'b. Ma'rur where he had been invited to a meal. When the time of zuhr prayer came, the Prophet rose to lead it. He had completed two rak'ahs and was in the third when this verse was suddenly revealed. Soon after the revelation of this verse everybody, following the leadership of the Prophet, turned the direction of Prayer away from Jerusalem to the Ka'bah. A public proclamation of the new order was then made throughout Madina and in the suburbs. Bara' b. 'Azib says that at one place the announcement was heard by people while they were in the state of ruku' (kneeling). On bearing this order they immediately turned their faces towards the Ka'bah. Anas b. Malik says that the news of the announcement reached Banu Salamah the next day while the morning Prayer was in progress. People had completed one rak'ah when they heard the announcement about the change of direction and the entire congregation immediately faced the new qiblah. (See Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat, vol. 1, pp. 241 f. - Ed.)

It ought to be noted that Jerusalem is to the north of Madina while the Ka'bah is to the south. In order to change direction during congregational Prayer it would have been necessary for the leader of the Prayer to walk several steps beyond what was originally the last row of worshippers. The people in the congregation, too, would have been forced not only to make a right about-turn but also to walk a little to straighten their rows. We find specific mention of this in certain Traditions.

The words, 'We see you oft turning your face to the heaven', and 'Now We are turning your face to the direction that shall satisfy you', show clearly that even before the revelation of this injunction the Prophet was expecting something of this nature. He had begun to feel, with the termination of the era of Israelite leadership, that the time had come for the central position of Jerusalem to cease and a return to the original centre of the Abrahamic mission to commence.

The 'Holy Mosque' refers to the sanctuary invested with holiness and sanctity; the sanctuary in the centre of which the Ka'bah is located.

To turn one's face in the direction of the Ka'bah does not mean that wherever a man might be he should turn to the Ka'bah with absolute accuracy. It would obviously be extremely difficult for everyone to comply with such an order. Hence the order is to turn one's face in the direction of the Ka'bah rather than to the Ka'bah itself. According to the Qur'an, we are required to find out the direction of the Ka'bah as accurately as possible. We are not required, however, to locate it with absolute precision. We may pray in the direction which appears correct as a result of our enquiry. However, if a man is either at a place where it is difficult to determine the direction of the Ka'bah or if he is in a position where it is difficult to maintain the correct direction (e.g. when travelling on a train, a boat, or an aeroplane), he may pray in the direction which seems correct, or in whatever direction it is possible for him to face. If he then comes to know the correct direction while he is in the state of Prayer he should turn his face in that direction.

147. The purpose of this verse is to ask the Prophet not to be disturbed by the controversy and remonstrance to which some people had resorted as a result of this change in the direction of Prayer. It was difficult to convince those people by argument, since they suffered from prejudices and intransigence and were unwilling to abandon their traditional qiblah. It was also impossible for the matter to be resolved by adopting the qiblah of any of the contending groups; there were various groups and they were not agreed in respect of the qiblah. If the qiblah of one group had been adopted this would have satisfied only that group. As for the rest, their remonstrating would persist. Furthermore, and more basic in this connection, was the fact that as a Prophet Muhammad ought neither to be concerned to please people, nor haggle with them in order to arrive at compromised solutions. On the contrary, the mission of a Prophet is to adhere firmly, to the knowledge vouchsafed to him by God regardless of all opposition. To deviate from that knowledge to please others is tantamount to offending the prophetic mission and is inconsistent with the gratitude that the Prophet ought to feel for having been favoured with the position of world leadership.

148. 'To recognize something as well as one recognizes one's sons' is an Arabic idiom. It is used with regard to things which one knows without the least shadow of a doubt. The Jewish and Christian scholars were well aware that the Ka'bah had been constructed by Abraham and that Jerusalem had been built by Solomon some thirteen hundred years after that, and that in his time it was made the qiblah. This is an unquestionable historical fact and they knew it to be so.