Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 2 Al-Baqarah, Ayat 148-151

وَلِكُلٍّ وِّجۡهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيۡهَا ​ۚ فَاسۡتَبِقُوا الۡخَيۡرٰتِؕ اَيۡنَ مَا تَكُوۡنُوۡا يَاۡتِ بِكُمُ اللّٰهُ جَمِيۡعًا ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ قَدِيۡرٌ‏ ﴿2:148﴾ وَمِنۡ حَيۡثُ خَرَجۡتَ فَوَلِّ وَجۡهَكَ شَطۡرَ الۡمَسۡجِدِ الۡحَـرَامِؕ وَاِنَّهٗ لَـلۡحَقُّ مِنۡ رَّبِّكَؕ وَمَا اللّٰهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعۡمَلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:149﴾ وَمِنۡ حَيۡثُ خَرَجۡتَ فَوَلِّ وَجۡهَكَ شَطۡرَ الۡمَسۡجِدِ الۡحَـرَامِؕ وَحَيۡثُ مَا كُنۡتُمۡ فَوَلُّوۡا وُجُوۡهَڪُمۡ شَطۡرَهٗ ۙ لِئَلَّا يَكُوۡنَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ حُجَّةٌ اِلَّا الَّذِيۡنَ ظَلَمُوۡا مِنۡهُمۡ فَلَا تَخۡشَوۡهُمۡ وَاخۡشَوۡنِىۡ وَلِاُتِمَّ نِعۡمَتِىۡ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَلَعَلَّكُمۡ تَهۡتَدُوۡنَ ۙ​ۛ‏ ﴿2:150﴾ كَمَآ اَرۡسَلۡنَا فِيۡکُمۡ رَسُوۡلًا مِّنۡکُمۡ يَتۡلُوۡا عَلَيۡكُمۡ اٰيٰتِنَا وَيُزَكِّيۡکُمۡ وَيُعَلِّمُکُمُ الۡكِتٰبَ وَالۡحِکۡمَةَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمۡ مَّا لَمۡ تَكُوۡنُوۡا تَعۡلَمُوۡنَ ؕ​ۛ‏ ﴿2:151﴾

(2:148) Everyone has a direction towards which he turns; so excel one another in good works.149 Allah will bring you all together wherever you might be, for nothing is beyond His power. (2:149) From wheresoever you might come forth turn your face towards the Holy Mosque; for that indeed is the Truth from your Lord, and Allah is not heedless of what you do. (2:150) From wheresoever you come forth turn your faces towards the Holy Mosque, and wheresoever you may be, turn your faces towards it in Prayer so that none may have an argument against you,150 unless they be those immersed in wrong-doing. Do not fear them, but fear only Me so that I may complete My favour upon you;151 perhaps you will be guided to the Right Way.152 (2:151) Just as when We sent among you a Messenger of yourselves, who recites to you Our Signs, purifies your lives, instructs you in the Book and in Wisdom, and instructs you what you did not know.

Notes

149. There is a subtle gap between this sentence and the next, a gap which the reader can fill with just a little reflection. The idea conveyed here is that anyone who prays will, after all, have to turn his face in some direction. But what is of real significance is not the turning of one's face in some specific direction but one's orientation to righteousness for the sake of which one performs the ritual Prayer. A man's real concern should be moral excellence rather than controversies regarding such formal regulations as the direction of Prayer.

150. The followers of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were asked to follow the order to turn towards the Ka'bah, and to do so strictly, since any lapse in this matter on their part would give their opponents a weapon to use against them in their polemics. They would be able to hold Muslims up to ridicule on the grounds that they had violated what they themselves claimed to be from their Lord.

151. The 'favour' here refers to the position of world leadership and guidance from which God removed the children of israel and which was the conferred upon this ummah. The highest reward that can be granted to a people in recognition of its righteousness is its designation, by God's command, to the leadership of the world in order to guide the entire human race to godliness and righteousness.

What is said here, therefore, is that the command to change the qiblah was a sign of installation of the Muslims to leadership. Hence, the Muslims should follow the directives of God if for no other reason than that ingratitude and disobedience might deprive them of the honour that had been bestowed upon them.

152. '...Perhaps you will be guided to the right way' is indicative here of the regal appropriate for God's address to His creatures. The indication from a soverign, while addressing his slave, that the latter could expect some favour from him is quite enough to make that slave rejoice and celebrate.