Tafsir of Surah Al-Baqarah - Verse 115

Facing the Qiblah (Direction of the Prayer)

This ruling brought comfort to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions, who were driven out of Makkah and had to depart from the area of Al-Masjid Al-Haram. In Makkah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray in the direction of Bayt Al-Maqdis, while the Ka`bah was between him and the Qiblah. When the Messenger migrated to Al-Madinah, he faced Bayt Al-Maqdis for sixteen or seventeen months, and then Allah directed him to face Al-Ka`bah in prayer. This is why Allah said,

وَلِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّواْ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ

(And to Allah belong the east and the west, so wherever you turn (yourselves or your faces) there is the Face of Allah (and He is High above, over His Throne)).

`Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas said, "The first part of the Qur'an that was abrogated was about the Qiblah. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ migrated to Al-Madinah, which was inhabited by the Jews, he was at first commanded to face Bayt Al-Maqdis. The Jews were happy, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ faced Bayt Al-Maqdis for some ten months. However, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ liked to face the Qiblah of Ibrahim (Al-Ka`bah at Makkah), and he used to look to the sky and supplicate. So Allah revealed,

قَدْ نَرَى تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَآءِ

(Verily, We have seen the turning of your (Muhammad's) face towards the heaven) until,

فَوَلُّواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ

(turn your faces (in prayer) in that direction) (2:144).

The Jews were disturbed by this development and said, `What made them change the direction of the Qiblah that they used to face' Allah revealed,

قُل لّلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ

(Say (O Muhammad ): "To Allah belong both, east and the west") and,

فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّواْ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ

(So wherever you turn (yourselves or your faces) there is the Face of Allah (and He is High above, over His Throne))."

`Ikrimah said that Ibn `Abbas said,

فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّواْ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ

(So wherever you turn (yourselves or your faces) there is the Face of Allah (and He is High above, over His Throne)) means, "Allah's direction is wherever you face, east or west." Mujahid said that,

فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّواْ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ

(So wherever you turn (yourselves or your faces) there is the Face of Allah (and He is High above, over His Throne))

means, "Wherever you may be, you have a Qiblah to face, that is, Al-Ka`bah."

However, it was said that Allah sent down this Ayah before the order to face the Ka`bah. Ibn Jarir said, "Others said that this Ayah was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitting the one praying voluntary prayers to face wherever they wish in the east or west, while traveling, when in fear and when facing the enemy." For instance, Ibn `Umar used to face whatever direction his animal was headed and proclaim that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did the same, explaining the Ayah,

فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّواْ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ

(So wherever you turn (yourselves or your faces) there is the Face of Allah)."

That Hadith was also collected by Muslim, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa'i, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduwyah, and its origin is in the Two Sahihs from Ibn `Umar and `Amr bin Rabi`ah without mentioning the Ayah. In his Sahih, Al-Bukhari recorded that Nafi` said that whenever Ibn `Umar was asked about the prayer during times of fear, he used to describe it and would then say, "When the sense of fear is worse than that, pray while standing, or while riding, whether facing the Qiblah or not." Nafi` then said, "I think Ibn `Umar mentioned that from the Prophet ." It was also said that the Ayah was revealed about those who are unable to find the correct direction of the Qiblah in the dark or due to cloudy skies and, thus, prayed in a direction other than the Qiblah by mistake.

The Qiblah for the People of Al-Madinah is what is between the East and the West

In his Tafsir of this Ayah (2:115), Al-Hafiz Ibn Marduwyah recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«مَا بَيْنَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ قِبْلَةٌ لِأَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ وَأَهْلِ الشَّامِ وَأَهْلِ الْعِرَاق»

(What is between the east and the west is the Qiblah for the people of Al-Madinah, Ash-Sham and `Iraq.)

At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah recorded this Hadith with the wording,

«مَا بَيْنَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ قِبْلَة»

(What is between the east and the west is a Qiblah.)

Ibn Jarir said, "The meaning of Allah's statement;

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

(Surely, Allah is Sufficient (for His creatures' needs), Knowing) is that Allah encompasses all His Creation by providing them with sufficient needs and by His generosity and favor. His statement,

عَلِيمٌ

(Knowing) means He is knowledgeable of their deeds and nothing escapes His watch, nor is He unaware of anything. Rather, His knowledge encompasses everything."

In order to understand these two verses, one should keep in mind three different incidents connected with the three groups hostile to Islam, all of which were, in one way or another, guilty of preventing people from worshipping Allah in mosques and of laying them waste.

(1) When Allah changed the Qiblah قبلہ that is to say, commanded the Muslims to turn towards the Ka'bah کعبہ in their Salah, and not towards the Baytul-Maqdis بیت المقدس --, the Jews raised all kinds of objections to it, and tried to produce in the minds of the Muslims doubts and misgiving which, had they taken root, would have led to the denial of the Holy Prophet g and to the giving up of prescribed Salah, thus laying waste the mosque of the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

(2) The Romans had once invaded Jerusalem, and the ignorant among them had polluted the Baytul-Maqdis, which naturally prevented people from performing Salah in this mosque. The Christians in a way looked upon the Romans as their ancestors; moreover, the humiliation of the Jews was in itself pleasing to them. Thus, in refusing to condemn this misdeed of the Romans, the Christians too were being indirectly responsible for laying waste the mosque.

(3) At the time of the peace of Hudaybiyyah حدیبیہ ، the mushrikin (associators) did not allow the Holy Prophet ﷺ to enter Makkah and to perform the Hajj. So, this group too was guilty of the same sin.

According to the blessed Companion ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، Verse 114 refers to the second of these three incidents -- the commentator Ibn Jarir too accepts this view. But the commentator Ibn Kathir (رح) follows Ibn Zayd ؓ in preferring the third as being the occasion on which this verse was revealed. The Holy Qur'an, however, speaks in general terms of the mosques of Allah" so as to lay down a regular and permanent law, for all the peoples, covering all the possible cases of desecrating mosques and of hindering the "remembrance" (ذکر) of Allah in any way and thus laying them waste -- it denounces those who are capable of such a misdeed as being "unjust" or "cruel", and threatens them with humiliation in this world and dire punishment in the other, for the dignity of a mosque requires that one should enter it in a spirit of lowliness and respect, and with the fear of Allah in one's heart.

The prediction of the Holy Qur'an came true. The groups which had been trying to lay waste the mosques were soon humiliated, and came under the Muslim rule. They are, of course, to meet a dire punishment in the other world for being disbelievers, but the punishment will be all the more severe on account of this additional sin.

The earlier verses have told us how each of these groups claimed to be on the right path. The present verse, in referring to their desecration of mosques, refutes this claim as being a shameless pretension on the part of those whose behaviour itself gives them the lie.

As for Verse 115, let us recall that the idolaters compelled the Holy Prophet ﷺ to migrate from Makkah to Madinah, and thus separated him from the Ka'bah کعبہ (the incident is, of course, known as the Hijrah ھجرہ ). For some sixteen or seventeen months after that, the Muslims had to, under the commandment of Allah, turn towards the Baytul-Maqdis بیت المقدس (at Jerusalem) while offering Salah. But the Holy Prophet ﷺ felt a deep longing for turning towards the Ka'bah, and from time to time he would look upwards, waiting for the Archangel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) to come with a new commandment in this respect. Finally, such a commandment did come, and Allah changed the orientation (Qiblah). Speaking of this modification, the Holy Qur'an says:

قَدْ نَرَ‌ىٰ تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَاءِ ۖ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْ‌ضَاهَا ۚ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ‌ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَ‌امِ ۚ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَ‌هُ ۗ

We do see how you raise your face again and again towards the sky. So, We are going to give you the orientation which you desire. Therefore, turn your face towards the Holy Mosque at Makkah, and all of you too, wheresoever you may be, turn towards it." (2:144)

This new commandment naturally made the Muslims very happy, but the Jews, in their habitual malice, made it an occasion for taunting them and accusing them of going against the way of the earlier prophets.

Thus, there are two facets to Verse 115. On the one hand, it is an answer to the objection raised by the Jews; on the other hand, it brings comfort to the Holy Prophet and to the blessed Companions. The verse points out that had Allah been limited to any one direction, a fixed and permanent orientation would have been necessary for worshipping Him, but that, being infinite and beyond all possible limitations and qualifications, He is the Lord of the East and the West and of all conceivable directions -- He is everywhere, and surrounds everything. Wheresoever a man turns, he shall find Allah "facing" him -- that is to say, ready to accept his prayers and to shower His bounties on him. Consequently, neither does the Baitui-Maqdis بیت المقدس nor the Ka'bah enjoy an inherent or inalienable superiority; either of them can acquire a position of privilege only through divine ordination. All that matters is to obey the commandment of Allah, which alone can make one worthy of receiving His grace. In order to win His pleasure, one has to orient oneself according to what He Himself has determined. If, in spite of being infinite and free from all limitations, Allah has yet fixed a particular orientation, it is because He is Omniscient, and knows what is the best in a certain situation and for a certain people.

Although it is not possible for man to comprehend fully the wisdom which is inherently present in each and every divine commandment, yet the fixing of a definite orientation for Salah has a very obvious raison d'etre. Whichever way one turns, one would, no doubt, find Allah "facing" him; but if one has to choose a direction every time one starts to pray, it would only mean a dispersion of one's attention. And when several men are offering their prayers jointly it would really be odd if each one of them adopts a different orientation. So, a fixed orientation for all helps the individual and the groups both in acquiring the necessary concentration of mind and the sense of a joint purpose.

This explanation satisfactorily dispels the objection often raised by certain antagonists who accuse the Muslims of being the worshippers of the Ka'bah." If, by way of self-justification, they should still assert that they too keep the idols in front of them while meditating or worshipping for the same purpose of attaining a state of concentration, the claim does in no way reinforce their accusation against the Muslims. Moreover, an impartial investigation into the respective attitudes and frames of minds would easily show how genuine the Muslims are in their claim to be worshipping no one but Allah, and how dubious the position of the others is in this respect. Even if we accept the claim that idols or icons are no more than a means to an end, one would, in employing idols as a "support", still he required to produce a relevant injunction from a Shari'ah which has not been abrogated as yet. Today, the Muslims alone possess such a Shari'ah.

Before we proceed, we must sound a note of caution. Verse 115 says that whichever way one turns, one would find "the face of Allah", and that Allah being "All-Embracing" surrounds everything. Wisdom lies in not trying to investigate unnecessarily into the meanings of these or similar statements. For, just as it is not at all possible for a creature to comprehend fully the "Being" (Dhat ذات ) of Allah, it is equally impossible to comprehend the essential reality of the "Attributes" (Sifat صفات). All that man is required to do is to have a general faith in the Realities of the Divine Order - there is no obligation for him to look into the particularities of this sphere which is totally beyond human reach.

Another error into which they fell was to liken God to man. A human being, for instance, cannot be in two places at the same time, and, in consequence, people think that God is also to be found only in some particular place. But God is everywhere. True, He has prescribed a direction for us to face when we worship, but this is a purely organizational requirement for prayer; it does not mean that God is to be found in only one direction and not in any other. Another outcome of this basic misconception of God’s nature is people’s attributing a son to Him. But only those who have needs beget sons, and God is above all such imperfections and limitations. He is complete in Himself. Such beliefs do not stem from God; man has invented them himself.