Tafsir of Surah Al-Baqarah - Verse 145

The Stubbornness and Disbelief of the Jews

Allah describes the Jews' disbelief, stubbornness and defiance of what they know of the truth of Allah's Messenger ﷺ , that if the Prophet brought forward every proof to the truth of what he was sent with, they will never obey him or abandon following their desires. In another instance, Allah said:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ - وَلَوْ جَآءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ ءايَةٍ حَتَّى يَرَوُاْ الْعَذَابَ الاٌّلِيمَ

(Truly, those, against whom the Word (wrath) of your Lord has been justified, will not believe. Even if every sign should come to them, until they see the painful torment.) (10:96, 97)

This is why Allah said here:

وَلَئِنْ أَتَيْتَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَـبَ بِكُلِّ ءَايَةٍ مَّا تَبِعُواْ قِبْلَتَكَ

(And even if you were to bring to the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) all the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), they would not follow your Qiblah (prayer direction)).

Allah's statement:

وَمَآ أَنتَ بِتَابِعٍ قِبْلَتَهُمْ

(...nor are you going to follow their Qiblah ), indicates the vigor with which Allah's Messenger ﷺ implements what Allah commanded him. Allah's statement also indicates that as much as the Jews adhere to their opinions and desires, the Prophet adheres by Allah's commands, obeying Him and following what pleases Him, and that he would never adhere to their desires in any case. Hence, praying towards Bayt Al-Maqdis was not because it was the Qiblah of the Jews, but because Allah had commanded it. Allah then warns those who knowingly defy the truth, because the proof against those who know is stronger than against other people. This is why Allah said to His Messenger and his Ummah:

وَلَئِنِ اتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَآءَهُم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إِنَّكَ إِذَا لَّمِنَ الظَّـلِمِينَ

(Verily, if you follow their desires after that which you have received of knowledge (from Allah), then indeed you will be one of the wrongdoers.)

In continuing the discussion on the subject of the Qiblah قبلہ ، or the divinely-ordained orientation, the present verse provides yet another instance of the maliciousness of the People of the Book اھل کتاب . It is not that they demand solid and convincing arguments in order to be able to accept the new injunction with regard to the Qiblah قبلہ : it is sheer stubbornness which does not allow them to give their assent, and no proof in the world, declares the Holy Qur'an, is ever going to satisfy them. In fact, their two groups display an equal malice even towards each other - the Jews have adopted the Baytul-Maqdis as their Qiblah قبلہ ، while the Christians have chosen the East, and each group rejects the Qiblah of the other. On the other hand, the Holy Prophet , cannot accept either of these two orientations, for the new Qiblah قبلہ of the Muslims - the Baytullah بیت اللہ - has been instituted by a divine commandment, and is never going to be abrogated. So, there is no likelihood of an agreement between the People of the Book and the Muslims in this matter. The Baytul-Maqdis بیت المقدس ، no doubt, had once been instituted by a divine commandment, but that commandment has now been abrogated. Anyone who follows an abrogated injunction, and ignores the new in-junction which has replaced the earlier one, is actually disobeying Allah, and acting upon his individual opinion and personal desire. Naturally, it is impossible for the Holy Prophet g to follow the desires of the People of the Book. But, supposing for the sake of supposition, were he to do so even after having received a definite injunction through the Wahy وحی (Revelation), he would be counted among the unjust - that is, among those who disobey divine commandments. Such a situation, however, can never arise. Being a prophet, he is essentially sin-less, and as such cannot possibly be among the unjust. From this principle it logically follows that it is impossible for him to favour the desires of the People of the Book, and to accept their Qiblah قبلہ as his own.

Let us make it quite clear that this warning is outwardly addressed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، but is, in fact, intended for his Ummah, which is being asked to realize fully the gravity of the sin of ignoring or disobeying the injunction which has finally established the Baytullah بیت اللہ as the Qiblah قبلہ of the Muslims.

As for the phrase, وما انت بتبع : "You are not to follow their Qiblah قبلہ ", it is meant to declare that the Baytullah بیت اللہ shall now stay as the Qiblah قبلہ upto the end of the world. Thus, the declaration refutes the scoffing allegation of the People of the Book that there was no stability in the Islamic injunctions, and that the Muslims might again adopt the Baytul-Maqdis بیت المقدس as their Qiblah قبلہ . (Al-Bahr al-Muhit)

Not until the Prophet Muhammad received divine revelation on a particular matter, did he change the pattern of previous prophets. Faithful to this principle, he initially made Jerusalem his prayer direction, or the qiblah, for prophets since the time of Solomon had prayed in that direction. The coming of Islam signalled the removal of the Jews from their position as torch-bearers of the true faith. The true faith had also to be separated and made distinct from Jewish tradition, so that it could appear in a new and unmistakably pure form. For this reason the Prophet eagerly awaited instructions to change the qiblah. In the second year after his emigration to Madinah, he received the commandment. The prophets who hailed from among the Jewish people had been informed that one day God would alter the qiblah, and they had passed the knowledge on to the Jews. It was something, therefore, that Jewish theologians should have expected. Yet only a few of them, such as ‘Abdullah ibn Salam and Mukhairiq, confirmed the authenticity of this commandment and acknowledged that God had revealed the truth through the Prophet Muhammad. The reason for the majority’s refusal to follow the Prophet was the fact that they were used to behave as they wished. They had certain romantic notions about the special position occupied by their own people, and they had made these the bedrock of their life and creed. Those who give free rein to their own desires will never follow the path of reason. In their perversity, they want the kind of satisfaction from the denial of God’s signs, which God would have wished them to derive from their acceptance.