Transliteration:( Sayaqoolus sufahaaa'u minan naasi maa wallaahum 'an Qiblatihimul latee kaanoo 'alaihaa; qul lillaahil mashriqu walmaghrib; yahdee mai yashaaa'u ilaa Siraatim Mustaqeem )
285. This verse is revealed regarding the Yahud, or the idolaters or the hypocrites all of whom were wagging their tongues, about the change of Qibla by the Holy Prophetbecause they were not inclined to accept this change. The previous revealed Books had mentioned the Holy Prophet as the Prophet of two Qiblas, hence this change in Qiblas actually serves as a proof of his Prophethood. But the malicious Yahud in conjunction with the idolaters tried to belie the Holy Prophet.
286. It should be remembered that at all times pilgrimage was performed at the Holy Ka'bah. never at Baitul Muqaddas in Jerusalem. From the time of Adam up to Musa the Ka'bah was the Qibla (direction), while it had changed Baitul Muqaddasfrom Musa عليه السلام to Isa عليه السلام. During the early history of Islam, Jerusalem was still the Qibla. Then one year and five and a half months after Hijra the command to change the Qibla came in the Zohr Salaah in Masjid Qiblatain on the 25th day of Ramadaan 2AH. Allah Almighty has in this verse expressed the objections and its reply i.e. to make both the objection and the objectors look foolish.
287. The Yahud objected to the Muslims changing their direction from Jerusalem to the Ka'bah in Makkah. From this we learn that any person who raises unnecessary objections without understanding the wisdom behind it, is really a fool, even though he may be very cunning in worldly matters.
288. The Muslim reply to this objection was we do not worship East or West, to remain stubborn in facing any directions. We worship Allah and face any direction in Salaah commanded by Him.
The tafsir of Surah Baqarah verse 141 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Baqarah ayat 139 which provides the complete commentary from verse 139 through 141.
(2:142) The block-headed will say: “What has turned them away from the direction they formerly observed in Prayer?”[142] Say: “To Allah belong the East and the West; He guides whomsoever He wills onto a Straight Way.”[143]
142. After his migration to Madina the Prophet continued to pray in the direction of Jerusalem for between sixteen and seventeen months. Subsequently, he received the order to pray in the direction of the Ka’bah. See (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 144).
143. This is the first answer to the objections of these ignorant people. Their narrow minds and limited vision led them to undue attachment to such formalities as the direction and locale of Prayer. They presumably conceived God to be confined to a particular direction. In reply to their absurd objection the first thing which was explained was that all directions belong to God. Fixing any particular direction for Prayer does not mean that God is confined to that direction. All those who have been favoured with God’s true guidance rise above such limitations of outlook so that it is easy for them to grasp the universal verities of religion. See also (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 115) note 115, 116.
[50]- The direction faced in prayer. [51]- Prior to the command (in verse 144) that the Prophet (ﷺ) and his followers turn toward the Kaʿbah in Makkah for prayer, they had been facing Jerusalem to the north. The implications of this change are mentioned in succeeding verses.
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