Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | CHANGE OF DIRECTIONThe earlier decision to declare Jerusalem rather than the Ka`bah as the qiblah wasfor specific educational reasons, as explained in Verse 143: “We appointed the directionof prayer [i.e. the qiblah] which you formerly followed in order that We might distinguishthose who follow the Messenger from those who turn on their heels.”Before Islam, the Arabs revered the Ka`bah and considered it a symbol of theirreligious and cultural heritage and glory. But in order to test their sincerity inaccepting Islam, and ensure that their hearts were totally free of narrow racial ortribal loyalties, God initially instructed the Prophet to command his followers toadopt Jerusalem as the direction they faced in prayer. It was a difficult instruction tocarry out, but it was a crucial test of how much they really understood the nature andthe spirit of their new religion. It was necessary in order to establish how far some ofthose early Muslims were still influenced by pre-Islamic racial and tribal traditions.When the Muslims adopted their new direction, and the Jews had begun to exploitthat situation, fresh divine instructions were received to revert to the Ka`bah as thedirection to face in prayer. The basis for the new decision was, however, made clear.It stemmed from the fact that the Sacred Mosque at Makkah had, in the first instance,been established by Abraham and Ishmael as a monument to pure unadulteratedmonotheism. It was part of the heritage of Islam which had come about, as seenearlier in verses 124-141, in answer to Abraham’s prayer that a Messenger should besent to his descendants, the inhabitants of Makkah, with the pure faith based oncomplete submission to God.That part of the sūrah, giving the background and the circumstances surroundingthe construction of the Ka`bah, provided a fitting introduction to the issue of theqiblah. Changing the qiblah back to the Ka`bah seems the only logical conclusion fromthat discussion of the dispute between the Muslims on the one hand, and the Jews,Christians and polytheist Arabs on the other, concerning Abraham’s covenant withGod and the right to his heritage. That covenant bound Abraham and hisdescendants, from one generation to another, to total submission to God.The construction of the Sacred Mosque at the Ka`bah was carried out by Abrahamand his son Ishmael at God’s specific instruction. It is, therefore, part of the heritagepassed on to their offspring. Muĥammad, a direct descendant of Abraham and abeneficiary of his covenant with God, and his followers, are rightful and natural heirsto that heritage, of which the Ka`bah is an important part. The decision to declare it apermanent qiblah for Islam and the Muslims is the natural one that brings reality,history and feeling together in unison.The decision could not have come sooner. Jewish hostility towards Islam andMuĥammad, despite the temporary declaration of Jerusalem as a qiblah, did notdiminish. They could see that their right to Abraham’s religious legacy was being144