Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | CHANGE OF DIRECTIONoutlook on life, its concerns and aims, and its identity.Muslims today, more than at any other time in their history, need to assert theiridentity. They need to set themselves apart in the world, which is suffering under thetyranny of false religions, oppressive and arrogant ideologies, flawed political andeconomic systems and heedless leadership. They have to offer new and effectiveremedies to save mankind and fulfil God’s will, so that the world will acknowledgetheir community as the central and righteous nation commissioned by God to carryHis message to all mankind.Islam is a complete way of life. Through Islam, Muslims become fit to inheritGod’s trust and the leadership of mankind, and to stand witness before God for allhumanity. But it is only when they adhere faithfully to Islam that they take on theirdistinctive and unique features and qualities. Without it they lose their way; andtheir influence and status in the world diminish and evaporate.We will now look at the passage in more detail.A Middle Community and a Pure FaithThe weak-minded among people will say, ‘What has turned them away from thedirection of prayer which they have so far observed?’ Say, ‘To God belong the east andthe west. He guides whomever He wills to a straight path.’ Thus We have made youthe community [ummah] of the middle way, so that you may stand witness against therest of mankind, and the Messenger shall be a witness against you. We appointed thedirection of prayer which you formerly followed in order that We might distinguishthose who follow the Messenger from those who turn on their heels. It was indeed ahard test except for those whom God has guided. God would never have let your faithbe in vain. God is Compassionate and Merciful to mankind. (Verses 142-143)It is clear from the course of the discussion that ‘the weak-minded’ is a reference tothe Jews of Madinah. They were the ones who stirred up the controversy about thechange of qiblah from Jerusalem to Makkah, and questioned its validity and thewisdom behind it.Al-Barā’ ibn `Āzib reported: “When the Prophet first arrived in Madinah, hestayed at his grandparents [or maybe he said at his maternal uncles] of the Anşār. 1The Prophet used to pray facing Jerusalem for the first sixteen or seventeen months,though he would have preferred to face the Ka`bah. The first prayer he offered1 It is well known that the Prophet stayed at the home of Khālid ibn Zayd, better known as AbūAyyūb al-Anşārī, who belonged to al-Najjār clan, to whom belonged the Prophet’s maternalgrandmother. According to the Arabian usage, all men of this clan are considered maternal uncles ofthe Prophet by virtue of his grandfather’s marriage to one of its women — Editor’s notes.147