Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 142

The foolish among the people will soon say, "What has turned the Muslims away from their former qiblah?" Say, "The East and the West belong to Allah; He guides whom He wills to a straight path [175]."

[174]
The First Qiblah Was the Ka'bah:

In the context of the change of Qiblah, it should be known that for the entire Muslim Ummah, the first Qiblah was indeed the Ka'bah. When Prophet Adam ؑ built it, it was the Qiblah, and when Prophet Ibrahim ؑ rebuilt it, it was still the Qiblah. However, when Prophet Sulaiman ؑ constructed the Temple of Solomon, at that time the Ark of the Covenant used to rest on the rock, and the Children of Israel would face it in prayer. Gradually, they made it their permanent Qiblah, and since there was no objection from Allah regarding this, it was also considered correct according to the Shari'ah. However, this was only the Qiblah of the Children of Israel, not of the polytheists of Makkah. They used to face the Ka'bah in prayer. Why did the Prophet ﷺ initially make Bayt al-Maqdis the Qiblah? Since the Messenger of Allah ﷺ considered the People of the Book better than the polytheists of Makkah, you ﷺ deemed it appropriate to face Bayt al-Maqdis instead of the Ka'bah, so that there would be a distinction from the Qiblah of the polytheists of Makkah. And this his ﷺ action was also attributed to Allah Himself, as is clear from verse ﴿وَمَا جَعَلْنَا الْقِبْلَةَ الَّتِيْ كُنْتَ عَلَيْهَآ ﴾ [143: 2]. There is no explicit mention in the Qur'an or Hadith of a command for you ﷺ to face or make Bayt al-Maqdis the Qiblah. It is possible that Allah gave you such a command through a subtle revelation (wahy khafi), and it is also possible that you ﷺ, through your own insight, adopted the practice of making Bayt al-Maqdis the Qiblah, and if there is approval (silence) from Allah, then it also holds the status of tacit revelation (wahy taqreeri). In any case, Allah has declared the act of Muslims facing Bayt al-Maqdis in prayer as His own command. Another noteworthy point is that accepting the Qiblah of a nation is, in reality, tantamount to accepting the leadership and imamate of that nation. Therefore, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ initially made Bayt al-Maqdis the Qiblah, one reason was opposition to the polytheists of Makkah due to their polytheism, and another was to test the Muslims. As Allah said: verse ﴿لِنَعْلَمَ مَنْ يَّتَّبِعُ الرَّسُوْلَ﴾, and that test was such that every nation has great devotion to its symbols, and since those who accepted Islam in Makkah were from among the polytheists of Makkah, in reality, it was also a test for them as to how open-heartedly, after accepting Islam, they would leave their ancestral Qiblah (the Ka'bah) and adopt Bayt al-Maqdis as their Qiblah.

Why did the Prophet ﷺ desire to make the Ka'bah the Qiblah after coming to Madinah? After the migration, when you ﷺ reached Madinah, the situation was completely different. A small, independent state of Muslims had come into existence, and now to continue making Bayt al-Maqdis the Qiblah was, mentally, tantamount to accepting the leadership of the Jews. Therefore, now you wished that the true first Qiblah, i.e., the Ka'bah, should be permanently established as the Qiblah of the Muslims, and in this hope, you would often turn your face towards the sky, perhaps at some time Jibreel would descend with such a command. Thus, Bara' bin Azib ؓ says that in Madinah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed facing Bayt al-Maqdis for sixteen or seventeen months, and the people also prayed facing that direction with him, but he ﷺ wished that his Qiblah would be towards the Ka'bah. So one day, you ﷺ prayed the Asr prayer facing the Ka'bah, and the people also prayed in that direction. Then one of them, who had prayed with him ﷺ, passed by another mosque while they were praying. He said, "Allah is my witness, I have just prayed with the Prophet ﷺ facing Makkah (the Ka'bah)." So, in that very state, they turned towards the Ka'bah (Bukhari, Book of Tafsir under the mentioned verse). This very mosque later became famous as Masjid Qiblatain.

Effects of the Change of Qiblah on the People and Objections:

The real meaning of the change of Qiblah was that now the centrality of Bayt al-Maqdis had ended, and for all times to come, the Ka'bah was declared the center of the Muslim Ummah. Now, it was inevitable that this change of Qiblah would have a negative effect on the Jews. Thus, Bara' bin Azib ؓ says that those foolish (narrow-minded) people who objected as to what turned the Muslims away from their former Qiblah were the Jews. [بخاري، كتاب الصلٰوة، باب التوجه نحو القبلة] Thus, the Jews made this incident a basis to create doubts and suspicions in the hearts of weak in faith and less understanding Muslims.

[175] Allah presented the answer to this objection of the Jews in a most beautiful manner: that you ﷺ say to them that the East also belongs to Allah and the West also. When He commanded us to make Bayt al-Maqdis the Qiblah, we accepted it, and now when He made the Ka'bah the Qiblah, we accepted that too, and accepting the command of Allah is the straight path, and He guides whom He wills to this path.