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Tue 13 Jumada Al Akhira 1445AH 26-12-2023AD at 7:05 am #90740
Tafseer ul Qur’aan
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Juz 2-Surah Al Baqarah-149-150
وَمِنْ حَيْثُ خَرَجْتَ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَـرَامِ ۗ وَاِ نَّهٗ لَـلْحَقُّ مِنْ رَّبِّكَ ۗ وَمَا اللّٰهُ بِغَا فِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُوْنَ(149)وَمِنْ حَيْثُ خَرَجْتَ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَـرَامِ ۗ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنْتُمْ فَوَلُّوْا وُجُوْهَكُمْ شَطْرَهٗ ۙ لِئَلَّا يَكُوْنَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ اِلَّا الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْا مِنْهُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَا خْشَوْنِيْ وَلِاُ تِمَّ نِعْمَتِيْ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُوْنَ
💡”So from wherever you go out [for prayer, O Muhammad] turn your face toward al- Masjid al-Haram, and indeed, it is the truth from your Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.” “And from wherever you go out [for prayer], turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram. And wherever you [believers] may be, turn your faces toward it[1] so that the people will not have any argument against you,[2] except for those of them who commit wrong;[3] so don’t fear them fear Me.[4] And [it is] so I may complete My favor upon you and that you may be guided.”[5]
📍 [1] The verse Opens by explaining that wherever a person travels, he should turn towards the Masjidul Haram in Salah. This instruction is from Allah who is cognisant of every action. Thereafter Allah repeats the instruction addressing the Muslims in general to face towards the Masjidul Haram in Salah wherever they may be. From the verse, Verily We see you frequently lifting your gaze towards the heaven’ upto the current verse under discussion, the instruction to “turn your face towards the direction of the sacred mosque (Masjid)” is repeated thrice. The command of “wherever you may be turn your faces towards it” recurs twice. This repetition is due to the fact that the change of Qibla was a highly controversial issue causing much commoticn, due to which some weak Muslims even turned apostate.
Therefore, the command to face the Masjidul Haram had to be emphasised. This emphasis is also highlighted by the frequent mention of statements like “Verily this is the truth from your Lord”. Some comraentators have stated that the repetition refers to the facing towards the Masjidul Haram while at home or during a journey. The verse “Wherever you may go” is repeated so that it may be clear that one should face towards the Masjidul Haram irrespective of the journey being near or distant; eastwards, westwards, northwards or southwards. In all situations a person should only face towards the Masjidul Haram when performing Salah.
📍 [2] “so that people may not entertain an argument against you’ The commentator Allama Baydawi رحمه الله, writes that this verse provides the reason for the verse, ‘so turn your faces towards it’ This means that after the change of Qibla, the Jews could no longer entertain the argument that their scriptures mention that the final prophet will face towards the Ka’ba; why does the Holy Prophet ﷺ; face Baitul Muqaddas? Another argument of theirs was that the Holy Prophet ﷺ did not conform to their religion yet he faced their Qibla. Both these arguraents were put to an end when the Ka’ba was made the Qibla of the Muslims in a like manner, the complaint of the idolaters was also appeased. They often questioned that if the Holy Prophet , ﷺ claimed to follow Ibrahim عَلَيْهِ سْلَامْ, why was he not facing the Qibla of Sayyidina Ibrahim عَلَيْهِ سْلَامْ Therefore the word “people” in the above verse refers to both, the Jews and the idolaters.
📍 [3] “except for those of the who commit wrong” With the establishment of the Ka’ba as Qibla, the objections raised were all answered. Only those who were obstinate and oppressive were not satisfied since they were not prepared to accept the truth, An example were those stubborn Jews who said that the Ka’ba was merely chosen because the Holy Prophet ﷺ was inclined towards the beliefs of his people (the Arabs), and due to his love for his birth place. Some said that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has reverted to the Qibla of his forefathers but will soon turn back to Baitul Muqaddas. The tongues of such obstinate people can never be harnessed because they keep creating counter objections.
📍 [4] (So fear them not), because their argument is invalid, and what is invalid is always defeated, as is its proponent. This is unlike the proponent of the truth, for truth always gains the upper hand and prevails; it is the one who has truth on his side who ought to be feared. Allah decreed that He should be feared, and this fear is the foundation of all good. The one who does not fear Allah will not refrain from disobeying Him, and he will not obey His commands.
The Muslims’ turning to face towards the Kaaba is a matter that resulted in a great deal of confusion, that was promoted by the People of the Book, the hypocrites and the polytheists. They spoke a great deal about it and presented specious arguments. Hence Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) explained the matter fully, clarified it and reiterated it in various ways, including this verse.
• He enjoined it three times, although saying it once would have been sufficient.
• Commands were usually either addressed to the Messenger (ﷺ) , and the Ummah was included in that, by implication, or they were addressed to the Ummah in general. But in this verse, the command is addressed to the Messenger (ﷺ) in particular: (turn your face), and then to the Ummah in general: (turn your faces).
• Allah refuted all the false arguments that were presented by the stubborn people, addressing them one by one, as explained above.
• He put an end to hope on the part of the People of the Book that the Messenger (ﷺ) would follow the qibla of the People of the Book.
• Allah says: (that is indeed the truth from your Lord). The mere fact that this is a statement from Almighty Allah is sufficient, yet He emphasised it (by saying wa innahu, translated here as (that is indeed).
📍 [5] “That I may fulfill My favour upon you and you be rightly guided” ie. I have instructed you so that I may complete My bounties upon you and that I may keep you steadfast upon the true guidance. [Baydawi]
(and that you may be guided)that is, that you may leam the truth and act upon it. By His mercy towards His slaves, Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) has made the means of guidance very easy for them and has described it very clearly to them; as part of that, He uses the stubborn people who argue against the truth, and thus the truth becomes more manifest and its signs become clearer, and the invalidity of falsehood and the lack of any foundation become apparent. Were it not for falsehood opposing truth, truth would not be clear to most people. Things become clearer when contrasted with their opposites. Were it not for the night, the virtue of the day would not be known; were it not for ugliness, the virtue of beauty would not be known; were it not for darkness, the benefit of light would not be known. Were it not for falsehood, truth would not become so clear. Praise be to Allah for that.
اَلـلّٰـهُ أَعْلَمْ
اَلْحَمْدُ لِـلّٰـهِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ
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