Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:144
We have certainly seen the turning of your face, [O Muhammad], toward the heaven, and We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram. And wherever you [believers] are, turn your faces toward it [in prayer]. Indeed, those who have been given the Scripture well know that it is the truth from their Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what they do.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
## The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: قَدْ نَرَى تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَاءِ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَاهَا فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ
(Indeed, We see the turning of your face toward the heaven; and We will surely turn you to a prayer direction (qiblah) that pleases you. So turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque — al-Masjid al-Ḥarām.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: by this He means, exalted is His praise: Indeed, We see, O Muḥammad — We — how you turn your face toward the heaven.
* * *
By "the turning" (al-taqallub) He means: the turning about and the directing.
And by His saying "toward the heaven" He means: in the direction of the heaven and toward its side.
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This was said to him — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — according to what has reached us, because before the change of his qiblah from Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis) to the Kaʿba he used to raise his gaze toward the heaven, awaiting the command of Allah, exalted is His praise, to turn toward the Kaʿba. As:
2230 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying "Indeed, We see the turning of your face toward the heaven", he said: he — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — used to turn his face toward the heaven, desiring that Allah, mighty and exalted, would turn him toward the Kaʿba, until Allah turned him toward it.
2231 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying "Indeed, We see the turning of your face toward the heaven": the Prophet of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — used to pray in the direction of Jerusalem, while he desired and longed for the qiblah in the direction of the Sacred House. Then Allah, exalted is His praise, turned him toward a qiblah for which he desired and longed.
2232 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to me, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His saying "Indeed, We see the turning of your face toward the heaven", he says: your gaze toward the heaven. The Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — used to turn his face during the prayer while he prayed in the direction of Jerusalem, and he longed for the qiblah of the Sacred House. Then Allah turned him toward a qiblah for which he longed.
2233 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: the people used to pray in the direction of Jerusalem. When the Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — reached the city of Medina after eighteen months of his hijra, when he prayed he would raise his head toward the heaven, looking for what he would be commanded, and he prayed in the direction of Jerusalem. Then the Kaʿba abrogated it [as qiblah]. The Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — wished to pray in the direction of the Kaʿba, and so Allah, exalted is His praise, revealed: "Indeed, We see the turning of your face toward the heaven" — the entire verse.
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Then they differed concerning the reason why he — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — longed for the qiblah of the Kaʿba.
Some said: he disliked the qiblah of Jerusalem because the Jews said: "He follows our qiblah but differs from us in our religion!"
* Mention of who said this:
2234 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the Jews said: "Muḥammad differs from us, yet he follows our qiblah!" So he used to call upon Allah, exalted is His praise, and supplicate Him to make the [new] qiblah obligatory. Then there was revealed: "Indeed, We see the turning of your face toward the heaven; and We will surely turn you to a prayer direction that pleases you. So turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque" — and the saying of the Jews "he differs from us yet follows our qiblah!" ceased — during the noon prayer (ṣalāt al-ẓuhr). Then he placed the men in the place of the women and the women in the place of the men.
2235 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: I heard him — namely Ibn Zayd — say: Allah, exalted is His remembrance, said to His Prophet Muḥammad — may Allah bless him and grant him peace: فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ (Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah). He said: then the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — said: "This people of the Jews directs itself toward one of the houses of Allah — namely Jerusalem — if only we too directed ourselves toward it!" So the Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — directed himself toward it for sixteen months. Then it reached him that the Jews said: "By Allah, Muḥammad and his companions did not know where their qiblah was, until we guided them to it!" This the Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — disliked, and he raised his face toward the heaven. Then Allah, exalted is His praise, said: "Indeed, We see the turning of your face toward the heaven; and We will surely turn you to a prayer direction that pleases you. So turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque" — the entire verse.
* * *
Others said: no, he longed for it because it was the qiblah of his father Ibrāhīm — peace be upon him.
* Mention of who said this:
2236 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: when the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — emigrated to Medina, most of whose inhabitants were Jews, Allah, mighty and exalted, commanded him to direct himself toward Jerusalem. The Jews rejoiced at that. The Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — directed himself toward it for sixteen months, but the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — loved the qiblah of Ibrāhīm, and used to supplicate and look toward the heaven. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed: "Indeed, We see the turning of your face toward the heaven" — the entire verse.
* * *
As for His saying "and We will surely turn you to a prayer direction that pleases you": this means: We will surely turn you away from Jerusalem toward a qiblah "that pleases you", for which you long and which you love.
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As for His saying "so turn your face": this means: turn your face and change its direction.
* * *
And His saying "in the direction of the Sacred Mosque": by "al-shaṭr" He means: the side, the aim, and the facing direction, as al-Hudhalī said:
> Indeed, al-ʿasīr bears an ailment that penetrates her within, > and toward her direction the gaze of both eyes is weakened and exhausted.
By his saying "toward her direction" (shaṭrahā) he means: toward her. And as Ibn Aḥmar said:
> She bears us in the direction of Jamʿ, while she has curved [her tail], > and the curving, through her hastening, has nearly reached the belly-girth.
* * *
And in agreement with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said this:
2237 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: "in the direction of the Sacred Mosque" means: facing it.
2238 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "in the direction of the Sacred Mosque" means: toward it.
2239 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying "so turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque": toward it.
2240 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
2241 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda: "so turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque", that is to say: facing the Sacred Mosque.
2242 — Al-Ḥusayn ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying "so turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque", he said: toward the Sacred Mosque.
2243 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "so turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque", that is to say: facing it.
2244 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, he said: Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAmr ibn Dīnār informed me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: "in its direction" (shaṭrahu): toward it.
2245 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: al-Ḥimmānī related to us, he said: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Barāʾ: فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ (so turn your faces in its direction), he said: in its direction.
2246 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said: "in its direction" (shaṭrahu): its side, its quarter. He said: and its sides are "shuṭūruhu".
* * *
Then they differed concerning the precise location of the Sacred Mosque toward which Allah commanded His Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — to turn his face.
Some said: the qiblah toward which the Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — was turned, and which Allah, exalted is His remembrance, intended by His saying "and We will surely turn you to a prayer direction that pleases you", is facing the water-spout (mīzāb) of the Kaʿba.
* Mention of who said this:
2247 — ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ziyād related to me, he said: ʿUthmān related to us, he said: Shuʿba informed us, on the authority of Yaʿlā ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Qamṭa, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr: "and We will surely turn you to a prayer direction that pleases you": facing the water-spout of the Kaʿba.
2248 — And al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Yaʿlā ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Qamṭa, he said: I saw ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr sitting in the Sacred Mosque facing the water-spout, and he recited this verse: "and We will surely turn you to a prayer direction that pleases you". He said: this is the qiblah, this is the qiblah.
2249 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Hushaym related to us — with his isnād on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, in a similar manner — except that he said: he directed himself toward the water-spout and said: this is the qiblah which Allah said to His Prophet: "and We will surely turn you to a prayer direction that pleases you".
* * *
Others said: no, that entire House is a qiblah, and the qiblah of the House is the door.
* Mention of who said this:
2250 — Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: the entire House is a qiblah, and this is the qiblah of the House — namely the side in which the door is located.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: the correct ruling concerning this, in my view, is what Allah, exalted is His praise, said: "so turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque". Whoever turns his face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque is the one who has correctly faced the qiblah. It suffices for the one who directs himself toward it that he have the intention in his heart that he is directing himself toward it — just as the one who follows an imam is only obliged to follow him, even if his body is not directly in line with that of the imam, and even if he stands at one end of the row while the imam is at the other end, to his right or to his left, provided he is behind him, following him, and praying in the direction in which the imam prays. So too is the ruling of the qiblah: even if not every person praying and directing himself toward it stands with his body directly in line with it, he nevertheless directs himself toward it. When he is to the right or to the left of it, facing it, then he directs himself [validly] toward it, whether the distance between him and it be great or small, provided that he — to the right or to the left of it — does not turn his back to it and does not turn his body and face away from it. As:
2251 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, he said: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿUmayra ibn Ziyād al-Kindī, on the authority of ʿAlī: "so turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque", he said: in its direction, toward it.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: and the qiblah of the House is its door. As:
2252 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm and al-Faḍl ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ both related to me, they said: Hushaym related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Malik informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: Usāma ibn Zayd said: I saw the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — when he came out of the House, turn his face toward the door, and he said: this is the qiblah, this is the qiblah.
2253 — Ibn Ḥumayd and Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ both related to us, they said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sulaymān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: Usāma ibn Zayd related to me, he said: the Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — came out of the House and performed two prayer-cycles (rakʿatayn), with his face directed toward the Kaʿba, and he said: this is the qiblah — twice.
2254 — Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Usāma ibn Zayd, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — in a similar manner.
2255 — Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā al-Umawī related to us, he said: my father related to us, he said: Ibn Jurayj related to us, he said: I said to ʿAṭāʾ: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās say: "You have only been commanded the circumambulation (ṭawāf), and you have not been commanded to enter it [the House]." He said: he did not forbid entering it, but I heard him say: Usāma ibn Zayd informed me that the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — when he entered the House, supplicated in all its corners and did not pray until he went out; and when he went out, he performed two prayer-cycles facing the qiblah, and said: this is the qiblah.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: thus he — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — reported that the House is the qiblah, and that the qiblah of the House is its door.
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## The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَحَيْثُمَا كُنْتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ
(And wherever you are, turn your faces in its direction.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by this: wherever you may be upon the earth, O believers, turn your faces in your prayer in the direction of the Sacred Mosque and facing it.
And the "hāʾ" (the suffix "-hu") in "in its direction" (shaṭrahu) refers to the Sacred Mosque.
By this verse He, exalted is His praise, has imposed upon the believers the obligation to direct themselves in their prayer toward the Sacred Mosque, wherever they may be upon the earth of Allah, blessed and exalted is He.
And the "fāʾ" was inserted in His saying "turn then" as the answer to the condition. That is because His saying "wherever you are" is a condition, and the meaning is: wherever you may be, turn then your faces in its direction.
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## The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ
(And indeed, those who were given the Book know for certain that it is the truth from their Lord.)
By His saying, exalted is His praise, "and indeed, those who were given the Book", He means: the rabbis (aḥbār) of the Jews and the scholars of the Christians.
* * *
It has also been said: by this the Jews specifically were meant.
* Mention of who said this:
2256 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and indeed, those who were given the Book", this was revealed concerning the Jews.
* * *
And His saying "know for certain that it is the truth from their Lord" means: these rabbis and scholars of the People of the Book know that directing oneself toward the [Sacred] Mosque is the truth, which Allah, mighty and exalted, made obligatory upon Ibrāhīm, his progeny, and all His servants after him.
* * *
And by His saying "from their Lord" He means that it is the binding obligation upon the servants of Allah, exalted is His remembrance, and that it is the truth from their Lord, which He made obligatory upon them.
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## The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ (144)
(And Allah is not unaware of what they do.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: by this He means, blessed and exalted is He: Allah is not unaware of what you do, O believers, in your following of His command and your perseverance in obedience to Him in the obligations He has imposed upon you, and your faith in Him during your prayer in the direction of Jerusalem, and afterward your prayer in the direction of the Sacred Mosque. Nor is He forgetful of that, but He, exalted is His praise, records it for you and preserves it for you with Himself, until He will reward you for it with the best reward and recompense you for it with the most excellent recompense.
