Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:148
For each [religious following] is a direction toward which it faces. So race to [all that is] good. Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you forth [for judgement] all together. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.
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 words of the Exalted: وَلِكُلٍّ وِجْهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيهَا (And for everyone there is a direction toward which he turns).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His mention — means by His word "And for everyone": and for every adherent of a religious community (millah). He omitted the words "adherents of the religious community" and contented Himself with the indication that arises from the wording itself. As in:
2274 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He —: "And for everyone there is a direction," he said: for every adherent of a religious community.
2275 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "And for everyone there is a direction toward which he turns": the Jew has a direction toward which he turns, and the Christian has a direction toward which he turns, but Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — has guided you, O community (ummah), to the prayer-direction (qiblah) which is the correct prayer-direction.
2276 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, saying: I said to ʿAṭāʾ concerning His word: "And for everyone there is a direction toward which he turns," he said: for every adherent of a religion, the Jews and the Christians. Ibn Jurayj said: Mujāhid said: for every adherent of a religious community.
2277 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "And for everyone there is a direction toward which he turns," he said: for the Jews there is a prayer-direction, and for the Christians there is a prayer-direction, and for you there is a prayer-direction. He means the Muslims.
2278 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "And for everyone there is a direction toward which he turns," he means thereby the adherents of the religions: he says: for everyone there is a prayer-direction with which they are content, but the Face of Allah — blessed and exalted is His name — is wherever the believers turn. And that is because Allah — exalted is His mention — has said: فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ [Surah Al-Baqarah: 115] (Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing).
2279 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And for everyone there is a direction toward which he turns," he says: for every people there is a prayer-direction toward which they have turned.
* * *
The explanation of the adherents of this view regarding this verse is thus: and for every adherent of a religious community there is a prayer-direction toward which he turns, and toward which he directs his face.
* * *
And others said the following:
2280 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related this to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatādah: "And for everyone there is a direction toward which he turns," he said: that is their prayer in the direction of Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis), and their prayer in the direction of the Kaʿbah.
* * *
And the explanation of the one who proclaims this view is: and for every cardinal direction toward which your Lord has turned you, O Muḥammad, there is a prayer-direction; Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — turns His servants thereto.
* * *
As for "al-wijhah" (the direction): this is a verbal noun (maṣdar), like "al-qiʿdah" (manner of sitting) and "al-mishyah" (manner of walking), derived from "al-tawajjuh" (turning oneself). Its meaning is: that toward which one turns, that toward which one directs his face in his prayer. As in:
2281 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "direction" (wijhah): prayer-direction (qiblah).
2282 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfah related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
2283 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "And for everyone there is a direction," he said: a face (toward which one turns).
2284 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: "direction" (wijhah): prayer-direction (qiblah).
2285 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, saying: I said to Manṣūr: "And for everyone there is a direction toward which he turns," he said: we read it as: "and for everyone We have made a prayer-direction with which they are content."
* * *
As for His word: "toward which he turns" (huwa muwallīhā): he means: he is the one who turns his face thereto and turns himself toward it. As in:
2286 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "toward which he turns," he said: he turns himself thereto.
2287 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfah related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
* * *
The meaning of "al-tawliyah" (the turning) here is "al-iqbāl" (turning toward), as one says to another: "Turn to me" (inṣarif ilayya) in the meaning of: turn yourself toward me. For the common usage of "al-inṣirāf" is the turning away from something, and thereafter one says: "he turned toward something" (inṣarafa ilā al-shayʾ), in the meaning of: he turned himself thereto, while turning himself away from something else. So too one says: "I turned away from him" (wallaytu ʿanhu), when one turns one's back to him. And thereafter one says: "I turned toward him" (wallaytu ilayhi), in the meaning of: I turned myself toward him, while turning myself away from something else.
* * *
And the action — I mean "al-tawliyah" (the turning) — in His word: "toward which he turns" (huwa muwallīhā), belongs to "everyone" (al-kull). And the "he" (huwa) that stands with "muwallīhā" is "everyone" (al-kull), and it is put in the singular form because of the wording of "everyone" (al-kull).
* * *
The meaning of the statement is thus: and for every adherent of a religious community there is a direction; all of them turn their faces thereto.
* * *
And it has been transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās and others that they read it as: "huwa mūlāhā" (he is turned thereto), in the meaning that he is turned toward that direction. In that case "everyone" (al-kull) is the one whose agent is not named. And if its agent were named, then the statement would be: and for every possessor of a religious community there is a direction; Allah is the one who turns him thereto, in the meaning of: the one who turns him thereto.
* * *
And it has been mentioned from some of them that he read this as: "wa-li-kulli wijhatin" (and for every direction), with omission of the nunation (tanwīn) and with the construct annexation (iḍāfah). But that is a linguistic error (laḥn), and it is not permissible to read it thus. For if it is read thus, then the statement would be incomplete, and it would be an utterance without meaning. And that is not admissible as coming from Allah — exalted is His praise.
* * *
The correct view according to us regarding the reading of this is: "wa-li-kullin wijhatun huwa muwallīhā" (and for everyone there is a direction toward which he turns), in the meaning of: and for everyone there is a direction and a prayer-direction; each of them turns his face thereto. This is because of the consensus of the authoritative proof of the Qurʾān-reciters (qurrāʾ) to read it thus and to affirm that reading as correct, and because of the anomalousness (shudhūdh) of whoever deviates from it to something else. And that which has come down to us through transmission in ample and widespread form constitutes a proof, whereas that in which someone stands alone — someone who is liable to slip and error — cannot be a valid objection against the authoritative proof.
* * *
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: فَاسْتَبِقُوا الْخَيْرَاتِ (So compete in good deeds).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His mention — means by His word "so compete" (fa-stabiqū): hasten and be diligent, derived from "al-istibāq," which means hastening and hurrying. As in:
2288 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word: "so compete in good deeds," he says: so hasten in good deeds.
* * *
He means by His word "so compete in good deeds": I have made the truth clear to you, O believers, and I have guided you to the prayer-direction from which the Jews and the Christians and all other adherents of religious communities besides you have strayed. So hasten with good works, in gratitude toward your Lord, and provide for yourselves in your earthly life for your Hereafter, for I have made clear to you the ways of salvation; there is therefore no excuse for you for negligence. And guard your prayer-direction, and do not squander it as the peoples before you squandered theirs, lest you stray as they strayed. As in:
2289 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatādah: "so compete in good deeds," he says: let yourselves surely not be overcome with respect to your prayer-direction.
2290 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "so compete in good deeds," he said: the good works.
* * *
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُوا يَأْتِ بِكُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (148) (Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together. Indeed, Allah is over all things Almighty).
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the meaning of His word: "Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together," is: in whatever place and in whatever region you perish, Allah will bring you all together on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed, Allah is over all things Almighty. As in:
2291 — It was related to me, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together," he says: wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together on the Day of Resurrection.
2291-m — Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together," he means: on the Day of Resurrection.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — has, with this verse, urged the believers to obedience to Him and to providing for themselves in the earthly life for the Hereafter. He — exalted is His praise — said to them: Compete, O believers, in performing works in obedience to your Lord, and in holding fast to that to which He has guided you, namely the prayer-direction of Ibrāhīm, His intimate friend (khalīl), and the legal ordinances of his religion. For Allah — exalted is His mention — will bring you and those who have opposed your religion and your law before you and against you, all together on the Day of Resurrection, from wherever you were on the regions of the earth, until He gives the doer of good among you his reward in full for his good-doing, and the doer of evil his punishment for his evil-doing — or He bestows favor and forgives.
* * *
As for His word: "Indeed, Allah is over all things Almighty": He — exalted is His mention — means: indeed, Allah is able to gather you — after your death — from your graves to Himself, from wherever you were and wherever your graves may be, and to all else that He wills He is Almighty. So hasten, before your spirit departs, with good works, before your death, with a view to the Day of your resurrection and your gathering.
