Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:150
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 in order that the people will not have any argument against you, except for those of them who commit wrong; so fear them not but fear Me. And [it is] so I may complete My favor upon you and that you may be guided.
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement, exalted be His remembrance: وَمِنْ حَيْثُ خَرَجْتَ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَحَيْثُمَا كُنْتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ
(And from wherever you set out, turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque; and wherever you are, turn your faces toward it.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His statement, exalted be His remembrance: "And from wherever you set out, turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque," He means: from whatever place or region you depart and set out, O Muḥammad, turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque, for that is its direction (shaṭr).
And by His statement: "And wherever you are, turn your faces toward it," He means: and wherever you are, O believers, on whatever part of Allah's earth, turn your faces in your prayer (ṣalāh) toward it, in its direction and with it as your goal.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, exalted: لِئَلا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ إِلا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ فَلا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِي
(So that the people may have no argument against you, except those among them who do wrong; so do not fear them, but fear Me.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: A group of the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) said: Allah, exalted be He, meant by "the people" in His statement "so that the people may have no argument" the People of the Book (ahl al-kitāb).
* Mention of who said that:
2292 – Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "so that the people may have no argument against you," by which He means the People of the Book. They said — when the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was directed toward the Kaʿba, the Sacred House —: "The man longs for the house of his father and the religion of his people!"
2293 – 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 statement: "so that the people may have no argument against you," by which He means the People of the Book. They said — when the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was directed toward the Kaʿba —: "The man longs for the house of his father and the religion of his people!"
* * *
If someone were to ask: What argument (ḥujja) did the People of the Book then have against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions on account of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions toward Jerusalem (bayt al-maqdis)?
Then it is answered: We have already mentioned earlier what has been transmitted concerning that. It was said: they namely said: "Muḥammad and his Companions did not know where their prayer direction (qibla) was until we guided them!" And their statement: "Muḥammad differs from us in our religion, yet follows our prayer direction!" That, then, was the argument with which they argued against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions, by way of disputation on their part against them, and as a deception thereby toward the ignorant and the foolish among the polytheists (mushrikīn).
We have already explained earlier that the meaning of the disputing of that people with him, which Allah, exalted be His remembrance, has mentioned in His Book, concerns only the disputations and the wrangling. Allah, exalted be His praise, cut off and uprooted that argument of theirs by turning the prayer direction of His Prophet ﷺ and of the believers in him away from the prayer direction of the Jews to the prayer direction of His intimate friend Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him. And that is the meaning of Allah's statement, exalted be His praise: "so that the people may have no argument against you," by which He means by "the people" those who argued with them in the manner I have described.
* * *
As for His statement "except those among them who do wrong": those are the polytheists of the Arabs from Quraysh, according to the explanation of the exegetes.
* Mention of who said that:
2294 – 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: "except those among them who do wrong" — the people of Muḥammad ﷺ.
2295 – Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: They are the polytheists among the inhabitants of Mecca.
2296 – 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: "except those among them who do wrong," by which the polytheists of Quraysh are meant.
2297 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, and from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: "except those among them who do wrong," he said: They are the polytheists of the Arabs.
2298 – Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "except those among them who do wrong," and "those who do wrong" are the polytheists of Quraysh.
2299 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAṭāʾ said: They are the polytheists of Quraysh. Ibn Jurayj said: And ʿAbdallāh ibn Kathīr informed me that he heard Mujāhid say the like of the statement of ʿAṭāʾ.
* * *
If someone were to ask: And what argument did the polytheists of Quraysh have against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions, with regard to their turning toward the Kaʿba in their prayer? And is it permissible that the polytheists should have an argument against the believers — concerning that which Allah commanded them or forbade them?
Then it is answered: The meaning of that is other than what you supposed and toward which you inclined. The "argument" (ḥujja) in this place means precisely the disputation and the wrangling. The meaning of the statement is: so that none of the people may have a disputation against you, nor a false claim, except the polytheists of Quraysh, for they have against you a false claim and a disputation without right, through their statement against you: "Muḥammad has returned to our prayer direction, and he will return to our religion." That, then, of their statement and their false desires, is the "argument" that Quraysh had against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions. And for that reason Allah, exalted be His remembrance, excepted "those who do wrong" from Quraysh from the rest of the people, since He denied that any of them should have an argument with regard to their prayer direction toward which He directed them.
And the like of what we have said concerning that, the exegetes have said.
* Mention of who said that:
2300 – 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 Allah's statement, exalted be His remembrance: "so that the people may have no argument against you, except those among them who do wrong" — the people of Muḥammad ﷺ. Mujāhid said: He means: their argument is their statement: "You have returned to our prayer direction!"
2301 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it — except that he said: their statement: "You have returned to our prayer direction!"
2302 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda and Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: "so that the people may have no argument against you, except those among them who do wrong," both said: They are the polytheists of the Arabs. They said, when the prayer direction was turned toward the Kaʿba: "He has returned to your prayer direction, and it is nearly the case that he will return to your religion!" Allah, mighty and exalted, said: فَلا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِي (So do not fear them, but fear Me).
2303 – Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "except those among them who do wrong," and "those who do wrong" are the polytheists of Quraysh. He says: They will argue against you with that. For their argument against the Prophet of Allah ﷺ — upon his turning toward the Sacred House — was that they said: "He will return to our religion, just as he has returned to our prayer direction!" Then Allah, exalted be His remembrance, revealed all of this concerning it.
2304 – 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, the like of it.
2305 – Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in what he mentions, on the authority of Abū Mālik and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — and on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of some people among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — they said: When the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was directed toward the Kaʿba, after his prayer toward Jerusalem, the polytheists among the inhabitants of Mecca said: "Muḥammad's religion has become confused! Therefore he has turned with his prayer direction toward you, and he has realized that you are better guided on the way than he, and it is nearly the case that he will enter into your religion!" Then Allah, exalted be His praise, revealed concerning them: "so that the people may have no argument against you, except those among them who do wrong; so do not fear them, but fear Me."
2306 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: I said to ʿAṭāʾ concerning His statement: "so that the people may have no argument against you, except those among them who do wrong"; he said: Quraysh said — when he returned to the Kaʿba and was commanded to do so —: "He could not do without us! He has turned toward our prayer direction!" That, then, is their argument, and they are "those who do wrong." Ibn Jurayj said: And ʿAbdallāh ibn Kathīr informed me that he heard Mujāhid say the like of the statement of ʿAṭāʾ; Mujāhid said: their argument is their statement: "You have returned to our prayer direction!"
* * *
The explanation of those whose explanation we have mentioned among the exegetes of His statement "except those among them who do wrong" thus makes clear the correctness of what we have said in the explanation of it, namely that it is an exception according to the meaning of the well-known exception, whereby there is affirmed for them, after the particle of exception, that which was negated of that before it. As in the statement of one who says: "None of the people has traveled, except your brother," which is an affirmation for the brother of the traveling that is negated for every person. Likewise His statement: "so that the people may have no argument against you, except those among them who do wrong": He has denied that anyone should have a disputation or wrangling against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, or a false claim against him and against his Companions, on account of their turning in their prayer toward the Kaʿba — except those who have wronged themselves among Quraysh, for they have against them a disputation and a false claim, in that they say: "You have turned toward us and toward our prayer direction only because we were better guided on the way than you, and because you, with your turning toward Jerusalem, were in error and falsehood."
And since that is the meaning of the verse according to the consensus of the authoritative testimony of the exegetes, the falseness is clear of the statement of him who claimed that the meaning of His statement "except those among them who do wrong" is: "and not those among them who do wrong," and that "illā" (except) has the meaning of "wāw" (and). For if that were its meaning, then the first negation concerning all the people — that they should have an argument against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions with regard to their turning toward the Kaʿba with their faces — would make clear the intended meaning, and there would be in the mention of His statement after it: "except those among them who do wrong" nothing but a confusing obscuration, above which He is exalted that it should be ascribed to Him or that He should be described by it.
This is in addition to the fact that the meaning of the statement — when one directs "illā" toward the meaning of "wāw" and the meaning of conjunction (ʿaṭf) — falls outside the language of the Arabs. That is because "illā" occurs in nothing of their language with the meaning of "wāw," except together with a preceding exception that has preceded it. As in the statement of one who says: "The people traveled, except ʿAmr, except your brother," with the meaning: except ʿAmr and your brother, so that "illā" then conveys that which "wāw" conveys, on account of the connection of the second "illā" with the first "illā." And one also combines therein "illā" and "wāw," saying: "The people traveled, except ʿAmr and except your brother," after which one omits one of the two so that the other takes its place, and one says: "The people traveled, except ʿAmr and your brother" — or: "except ʿAmr, except your brother" — for what we have described earlier.
And since that is so, it is not permissible for any claimant among the people to claim that "illā" in this place has the meaning of the "wāw" that has the meaning of conjunction.
* * *
And clear is the invalidity of the statement of him who claimed that the meaning of it is: "except those among them who do wrong, for they have no argument, so do not fear them." As in the statement of one in speech: "All the people praise you, except the wrongdoer [against you], the transgressor against you," for his transgression is given no consideration, nor his refraining from praising, on account of the position of enmity. And likewise the wrongdoer has no argument, while he is nonetheless named "wrongdoer" — [this is rejected] on account of the consensus of all the exegetes upon declaring false what he claimed in the explanation of it. And as a witness to the falseness of his statement, their consensus upon declaring it false suffices.
* * *
And manifest is the nullity of the statement of him who claimed that "those who do wrong" here are people among the Arabs who were Jews and Christians, and who argued against the Prophet ﷺ, while the rest of the Arabs had no argument, and the argument of whoever argued was broken. For you say to him whose argument you wish to break: "You indeed have an argument against me, but it is broken; and you argue without an argument, and your argument is weak." And he directed the meaning of "except those among them who do wrong" toward the meaning: except those among them who do wrong among the People of the Book, for they have against you a shaky argument or a weak argument.
* * *
And [likewise null is] the weakness of the statement of him who said that "illā" in this place has the meaning of "lākin" (but).
And the weakness of the statement of him who claimed that it is a new beginning (ibtidāʾ) with the meaning: except those among them who do wrong, so do not fear them.
For the explanation of the exegetes has come concerning that with the import that it is from Allah, mighty and exalted, an informing about those among them who do wrong: namely that they argue against the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions with that which we have mentioned; and He did not intend thereby the informing about the quality of their argument as weak or as strong — even though it was weak because it is false — but He intended thereby only the affirmation for those who do wrong of that which He negated concerning those before the particle of exception as to quality.
2307 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, he said: Al-Rabīʿ said: A Jew disputed with Abū al-ʿĀliya and said: "Mūsā, peace be upon him, prayed toward the rock of Jerusalem." Abū al-ʿĀliya said: "He prayed at the rock, toward the Sacred House." He said: The Jew said: "Between me and you is the mosque of Ṣāliḥ, for he hewed it out of the mountain." Abū al-ʿĀliya said: "I have prayed in it, and its prayer direction is toward the Sacred House." Al-Rabīʿ said: And Abū al-ʿĀliya informed me that he passed by the mosque of Dhū al-Qarnayn, and its prayer direction is toward the Kaʿba.
* * *
As for His statement: فَلا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِي (So do not fear them, but fear Me), He means: do not fear these whose affair I have described to you among the wrongdoers, in their argument and their wrangling and their saying of what they say, namely that Muḥammad ﷺ has returned to our prayer direction and will return to our religion! — nor that they should be able to do you harm in your religion, or to divert you from that to which Allah, exalted be His remembrance, has guided you of the truth, but fear Me; so fear My punishment (ʿiqāb) upon your deviating from My command, should you deviate from it.
And that is from Allah, exalted be His praise, a charge given in advance to His believing servants, with exhortation to hold fast to their prayer direction and to pray toward it, and with the prohibition of turning toward another. He, exalted be His praise, says: and fear Me, O believers, in the abandonment of obedience to Me in that which I have commanded you concerning prayer toward the Sacred Mosque.
And concerning al-Suddī there has been transmitted regarding that what follows:
2308 – Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "so do not fear them, but fear Me," he says: do not fear that I should lead you back into their religion.
* * *
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, exalted: وَلأُتِمَّ نِعْمَتِي عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ (150)
(And so that I may complete My favor upon you, and so that you may be guided.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His statement, exalted be His praise: "and so that I may complete My favor upon you," He means: and from wherever you set out from the lands and the earth, and toward whatever region you depart, turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque, and wherever you are, O Muḥammad and believers, turn your faces in your prayer toward it, and take it as a prayer direction for yourselves, so that none of the people — other than the polytheists of Quraysh — may have an argument, and so that I may thereby — through My guidance of you to the prayer direction of My intimate friend Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, whom I made a leader (imām) for the people — complete My favor, and thereby perfect for you My grace upon you, and thereby complete the ordinances of your pure, submitting religious community (al-milla al-ḥanīfiyya al-muslima) which I charged Nūḥ, Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, ʿĪsā, and all the rest of the prophets besides them. And that is His favor of which He, exalted be His praise, informed that He would complete it for His Messenger ﷺ and for the believers in him among his Companions.
* * *
And His statement: "and so that you may be guided," means: and so that you may be guided to the correctness of the prayer direction. And "laʿallakum" (so that you) is conjoined to His statement: "and so that I may complete My favor upon you," and "and so that I may complete My favor upon you" is conjoined to His statement: "so that (not)" (liʾallā).
