Verse 142
سَيَقُولُ السُّفَهَاءُ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَا وَلَّاهُمْ عَنْ قِبْلَتِهِمُ الَّتِي كَانُوا عَلَيْهَا قُلْ لِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ يَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ ()
The foolish among the people will say: "What has turned them away from their Qiblah which they used to observe?" Say: "To Allah belong the East and the West. He guides whom He wills to a straight path."
(Some of the considerations arising from this verse have already been dealt with under Verses 114 and 115. As one can see, the present verse deals with taunts of the enemies of Islam - Jews, Christians and the mushrikin (associators) - with regard to the change of the Qiblah (orientation) for Salah)

The orientation of Qiblah
"Qiblah" signifies the direction to which one turns one's face. It goes without saying that a true Muslim turns in every form of worship towards Allah alone, and Allah is not limited to any particular direction but transcends all dimensions. The logic of this fact requires that in worshipping Him everyone should be free to choose any orientation that he likes, and that he should have the allowance to keep changing his orientation as it suits him. But Divine Wisdom found it more in the fitness of things that all the worshippers should turn to the same direction, and have a fixed orientation. For, worship has several forms, some of which pertain to a single individual, while others have a collective aspect too. Among the first are included fasting, remembrance of Allah (dhikr) etc. which can be performed in privacy, while the Salah and the Hajj are performed openly and in a congregation. The latter, beside being forms of worship, have a secondary function as well - that of providing a social and collective discipline to the Muslims. Obviously, the basic principle of social organization is the unity and integration of the individuals, on the firmness and solidity of which depends the strength of the social organization, whereas an improper emphasis on individuality encougages a disintegrating and fissiparous tendency.
As to what the principle of unity and integrity should be, different people have chosen different ways at different times. For example, some have adopted race or colour as the integrating principle, others have opted for the homeland or the geographical region, still others for language. But all these considerations are purely arbitrary and accidental; instead of bringing men together, they divide them, and produce, (as the newspapers show us every day) world-wide concussions. So, the revealed religions and the Shari'ahs of the prophets (AS) -the collective name for which is "Islam" - have not shown unnecessary regard to such arbitrary and accidental factors, but have, in determining the principle of integration and unity among men, established themselves on the only basis which can possibly be valid - that is, the unity of mind arising out of doctrinal unity.
In other words, Islam has called upon men not to become divided in the worship of a thousand false gods, but to join together in the worship of the True God, the One, the Incomparable - the only worship which can draw men from the four corners of the world, men of the past, of the present and of the future, all into a single body of the Faithful. Then, in order to give this inner unity a visible form and also to reinforce it, certain external expressions of unity have also been prescribed. But in both the cases the basic principle has been that the unity in view should not be imposed by circumstances, but arise from an act of will and choice, and produce a spiritual brotherhood.
As to the accidental factors like race or colour or birth-place, Islam has given them their proper place in the social life of man, but has not allowed any of them to usurp the central position. It is only in the field where human will can exercise its power to choose that Islam has sought to establish unity among men, internal as well as external. Moreover, the consideration inherent in the relevant injunctions and regulations has been that the things which are to serve as the point of unity should be of such a nature that every human being - man or woman, literate or illiterate, townsman or rustic - can choose and adopt them with equal ease.
It is hence that the Islamic Shari'ah has not imposed a single and rigid mode of dress or food or housing on all the peoples of the world, for, the climatic conditions and the needs and even the preferences of people living in different regions being different, such a uniformity would have made life difficult for them. Supposing that in making a certain form of dress obligatory, a certain minimum had been prescribed, such a regulation would, beside being inconvenient for some, have gone against the principle of moderation, and amounted to a rejection of Allah's bounties; on the other hand, if a more elaborate dress had been made compulsory, it would have been impossible for the poor to fulfil the conditions. So, instead of prescribing a uniform for all the Muslims, the Shari'ah has permitted the different modes of dressing current among different peoples or regions, and has only laid down certain necessary restrictions - for example, the dress should cover a certain area of the body, specified separately for men and women; in choosing a particular form of dress one should avoid being prodigal or vain, nor should a dress be chosen for the sake of imitating non-Muslims.
In short, Islam has established as points of unity for the Muslims only such things as can be the objects of a free choice, are easy to adopt and do not entail undue hardship or expense - for example, keeping the ranks straight in congregational prayers; following the movements of the 'Imam in such prayers strictly; adopting a single form of dress while performing the Hajj, etc.
Among these, one of the most important is the Qiblah or the orientation for the Salah. As we have said, Allah Himself is free of all dimensions whatsoever, but the establishment of a single and definite Qiblah provides an easy and concrete unifying principle for men. Now, had the matter of choosing a Qiblah been left to men to decide for themselves, it would in itself have become a cause of dissension and a conflict among them. So, it was necessary that a thing of such import be determined by Allah Himself. In fact, the angels had already laid the foundation of the Ka'bah, the House of Allah, even before Sayyidna Adam (AS) was sent down to the earth. This was the first Qiblah of mankind.
إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِي بِبَكَّةَ مُبَارَكًا وَهُدًى لِلْعَالَمِينَ
"Certainly, the first House which was built for men is the one at Makkah - blessed, and a guidance for the worlds" (3:96).
As we have pointed out above in our commentary on Verse 125, this continued to be the Qiblah upto the time of Sayyidna Nuh (Noah AS) when the Ka'bah was destroyed by the Deluge. It was rebuilt, under divine command, by Sayyidna Ibrahim and Sayyidna Isma'il (Abraham and Ishmael AS), and became their Qiblah. After that, the Baytul-Maqdis at Jerusalem was established as the Qiblah for the Hebrew prophets and their people. Even so, these prophets, according to Abu al-'Aliyah, used to offer their prayers in the Baytul-Maqdis in such a way that they should be facing not only the Rock (Sakhrah) but the Ka'bah also. (Qurtubi)
When Salah was made obligatory for the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) , the Qiblah appointed for him was, according to some scholars, the Ka'bah which had already served as the Qiblah for his ancestor, Sayyidna Ibrahim (AS). Some time after the Hijrah (his migration from Makkah to Madinah), or, as some scholars maintain, a little before that event, he received a divine commandment to turn towards the Baytul-Maqdis. (This particular commandment has not been reported in the Holy Qur'an - a fact which shows the hollowness of the claim that the Holy Qur'an can be fully understood without the help of the Hadith.) According to a hadith reported by Al-Bukhari, he offered his prayers with the Baytul-Maqdis as his Qiblah for sixteen or seventeen months. The spot where he offered his prayers in this manner is still marked off in the mosque at Madinah. (Qurtubi)
The Holy Prophet jig, was, of course, obedience personified, and he continued to offer his prayers with the Baytul-Maqdis as his Qiblah according to the divine commandment, but at the same time he longed that the Ka'bah, which had been the Qiblah of Sayyidna Adam and Sayyidna Ibrahim (AS). may be established as his also. The Way of Allah being that He, in His grace, often fulfils the wishes of those of His .servants who have found His favour, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) hoped that Allah would grant this wish. The Holy Qur'an describes the situation thus:
قَدْ نَرَى تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَاءِ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَاهَا فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ
"We have been seeing you turn your face to heaven. So, We will certainly assign to you a Qiblah that you would like. Now, turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Haram) (2:144).
One should notice that the verse we have just cited does not employ the terms, "Ka'bah" or Baytullah, but the expression Al-Masjid al-Haram (the Sacred Mosque). It indicates that for those who live far away from Makkah it is not necessary, while offering Salah, to have the Ka'bah itself exactly in front of them, but turning one's face in the direction of the "House of Allah" is quite sufficient. On the other hand, for those who are present in the Sacred Mosque or can see the Ka'bah from a distance, it is necessary to have the Ka'bah or some part of it exactly in front of them, failing which the prayers will not be valid.
Now, when the Ka'bah was finally established as the Qiblah sixteen or seventeen months after the Hijrah, some Jews, associators and hypocrites began to scoff at the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and his Companions (RA) for being so capricious in the matter of their Qiblah. The Holy Qur'an reports this objection, adding that such an objection can come only from stupid people - just as earlier in this Surah those who turn away from the religion of Sayyidna Ibrahim (AS) have been described as people who have besotted themselves. In replying to this objection, the second part of the verse shows that their stupidity lies in not realizing that the East and the West both belong to Allah Himself, and that He guides whomsoever He likes on the straight path. The verse, thus, explains the meaning of adopting an orientation - that is to say, neither does the Ka'bah nor the Baytul-Maqdis by itself possess any exclusive merit in this regard, and it is the divine commandment alone which gives to it the distinction of being the Qiblah - it could have as easily chosen some other place to serve the purpose. Moreover, the only merit in adopting a particular Qiblah lies in one's obedience to the divine commandment and in one's total submission to the will of Allah, which is the basic principle of the religion of the founder of the Ka'bah, Sayyidna Ibrahim (AS). In fact, the Holy Qur'an itself explains this truth in clear terms:
لَيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَنْ تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَلَكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ
"Righteousness is not that you turn your faces to the East or the West; but righteousness is that one believes in Allah..." (2:177).
Or in an earlier Verse: فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ : "So whichever way you turn, there is the Face of Allah." (2:115) These verses clearly define the meaning and significance of adopting an orientation - that is, the place which has been chosen to serve as the Qiblah does not possess any merit in its own right, but the special merit arises from its having been chosen by Allah, and similarly turning towards it constitutes a meritorious act only insofar as it shows a readiness to obey divine commandment. The raison d'etre of changing the Qiblah for the Holy Prophet & might well be to show to the people in a visible form that a Qiblah is not an idol to be worshipped but only a concrete expression of divine commandment, and may hence be changed as and when Allah wills. In fact, the very next verse (2:143) explicitly says that when the Baytul-Maqdis was earlier appointed as the Qiblah, it was intended to show who was willing to obey the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and who was not.
Verse 142, thus, fully refutes the antagonists of Islam, and points out that Allah guides whosoever He wills on the Straight Path - the Straight Path, of course, being the readiness to obey divine commandment without demur. And this Straight Path was granted to the Muslims by the grace of Allah. There is also the suggestion that in the matter of the injunctions of the Shari'ah rectitude lies in obeying each and every divine commandment unquestioningly without being too curious about the raison d'etre of such a commandment. For, those who seek a raison d'etre usually do so because they wish to deny or denigrate or disobey the Shari'ah.
According to a hadith reported from Sayyidah 'A'isha (RA) in the "Musnad" of Imam Ahmad, the People of the Book are specially jealous of the Muslims for three things - (1) in answer to the divine commandment to every Ummah (or religious community) to set aside a day in the week for worship, the Jews chose Saturday and the Christians, Sunday, while the Muslims opted for Friday which happened to be the favourite of Allah; (2) the Ka'bah was appointed as the Qiblah for the Muslims, and not for others; (3) the Muslims were given the privilege of saying Amin while offering Salah behind an 'Imam.