Verse. 149

٢ - ٱلْبَقَرَة

2 - Al-Baqara

سَيَقُوْلُ السُّفَہَاۗءُ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَا وَلىہُمْ عَنْ قِبْلَتِہِمُ الَّتِىْ كَانُوْا عَلَيْہَا۝۰ۭ قُلْ لِّلہِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ۝۰ۭ يَہْدِيْ مَنْ يَّشَاۗءُ اِلٰى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيْمٍ۝۱۴۲
Sayaqoolu alssufahao mina alnnasi ma wallahum AAan qiblatihimu allatee kanoo AAalayha qul lillahi almashriqu waalmaghribu yahdee man yashao ila siratin mustaqeemin

English

Ahmed Ali

The foolish will now ask and say: "What has made the faithful turn away from the Qiblah towards which they used to pray?" Say: "To God belong the East and the West. He guides who so wills to the path that is straight."

142

Tafseer

'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī

تفسير : (the foolish of the people) the ignorant among the jews and arab idolaters (will say: what hath turned them) made them change (from the qiblah which they formerly observed) except that they want to revert to the religion of their ancestors; it is also said that this means: there was no reason to turn from the direction in which they prayed, i.e. jerusalem? (say) o muhammad! (unto allah belong the east) praying to the ka'bah (and the west) the prayer that you prayed in the direction of jerusalem-both are with allah's command. (he guideth whom he will unto a straight path) he confirms whom he wills on a straight religion and direction of prayer.

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī

تفسير : the fools, the ignorant, among the people, that is, the jews and the idolaters, will say, ‘what, matter, has turned them, the prophet (s) and the believers, from the direction they were facing in their prayers formerly?’, this being the holy house (bayt al-maqdis, sc. jerusalem); the sīn [of sa-yaqūlu, ‘they will say’] denotes the future tense and informs of the unseen. say: ‘to god belong the east and the west, that is, all directions. thus he commands that they face whichever direction he wills, and there can be no objection. he guides whomever he will, his guidance being, to a straight path’, that is, the religion of islam, and you are among these [guided ones].

Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi

تفسير : (the foolish of the people will say…) [2:142]. this was revealed about the change of the qiblah. muhammad ibn ahmad ibn ja‘far informed us> zahir ibn ahmad> al-hasan ibn muhammad ibn mus‘ab> yahya ibn hakim> ‘abd allah ibn raja’> isra’il> abu ishaq> al-bara’ who said: “when the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, went to medina, he prayed toward the direction of jerusalem for sixteen or seventeen months. but allah’s messenger, allah bless him and give him peace, liked to be directed in prayer toward the ka‘bah. allah, exalted is he, revealed (we have seen the turning of thy face to heaven) up to the end of the verse [2:144]”. the foolish among people, who are none other than the jews, said: (what hath turned them from the qiblah which they formerly observed?) allah, exalted is he, said: (unto allah belong the east and the west) up to the end of the verse. this is narrated by bukhari from the report of ‘abd allah ibn raja’.