The first House of God to be set up for men was at Bakkah the blessed, a guidance for the people of the world.
96
Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (lo! the first sanctuary) mosque (appointed for mankind) for the believers (was that at becca) where the ka'bah is, (a blessed place) that the spot where the ka'bah is built contains forgiveness and mercy, (a guidance to the peoples) it is a qiblah to every prophet, messenger, veracious one (siddiq) and believer;
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : when they said, ‘our direction of prayer (qibla) came before yours’, the following was revealed: the first house, for worship, established for the people, on earth, was that at bakka (a variant of makka [mecca], so called because it ‘crushes’ [tabukku] the necks of tyrants); it was built by the angels before the creation of adam, and after it the aqsā [in jerusalem] was built, a period of forty years separating them, as reported in the hadīth of the two sahīhs [sc. of al-bukhārī and muslim], and in the hadīth [that states]: ‘the first thing to appear on the surface of the water, at the creation of the heavens and the earth, was a white foam, underneath which the earth was unrolled’; a blessed place (mubārakan, a circumstantial qualifier referring to la’lladhī, ‘that’) meaning a place of blessings, and a guidance to all worlds, because it is their qibla.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (lo! the first sanctuary appointed for mankind…) [3:96].
said mujahid: “the muslims and the jews boasted to each other; the jews said: ‘jerusalem is better and greater than the ka‘bah because it was the land to which the prophets had migrated and it is also sacred’; while the muslims said: ‘no, the ka‘bah is better’. and so allah, exalted is he, revealed this verse”.
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : the first house established for the people was that at bakka, a blessed place…[he said]:that is, ‘the first house which was set down for men was the house of god, mighty and majestic is he, in mecca.’ this is the outward meaning [of the verse]. however inwardly it implies the messenger. the one who believes in him [the messenger] is the one in whose heart god has made firm the profession of his oneness (tawḥīd). his words:
