The Change of the Qiblah, From Jerusalem to Makkah

❧Background: The Original Qiblah

From the beginning of revelation, the Muslims prayed facing Bayt al-Maqdis (بَيْت الْمَقْدِس), Jerusalem. This ruling was established through the Sunnah (not explicitly in the Quran) and remained in force for the entire Makkan period (~13 years) and the first ~15 months in Madinah.

The choice of Jerusalem was deliberate:

1. Connecting to the Abrahamic line: Jerusalem is the city most sacred to the prophetic tradition through the Children of Israel, the site of the Temple of Sulaymān, the city of Dāwūd, home of Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb. Facing it declared the Muslims' continuity with that tradition.

2. Showing common ground with the Jews of Madinah: When the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah, he was for the first time living among a large Ahl al-Kitāb community. His heart was optimistic that they would recognise him, Allah had told him they recognised him "as they recognise their own children" (Q 2:146). Facing their Qiblah was a gesture of solidarity.

The special case in Makkah: The Prophet ﷺ had a dual orientation when in Makkah: he would position himself at the south side of the Kaabah such that the Kaabah was in front of him and Jerusalem lay in that same northward direction. He simultaneously honoured both the Kaabah and the current Qiblah. This was possible only in Makkah.

What changed in Madinah: Madinah lies directly north of Makkah and directly south of Jerusalem, the three cities form a near-straight line. To face Jerusalem from Madinah means facing due north, which is to turn one's back completely on Makkah and the Kaabah. For the Prophet ﷺ this was deeply uncomfortable.

❧The Prophet's ﷺ Desire and the Angel's Response

The Prophet ﷺ did not act on personal desire in matters of divine law, but he did express his wish when the Angel Jibreel came with revelation:

> "O Jibreel, I wish to pray facing Makkah."

Jibreel replied: "Innamā ana ʿabdun mithluk" (إِنَّمَا أَنَا عَبْدٌ مِثْلُكَ), "I am only a slave like you." He could only deliver what Allah commanded. If the Prophet ﷺ wanted a change, he must supplicate to Allah directly.

The theological point: Dr. Qadhi highlights this as a profound statement. The greatest human to walk the Earth and the greatest angel in the heavens are both saying: "I have no power over this, only Allah can decide." Those who direct their prayers and supplications toward prophets or angels for things only Allah can grant are therefore deeply misguided.

❧The Prophet's ﷺ Supplication

Following Jibreel's guidance, the Prophet ﷺ began earnestly supplicating to Allah, looking up toward the sky in his duʿāʾ. This posture of looking upward was rare for the Prophet ﷺ, who normally kept his gaze lowered in humility. Looking up toward the sky was a sign of extreme desperation. He did this privately, at night in Tahajjud.

How do we know? Because Allah revealed it in the Quran itself.

❧The Quranic Revelation

Allah revealed in Sūrat al-Baqarah:

"قَدْ نَرَىٰ تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَاءِ ۖ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَاهَا ۚ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ ۚ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ"

"Qad narā taqalluba wajhika fis-samāʾ, fa-lanuwalliyannaka qiblatan tarḍāhā. Fa-walli wajhaka shaṭra l-masjidi l-ḥarām. Wa ḥaythu mā kuntum fa-wallū wujūhakum shaṭrah."

"We have certainly seen the turning of your face toward the heaven. We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Ḥarām. And wherever you are, turn your faces toward it." (Q 2:144)

The first two pages of the second Juz of the Quran are all Sūrat al-Baqarah verses dealing with this change, addressing the objections of the Jews, the taunts of the Mushrikūn, and the anxiety of the Muslims.

❧Timing

The change of Qiblah occurred approximately 15–16 months after the Hijra, around Rajab or Shaʿbān of the 2nd year AH (~January–February 624 CE). The Battle of Badr took place in Ramaḍān of that same year, roughly one month later. The two defining events of early Madinah (the change of Qiblah and the first battle) are separated by only weeks.

❧The Objectors: *Sufahāʾ min al-Nās*

Allah anticipated the mockery: "Sayaqūlu s-sufahāʾu mina n-nāsi mā wallāhum ʿan qiblatihimu llatī kānū ʿalayhā" (سَيَقُولُ السُّفَهَاءُ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَا وَلَّاهُمْ عَن قِبْلَتِهِمُ الَّتِي كَانُوا عَلَيْهَا, Q 2:142), "The foolish among the people will say: What has turned them away from their qiblah which they used to face?"

The Jewish critics said: "If Jerusalem was good enough for all the prophets before him, isn't it good enough for him?" The Mushrikūn accused the Prophet ﷺ of inconsistency. Others said: "Why does this prophet keep changing his mind?"

❧Multiple Messages Hidden in the Change

Message to the Jews: The Prophet ﷺ prayed toward Jerusalem for 15+ months, demonstrating he comes from the same Abrahamic tradition they venerate. He is not an outsider. But now, by restoring the original Qiblah, the Kaabah of Ibrahim, he is superseding the Jewish prophetic line. He is not merely a prophet of Bani Israel; he is the prophet for all mankind, and he goes back further, to the source.

Allah consoled the Prophet ﷺ: "Wa laʾin atayta lladhīna ūtū l-kitāba bikulli āyatin mā tabiʿū qiblatak" (وَلَئِنْ أَتَيْتَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ بِكُلِّ آيَةٍ مَّا تَبِعُوا قِبْلَتَكَ, Q 2:145), "If you brought to those who were given the Scripture every sign, they would not follow your qiblah." Their rejection is not about evidence, it is about arrogance.

Message to the Quraysh: The Quraysh expelled the Prophet ﷺ and considered themselves custodians of the Kaabah. By making the Kaabah the Qiblah, the direction toward which all Muslims on Earth face five times every day, Allah declared that the Quraysh are unworthy guardians. The Prophet ﷺ, expelled from Makkah, honoured the Kaabah more than those who lived there with idols inside it. He would return to purify it, just as Ibrahim had built it.

❧Allah's Answer to the Jews on Piety and Direction

The Jews asserted that facing Jerusalem was a mark of piety. Allah rebuked this directly:

"لَيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَن تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ" (Q 2:177), "Laysa l-birra an tuwallū wujūhakum qibala l-mashriqi wal-maghrib", "Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west."

Real piety is internal, believing in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the books, the prophets; giving to the poor; establishing prayer and Zakāh. Direction is a divine command to follow, but not the essence of piety.

Universal principle: "وَلِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ ۚ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ" (Q 2:115), "Wa lillāhi l-mashriqu wal-maghrib, fa-aynamā tuwallū fa-thamma wajhullāh", "To Allah belongs the east and the west. Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah." Whichever direction He commands is the right direction, and He accepts it.

❧The Masjid Qiblatayn Incident

The command came down in the morning. The Prophet ﷺ prayed Fajr facing Jerusalem, then after the revelation announced the change and reoriented his own Masjid, what had been the front (facing Jerusalem, north) became the back; what had been the back (facing Makkah, south) became the front. He then ordered the former front to be covered with a shade, which became the first roof, built for the People of the Ṣuffah.

A companion prayed Ẓuhr with the Prophet ﷺ in the new direction, then walked home. By the time he reached the Masjid of the tribe of Banū Salama, now known as Masjid Qiblatayn, they were already mid-prayer in ʿAṣr, still facing Jerusalem. He called out from the back: "I have just prayed Ẓuhr with the Prophet ﷺ facing Makkah, the command has come!"

The Imam walked through the rows of worshippers and turned around, and the congregation turned where they stood, to face the new direction, completing the same rakʿah in a different direction. This is why the mosque is called Masjid al-Qiblatayn (مَسْجِد الْقِبْلَتَيْن), the Mosque of the Two Qiblas. The famous story of turning mid-prayer belongs to that mosque, not to the Prophet's Masjid.

❧The First Instance of Abrogation (Naskh)

The change of Qiblah was the first recorded instance of Naskh (نَسْخ, abrogation) in Islamic law: Allah reveals a ruling, then later replaces it with another.

Allah addressed this in Sūrat al-Baqarah: "مَا نَنسَخْ مِنْ آيَةٍ أَوْ نُنسِهَا نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍ مِّنْهَا أَوْ مِثْلِهَا" (Q 2:106), "Mā nansakh min āyatin aw nunsihā naʾti bikhayrin minhā aw mithlihā", "We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth one better than it or similar to it."

Abrogation is not contradiction, it is divine legal development. The Ahl al-Sunnah affirm Naskh by consensus. The Muʿtazila and Shia schools deny it and attempt to harmonise apparently abrogated texts.

Classic example of Naskh: Allah revealed in Sūrat al-Baqarah that widows must wait one full year before remarrying. Later, this was abrogated by Q 2:234: "arbaʿata ashhurin wa ʿashrā" (أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا), four months and ten days. Both verses remain in the Quran and are recited; only the later ruling is applied.

Note: The word "nunsihā" in Q 2:106 also implies that Allah can cause certain Quranic verses to be forgotten entirely, lifted from the memories of all. There are authentic narrations in Musnad Imām Aḥmad of Companions who collectively forgot certain verses overnight and confirmed with the Prophet ﷺ that Allah had lifted them.

❧Theological Issue: Status of Those Who Died Facing Jerusalem

The Companions asked: "O Messenger of Allah, what of those who died praying toward Jerusalem, were their prayers accepted?"

Allah answered in Q 2:143: "وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِيعَ إِيمَانَكُمْ", "Wa mā kāna Allāhu liyuḍīʿa īmānakum", "Allah would never make your faith (Iman) to be lost."

Significantly, Allah calls their prayers (Ṣalāh) their Iman (faith). Imam al-Bukhārī titled a chapter in his Ṣaḥīḥ: "So Allah called their prayer their faith." This is a primary evidence of Imam Ahmad, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim and many classical scholars for the position that Ṣalāh is a necessary component of Iman, not merely a practice. The Prophet ﷺ confirmed in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: "Man taraka ṣ-ṣalāta faqad kafar" (مَنْ تَرَكَ الصَّلَاةَ فَقَدْ كَفَرَ), "Whoever abandons the prayer has committed kufr." The one who has no relationship whatsoever with prayer is not considered a Muslim.

❧Ummatan Wasaṭan: Q 2:143

The verse containing "Wa mā kāna Allāhu liyuḍīʿa īmānakum" also contains one of the most famous declarations in the Quran:

"وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا", "Wa kadhālika jaʿalnākum ummatan wasaṭan", "And thus We have made you a wasaṭ community." (Q 2:143)

Wasaṭ is commonly translated as "middle" or "moderate." This is a valid secondary meaning. The primary classical meaning of wasaṭ is: the highest, the best, the pinnacle.

Evidence: In Sūrat al-Qalam (68:28), "qāla awsaṭuhum" (قَالَ أَوْسَطُهُمْ), translated "the most moderate of them said." It does not mean the middle person among them in position, it means the wisest, most excellent, highest in character among them.

In context: "And thus We have made you the *best** of communities."* You do not follow the Qiblah of the Jews, nor that of the Christians. We have given you the greatest Qiblah, the original one, the Qiblah of Ibrahim, the Sacred Mosque in Makkah.

The secondary meaning, balanced, not to extremes, is also valid and Islamically significant. But the primary meaning of wasaṭan here is excellence.