Embracing Allah's Commands: Story of the Qiblah - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Khutbah al-Hajah (Opening)

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

Amma ba'd — Indeed, the best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ. The worst of matters are those that are newly invented, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

The Second Year of the Hijrah

The second year of the hijrah of the Prophet ﷺ marked a number of significant events. It is in that second year of the hijrah that we have the battle of Badr, that fasting became obligated, and according to some scholars, that the Eid prayer was legislated. But there is one incident that took place in the second year of the hijrah that Allah mentions in the Quran.

And in the number of verses that Allah dedicates to it in Surah Al-Baqarah, it is more than the number of verses that Allah speaks about concerning fasting and Siyam, even though fasting is a pillar and an obligation of Islam. And that issue that Allah dedicates a passage of the Quran to in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse number 142 onwards, is the incident of the changing of the Qiblah — when the Qiblah was changed from Jerusalem to Mecca.

The Hadith of Al-Bara' Ibn 'Azib

In the hadith of Al-Bara' Ibn 'Azib رضي الله عنه — and we know the story, we're familiar with the story, something that's been repeated many times — Al-Bara' Ibn 'Azib رضي الله عنه, recorded in Sahih Al-Bukhari, from the companions of the Ansar, he says concerning our Prophet ﷺ: when the Prophet ﷺ first came to Medina, he spent some time with his maternal family. The Prophet ﷺ had relations in today the area that we know as Quba, as Masjid Quba. That's where he first went and stayed for a short period of time, and then he went into the city of Medina.

And he says that during that period, for 16 or 17 months, the Muslims, when they would pray, they would pray facing Jerusalem. But the Prophet ﷺ hoped and wished that the Qiblah would be changed from Jerusalem towards Mecca, towards the Ka'bah.

And the first prayer that they prayed with the Prophet ﷺ towards the Ka'bah was the Asr prayer. And a group of companions prayed with him. And one of those companions, after he had finished the Salah, left and he passed by another group of companions, another Masjid in which the companions were praying their Asr prayer, and they were in Ruku' but still facing towards Jerusalem. So he said to them: I testify by Allah that I just prayed with the Prophet ﷺ and we faced the Ka'bah, Mecca. He says that they, in Ruku', changed the direction of their prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca.

This is an incident that is well known. But what is interesting is that when Allah speaks about this incident in the Quran, a number of verses are dedicated in this passage of Surah Al-Baqarah. Allah doesn't begin with the command to change the Qiblah. The command to change the Qiblah is found in the third verse of this passage:

Allah says: We see you constantly turning your face towards the heavens. So We will make you face a direction in prayer — a Qiblah that pleases you. So change the direction of your face in prayer towards Al-Masjid Al-Haram. And wherever you may be, when it comes to prayer, then face in the direction of Al-Masjid Al-Haram.

That is the third verse mentioned in this passage. The first two verses, Allah dedicates to the reaction of the people when this commandment was revealed — how people reacted, what take they had on this significant issue of the Qiblah changing from Jerusalem to Makkah.

Lessons for Me and You

And that brings me to the here and now — to me and you. Each and every single day or week or month, as we increase in our knowledge of Islam, we learn things that we didn't know. We come across things through lectures and books and khutbas that we weren't aware of — either that something is part of Islam or it is part of the Sunnah that we weren't familiar with. We've been praying in a certain way from the earliest years of our childhood. But now we've learned that we made certain mistakes. Our wudu is incorrect. We did certain things that weren't part of the Sunnah. Or the opposite — we did certain things that now we know are not from this religion. We had certain practices, our families, our cultures, the backgrounds that we came from — we did certain things that now we know they're not part of Islam.

And that leads us to two thought processes, two things that we have to consider.

The first is: how are we going to respond to this knowledge? This knowledge that Allah has given to us. When we learn that something is from Islam or isn't from Islam, how are we going to react and deal with that issue? It may well be for 30, 40, 50 years, I considered what I was doing to be part of Islam. But now I know that it's wrong. Now I know that there's a verse of the Quran or a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ, or it's an issue of consensus, that what I was doing was incorrect. How am I going to respond?

And the second issue that Allah refers to in the opening verses of this passage is: how am I going to deal with the reactions of people around me? People who, when I change, when I do something, when I start growing a beard, when I start wearing a jilbab or niqab, when I start doing things that I wasn't doing before, or leave something that I was doing — there will be reactions. There will be people who will respond either in approval or disapproval, but they will respond.

How do I deal with this? And this is what Allah dedicates the opening passage to — because the Quran and its stories are not just about chronicling the incidents of the Prophet ﷺ, but they are about the principles and the lessons that we can learn for our lives today, all of us. Extrapolate from this every single issue — the hijab, the jilbab, the beard, the niqab, interest, whatever it may be. How are we going to respond, and what are the reactions of those around us going to be?

The Reaction of the Foolish

So Allah says in verse 142:

The foolish from amongst them will say: what has caused them to change the direction of their prayer?

Some of the scholars of tafsir said that the foolish being referred to in this verse are the Jews of Medina. And others from the scholars of tafsir said it is the pagans of Mecca, the mushrikeen of Mecca. And yet others said that it is the munafiqun, the hypocrites. And even though these verses are revealed in the context of the People of the Book, it is possible that Allah is referring to all three of them.

Because the pagans of Mecca, when they heard about this commandment, they said: just as Muhammad has returned to our Ka'bah, he will soon return to our religion. He's changed his mind. He's come back to Mecca in prayer — he will come back to our religion as well.

And the Jews of Medina said: how can this man be a prophet? He's left the Qiblah of all of the prophets before him. All of the prophets of Bani Israel, the children of Israel, who venerated and respected Baitul Maqdis — he's left their Qiblah. He can't be a prophet.

And the hypocrites said: what kind of a prophet is this? Can't make his mind up. One day he's praying towards Jerusalem, one day he's praying towards Mecca. So either his prayers towards Jerusalem were incorrect, or now his prayers towards Mecca will be incorrect. One of the two.

So each one of them had a different take. And Allah calls them foolish. Because just as when we learn something about our religion, people respond oftentimes in a negative way — and they want us to explain and justify, to rationalize why we're doing something or why we've left something.

Allah's Answer: East and West Belong to Him

And Allah gives us the answer. He continues and says:

Say to them that to Allah belongs the East and the West. He guides whomsoever He wills to the straight path.

Our religion, the commandments of Allah, the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ — they are not subject to us understanding and rationalizing them. It's not the condition. The condition isn't that we have to understand every single commandment from Allah or from the Prophet ﷺ. The test of faith is whether you will submit or you won't submit, irrespective of whether you understand or you don't understand. That is what Allah is saying to the Muslims.

Because this incident that played out in the second year of the hijrah made clear where everyone stood, made clear everyone's stances. Some of the scholars of tafsir said that this was one of the first incidents — because it took place before the battle of Badr by a few months — it was one of the first incidents that made clear in Medina who the hypocrites were, because the hypocrites took a stance.

Just as when me and you decide that we want to do something in order to come closer to Allah, to worship Allah, out of love for Allah. And then sometimes it is our own family members, our own relatives, our own co-workers, our own friends who stand against us as our opponents — who try to dissuade us, who are our most ardent opponents in trying to stop us from coming closer to Allah. So this verse shows: Say, to Allah belongs the East and the West. And the reason why people oppose us is because they are using their minds and their rationale over the verses of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Balanced Nation

So Allah tells us in the second verse in this passage:

And likewise, We have made you a balanced, just, middle-path nation, so that you may bear witness and testimony over all of the peoples, all of the nations, and your messenger ﷺ will bear witness and testimony over you.

What does the middle-path nation have to do with this incident of the Qiblah changing from Jerusalem to Mecca? Allah is telling us — pay attention — that what is considered to be right and just and balanced in Islam is not what me and you in our minds think is balanced.

Some people say that you can go to any grave and worship any saint, any righteous, pious person. And other people say you can't worship any of them, can't make du'a to any of them. The balanced middle path is not to take a middle path between those two views — to say, okay, I'll worship some of them, because that's the middle path. No. The middle path is what Allah says is the middle path. What the Prophet ﷺ said is the middle path. The Quran and the Sunnah determine what is balanced, whether we agree or we disagree.

So when we come to something like inheritance, and Allah tells us in the Quran:

In some circumstances, and only in some cases in inheritance, the male relative takes double the share of the female relative. And some of us are upset. Doesn't make sense. How can we rationalize this? It's not balanced. But balance is what Allah considers to be just and balanced — not what me and you consider with our feeble minds when it comes to the laws of Allah, the commandments of the Prophet ﷺ.

Because when we don't have that approach to the Quran and the Sunnah, it opens the gate to much evil and fasad, corruption, problems. Some people say that they won't accept that the Prophet ﷺ had magic placed upon him. Doesn't make sense to them. They can't rationalize this. It's not something which they can accept because it goes against something within their mind. But the hadith is in Bukhari and Muslim — one of the most authentic types of hadith that you can have.

Okay, so therefore Bukhari and Muslim can't be authentic. But the scholars said that it's authentic. So now you fall from one trap into another trap, one pitfall into another pitfall, until there is nothing left from this religion.

The Testimony of This Ummah: The Hadith of Nuh

In Sahih Al-Bukhari, in the hadith of Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri رضي الله عنه, the Prophet ﷺ said that the Prophet of Allah, Nuh عليه السلام, will be brought forth by Allah on the Day of Judgment. Nuh عليه السلام, because every prophet who came before him, their people were upon tawheed. It was Nuh's people — the first people to commit shirk upon earth. Nuh عليه السلام will be called forth, and he will say: I am here, O Lord, ready to obey Your command. And Allah will ask him: Did you convey your message? Did you call your people? And he will say: Yes.

So his nation and his people will be brought forth. And they will be asked: Did Nuh convey the message to you? Did he call you? And they will say: No prophet came to us. No warner came to us. No man calling us came to us and presented himself.

So Allah will ask the Prophet Nuh عليه السلام: Who is your witness? Who will bear testimony for you? And he will reply: Muhammad ﷺ and the nation of Muhammad. And then the Prophet ﷺ said: we will bear witness that he conveyed the message.

In another narration of that same hadith, the hadith goes on, and Allah will ask us — the ummah of the Prophet ﷺ: And what gave you the knowledge that he conveyed the message to his people? You weren't alive, you weren't there. What gave you the knowledge that he conveyed the message? And we will respond and say: because You sent to us a messenger who told us that he conveyed the message, and we attest to the truthfulness of that messenger.

That messenger — our messenger ﷺ — who brought the verses of the Quran, will not only attest to the truthfulness of all the prophets who came before him, including Nuh عليه السلام, but they also give us clear commands: this is your religion, and this is how you should respond to those people who stand against you when you do something that is correct and that is right.

Why? Because as Allah mentions, from the greatest of tests is the test of knowledge. Allah gave you knowledge. He taught you what your religion is. He gave you the Quran and the Sunnah. And you know that something is from your religion or isn't from your religion. How will you respond to that? And if you can't accept it because you're fearful of the way other people will react, the way that sometimes even the closest family members that you have will oppose you — then what kind of Iman is that?

The Changing of the Qiblah as a Test of Faith

And We did not make this changing of the Qiblah from Jerusalem to Mecca except as a test — so that We may know who truly follows the messenger and who will turn away upon their heels. Who will turn back? And who follows the Prophet ﷺ?

And over and over again in the Sunnah we are told: it's not a condition, it's not a prerequisite that you have to understand every single issue in Islam. The condition is that you have to submit. Doesn't Allah tell us in the Quran about the Prophet of Allah, Ibrahim عليه السلام, when he said:

Oh Allah, allow me to see how You bring the dead back to life. He asked: do you not believe? He said: Oh Allah, I believe, but I want to increase in Iman.

It's okay to want to understand. It's okay to have wisdom in these issues, to seek further explanation. But it is not a prerequisite and a condition. The condition is that you fully accept, whether you understand or whether you don't understand, whether it makes sense to your mind or it doesn't make sense to your mind. The condition of Iman is that you submit and you accept.

Because if you can't even accept these smaller issues, how will you deal with the great issues of Iman? The Prophet ﷺ told us that when the Dajjal comes at the end of time, he will have with him two rivers — a river of water and a river of molten lava, of fire. And he said to us ﷺ that his river of fire is water and his river of water is fire. So if he asks you to fall into one of them, choose the fire, because within it is coolness.

But who, if you can't even accept the basic commands of Allah, the basic commands of the Sunnah, will be able to stand before those two rivers and make that choice? Because it won't make sense to you. One's water, one's fire. It doesn't make sense to jump into fire. Rationally, it's not something that you're going to do. It is a test of Iman, a test of faith.

And so the munafiqeen were known. These are the people who said: can't make his mind up, what kind of a prophet is this, what kind of a religion is this? Allah says:

And it is something major, except for those that Allah guides.

The Iman of the Companions: Changing Mid-Prayer

Because the Muslims — as we saw in the hadith of Al-Bara' رضي الله عنه — even when they were in salah, they're in ruku', and they changed their position. Didn't wait to the end of prayer. Didn't say we need to go and double check. Didn't say we need to go and verify with the Prophet ﷺ. In the middle of prayer, they changed.

Some of the scholars said that the people he is referring to are Banu Salimah — the area that today we call Masjid Al-Qiblatayn. But there is also a narration in Al-Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنه that he said:

(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Salah; Sahih Muslim, Book 4)

He said: whilst we were praying in Masjid Quba, the Fajr prayer — the hadith of Al-Bara' says Asr is when the Prophet ﷺ received revelation, but not all of the Muslims had that revelation at the same time; for the people of Quba, it was Fajr the next morning — and whilst they were in prayer, a man came and said: the Prophet ﷺ received verses of the Quran yesterday, and he was commanded to face the Ka'bah, so face the Ka'bah. Ibn Umar says: they were facing Al-Sham, they were facing Jerusalem, Baitul Maqdis. And within the prayer, they changed and they faced the Ka'bah.

That is the Iman of the companions. When the command of Allah comes, when the command of the Prophet ﷺ comes — for the women, you have to cover up; don't drink alcohol; don't take interest — wherever it may be, they didn't wait. They would immediately submit, even if for some of them it didn't make sense, even if for some of them it's not something which they could rationalize. But they accepted, because that is Iman.

And it is something major, except for those that Allah guides. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in these two verses, before He even goes into the command of changing the direction of prayer, He speaks about reaction. How will we react when it comes to these commands of Allah and the Prophet ﷺ? And how will we respond to the reaction of others around us?

We ask Allah that He gives us the strength of Iman, and the firmness and the courage of conviction to stand up for what is correct and to follow the Quran and the Sunnah.

Second Part of the Khutbah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَمَنْ وَالَاهُ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا، أَمَّا بَعْدُ

Allah goes into detail concerning this incident of the changing of the Qiblah, even though to us — many centuries later — it seems like a relatively small issue, a relatively straightforward issue. But the lessons that we take from this story is not just about the command that Allah gave, but it is the greater lessons that Allah mentions within this story and within this passage: the way that people will react, and the way that we will react.

The test of faith once again is not to try to justify or to prove. It's not to seek the approval of people or to seek their disapproval — that's not the point. The point is to follow the commands of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Because if all of the people were to approve of you and what you're doing is wrong, it doesn't make it right. And if they all disapprove of you and what you're doing is right, it doesn't make it wrong. What the people say, what they do, what they think — it doesn't change our religion.

And so the companions learned this lesson. And Allah makes it clear, because there are some people — even within our families, within our communities, within our circles — who will never accept any other path. You give them all of the proofs and all of the evidences, they will never accept.

If you were to come to the People of the Book and give them every evidence and every sign and every proof, they would still not follow your Qiblah. They're not going to accept. Some people — you can give to them all of the verses of the Quran, all of the ahadith of the Prophet ﷺ — but if it's not something that makes sense to them, or it's not something which goes in line with their worldview, they're not going to accept.

But then Allah tells us:

But if you were to follow their desires after Allah has given you clear knowledge, then you will be from the oppressors.

You have no excuse in front of Allah when you know what is correct and what is incorrect, what is halal and what is haram, what you should do and what you shouldn't be doing. You have no excuse in front of Allah. And the people and their views, their outspoken criticisms, whatever stance they may take — it is not a sufficient proof in Islam for you to change from what is right to what is wrong. It's not something which Allah will question you about on Yawm al-Qiyamah.

Three Times the Command Was Repeated

Three times in this passage Allah gave the command to face Mecca:

Not once, not twice — three times: face the direction of Mecca. To affirm, and reaffirm, and then a third time reaffirm, the importance of following the commands of Allah, standing up for your beliefs, having the conviction and the confidence of your convictions to stand up and say: this is what Allah wants from me, this is what pleases Allah, irrespective of what the reaction of others may be.

We ask Allah on this blessed day, in this blessed house of His, that Allah showers us with Iman and that Allah grants us His mercy and forgiveness, and that Allah makes us from amongst those people who, when they hear the verses of the Quran and the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, follow them to the best of their ability. We ask Allah that He gives us wisdom in everything that we do, in every decision that we make, and that Allah makes it easy for us to follow the straight path, and that Allah grants and bestows upon us guidance.