Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda Ep.

93 |
Qalam Institute

Episode 93

Episode Link: https://www.qalaminstitute.org/2014/10/seerah-life-of-the-prophet-the-changing-of-the-qiblah/

- In the first half of the second year of Hijrah, the first three ghazawaat (military expeditions) took place,
where the Prophet alongside many of the Muhajiroon traveled outside of Madinah and engaged with
different tribes and the Bedouin people around Madinah
o The Sariyyah of Abdullah ibn Jahsh resulted in a caravan raid of the Quraysh, leading to 1
Qurayshi being killed and 2 others taken prisoner, which the Prophet did not instruct the
Muslims to do. This happened in the sacred month of Rajab, during which fighting was
forbidden
▪ This sariyyah was a precursor to the Battle of Badr
o The Prophet was upset that the Sahaba took this action without his sanction. This incident was
used to fuel propaganda among the Quraysh against the Muslims that “Noting is sacred to
Muhammad and his followers. They will violate everything that is sanctified and sacred.”
- Allah issued a respond through revealing an ayah of Surah Baqarah [2:217]:
o “They ask you about the sacred month – about fighting therein. Say, ‘Fighting therein is great
[sin], but averting [people] from the way of Allah and disbelief in Him and [preventing access
to] al-Masjid al-Haram and the expulsion of its people therefrom are greater [evil in the sight
of Allah. And fitnah is greater than killing.’ And they will continue to fight you until they turn
you back from your religion if they are able. And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to
disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever – for those, their deeds have become worthless in
this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, they will abide therein
eternally.”
- The Arabs were a very eloquent people, and they were masters of their language. It was a huge part of
their cultural heritage to engage in poetry
o When Ayah 2:217 was revealed, Abdullah ibn Jahsh, coming from a Qurayshi Makkan
background, recited some poetry in celebration, “You are saying that a murder occurred in the
sacred months, and that’s a big deal. But what’s greater than that is that you need intelligence
and guidance to be able to see the light. You don’t see things for what they are. You have been
preventing Muhammad (saw) from his Message. You have disbelieved in Muhammad while
Allah has been watching all of this and Allah is a witness against you. You’ve kicked out the
people from the Haram who are rightful residents of that land to the point now that if you go
to the Ka’bah, you don’t see a single person sincerely doing sajda before Allah as Allah

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deserves, as that House of God deserves. Even though you people may be blaming us for a
murder that we committed, admittedly, and we are regretful for this, but you have declared
war against Islam out of nothing but hatred and jealousy. Yes, we shed blood of Ibnu Hadrami,
but we have offered reparations for that. But Uthman ibn Abdullah (one of the Qurayshi
captives) is still alive and safe and amongst us, and we will release him back to his family and
his people.”
▪ This incident occurs in the month of Rajab. The Battle of Badr took place two months
after this, in Ramadan 2 AH (March 13, 624 CE)
- The next major event after the Sariyyah of Abdullah ibn Jahsh is called Tahwil e Qiblah (the turning of
the direction of the Qiblah), which occurs in the latter half of the 2nd year of Hijra
o There is a difference of opinion among the scholars and historians of Seerah whether the
turning of the Qiblah occurred in the month of Rajab or Sha’baan
- Many of the scholars of Seerah, like Ibn Kathir, who came later, would filter through a lot of the other
narrations and confirm, reaffirm, and reconcile a lot of the different narrations. Ibn Kathir’s assessment
is that the fact that this incident occurred in the month of Sha’baan is a little bit more authoritative.
There is a little more evidence that the qiblah was changed in the month of Sha’baan
o The evidence that it occurred in the month of Rajab is that there are some narrations where
some of the Sahaba say that the qiblah turned 16 or 17 months after the Prophet’s arrival in
Madinah. When you calculate 16/17 months, you land on the month of Rajab
▪ However, Ibn Kathir says that they’re “guesstimating”. It’s like when we say “about a
year and a half” – we could mean 15 months, 16 months, 17 months, or 18 months, so
Ibn Kathir says that this narration isn’t authoritative
o There are specific narrations which mention the actual month of Sha’baan was when the
qiblah changed direction from Baytal Maqdis in Jerusalem to the Ka’bah in Makkah
▪ Al-Waqidi, a historian of the Seerah, has a narration that isn’t very strong or
authentic, but he pinpoints the exact day of the event. He says that it occurred in the
middle of the month of Sha’baan, on a Tuesday, but Ibn Kathir says that that narration
is stretched and unauthentic
- The 5 daily prayers were mandated at the incident of Al-Isra Wal-Mi’raj, but the Prophet has been
making salah since they very First Day of Revelation
o Jibril taught the Prophet wudu and salah
o The Prophet would pray throughout the day. When did he pray and how much he used to pray
– we don’t have a lot of detail on that

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- We do have an idea from several sources of when the Prophet would pray and what types
o The Prophet would pray throughout the day, especially whenever he felt the need to pray
▪ He would pray whenever would run into a situation or felt overwhelmed by his
mission and circumstances
o The Qur’an also tells us from the early-to-mid Makkan surahs (pre-Al-Isra Wal-Mi’raj) that the
Prophet would specifically pray by the command of Allah in mornings and the evenings (kind
of like Fajr and Asr)
▪ This is mentioned in Surah Taha
o Also, we know from Surat al-Muzammil that there was another prayer that the Prophet would
consistently observe throughout the early Makkan period – that was the Tahajjud or Qiyam ul-
Layl prayers
o So there were 4 prayers that the Prophet prayed for sure:
▪ The morning prayer
▪ The evening prayer
▪ The Tahajjud prayer
▪ Nafl prayers (2 rakat whenever he felt the need to pray)
o The Prophet taught all the believers to pray. Salah would be the first thing that the Prophet
would teach a new Muslim
▪ They would pray together at Dar ul-Arqam
- The Qiblah (direction of prayer) from the very first day of Revelation was Baytul Maqdis/Al-Masjid al-
Aqsa in Jerusalem. Baytul Maqdis was also the qiblah for the Ahlul Kitab
o At the same time, we have authentic narrations from the Prophet which lead us to know that
Ibrahim (as) used to pray toward the Ka’bah in Makkah
▪ So the Prophet had a longing to pray toward the Ka’bah since he was a descendant of
Ibrahim. He was reviving the milla of Ibrahim. He was in the city and place that was
founded by Ibrahim. The Prophet was a response to the dua of Ibrahim
o The Prophet wanted to pray toward the Ka’bah as his forefather Ibrahim did. While the
Prophet was in Makkah, it would be extremely easy to pray toward the Ka’bah, since it was
literally right in front of him
▪ The Prophet used to stand in front of the Ka’bah while still being aligned with Baytul
Maqdis, so the Prophet would be facing both the Ka’bah and through the Ka’bah, the
Baytul Maqdis. That’s how the Prophet observed prayer throughout the Makkan
period

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- After Hijra, the Prophet was now faced with a dilemma. Madinah was between Makkah and Jerusalem,
so now the Prophet couldn’t pray towards both the Ka’bah and Baytul Maqdis, since he was in
between the two qiblah
o The difficult thing for the Prophet was that when he would pray towards Baytul Maqdis, his
back would be towards the Ka’bah
▪ This is what shows you the obedience of the Prophet to Allah, that the Prophet
obeyed the command of Allah in spite of his inclination and his spiritual attachment
toward the Ka’bah, even if that necessitated putting his back toward the Ka’bah
o There are narrations from the Musnad of Imam Ahmad and Sahih Hayn in Bukhari and Muslim
that tell us that the Prophet continued to make dua and ask Allah to grant him permission to
be able to pray towards the Ka’bah in Makkah
▪ The Prophet was hopeful that permission would be granted. He was hopeful that
sooner or later, his dua would be accepted
- The 2nd time that the Ansar took Bayatul Aqabah (the Second Oath of Allegiance), an elder of Madinah
named Barrah ibn Ma’rur was with the group of 60-70 Madinah Muslims. He was traveling with them
to Makkah from Madinah for Hajj
o This was after Al-Isra Wal-Mi’raj, and Mus’ab ibn Umair had been teaching the Ansar about
Islam in Madinah. They would stop on their route for salah, and Mus’ab had taught the Ansar
to pray towards Baytul Maqdis. Praying towards the Ka’bah wasn’t even an option
▪ But this elder, Barrah ibn Ma’mur, refused to pray toward Jerusalem and insisted on
praying towards Makkah. He felt it in his heart that he should pray toward the Ka’bah
o Barrah was a very elderly man, so the others around him tried to gently coax him to pray
towards Baytul Maqdis like everyone else, but he was adamant
▪ So Barrah ended up praying in the complete opposite direction of the 70+ other
Muslims/Ansar
- By the time they all reached Makkah, Barrah felt kind of guilty. He got to meet with the Prophet before
the rest of his travel companions did because of his age and friendship with Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib
o Barrah asked Abbas to introduce him to the Prophet, and the Prophet welcomed Barrah
▪ Barrah told the Prophet about praying in the opposite direction of the qiblah
o The Prophet told Barrah, “Look, the command of Allah is that you pray towards Baytul Maqdis.
You told me what you did, and I as the Messenger have to tell you that you should pray
towards Baytul Maqdis. If you would have kept praying towards the Ka’bah without bringing it
up to me, eventually, you would have been correct (wink, wink).”

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Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda Ep. 93 |
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o This incident occurred almost 3-4 years before the Qiblah turned, but the Prophet sustained
that hope that eventually Allah would accept his dua of making the Qiblah towards the Ka’bah
- Now, the Prophet is residing in the city of Madinah, praying towards Baytul Maqdis, and he keeps
making dua that the qiblah would be the Ka’bah
o In the middle of the month of Sha’ban, the Prophet finished praying Salat ul Dhur
▪ Usually after praying Dhur, the Prophet would take a break, but sometimes if needed,
the Prophet would remain in the masjid and handle community affairs
- It was one of those times where the Prophet was taking care of things on his to-do list when Jibril
showed up to reveal an ayah from Surat al-Baqarah, “We have certainly seen the turning of your face
[O Muhammad] toward the heaven, and We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be
pleased. So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram. And wherever you believers are, turn your faces
toward it [in prayer]. Indeed, those who have been given the Scripture well know that it is the truth
from their Lord. And Allah is not aware of what they do.” [2:144]
o Before Allah even names the qiblah, He mentions that He will turn the Prophet to a direction
that will please the Prophet. The first name given to the qiblah before Allah said its name was
“the qiblah that will please you, ya habib.”
o When this ayah was revealed, the Prophet told Bilal to gather the people. After everyone was
gathered in the masjid, the Prophet issued the command, “We will pray now in the direction of
the Ka’bah in Makkah.”
▪ Starting in the Asr prayer, all the Muslims prayed toward the Ka’bah instead of Baytul
Maqdis
- By this time in the Seerah, there are some satellite musallahs, prayer places that have been established
in certain areas
o One of the first ones established was Masjid al-Quba. The 5 daily prayers would be held there,
but not the Jum’uah salah
o The other place where the Muslims would sometimes pray a couple of times a day as needed
was in the Masjid al Banu Salima, which was in another neighborhood in Madinah
- After praying Asr with the Prophet in the masjid in Madinah with the new qiblah, a Sahabi went to the
people of Banu Salima to inform them of the qiblah change. However, by the time this Sahabi reached
that neighborhood of Banu Salima, they’ve already started Asr salah
o The Sahabi saw the Muslims praying in the opposite direction (Baytul Maqdis), so he
proclaimed, “I bear witness before God. I bear witness before God. I prayed with the Prophet
in the direction of Makkah.”

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Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda Ep. 93 |
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- The people praying were in ruku at the time, and they completely turned 180 degrees while they were
in ruku in the opposite direction toward Makkah. The imam walked all the way around to the other
side and stood in front of them
o From this, we extrapolate from our fiqh that if you find someone praying towards the wrong
direction, you can actually physically turn that person
▪ Or If you are praying in the wrong direction and someone comes and notifies you
about your error, then you can actually turn within your prayer
o The Masjid of Banu Salima is what we know today as Masjid al-Qiblatayn
- The city of Quba was a little bit outside of Madinah
o This qiblah changed happened in Asr time. At that point in time, it’s possible that the month of
Sha’baan were more toward the winter months. Shortly after Asr, it would be Maghrib time
▪ Typically during dark, people wouldn’t travel too far, so nobody got out to Quba until
the following morning
o People used to implement the advice of the Prophet of praying Fajr later. If you split Fajr time
into two parts, they would pray at the beginning of the halftime mark of Fajr
▪ E.g., If Fajr time kicks in at 6 AM and expires at 7 AM, then upon the Prophet’s advice,
they would pray Fajr at 6:30 AM
- While the people of Quba were praying Salatul Fajr, and the sky started to brighten up a little,
someone from Madinah was able to reach Quba
o The Madinan spotted the people of Quba praying towards Baytul Maqdis, and again the
announcement was made about the qiblah change, so the people praying turned 180 degrees
toward Makkah in the middle of their prayer
- In Surat al-Baqara, Allah specifically mentioned the qiblah, “The foolish among the people will say,
‘What has turned them away from their qiblah, which they used to face?’ Say, ‘To Allah belongs the
east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a straight path.’” [2:142]
o In the tafsir of Surat al-Ahzab by Ibn Ashur, when you mention the two portions of something,
you’re implying that everything in between also falls under the same hukum
▪ So if you say “the east and the west,” then everything in between them falls under the
same hukum/ruling
o “He Guides whom He wills to a straight path” means that praying towards the new qiblah is a
straight path, and if you haven’t realized that then that means that God hasn’t guided you, so
it’s taking a little jab at them. Sometimes you don’t have to respond to all the haters. Let Allah
respond on your behalf

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Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda Ep. 93 |
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- In Surat al-Ahzab, Allah talks about the very difficult situation in the life of the Prophet where the
Prophet proposed marriage between his adopted son Zayd ibn Haritha and Zaynab ibn Jahsh (the
Prophet’s cousin). Zaynab’s family was not so comfortable with the proposal
o Allah revealed the ayah from the surah, “It is not for a believing man or a believing woman,
when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should thereafter have any
choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed
into clear error.” [33:36]
o So Zayd and Zaynab went ahead and got married, but things didn’t work out because they
weren’t compatible. This occurred divinely in the life of the Prophet so that we would have a
precedent for the fact that sometimes people and some marriages aren’t meant to be. It’s
regrettable. It’s not ideal, but it happens
▪ The Prophet tried to counsel Zayd, “Come on, be conscious of Allah. Maybe you got
some things that you can work on, but come on, try to work this out.”
o But things don’t work out and Zayd and Zaynab end up divorced
- A couple of months (or years, in some narrations) after the divorce, Allah revealed to the Prophet from
Surat Al-Ahzab, “And [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed
favor and you bestowed favor, ‘Keep your wife and fear Allah,’ while you concealed within yourself
that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear
Him. So when Zayd had no longer any need for her [Zaynab bint Jahsh], We married her to you in order
that there not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their adopted sons when
they no longer have need of them. And ever is the command of Allah accomplished.” [33:37]
o You have to read history and understand context. After Zaynab’s divorce to Zayd, the Prophet
married Zaynab
- It’s party time now for the munafiqoon, the critics, the Quraysh because they now have something that
they could use for false rumors. They went to town with what Allah decreed (that the Prophet should
marry Zaynab)
o After Allah talked about this whole scenario, the next ayah revealed was, “O you who have
believed, remember Allah with much remembrance.” [Surat Al-Ahzab; 33:41]
▪ These people were spreading malicious rumors about the Prophet, and Allah told the
believers to make dhikr, lots and lots of dhikr
o Oh, dhikr isn’t enough? Allah then revealed, “And make tasbeeh (exalt) Him morning and
evening.” [33:42]

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▪ Again, when two portions of something is mentioned, everything in between falls

under the same ruling. Here, two portions of the day is mentioned (morning and
evening), so Allah is telling the believers to make dhikr all day long, not just in the
morning and evening, but in all the hours in between (i.e., if you’re not sleeping, make
dhikr)
o The main point that Allah was emphasizing was, “Don’t respond to these people. Don’t engage
the haters.”
▪ Shaykh Abdul Nasir says, “If you’re walking by, especially in a residential
neighborhood, and someone’s got a feisty dog nearby. The second that you walk by,
what does the dog do? He goes crazy. He starts ramming the fence, barking his head
off. What do you do? Do you sit there and start to bark back? Hopefully not. Just like
you don’t bark back, you understand that you are of a higher standard and status,
you’re a human being, so you keep on walking. Same way here.”
- Going back to what Allah was saying in Surat al-Baqarah, “What has turned them away from their
qiblah, which they used to face?’ Say, ‘To Allah belongs the east and the west. He guides whom He
wills to a straight path.’” [2:142]
o Allah was telling the Prophet and the believers, don’t respond to the haters. Everything
belongs to Allah. Then Allah takes a shot, that if you don’t get this, that means you obviously
aren’t on siratul mustaqeem, which means God didn’t guide you
- Allah continues in Ayah 2:243 from Surat al-Baqarah:
o “We have made you the best of people. That’s why We have given you the best qiblah. So you
may be a witness among people and the Messenger may be a witness upon you.”
▪ That’s part of the distinction of our ummah. All the other ummah prayed towards one
qiblah or another, but the ummah of Prophet Muhammad prayed towards both
qiblahs. This ummah Muhammadiyya is the unifying ummah because it prayed
towards both qiblahs
o “We did not turn and change your qiblah, except to be able to know who will follow the
Messenger and from those people, who will fall back and not follow the Messenger. They will
default. And this is going to be really tough to swallow except for those people whom Allah
has guided.”
- “Allah will not waste your imaan, your faith.”
o This particular part of the ayah was in response to a question that the Prophet received from
other Sahaba. They asked the Prophet, “What happens to the prayers that we have already

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prayed towards the old qiblah? What happens to the people who died who prayed towards
the old qiblah? Are they not amongst the same level as all of us now that we have prayed
towards both qiblahs?”
▪ The gist of the question was, “What’s going to happen to our prayer?”
o Allah responded, “Allah will not waste your imaan.” He substituted the word “salah” with
“imaan”, because there is no imaan if you don’t have salah. No salah, no imaan
▪ The Prophet said, “The distinguishing factor and differentiating line between imaan
(faith) and kufri (disbelief) is salah.”
▪ The thing that protects your imaan is your salah. The thing that keeps you on the right
side of the balance is salah.
o “Indeed, Allah is, to the people, Kind and Merciful.”
- The next ayah of 2:144 continues:
o “We have certainly seen the turning of your face, [O Muhammad], toward the heaven, and We
will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward al-
Masjid al-Haram. And where you believers are, turn your faces toward it in prayer.”
o “Indeed, those who have been given the Scripture (e.g., Jews and Christians) well know that it
is the truth from their Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what they do.”
- The next ayah of 2:145 continues:
o “And if you brought to those who were given the Scripture every sign, they would not follow
your qiblah. Nor will you be a follower of their qiblah. Nor would they be followers of one
another’s qiblah.”
o “So if you were to go back to joining them after guidance and knowledge has come to you
from your Lord, indeed, you would then be among the wrongdoers.”
- There are several take-home lessons derived from this incident of changing the qiblah
o The turning of the qiblah wasn’t just some random thing. It’s very important for the student of
knowledge to know that there were ayat revealed shortly before the qiblah change from Surat
al-Baqarah, “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. Do you not know that Allah is over all things competent?”
[2:106]
▪ This is called mas alatun naskh, the fact that Allah changes a command. The previous
command expires and the new command kicks in
o Allah had already planted the seed to let the believers know and be comfortable with the fact
that it is very possible and plausible that Allah will update a previous command

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▪ He told the Muslims to pray towards Baytul Maqdis, and now He told them to pray
towards the Ka’bah
o The first nasakh (abrogation or to repeal/revoke) in the history of Islam was the turning of the
qiblah
▪ The most powerful and profound of all the elements of nasakh that took place was
the turning of the qiblah, one that we live out every single day
- Turning the qiblah wasn’t random. It wasn’t just “Wake up one morning and turn the qiblah.” It was
strategic and it had a lot of wisdom behind it
o When the Muslims lived in Makkah, who were their non-Muslim neighbors that lived alongside
them? The mushrikoon of Makkah
▪ The direction of worship of the mushrikoon was the Ka’bah. That was the direction
and focus of their worship
▪ While the Muslims were in Makkah, Allah commanded them to pray towards Baytul
Maqdis, so that they would be different and unique in their worship
o When the Muslims came to Madinah, to not rock the boat initially, they’re also praying
towards Baytul Maqdis
▪ They established general ties with the Jewish community so that they have some
common ground to build off of
▪ Once the Muslim community has been established in Madinah, now who are their
non-Muslim neighbors? The Jews of Madinah, who pray towards Baytul Maqdis
o Now Allah turns the Muslims’ prayer toward the Ka’bah in Makkah to differentiate
- Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, a philosopher and scholar of aqeedah from the Mughal Empire, talks about
one of the lessons behind the changing of the qiblah
o We learn that unique spiritual identity of the Muslims is very necessary
▪ There are a lot of things that we join hands with and work with and have common
causes/platforms with non-Muslim communities that we coexist with, but we need to
have unique spiritual identity
o The thing that gives us our unique spiritual identity is our salah
▪ When we go outside and we’re driving, and it’s time for salah, we’re the ones that
stop by the side of the road and pray. When we’re at the mall or shopping center,
we’re the ones that pull off to the side/corner and pray. When we’re traveling, we’re
the ones that go to find a chapel or a corner in the airport to go pray

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- The second lesson that we take in this tahweelul qiblah is that politically speaking, it was a very
powerful statement
o There have been two years of some level of confrontation between the Makkans and the
Muslims since the latter’s arrival in Madinah
▪ They were not all-out fighting or war or battle, but there’s been some engagement
and back-and-forth
▪ The Muslims turned direction and prayed towards Makkah
o Think about the message the qiblah change was sending to the people in Makkah, that this
Ka’bah is so sacred to these Muslims, that they pray in this direction. How long before the
Muslims come to claim it?
▪ That’s why the scholars of Seerah and the scholars of tafsir say that this, the changing
of the qiblah, was actually the first divine ishara/gesture and foretelling of Fathu
Makkah (Conquest of Makkah), that “O Muslims, this place is so sacred that you’ve
been told to pray toward it. You’re going to reclaim it, sooner or later.”
- In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, Aisha (ra) narrated a Hadith from the Prophet, “The Ahlul Kitab do not
envy us for anything as much as they envy us for the following three things: the day of Friday/Jumu’ah,
which was given to us but not to them; the qiblah that Allah gave us (the Ka’bah), which Allah did not
give them; and how we say ‘ameen’ when we pray behind the Imam, which is a gift that Allah gave us
and not them.”

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