“Do you know why Allah changed our qiblah from Palestine to Makkah? I would appreciate it if you could go into details,” a friend of mine suddenly voiced out to me at her side.

I was surprised actually. Because she’s asking for me to go in depth despite the situation we were in. What situation? We were actually in a lecture hall with a doctor in front babbling all his way through the slides. Perhaps she saw my boring expression the whole time so she came out with the question. (Biasa la, sistem IKAKOM, memang bosan) Please don’t try this at home. Government paid you to study, so be productive. Hehe…

Well, it’s not like I’m going to concentrate any further anyway. So I agreed to give a bit explanation from my shallow knowledge on this. I still hope others would correct my mistakes if I have some. To start the deep explanation, let’s go on to “Why Palestine was chosen as the first qiblah? Why Makkah didn’t become the first and the last qiblah ever?“. Okay, bare with my long post this time, hehe… (Perhaps the longest post of all posts in my blog so far)

History of Al-Aqsa Mosque

Well, the city of Palestine was chosen at the command of Allah by Prophet Daud a.s in the 10th century B.C. After his son Prophet Sulaiman a.s built a mosque in Palestine according to the revelation that he received from Allah. For several centuries this mosque was used for the worship of Allah by many Prophets and Messengers of Allah. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in the year 586 B.C, but it was soon rebuilt and was rededicated to the worship of Allah in 516 B.C. It continued afterwards for several centuries until the time of Prophet `Isa a.s. After he departed this world, it was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 C.E. Prophet Muhammad s.a.w was taken there in his miraculous journey of Al-Israa’ and from there he went for Al-Mi`raj. When Muslims took the city of Palestine in 636 C.E during the caliphate of Umar r.a, he ordered for the building of this mosque again and it stands until now as a Masjid for the worship of Allah as it was originally built by our Prophet Sulaiman a.s.

Why Palestine was Chosen?

The significance of Palestine is that it is the city of many Prophets of Allah as Makkah is the city of Prophets Ibrahim, Ismail and Muhammad s.a.w. The Mosque of Al-Aqsa is one of the ancient mosques and in the Qur’an Allah called it and its land “the blessed surroundings” (Surat Al-Israa’ (17): 1).

Allah willed for the Muslim’s soul to rid itself of all impurities and connections with the pre-Islamic times and to abandon every slogan it adopted during it. Thus, Allah firstly directed it toward a qiblah different from that of the Arabs so that it would be completely disconnected with the pre-Islamic era, then Allah favored it with a qiblah different from that of the other heavenly religions, so that it would be purified from distortion and falsehood.

When Allah commanded the Prophet s.a.w to face the qiblah of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Palestine and then commanded him to face the Ka’bah as his qiblah, that was an actual test for the community of believers as well as the surrounding society. It was firstly to test the faith of the individuals and secondly to show them certain things they might not be aware of.

Imam Bukhari reported from the narration of Al-Bara’ r.a that, “Allah’s Messenger s.a.w performed prayer while facing Palestine for sixteen or seventeen months. But he wished that he would face the Ka`bah. When Allah commanded him to face the Ka`bah, the first Prayer he performed facing the new qiblah was an Asar prayer, which he prayed in congregation. (HR Bukhari)

When Prophet Muhammad s.a.w was in Makkah and also for about 17 months after his hijrah to Madinah, he and his followers used to pray towards the direction of Al-Aqsa Mosque. This was also to establish in the minds of Muslims the link between the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and other Prophets of Allah r.a. When this principle was established in their minds then Allah ordered Muslims to turn to the Ka`bah and pray towards its direction.

To answer the history of qiblah changing in depth, let’s go into details through timeline.

The Israa’ and Mi’raj

The history started from the event of Israa’ Mi’raj, the night in which five daily prayers were firstly prescribed. On that day, Allah made it obligatory for Muslims to pray five times a day and that happened while the Prophet was still in Makkah.

The direction Muslims were commanded to face at that time was the Ka’bah in Makkah on the condition that it has to be faced in a way that make them face Al-Aqsa Mosque in Palestine at the same time.

Obviously, facing the direction of Al-Aqsa Mosque while in Makkah means facing the Ka’bah at the same time, simply because the geographical location of Makkah happens to be south east of Palestine and therefore, Muslims were facing two qiblahs at one time. (Muhammad Abu Zahra, Khatim Al-Nabiyeen, Vol. 2, Dar Al-Fikr Al-Arabi, 2004 p 538)

This direction in which Muslims were facing both Ka’bah and Al-Aqsa stressed the connection between Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Ibrahim and the connection between Prophet Muhammad and all Israelite Prophets including Musa and Isa a.s.

Hijrah to Madinah

When Prophet Muhammad s.a.w moved to Madinah, it was geographically and physically impossible to face both qiblahs at the same time, because Madinah is between Makkah and Palestine.

Therefore, Muslims were facing the direction of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Palestine as a fulfillment of Allah’s command and an indication of their full submission to His Will. This was the test in which Muslims proved their full submission to Allah and acceptance of whatever Allah commands them to do.

They have proved how they understood their religion; that all directions belong to Allah and to Him we should turn our hearts before our faces. To Allah belongs the kingdom of earth and heavens and to Him all directions do belong.

“The foolish of the people will say: What has turned them from the qiblah which they formerly observed? Say: Unto Allah belong the East and the West. He guides whom He will unto a straight path” -Surah Al-Baqarah (2): 142

Obviously as explained in the Quran, the new stage where Muslims were facing Palestine was a test and one of the natures of a test is its being temporary; it is not the default. The test was to make them strong enough to bear that type of tribulations in the future and, more importantly, to give some time for the Ka’bah to be cleared from the idols that were surrounding it.

Deep from within, the Prophet s.a.w was longing to the qiblah of his father Ibrahim a.s, and it seems as some commentators opine that he realized that the command to face Palestine was a temporary one and soon he will be commanded to turn his face to the Ka’bah.

Why Makkah?

The qiblah was changed from Palestine to the Ka`bah in Makkah, for the Ka`bah is the first and most ancient holy House of Worship ever built for all humankind for the purpose of worshipping Allah alone.

“The first House (of worship) appointed for humankind was that at Bakkah: Full of blessing and of guidance for all kinds of beings” -Surah Ali Imran (3): 96

The shift of qiblah from Palestine to the Ka`bah thus represents Islam’s stance of calling the humankind away from local or provincial shrines to the First Sanctuary, where the peoples are invited to give heed to the roots of their father, Adam a.s.

“We have seen the turning of your face to heaven (for guidance, O Muhammad) … and wheresoever you may be (O Muslims) turn your faces toward it (when you pray)” -Surah Al-Baqarah (2): 143-150

In other words, this shift intended to unify the humanity under the Lordship of One God. Islam thus cuts at the root of all tribal, racial, and ethnic divisions that separate the peoples from one another.

Before the Battle

After sixteen or seventeen months of facing Palestine, and right before the Battle of Badar which marked the true confrontation between truth and falsehood and the beginning of the collapse of idolatry, the Prophet s.a.w received commands from Allah to face the Ka’bah again.

The happiness of the Prophet and the Muslim community with the command was great and significant. It proved to them that soon the idols will be removed from around the Ka’bah and it will be purified. Not long time afterwards that the Prophet returned to Makkah and the Divine grace was completed upon him.

The Hikmah

The changing of qiblah was not indeed an incident of changing the qiblah only, but rather an incident of transforming the soul. Proving Islam should solely occupy the highest level in our sense, high above everyone and every entity.

Either way, Makkah and Palestine once established by Allah as the holy lands and we had faced them through the history of humanity. It is good enough we have our hands on Makkah to complete our five pillars of Islam nationwide. Unfortunately for Palestine, may Allah return Al-Aqsa Mosque to us and hasten its liberation from the hands of its occupiers!

Note: I apologize to my friend for the language. I haven’t written anything in English for quite some time so I suddenly felt like writing in it. Hehe…