115. " and to allah belong the east and the west,
wherever you turn, there is the presence of allah. surely allah is
all-embracing, all-knowing." 
 

occasion of revelation :

there are different narrations cited on the cause of the occasion
of revelation of this verse.

ibn abbas says that this verse concerns the change of the qiblah.
when muslims' qiblah was changed from jerusalem to the ka`bah, the
jews tried to reject it by objecting to the muslims and demanding of
them how the qiblah could be changed. this verse was revealed and
replied to their objection that the east and the west of the world
belong to allah. 1
another tradition indicates that this verse has been revealed
regarding ` the recommended prayers '. it refers to this meaning that
one can pray his supererogatory prayers in any direction that his mount
moves towards, even if he is facing opposite to the qiblah. 2
some others have narrated from jabir who said that the prophet
(p.b.u.h.) once sent some of the muslims to fight in a war. when the
dark of night fell and they wanted to pray their night prayer they could
not confirm the correct direction of the qiblah. then, every one used
an approximate direction towards the qiblah and offered his prayers.
at the break of dawn they found out that they had prayed towards a
direction other than the qiblah. they informed the holy prophet
(p.b.u.h.) about it and the above verse was revealed declaring that their
prayers were all correct in such a condition. 3
( this religious creed, of course, has some conditions that should
be studied in jurisprudent books.)

it is realistic that all of the above occasions of revelation are
correct for this verse. that is, the verse refers to the idea of the change
of the qiblah as well as reciting the supererogatory prayer when riding
on a mount, and the obligatory prayers performed when the correct
direction of the qiblah is not recognizable. besides, no verse, in
principle, is allocated exclusively to its occasion of revelation, but its
content should be considered as a general ordinance; and, sometimes,
what a great number of different ordinances can be derived from it.

commentary :
allah, the omnipresent

the previous verse was about the oppressors who prevented
worship in the mosques of allah, and strived for the destruction of
them. the verse under discussion is a continuation of the same idea. it
says:

" and to allah belong the east and the west,
wherever you turn, there is the presence of allah. ..."

it is not such that if they prevent you from entering the mosques
of allah and attending the monotheistic centers, the path of adoring
allah would be entirely closed to you. the east and the west of the
world belong to him. whithersoever you turn, he is there. also, the
change of the qiblah, which was ordained because of some particular
circumstances, has not the least effect on our worship. can any place
be found where allah is not there. in principle, allah has no limited
place. (a further explanation can be studied on page 322).

that is why at the end of the verse, it says:

"... surely allah is all-embracing, all-knowing."

the point noteworthy here is that the east and the west
mentioned in the verse should not be taken as confined to the
directions where the sun rises or sets, as they are only relative
expressions. the emphasis on the east and the west may be because
the first directions that man is able to recognize are these two
directions, and the other directions can be figured out by determining
them.

the qur'an, concerning these directions, also says: " and we made
a people, considered weak (and of no account), inheritors in both east and
west, ...", (sura 'a`raf, no. 7, verse 137).

* * * *

philosophy of the qiblah
the first question that arises here is that if ` wherever we turn,
there is the presence of allah ', then why is it necessary that we observe
the direction of the qiblah ?

as we will explain later, observing the qiblah does not mean to
confine the presence of allah to a particular direction. since man is a
creature dependent on material and concrete thought, he should pray
towards whatever direction the commandment has mandated. all
should pray towards a single direction in order to unite all muslims in
single rows, and to avoid dispersion and disorder.

imagine how disgraceful it would be if every individual prayed
toward a separate direction or in dispersive rows.

by the way, the direction which is appointed as the qiblah ( the
direction towards the ka`bah ) is a holy place and it is the most ancient
sacred site of monotheism whose consideration evokes monotheistic
remembrance.

the phrase / wajhullah / does not mean ` the face of allah ', as
some have rendered, but it means, here, ` the unity or presence of
allah '.

as it was stated before, in the occasion of revelation, and many
islamic narrations attest to, this verse has been taken as the basic
reference to certify the validity of the prayers offered by those who
would pray toward a direction other than the direction of the ka`bah by
mistake or because of lack of the capability of verification. this very
verse is also referred to for the validity of reciting prayers when riding
on a moving mount. (for more details concerning this subject, refer to
the jurisprudential books ` wasa'il-ush-shi`ah ', ` kitab-us-salat ', and
`abwab-ul-qiblah '.)

here, we attract your attention to three authentic traditions about
the term / wajhullah / and its meaning :

1. it is cited in the book ` al-tauhid ' from salman farsi, through
a tradition known as jathliq, who asked amir-ul-mu'mineen ali (a.s.)
some questions which were comprehensively replied to. one of them
was that he asked him (a.s.) which direction his lord's presence was.
hadrat ali (a.s.) told ibn abbas to have some firewood fetched for him
(a.s.). the firewood was brought and was kindled. when the fire was
flaming, hadrat ali (a.s.) asked the man which direction the face of the
fire was, and the christian answered that its face was on every side.
ali-ibn-abitalib (a.s.) said: " this fire which is a material, is not
recognized by its face, then allah, its creator, is not like that. ` to allah
belong the east and the west, wherever you turn, there is the presence of
allah.' ..." 4
2. again, keeping in mind that the commands given by the holy
messenger (p.b.u.h.) are those that he has received from allah, it is
narrated from amir-ul-mu'mineen ali (a.s.) who said that the
manifestation of allah (s.w.t.) is ahlul-bait (a.s.) who are the guides
and imams for people whose obedience to them has been enjoined by
him the same as it has been enjoined to him and his messenger
(p.b.u.h.). that is, the only way to the cognizance of / wajhullah / ` the
presence of allah' and the divine majesty is through ahlul-bait (a.s.),
who are his witnesses. 5 that is, haply, why they (imams) have said:" it
is through us that people know allah, and through us (with our guidance)
they worship allah." 6
3. tariq-ibn-shahab has narrated in a tradition from hadrat
amir-ul-mu'mineen ali (a.s.) who said: " o tariq ! imam is the word of
allah, the proof of allah, the presence of allah, the light of allah..." 7
there are some other expressive narrations on the subject cited in
biharul-anwar, vol. 93, p. 228, which can be referred to, too.

1 majma`-ul-bayan, vol. 1, p. 191
2 manhaj-us-sadiqin, vol. 1, p. 348, & abulfutuh-razi, vol. 1, p. 302
3 tafsir-ut-tibyan, vol. 1, p. 424 & tafsir nimunah, vol. 1, p. 413
4 at-tauhid, by shaykh saduq, p. 182
5 bihar-ul-anwar, vol. 93, p. 118, & al-ihtijaj by tabarsi
6 bihar-ul-anwar, vol. 23, p. 102, tradition 1
7 bihar-ul-anwar, vol. 25, p. 168