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143."
and thus have we made you an ummat of midding stand that you
may be witnesses over mankind,
and the messenger may be (a) witness over you.
we did not make the (former) qiblah (direction of prayer)
towards which you were facing at,
except that we might distinguish him who
follows the messengerfrom him who truns back upon his heels;
it was indeed hard except for those whom allah has guided.
allah would never let your faith be wasted - truly
allah is to mankind most affectionate, most merciful."
commentary:
an ummat of middle standing
in this verse a part of the philosophy and secret of the change of
the
qiblah is referred to.
at first it says:
" and thus have we made you an ummate of midding stand...."
a nation that is a medium one from any aspect, viz. it is in a state
that is neither in excess nor defect and can be brought forth as an example.
but, why is the mslims' qiblah a middle one? haply, it is because most
of the
christians were living in countries west of their
qiblah. in order to stand towards the directon of the birthplace of
jesus which was located in jerusalem they had to stand nearly towards
the direction of the east. therefore the east was considered the
direction of their qiblah. the jews, who mostly were living in syria,
babylon and the like, preyed towards jerusalem which was located
nearly in the west for them. hence, the west was considered the
direction of their qiblah. but, for the muslims of that time ( muslims
is
medina), the ka`bah was located in the south, between the east and
the west which, thereby, was considered a middle ground.
all of those meaning, in fact, are understood
from the phrase
wakaoalika / ' and thus ' stated in the verse, the qur'an, however,
apparently, may intend to refer to the position of all islamic programs
and that not only the muslims' qiblah is middle standing but also in all
other aspects they have this specialty.
then, it adds:
"...that you may be witnesses over mankind, and the messenger may
be (a)
witness over you. ..."
the expression of the muslims being ` witnesses ' over the people
of the world, and the prophet (p.b.u.h.) bearing ` witness ' over the
muslims may be an insinuation to ` being as a model ', since witnesses
are always chosen from the eligible ones. thus, the purpose might be
that you (muslims), with these instructions and this creed, are a model
nation, as the prophet (p.b.u.h.) is a model among you.
you, by your deeds and behaviour bear witness that a man can be
both a man of action and a man of religion while he is living in this very
world. he, being sociable, can quite properly protect the limits of his
spiritual and moral aspects. portraying these thoughts and activities,
you bear witness that not only there is no contradictions between
religion and science, or the present world and the coming world, but
they serve one another.
then, the qur'an has pointed to one of the secrets of the change
of the qiblah when it says:
"...we did not make the (former) qiblah (direction of prayer)
towards which you were facing at,
except that we might distinguish him who
follows the messenger from him who turns back upon his heels; ..."
it is interesting that the qur'an does not say: ` him who follows
you ' but it says: ` him who follows the messenger ' which confirms the
fact that you (muhammad) are commissioned by the lord and you are
a guide. so, they must be obedient to your command in all things. in
this relation, the change of the qiblah is simple; if the command were
beyond that, it should be obeyed and their seeking pretext in it is a sign
of their holding on to the customs of the age of paganism and idol
worshipping.
the quranic phrase " from him who turns back upon his heels "
which originally means ` to turn on ones heel ' is a hint to a kind
of
retrograde manner or retrogression.
"... it was indeed hard except for those whom allah has guided.
..."
yes, the soul of absolute submission to the command of allah
will not come to being unless there is divine guidance. this is an
important matter, that one ought to be so submissive that he does not
feel in his self even the slightest heaviness for the execution of such
commandments; on the contrary, because it is from allah, he
embraces it willingly and eagerly.
since the seductive enemies or the ignorant friends thought that
with the change of the qiblah our services would become futile and our
reward be wasted, at the end of the verse it says:
"...allah would never let your faith be wasted truly
allah is to mankind most affectionate, most merciful."
allah's commandments are issued as prescriptions for the
purpose of our remedy; then one day this one is useful and the next,
something else. each of them in its proper place is the best to provide
our felicity, prosperity, and development. thus, the change of the
qiblah should not create any anxiety for you about your former prayers
and worshippings nor those in the future, because all of them have
been right and proper.
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