Desire Of The Messenger Of God (glory, grace, blessings and peace be upon Him)

LESSON # 147 FROM HOLY QUR’AN

BAQARAH – 2 (The Cow)

Desire Of The Messenger Of God

(glory, grace, blessings and peace be upon Him)

Verse –144a of 286, Section – 17 (Part 2)

We have seen the turning of thy face to heaven (for guidance, O Muhammad). And now verily We shall make thee turn (in prayer) towards a qiblah which is dear to thee. So turn thy face toward Inviolable Place of Worship.

Qad naraa taqalluba waj-hika fis-samaaa’; falanuwalli-yannaka Qiblatan- tarzaahaa. Fa-walli wajhaka shatral-Mas-jidil-Haraam.

Lesson

Qiblatan- tarzaahaa – (towards a qiblah which is dear to thee), Qiblah (Centre of attention, turning towards the direction or place for worship). It has already been explained earlier. Tarzaahaa (which is dear to you) it signifies towards Kahana Ka’-ba which was constructed by the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon Him) and that was the favorite place of worship for all the Arabs. 

Wajhaka – (Thy face) literal meaning is only face or mouth but the entire body is included in it. Here it means attention, wish, liking and fondness.

Al-Mas-jidil-Haraam – (Inviolable Place of Worship) Respectable and Glorious Mosque that is to say The Greatest Mosque of Makkah in which the Khana Ka’-ba is situated. First Drawing of the Present Building of this Mosque was prepared during the time of Caliph Mehdi Abbasi. There are large and magnificent courtyards on its four sides. This Building has forty one doors, six Minarets and one hundred fifty small and large Domes.  It is called Masjid-i-Haraam (Inviolable Place of Worship). To wage a war or go hunting is forbidden (unlawful) here.

Actual Qiblah of the Muslims was the Khana Ka’-ba which was the Qiblah of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon Him). Only for a little time the Bayt ul Muqaddas was appointed as Qiblah for trial. The children of Israel used to reproach, “While the Divine of Muslims is different from us and is conformity to the religion of Abraham (peace be upon Him) then why they fix upon our Qiblah? The Messenger of God Almighty (glory, grace, blessings and peace be upon Him) used to desire that the Khana Ka’-ba be appointed as Qiblah by the Order of God Almighty so that we may offer prayers turning toward the Khana Ka’-ba. He (glory, grace, blessings and peace be upon Him) used to look towards the sky over and over waiting for the revelation through the Angel (peace be upon Him). This condition is being stated in this verse.

The God Almighty completed His (glory, grace, blessings and peace be upon Him) this desire and commanded, “And now verily We shall make thee turn (in prayer) towards a qiblah which is dear to thee. So turn thy face toward Inviolable Place of Worship”. When it was ordered to change the Qiblah, at that time He (glory, grace, blessings and peace be upon Him) was offering Zohar prayer. Two Rak-‘at of the prayer had been offered, during their faces toward the Temple of Jerusalem. During offering the prayer He (glory, grace, blessings and peace be upon Him) and His followers turned their faces towards the Khana Ka’-ba and completed remaining two Rak-‘ats. That Masjid of the Madina is called Masjid Qiblatayn.         

Transliteration in Roman Script & English Translation of Holy Qur’an written by Marmaduke Pickthall, Published by Paak Company, 17-Urdu Bazar, Lahore and Paraphrase collected from Dars e Qur’aan published By Idara Islah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated by Muhammad Sharif)