We read in the Hadith:
Al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 8, Number 397:
Narrated ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar: While the people were offering the Fajr prayer at Quba (near Medina), someone came to them and said: “It has been revealed to Allah’s Apostle tonight, and he has been ordered to pray facing the Ka’ba.” So turn your faces to the Ka’ba. Those people were facing Sham (Jerusalem) so they turned their faces towards Ka’ba (at Mecca).
This makes explicit what was already implicit in the Qur’an at 2:144-145:
2:144 We have seen the turning of your face to heaven (for guidance, O Mohammed). And now truly We shall make you turn (in prayer) toward a qiblah which is dear to you. So turn your face toward the Inviolable Place of Worship, and you (O Muslims), wheresoever you may be, turn your faces (when you pray) toward it. Lo! Those who have received the Scripture know that (this revelation) is the Truth from their Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what they do. 2:145 And even if you brought unto those who have received the Scripture all kinds of portents, they would not follow your qiblah, nor can you be a follower of their qiblah; nor are some of them followers of the qiblah of others. And if you should follow their desires after the knowledge which has come unto you, then surely were you of the evil-doers.
Muslims scholars debate the date when this change of qiblah occurred, but there is a consensus that the change from Jerusalem to Mecca took place during the second year following Muhammad’s migration to Medina. It is important to note that Mecca is south of Medina and Jerusalem is north of Medina. Consequently, when Muhammad was in Mecca he could pray so as to face the Kaabah (Ka’ba) and Jerusalem at the same time. Clearly, when he moved to Medina this was no longer possible and a decision was forced. Muslims are taught that the Kaabah stands on the site of the first house of God built by Abraham.
In the Old Testament we have one conspicuous example of a man who prayed toward Jerusalem, namely Daniel:
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem.Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before (Daniel 6:10).
At considerable risk to his life - Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den for this action! - Daniel persisted in his customary practice of praying towards Jerusalem three times a day. The significance of this must not be missed. At the time, like the rest of God’s people, Daniel was an exile in Babylon (modern Iraq). But he hung on to prophetic promises assuring him that God would return his people to Jerusalem and effect the rebuilding of that devastated land, along with its temple. As the prayer of Daniel 9 confirms, Daniel was a man with his heart set on this hope, unfailingly praying that his God would fulfil his promise. God honoured Daniel’s faithfulness, prospering him until he saw that very day dawn, given that he remained in the Babylonian court “until the first year of Cyrus” (Daniel 1:21).
There is a significant point of contrast here between what it meant for Daniel to pray towards Jerusalem and what it meant for Muslims to pray towards Mecca. Whereas Muslims look back to what they believed happened in the past, Daniel looked forward to what God would do in the future.
The coming of Jesus made obsolete the need to pray while facing a particular geographical direction. Consider Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman. For the Samaritans the central site was Mount Gerizim, whereas for Jews it was Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Jesus declared,
Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem (John 4:21).
He went on to say:
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).
I remember once speaking with a Saudi Arabian who had turned to Christ. He has sought to observe Islamic requirements scrupulously and zealously, as his father had urged him to do. This included praying five times a day, facing the Kaabah. A major turning point in his life occurred in a chance encounter with a Christian. He challenged the Christian, “Why is it that we Muslims are so serious about prayer and you are not? We pray five times a day and you only pray once a week.” The Christian explained, “No! We can pray anytime, anywhere and facing any direction.”
Posted July 26, 2008
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