ترجمة معاني آية 142 سورة البقرة - الترجمة الإنجليزية - د. وليد بليهش العمري - موسوعة القرآن الكريم

آية: 142

۞ سَيَقُولُ ٱلسُّفَهَآءُ مِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَا وَلَّىٰهُمۡ عَن قِبۡلَتِهِمُ ٱلَّتِي كَانُواْ عَلَيۡهَاۚ قُل لِّلَّهِ ٱلۡمَشۡرِقُ وَٱلۡمَغۡرِبُۚ يَهۡدِي مَن يَشَآءُ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطٖ مُّسۡتَقِيمٖ

(142) The feeble-minded people^[217] will say: “What turned them away from the direction of Prayer^[218] they used to face?” Say: “To Allah belongs the East and the West^[219]. He guides whom He wills to a straight path”^[220].

[217] The seismic shift of the change in the direction of Prayer from Jerusalem to the Kaʿbah in Makkah is dealt with in detail in Ayas 142-150 here. During their very early Madinan days, Muslims used to face Jerusalem for Prayers in compliance with the People of the Book of Madinah, namely the Jews; this by way of placating and winning them over. Here, God is setting the scene for the criticism that was to be expected by announcing to the Prophet (ﷺ) and his Companions that those who oppose this move are foolhardy and ‘feeble-minded’. The whole truth of this trying affair is laid out before the Believers so that they know what is to come - difficulty and opposition – and that they will, thus, be prepared and stay firm.
[218] Qiblah is the Islamic term for the direction Muslims face in their Prayers. As to the reason behind the revelation of this aya, al-Barā’ Ibn ʿĀzib (رضي الله عنه) narrated: “The Prophet (ﷺ) Prayed towards the direction of Jerusalem for sixteen or seventeen months, but he was inclined towards Praying to the direction of the Kaʿbah. Then Allah sent down: “We have certainly seen you turning your face ˹anxiously˺ in the sky. We shall turn you to a direction of Prayer that you shall be satisfied with. Turn then your face to the Sanctified Mosque” (2: 144). He then turned towards the Kaʿbah, and the feeble-minded, ˹the Prophet’s (ﷺ) detractors˺, said: “What turned them away from the direction of Prayer they used to face?”” (al-Bukhārī: 399, Muslim: 525) This move marked a practical declaration of the relation of Islam to the Abrahamic creed (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Saʿdī) a return to the pristine religion of God, i.e. Islām. At the same time, it represented a practical announcement of Islam’s break from other religions: a timely statement of intent given the essential reality that has just been given about the Truthfulness of the Abrahamic creed in the preceding ayas.
[219] No direction is out of the realm of His dominion. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī)
[220] That is guiding the Believers to the same direction of Prayer which Abraham (عليه السلام) used to face. (al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī)