Page 18
wa-li-llāhi l-mashriqu wa-l-maghribu fa-ʾaynamā tuwallū fa-thamma wajhu llāhi ʾinna llāha wāsiʿun ʿalīmun
To Allah belong the east and the west: so whichever way you turn, there is the face of Allah! Allah is indeed all-bounteous, all-knowing.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 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. (2:115)
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.6
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.7 Some others have narrated from Jabir who said that the Prophet (S) 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, everyone 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 (S) about it and the above verse was revealed declaring that their prayers were all correct in such a condition.8 (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.
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… (2:115)
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. (2:115)
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 (7:137).
Philosophy of The Qiblah
The first question that arises here is that if ‘wherever we turn, there is the Presence of Allah’ (2:115), 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 / wajhu Allah / 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 al-Shi’ah’, ‘Kitab al-Salat’ and ‘Abwab al-Qiblah’.)
Here, we attract your attention to three authentic traditions about the term / wajhu Allah / and its meaning:
1. It is cited in the book ‘Al-Tawhid ‘from Salman Farsi, through a tradition known as Jathliq, who asked Amir Al-Mu’minin ‘Ali (‘a) some questions which were comprehensively replied to. One of them was that he asked him (‘a) which direction his Lord’s presence was.
Hadrat ‘Ali (‘a) told Ibn Abbas to have some firewood fetched for him. The firewood was brought and was kindled. When the fire was flaming, Hadrat ‘Ali (‘a) asked the man which direction the face of the fire was, and the Christian answered that its face was on every side. ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (‘a) 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.’...” 9
2. Again, keeping in mind that the commands given by the Holy Messenger (S) are those that he has received from Allah, it is narrated from Amir Al-Mu’minin ‘Ali (‘a) who said that the manifestation of Allah (SwT) is Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) 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 (S).
That is, the only way to the cognizance of / wajhu Allah / ‘the Presence of Allah’ and the Divine Majesty is through Ahl al-Bayt (‘a), who are His witnesses.10 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.” 11
3. Tariq Ibn Shahab has narrated in a tradition from Hadrat Amir Al-Mu’minin ‘Ali (‘a) who said:
“O! Imam is the Word of Allah, the Proof of Allah, the Presence of Allah, the Light of Allah...” 12
There are some other expressive narrations on the subject cited in Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 93, p. 228, which can be referred to, too.
Footnotes