Postby muslim0-1 » Sat Nov 08, 2008 11:48 am
Prayer part 2
Facing the Qiblah - Kabah :
When the Messenger of Allah sallahu alayhi wa salam stood for prayer, he would face the Ka'bah in both obligatory and voluntary prayers, and he sallahu alayhi wa salam ordered us, saying: 'when you stand for prayer, perform ablution perfectly, then face the qiblah and say takbeer. [Saheeh Bukhari and Muslim]
Allah Ta'ala said : 'Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah' [Surah al-Baqarah; 2:115]
As we all know, the first qiblah in Islam was Jerusalem. After a while, Allah commanded the Prophet sallahu alauhi wa salam to pray towards the Ka'bah in Makkah.
'He sallahu alayhi wa salam used to pray towards Bait al-Maqadas [with the Ka'bah in front of him] before the following verse was revealed: 'We see the turning of your faces to the heavens; now shall we turn you to a Qiblah that shall please you: turn then your faces in the direction of the Sacred Mosque'
[Surah al-Baqarah;2:144]
When the above ayah was revealed, to face the Ka'bah, there were people at Masjid Qubaa' [in Madinah] praying Fajr when someone came to them and said, 'Verily the Messenger of Allah sallahu alayhi wa salam has had some of the Quran revealed to him last night and he has been ordered to face the Ka'bah, [verily] so face it'. Their faces were towards Shaam (Palestine, Jordan area), so they turned round [and their Imam turned round to face the qiblah along with them].' [Saheeh Bukhari and Muslim]