Abu ‘Amr read it in the third-person form, while the rest read it in the second-person form. 21/a

“And wherever you set out from, turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque; and wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it, so that the people will have no argument against you—except the wrongdoers among them. So do not fear them; fear Me, so that I may complete My favor upon you and so that you may be rightly guided. (150)”

“And wherever you set out from, turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque; and wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it.” It was repeated in order to emphasize the abrogation. “So that the people will have no argument against you—except the wrongdoers”: scholars differed over the interpretation of this verse and the sense of “except.” Some said that its meaning is: the qiblah was redirected toward the Ka‘bah so that people would have no argument against you if you were to face elsewhere, saying, “You have no qiblah”—except for the wrongdoers, namely Quraysh and the Jews. As for Quraysh, they would say, “Muhammad has returned to the Ka‘bah because he realized that it is the truth and that it was the qiblah of his forefathers; thus, he will likewise return to our religion.” As for the Jews, they would say, “He only turned away from Bayt al-Maqdis, despite knowing that it is true, because he acts according to his own opinion.”

Others said that “so that the people will have no argument against you” refers to the Jews. Their argument, by way of disputation against the believers concerning their prayer toward Bayt al-Maqdis, was that they used to say, “Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions did not know where their qiblah was until we guided them.”

His saying, “except the wrongdoers,” refers to the polytheists of Makkah. Their argument was that, when their qiblah was redirected toward the Ka‘bah, they said, “Muhammad has become confused about his religion, and he will return to our creed just as he has returned to our qiblah.” This is the meaning of the statement of Mujahid, ‘Ata’, and Qatadah. According to these two interpretations, the exception is sound. Thus, His saying, “except the wrongdoers,” means: no one has any argument against you except the polytheists of Quraysh, for they will contend, dispute, and litigate with you through falsehood and injustice. An argument based on falsehood is called an “argument,” as Allah Most High says: “Their argument is invalid before their Lord” (16—al-Shura). The word “those” is in the genitive position, as though He had said, “other than the wrongdoers.” This was stated by al-Kisa’i. Al-Farra’ said that it is in the accusative by virtue of the exception.

His saying, “among them,” means: among the people. It was also said that this is a disjunctive exception, separate from the preceding statement; its meaning is: rather, the wrongdoers dispute with you through falsehood. This is like Allah Most High’s saying: “They have no knowledge of it, but only follow conjecture” (157—al-Nisa); that is, rather, they follow conjecture. It is like a man saying, “You have no right due from me—unless you wrong me.”

Abu Rawq said: “So that the people will have no argument against you” refers to the Jews. This is because they knew that the Ka‘bah was the qiblah of Abraham, and they found in the Torah that Muhammad would be directed toward it. Thus Allah Most High directed him toward it, so that they would have no argument, saying, “The Prophet whom we find in our Book will be directed toward it, whereas you have not been directed toward it.” When he was directed toward it, their argument was removed. “Except the wrongdoers” means: except that they act unjustly and conceal the truth that they knew.