“It is not righteousness to turn your faces towards the east or the west. Rather, righteousness is found in one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets; gives wealth, despite loving it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveller, beggars, and for freeing those in bondage; establishes prayer and gives zakah; fulfills their covenant when they make one; and is patient in hardship, adversity, and at times of battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and those are the people mindful of Allah.” (177)
“Those are the ones who have purchased misguidance at the price of guidance, and punishment at the price of forgiveness. How enduring they are in the face of the Fire!” ‘Ata’ and al-Suddi said: The word “what” is interrogative in meaning: What is it that has made them endure the Fire? What could make them endure the Fire, such that they abandoned the truth and followed falsehood? Al-Hasan and Qatadah said: By Allah, they have no endurance for it; rather, how daring they are to do that which brings them near to the Fire. Al-Kisa’i said: “How enduring they are in performing the deeds of the people of the Fire”—that is, how persistently they continue in them.
“That is because Allah has sent down the Book in truth.” That is, this punishment is because Allah sent down the Book in truth, yet they denied it and disbelieved in it. On this interpretation, “that” stands in the nominative position. Some said that it stands in the accusative position, its meaning being: Our doing that to them was because Allah—that is, because Allah sent down the Book in truth, but they differed concerning it. It was also said that its meaning is: That is, the conduct in which they persist—disbelief, disagreement, and boldness towards Allah—is due to the fact that Allah sent down the Book in truth. This is like His saying, exalted is He: “Indeed, those who disbelieve—it is all the same whether you warn them or do not warn them: they will not believe. Allah has sealed their hearts.” (7—al-Baqarah)
“And indeed, those who differ concerning the Book”—believing in part of it and disbelieving in part—“are surely in far-reaching dissension,” that is, in far-reaching disagreement and misguidance.
Allah, exalted is He, says: “It is not righteousness to turn your faces towards the east or the west.” Hamzah and Hafs read “righteousness” with its final letter in the accusative, while the rest read it in the nominative. Those who read it in the nominative take “righteousness” as the noun of “is not,” with “that you turn your faces” as its predicate. Its implied construction is: Righteousness is not your turning your faces. This is like His saying, exalted is He: “Their only argument was that they said, ‘Bring …’” (25—al-Jathiyah).
Righteousness is every good deed that leads its doer to Paradise. They differed over those addressed by this verse. Some said that it refers to the Jews and Christians: the Jews used to pray towards the west, towards Jerusalem, while the Christians prayed towards the east; and each group claimed