(144) “We have certainly seen you turning your face toward heaven. We will therefore surely turn you toward a direction of prayer that pleases you. So turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque; and wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it. Indeed, those who were given the Scripture know that this is the truth from their Lord. Allah is not unaware of what they do.”

Allah says to His Prophet: “We have certainly seen you turning your face toward heaven,” meaning frequently turning it in every direction, longing and waiting for revelation to descend commanding him to face the Kaaba. He said, “your face,” rather than “your gaze,” to emphasize his deep concern, and because turning the face necessarily entails turning the gaze.

“We will therefore surely turn you”—that is, We shall direct you as an expression of Our care for you—“toward a direction of prayer that pleases you,” meaning one that you love, namely the Kaaba. This demonstrates the Prophet’s excellence and honor (peace and blessings be upon him), for Allah Most High swiftly granted what pleased him. He then explicitly commanded him to face it, saying, “So turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque.” The “face” here means the front of the human body. “And wherever you may be”—whether on land or sea, in the east or west, or in the south or north—“turn your faces toward it,” meaning in its direction.

The verse therefore stipulates that the Kaaba must be faced in every prayer, obligatory and voluntary alike. If one can face the Kaaba itself, one must do so; otherwise, it is sufficient to face its general direction. Turning one’s body away invalidates the prayer, because a command to do something entails a prohibition of its opposite.

Having previously mentioned the objections raised by the People of the Scripture and others, as well as the answer to them, Allah Most High states here that the People of the Scripture—especially the learned among them—know that in this matter you are upon the truth and acting under divine command, because they find it recorded in their scriptures. They object only out of obstinacy and transgression. Since they know that they are wrong, pay no heed to them. A person is distressed by an objection only when the matter is uncertain and the objector might possibly be correct.

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But if one is certain that the person being objected to is correct and upon the truth, while the objector is obstinate and knows his own assertion to be false, there is no reason to pay him any heed. Rather, the objector may be expected to face punishment in this world and the Hereafter. Allah Most High therefore says, “Allah is not unaware of what they do.” Rather, He keeps a record of their deeds and will recompense them accordingly. This contains a warning to those who raise such objections and consolation for the believers.