“We have certainly seen the turning of your face toward heaven, and We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque. And wherever you are, turn your faces toward it.”

Up to His words:

“And wherever you set out from, turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque. And wherever you are, turn your faces toward it.”

Shatrahu means “toward it” or “in its direction,” as the poet said:

Umm Zinbāʿ, turn—turn the pale camels
To face Banū Tamīm.

He also says:

“For everyone there is a direction toward which he turns.”

Wijhah means the same as jihah (direction), just as ʿidah (promise) and zinah (weight) were originally wiʿdah and wiznah. Thus, the qiblah is what one faces, while the wijhah is what one turns toward. Allah, glorified be He, commanded him to turn his face toward the Sacred Mosque. The “Sacred Mosque” means the entire Sacred Precinct, as in His words:

“So let them not approach the Sacred Mosque after this year of theirs.”

This is not restricted to the Kaaba. This bears out the transmitted report: “The Kaaba is the qiblah for the mosque; the mosque is the qiblah for Mecca; Mecca is the qiblah for the Sacred Precinct; and the Sacred Precinct is the qiblah for the earth.”

It is established in the two Sahīh collections that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed two units of prayer facing the Kaaba and said: “This is the qiblah.”

It is also established in the two Sahīh collections that he said:

“Do not face the qiblah when defecating or urinating, nor turn your backs toward it; rather, face east or west.”

He thus forbade facing the qiblah when defecating or urinating, and commanded facing it in prayer. Hence, the qiblah which he forbade people to face