then al-Hafiz—after citing the last portion of Tuwayla’s report—said: “I say: The scene is that the imam moved from his place at the front of the mosque to its rear. Whoever faces the Ka‘ba necessarily turns his back to Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem); had the imam merely pivoted where he stood, there would have been no space behind him wide enough for the rows. When the imam shifted, the men moved so that they formed rows behind him, and the women moved until they were behind the men. Such extensive movement during prayer would normally be disallowed. It is therefore possible that the event occurred before abundant motion in prayer was forbidden—just as speech was once permitted and later prohibited. It is also possible that the movement was excused because of the clear benefit involved, or that the steps were not consecutive but broken up. Allah knows best.” He adds: “The episode related by Tuwayla is distinct from the incident of the people of Quba’. This one took place among Banu Haritha and involved a four-rak‘a prayer, whereas that one occurred among Banu ‘Amr b. ‘Awf—the inhabitants of Quba’—and the prayer was two rak‘as, namely the dawn prayer, as already noted.” This is corroborated by the hadith of al-Bara’ b. ‘Azib: Fifth hadith – He said: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Madina he prayed toward Bayt al-Maqdis for sixteen or seventeen months. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ wished to be directed toward the Ka‘ba, so Allah revealed: qad nara taqalluba wajhika fi al-sama (We have certainly seen the turning of your face toward the heaven). He then faced the Ka‘ba. The foolish among the people—that is, the Jews—said: ma wallahum ‘an qiblatihim allati kanu ‘alayha, qul lillahi al-mashriqu wa-l-maghrib, yahdi man yasha’ ila siratin mustaqim (What has turned them away from the qibla they were upon? Say: to Allah belong the east and the west; He guides whom He wills to a straight path). A man who had prayed with the Prophet ﷺ left the mosque, and as he passed by a group of the Ansar performing the ‘asr prayer still facing Bayt al-Maqdis he said that he testified to having prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who had turned toward the Ka‘ba. The congregation thereupon pivoted until they too faced the Ka‘ba.”