but if they turn back, they are in schism. God shall support thee against them, for he is the hearer, the wise. The baptism of God have we received, and who is better than God to baptize? him do we worship. Say, Will ye dispute with us concerning God, who is our Lord, and your Lord? we have our works, and ye have your works, and unto him are we sincerely devoted. Will ye say, Truly Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes were Jews or Christians? Say, Are ye wiser, or God? And who is more unjust than he who hideth the testimony which he hath received from God? But God is not regardless of that which ye do. That people are passed away, they have what they have gained, and ye shall have what ye gain, nor shall ye be questioned concerning that which they have done.
The foolish men will say, What hath turned them from their keblah, toward which they formerly prayed?[1] Say, Unto God belongeth the east and the west: he directeth whom he pleaseth into the right way. Thus have we placed you, O Arabians, an intermediate nation, that ye may be witnesses against the rest of mankind, and that the apostle may be a witness against you. We appointed the keblah toward which thou didst formerly pray, only that we might know him who followeth the apostle, from him who turneth back on his heels; though this change seem a great matter, unless unto those whom God hath directed. But God will not render your faith of none effect; for God is gracious and merciful unto man. We have seen thee turn about thy face toward heaven with uncertainty, but we will cause thee to turn thyself toward a keblah that will please thee. Turn therefore
- ↑ At first, Mohammed and his followers observed no particular rite in turning their faces toward any certain place, or quarter of the world, when they prayed; it being declared to be perfectly indifferent. Afterward, when the prophet fled to Medina, he directed them to turn toward the temple of Jerusalem, which continued to be their keblah for six or seven months; but either finding the Jews too intractable, or despairing otherwise to gain the pagan Arabs, who could not forget their respect to the temple of Mecca, he ordered that prayers for the future should be toward the last. This change was made in the second year of the Hegira, and occasioned many to fall from him, taking offense at his inconstancy.
