Islamic direction of prayer.

[root]

Hi All,

I understand that "Qibla" is in the direction of Mecca. And in the early years of Islam "Qibla" was Jerusalem.

I would like to understand the following;

Why did Mohammed start early muslims prayer in the direction of Jerusalem in the beginning and why did he then chaange it.

Additionally, I have also discovered that prayer for early muslims involved a 3 times daily ritual and currently it is five. Again, why did Mohammed start with three and change it to 5.

Many thanks.

[syilla]

Our prophet Muhammad did not start the direction of Jerusalem, It started earlier from Prophet Abraham.

It was changed because Allah subhanahuwata'ala told the prophet so. Since we are not supposed to follow the Jews.

And about the prayers, Prophet Muhammad started it with 5 units a day...never been three.

You can try to read it by googling isra' mi'raj.

And from what i've known....the earlier muslims...prayed more than 3 times....i think more than 10 times a day :uuh:

Thats the basic stuffs that i know...InshaAllah someone that has a good background on islamic history will share with you :)

[Uthman]

Greetings root,

Additionally, I have also discovered that prayer for early muslims involved a 3 times daily ritual and currently it is five. Again, why did Mohammed start with three and change it to 5.

Actually, as far as I am aware, early Muslims were obliged to pray fifty times a day! And this figure was gradually reduced to five. This took place on the night of Mi'raj.

It may have been the Israelites who had to perform a 3 times daily ritual but I'm not sure.

Regards

[jd7]

Syilla “Our prophet Muhammad did not start the direction of Jerusalem, It started earlier from Prophet Abraham”.

It is my understanding that the book of Daniel contains the first reference to praying toward Jerusalem:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...:10&version=31

Daniel 6:10
10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Perhaps I am wrong.

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[jd7]

Root “why did he then change it”?

From my reading about it, it seemed to me that once Mecca became the seat of power for Muhammad, continued prayer toward Jerusalem could have been seen as a threat to Muhammad’s power.

I don’t recall having ever read any scriptural reasons for the change. To me it seemed the change was for more political than scriptural reasons.

Perhaps someone will enlighten us.

[- Qatada -]

Syilla “Our prophet Muhammad did not start the direction of Jerusalem, It started earlier from Prophet Abraham”.

It is my understanding that the book of Daniel contains the first reference to praying toward Jerusalem:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=daniel%206:10&version=31


Daniel 6:10
10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Perhaps I am wrong.

Many Prophets of God, more specifically the Children of Israel prayed in or towards the direction of the Temple of Solomon (Masjid Al-Aqsa.) This continued all the way till the time of Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him.)


To answer the question more specifically, Prophet Abraham built the Ka'bah with his son Ishmael as a house of worship - where people would praise God and worship Him without associating partners with Him. The arabs recognized this clearly as they were his descendants, however they started to worship idols, which were introduced much later (maybe thousands of years later) after Prophet Abraham by a man called 'Amr ibn Luhay al-Khuzaa'i. This is the first time idols were worshipped at that house of worship in Makkah.



The Prophet (peace be upon him) was ordered by Allah to turn towards the direction of the Temple of Solomon during the early stages of his Prophethood. This signified in an indirect way that he was a Messenger, like the Messengers of old, calling to the worship and obedience of God Alone. It signified that he had departed from the ways of the polytheists.

As time progressed, the Jews and Christians disbelieved in Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the Messenger of God, although there were and still are irrefutable evidences from their own scriptures which signify his Prophethood. However, they rejected him.



Due to the fact that he really desired to pray towards the Ka'ba which Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) had built, Allaah allowed him to turn towards that as a qibla;

Verily! We have seen the turning of your (Muhammad's - peace be upon hims) face towards the heaven. Surely, We shall turn you to a Qiblah (prayer direction) that shall please you, so turn your face in the direction of Al-Masjid- al-Haram (at Makkah).

And wheresoever you people are, turn your faces (in prayer) in that direction. Certainly, the people who were given the Scriptures (i.e. Jews and the Christians) know well that, that (your turning towards the direction of the Ka'bah at Makkah in prayers) is the truth from their Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what they do.


[Qur'an Al Baqarah 2:144]

[- Qatada -]

Root “why did he then change it”?

From my reading about it, it seemed to me that once Mecca became the seat of power for Muhammad, continued prayer toward Jerusalem could have been seen as a threat to Muhammad’s power.

Many Jews attempted to kill him (whether this was before the change of qibla or before) like they did to many of the Prophets throughout history, so no - in either case Allah protected him.

I don’t recall having ever read any scriptural reasons for the change. To me it seemed the change was for more political than scriptural reasons.

Perhaps someone will enlighten us.

I hope the above post is of some benefit.




Regards.

[- Qatada -]

Greetings root,

Actually, as far as I am aware, early Muslims were obliged to pray fifty times a day! And this figure was gradually reduced to five. This took place on the night of Mi'raj.

It may have been the Israelites who had to perform a 3 times daily ritual but I'm not sure.

Regards

:salamext:

For sure, there was no strong evidence which indicate that prayers (in the shape known nowadays i.e. five daily prayers performed at the specified times) were there prior to this journey to Al-Aqsa.

As you may be aware that the obligation of prayers was established from this historical journey.

http://www.islamonline.net/livefatwa...GuestID=1AEUWO

So what is authenticated is that there were five prayers obligated after the journey of Israa' wal Mi'raaj, but there is not much detail on what was obligated before that. There is some proof however, which is mentioned in Tafsir Ibn Kathir that the companions would pray Tahajjud/Qiyam al-Layl (the prayer at night) as an obligation, until this obligation was later removed as an ease for them - however it remained an obligation upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him.)



And Allah knows best.

[Uthman]

:sl:

Ok. :)

:w:

[jd7]

Qatada, thanks for the insight.