Jerusalem's Importance in Early Islam
Sura 2 of the Qur˒ān explicitly states that one should face the Ka˓ba in Mecca during prayer. So important is this direction that in Islam, the dead are buried facing the Ka˓ba.
El-Khatib points to al-Qibla (the prayer direction) and references the second Sura, verses 142, 143, and 145. He explains that, "We are told that Muslims when praying faced towards Bayt al-Maqdis[20] for 17 consecutive months after the Hijra,[21] until this was abrogated by the revelation of Q 2:142–146. These verses ordered the Prophet and the Muslim community to turn in prayer towards the Ka˓ba in Mecca instead of Jerusalem."[22]
El-Khatib points to al-Qibla (the prayer direction) and references the second Sura, verses 142, 143, and 145. He explains that, "We are told that Muslims when praying faced towards Bayt al-Maqdis[20] for 17 consecutive months after the Hijra,[21] until this was abrogated by the revelation of Q 2:142–146. These verses ordered the Prophet and the Muslim community to turn in prayer towards the Ka˓ba in Mecca instead of Jerusalem."[22]
During the Hijra, when Muḥammad fled Mecca for Medina in 622, he left with a large contingent of associates. Among them were many Jews, and in Medina he discovered many more people of the Jewish faith. In Medina, Muḥammad adopted practices that were friendly to the Jews such as, a fast similar to the Jewish Yom Kippur, the idea of a structure like a synagogue where one should pray, and dietary laws and constraints much like Kashrut. However, the most important decision he made was changing the pagan direction of prayer from Mecca to Jerusalem—the direction Jews have used as their Qibla since the first temple in Jerusalem was established in 957 BCE (1,579 years before the Hijra).
In the beginning, Muḥammad lacked what had been crucial to the expansion Christianity - disciples to spread his "gospel." Jews appeared to be his best bet as they were already monotheists and he was claiming to represent the "Seal" of their prophets. He assumed that this would be a far easier task than starting with the largely pagan population of the Arabian Peninsula. The problem was that the Jews had seen all of that before. After-all, one reason so many Jews lived in Arabia was the destruction of their temple in 70 CE—on the heals of another's claim to the seal-of-sorts of Jewish prophets. They were thus again dispersed throughout the region and eventually the world. With this memory still fresh in the Jewish psyche, most did not accept Muḥammad's religious bridging proposals.
The Qur˒ān tackles this in Sura 2:142–145:
The fools among the people will say, 'What has turned them from the direction they were facing in their prayers aforetime?' Say: 'To God belong the East and West; He guides whomsoever He will to a straight path.' Thus We appointed you a midmost nation that the Messenger might be a witness to you; and We did not appoint the direction thou wast facing, except that We might know who followed the Messenger from him who turned on his heels—though it were a grave thing save for those whom God has guided; but God would never leave your faith to waste—truly, God is Allgentle with people, All-Compassionate. We have seen thee turning thy face about in the heaven; now We will surely turn thee to a direction that will satisfy thee. Turn thy face towards the Holy Mosque [al-masjid al-haram]; and wherever you are, turn your faces towards it. Those who have been given the Book know it is the truth from their Lord; God is not heedless of the things they do. Yet if thou shouldst bring to those that have been given the Book every sign, they will not follow thy direction; thou art not a follower of their direction; neither are they followers of one another's direction. If thou followest their caprices, after the knowledge that has come to thee, then thou wilt surely be among the evildoers.
It is clear the degree to which ﷲ is adamant that the direction of prayer must be Mecca. After Muḥammad's death in 632 CE—and the compilation of the Qur˒ān during Caliph Abu Bakr's rein (632–634 CE) and its subsequent editing and canonization by Caliph Uthman during his rein (644–656 CE)—it would be understandably important to impress upon Islam's followers that Jerusalem was not supposed to be the Qibla. This is even more important when considering that it was during the rein of Caliph Umar when Jerusalem was captured (638 CE), which happened to be between the original compilation of the Qur˒ān by Abu Bakr and its editing and canonization by Uthman.
The adaption of Jerusalem as the first Qibla was Muḥammad's tactic for winning Jewish support and converts. Al-Tabari, in his famous tafsir agrees: "He chose the Holy House in Jerusalem in order that the People of the Book would be conciliated, and the Jews were glad."[23] Albrecht Noth demonstrates that Islamic historical texts contain contradictory reports on crucial religious and political events because many works were geared toward supporting a particular religious group in a specific region.[24]
Jerusalem's selection as the initial Qibla was a political tactic that ultimately failed. The direction of prayer was then switched to Mecca.
[20] Bayt al-Maqdis is the Arabic rendering of the Hebrew phrase, Beyt ha-Miqdash, which literally means "House of the Holy." In Judaism, Beyt ha-Miqdash refers to the Jewish temple(s) that stood on the Temple Mount
(al-Haram al-Sharif).
(al-Haram al-Sharif).
[21] The Hijra (migration) was when Muhammad left Mecca for Medina in 622 CE for ten years. It marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
[22] El-Khatib. "Jerusalem in the Qur˒ān." p. 43.
[23] al-Tabari, Jami al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an (Cairo 1321/1903), quoted in F.E. Peters, Jerusalem. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985, p. 181.
[24] Noth, Albrecht Goldziher, The Early Arabic Historical Tradition: A Source-Critical Study, in collaboration with Lawrence I. Conrad. trans. Michael Bonner, Princeton: Darwin Press, 1994.