Surah Al-Baqarah 2:143

وَكَذَ‌ٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًالِّتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا ۗ وَمَا جَعَلْنَا الْقِبْلَةَ الَّتِي كُنتَ عَلَيْهَا إِلَّالِنَعْلَمَ مَن يَتَّبِعُ الرَّسُولَ مِمَّن يَنقَلِبُ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ ۚ وَإِن كَانَتْ لَكَبِيرَةً إِلَّا عَلَى الَّذِينَ هَدَى اللَّهُ ۗ وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِيعَ إِيمَانَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

2:143 The companions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and his true followers are called here ’ummatun wustâ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا, meaning the middlemost and exalted community, a community that keeps an equitable balance between extremes (Lisân).

While at Makkah, the Prophet (pbuh) used to pray before the southern wall of the Ka‘bah , facing north, to face both the Ka‘bah and Jerusalem. In Madînah he continued to pray northwards in the direction of Jerusalem. Sixteen months after his arrival at Madînah, verses 142-150 of this chapter were revealed. These verses established the Ka‘bah as the al-Qiblah الْقِبْلَةَ – the only direction of ritual Prayer. This verse and those that immediately follow give reason for this.

The first is to “distinguish him who follows the Messenger from him who turns upon his heelsإِلَّالِنَعْلَمَ مَن يَتَّبِعُ الرَّسُولَ مِمَّن يَنقَلِبُ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ . Na‘lamaنَعْلَمَ should mean we might distinguish and not so that We know. Allâh is al-‘Alim - the All-Knowing, so He stands in no need of knowing. The roots of Na‘lama are ‘Alima عِلمَ and ‘Ilm علْم, meaning knowledge. However, when it is followed by the particle min من, as here, it means to distinguish one thing from the other (see Bahr al-Muhît). Then He says, “And this [change of al-Qiblah] is indeed a hardship except for those whom Allâh has guided aright”. The rightly guided recognize that whatever physical structure is represented by the Qibla, it is only a symbol for its Owner, who is God, and therefore do not attach any meaning to the structure itself. Caliph ‘Umar(rz) recognised this, and even wanted to crush the black stone (hajr aswad), but then he kissed it instead in order to follow the Holy Prophets example.

Allâh gives another reason for assigning the Ka‘bah as the Qiblah. He says “It was not Allâh’s purpose that your faith and your worship should go in vain” وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِيعَ إِيمَانَكُمْ. So He made Bayt al-Atîq بِالْبَيْتِ الْعَتِيقِ the ancient house (22:29) standing in the mother of cities –Umm al-Qurâ أُمَّ الْقُرَىٰ (6:92), the navel of the earth (Ibn ‘Abbâs ) and zero point in space (Ibn al-‘Arabî), His own house where the worshipper can look at it without veil. He made it the heart of existence (qalb al-Wajûd). Its history is older than all histories, its place precedes all geography, and it contains some sublime untold Divine secrets. In choosing this pile of stone as a place for His house and designating it as the place where His creatures should direct their faces in their Prayers Allâh instituted a decree for humankind and raised these stones in significance for the purpose that our faith and our worship should not go in vain.