CHANGING DIRECTION

principle, he initially made Jerusalem his qiblah, for prophets since the time of Solomon had prayed in that direction. The faith conveyed by the Prophet of Islam had also to be separated and made distinct from the previous traditions so that it could appear in a new and unmistakably pure form. For the above reason, the Prophet was eagerly awaiting instructions to change the qiblah. In the second year after his emigration to Madinah, he received the commandment. The Prophets who had come among the Jewish people had been informed that one day God would alter the qiblah, and they had passed the knowledge on to the Jews. Yet when it happened only a few of them, such as Abdullah ibn Salam and Mukhaireeq, confirmed the authenticity of this commandment and acknowledged that God had revealed the truth through the Prophet Muhammad. Whenever God reveals some truth to the world, He makes it absolutely clear. To accept it one should discover God their creator. People summarily reject the truth, and think that a few words that they have deigned to utter are proof that they are standing on firm intellectual ground. But sooner or later, they are bound to realize the weakness of their arguments and it will dawn upon them that, all along, they had been labouring under a false sense of security. o