Why the mosque called qibla tayn.
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Why the mosque is called masjid qiblatain.
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Answer:
Why the mosque
called qibla tayn
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness
that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
The literal meaning of the term or name ‘Masjid
Qibla-tayn’ is the Masjid with two ‘Qiblas’.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verses 144, 148-149:
144 We see the turning of thy face (for
guidance) to the heavens; now shall We turn thee to a ‘Qiblah’ that shall
please thee. Turn then thy face in the
direction of the Sacred Mosque (of Makkah); wherever ye are turn your faces in
that direction. The ‘People of the Book’
know well that that is the Truth from their Lord nor is Allah unmindful of what
they do.
148 To each is a goal to which Allah turns
him; then strive together (as in a race) toward all that is good. Wheresoever ye are Allah will bring you
together. For Allah hath power over all
things.
149 From whencesoever thou startest forth turn thy face in the direction
of the Sacred Mosque (of Makkah); that is indeed the Truth from thy Lord. And Allah is not unmindful of what ye do.
Since the building of the original ‘Masjid al-Aqsa’ by
Prophet Sulaimaan (a.s.) in
Soon after the ‘Hijrah’ or migration to Madinah, Allah
Subhanah Revealed the Verses in the Glorious Quran Commanding the believers
that from henceforth the ‘Qibla’ has been changed, and the believers are to
face the direction of the Sacred House in Makkah during their prayers.
At the Revelation of the above quoted verses, the
Messenger of Allah (saws) immediately sent his emissary to declare and make
known to all the believers in Madinah that henceforth the direction of the
‘Qibla’ has been changed for the believers by their Lord and they should all
face the direction of the Sacred House in Makkah during their prayers, instead
of the Masjid al-Aqsa.
History records that a group of believers were in the
midst of offering their prayers at a local mosque in Madinah when the emissary
of the Prophet (saws) reached them and declared his ‘message’ of the change of
direction of the ‘Qibla’ aloud. Such was
the characteristic of submission and obedience amongst the companions of the
Noble Prophet (saws), that as soon as they heard that Allah Subhanah had
revealed the Command in His Quran regarding the change of the ‘Qibla’ and
Prophet Mohamed had arranged to send an emissary to announce the news to
them…..the leader or ‘imam’ of the congregation, in the midst of the prayer,
moved immediately from the northerly direction he was facing in his prayers
(towards Masjid al-Aqsa) to the southerly direction (of the Masjid Haraam).
Because it so happened that in one prayer itself the
believers faced two ‘Qibla’ directions; when they started they faced North
towards their old ‘Qibla’ of the ‘Masjid al-Aqsa’, and in the midst of their
prayer, they moved South to face the ‘Masjid Haraam in Makkah’….the masjid
itself became known as the ‘Masjid Qibla-tayn’ or the Masjid with two Qiblas
(or more appropriately: a Masjid where one prayer was prayed towards both
Qiblas).
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
Wister