Amatulla’s comment:
The following verse 2:148 and verse 5:48 embody the spirit of peaceful co-existence, the pursuit of collective welfare and progress in a society and humanity of diversity. It lays down the fundamental principle of pluralism, a precondition of peace.
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Sura 2, al-Baqara, Medina 87
The Quranic text and Ali’s Translation
وَلِكُلٍّ
وِجْهَةٌ هُوَ
مُوَلِّيهَا
فَاسْتَبِقُواْ
الْخَيْرَاتِ
...
2:148. To each is a goal to which God turns him; then strive together (as in a race) toward all that is good.
... أَيْنَ مَا تَكُونُواْ يَأْتِ بِكُمُ اللّهُ جَمِيعًا ...
Wheresoever ye are, God will bring you together.
... إِنَّ اللّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿١٤٨﴾
For God hath power over all things.
Transliteration Wa likulliw wijhatun huwa muwalliha_ fastabiqul khaira_t(i), ainama_ taku_nu_ ya'ti bikumulla_hu jami'a_(n), innalla_ha 'ala_ kulli syai'in qadir(un).
Other versions
2: 148
Aasd for, every community faces a direction of its own, of which He is the focal point. [note 123] Vie, therefore, with one another in doing good works. Wherever you may be, God will gather you all unto Himself: for, verily, God has the power to will anything.
Pickthall And each one hath a goal toward which he turneth; so vie with one another in good works. Where so ever ye may be, Allah will bring you all together. Lo! God is Able to do all things.
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Ali’s comments:
153. The question is how we are to construe the pronoun, huwa, in the original. The alternative translation would be;
"To each is a goal to which he turns."
The simile of life being a race in which we all zealously run forward to the one goal of good, may be applied individually and nationally. This supplies another argument of the Ka'bah Qiblah, viz., the unity of goal, with diversity of races, traditions and temperaments.
Asad’s comments
123: Lit., “everyone has a direction………..”, etc. Almost all of the classical commentators, from the Companions of the Prophet downwards, interpret this as a reference to the various religious communities and their different modes of “turning towards God” in worship. Ibn Kathir, in his commentary on this verse, stresses its inner resemblance to the phrase occurring in 5:48 : “unto every one of you have We appointed a [different] law and way of life.”
The statement that “every community faces a direction its own” in its endeavor to express its submission to God implies, firstly, that at various times and in various circumstances man’s desire to approach God in prayer has taken different forms………………….does not represent the essence of faith as such: for, as the Quran says, “true piety does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west” (2:177), and, “God’s is the east and the west” (2:115 and 142). Consequently, the revelation which established the Kabah as the qiblah of the Muslims should not be a matter of contention for people of other faiths, nor a cause of their disbelief in the truth of the Quranic revelation as such (Manar II 21f)
Verses Before and After:
وَلَئِنْ
أَتَيْتَ
الَّذِينَ
أُوْتُواْ
الْكِتَابَ
بِكُلِّ آيَةٍ
مَّا تَبِعُواْ
قِبْلَتَكَ
...
145. Even if thou wert to bring to the People of the Book all the signs (together), they would not follow thy Qiblah;
... وَمَا أَنتَ بِتَابِعٍ قِبْلَتَهُمْ ...
nor art thou going to follow their Qiblah;
... وَمَا بَعْضُهُم بِتَابِعٍ قِبْلَةَ بَعْضٍ...
nor indeed will they follow each other's Qiblah.
... وَلَئِنِ اتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَاءهُم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ...
If thou, after the knowledge hath reached thee, wert to follow their (vain) desires,
... إِنَّكَ إِذَاً لَّمِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿١٤٥﴾
then wert thou indeed (clearly) in the wrong.
الَّذِينَ
آتَيْنَاهُمُ
الْكِتَابَ
يَعْرِفُونَهُ
كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ
أَبْنَاءهُمْ
...
146. The People of the Book know this as they know their own sons;
[ C151. The People of the Book should have known all this as well as "they knew their own sons", as their past traditions and teaching should have made them receptive of the new message.
Some commentators construe the demonstrative pronoun "this" to refer to the Prophet. In that case the interpretation would be:
The People of the Book know Muhammad as well as they know their own sons;
they know him to be true and upright;
they know him to be in the line of Abraham; they know him to correspond to the description of the prophet foretold among themselves; but selfishness induces some of them to act against their own knowledge and conceal the truth. ]
... وَإِنَّ فَرِيقاً مِّنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿١٤٦﴾
but some of them conceal the truth which they themselves know.
الْحَقُّ
مِن رَّبِّكَ
فَلاَ
تَكُونَنَّ
مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ
﴿١٤٧﴾
147. The truth is from thy Lord, so be not at all in doubt.
وَمِنْ
حَيْثُ
خَرَجْتَ فَوَلِّ
وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ
الْمَسْجِدِ
الْحَرَامِ...
149. From whencesoever thou startest forth, turn thy face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque;
... وَإِنَّهُ لَلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ وَمَا اللّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٤٩﴾
that is indeed the truth from thy Lord. And Allah is not unmindful of what ye do.
وَمِنْ
حَيْثُ
خَرَجْتَ فَوَلِّ
وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ
الْمَسْجِدِ
الْحَرَامِ
...
150. So from whencesoever thou startest forth, turn thy face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque;
... وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ لِئَلاَّ يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ...
among wheresoever ye are turn your face thither, that there be no ground of dispute against you among the people,
... إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ مِنْهُمْ فَلاَ تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِي...
except those of them that are bent on wickedness; so fear them not, but fear Me;
... وَلأُتِمَّ نِعْمَتِي عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ ﴿١٥٠﴾
and that I may complete My favors on you, and ye may (consent to) be guided.