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سُورَةُ البَقَرَةِ · 2:115
MedinanRevelation order ٨٧Juzʾ ١Page ١٨

وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْمَشْرِقُ وَٱلْمَغْرِبُ ۚ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا۟ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌۭ

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Saheeh International · EN

And to Allah belongs the east and the west. So wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.

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Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 115 of Sūrat Al-Baqara (The Cow), the 87th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 1. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

Bio

Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Medinan
Order revealed
87 of 114
Surah
Al-Baqara (2)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

(Unto Allah belong the East and the West�) [2:115]. There is a scholarly disagreement regarding the occasion of revelation of this Qur'anic verse. Abu Mansur al-Mansuri informed us> al-Hafiz 'Ali ibn 'Umar> Abu Muhammad Isma'il ibn 'Ali> al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Shabib al-'Umari> Ahmad ibn 'Ubayd Allah ibn al-Hasan al-'Anbari who said: �I found written in my father's epistle: 'Abd al-Malik al-'Arzami narrated to us> 'Ata' ibn Rabah> Jabir ibn 'Abd al-Malik who said: 'The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent a military expedition in which I was present. It was dark and so we could not determine the precise direction of the qiblah. Some of us said: we know the exact direction; it is toward the North. They prayed and drew lines. Some others said: the qiblah is toward the South. They prayed and drew lines. When it was morning and the sun had risen up, they discovered that their lines were pointed to a different direction to that of the qiblah. When we returned from our journey we asked the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, about this but he did not give us an answer. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse (Unto Allah belong the East and the West�)' �. Abu Mansur informed us> 'Ali> Yahya ibn Sa'id>Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Ahmasi> Waki'> Ash'ath al-Samman> 'Asim ibn 'Ubayd Allah> 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amir ibn Rabi'ah> his father who said: �We were praying with the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, while on a journey. And because it was a dark night we could not determine the precise direction of the qiblah. Each man prayed toward whichever direction he thought was right. In the following morning, we mentioned what had happened to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and then the verse (Unto Allah belong the East and the West�) was revealed�. Ibn 'Umar is of the opinion that the above verse is about voluntary offering of supererogatory prayers. Abu'l-Qasim ibn Sa'dan informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Ya'qub> Abu'l-Bukhturi 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Shakir> Abu Usamah> 'Abd al-Malik ibn Sulayman> Sa'id ibn Jubayr> Ibn 'Umar who said: �The verses (Unto Allah belong the East and the West�) was revealed so that one prays toward whatever direction one's mount directs one upon offering supererogatory prayer�.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

And to Allah belong the east and the west, so wherever you turn (yourselves or your faces) there is the Face of Allah (and He is High above, over His Throne). Surely, Allah is Sufficient (for His creatures' needs), Knowing (115) Facing the Qiblah (Direction of the Prayer) This ruling brought comfort to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions, who were driven out of Makkah and had to depart from the area of Al-Masjid Al-Haram. In Makkah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray in the direction of Bayt Al-Maqdis, while the Ka'bah was between him and the Qiblah. When the Messenger ﷺ migrated to Al-Madinah, he faced Bayt Al-Maqdis for sixteen or seventeen months, and then Allah directed him to face Al-Ka'bah in prayer. This is why Allah said, وَلِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ (And to Allah belong the east and the west, so wherever you turn…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

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Provenance

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