WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.720 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:27.300 [In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.] 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:34.210 What was the first qibla for the Muslims? 00:00:34.210 --> 00:00:40.939 The fact that Al-Aqsa Mosque was the first qibla for the Muslims 00:00:40.939 --> 00:00:44.939 contains many profound indications and meanings, 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:49.039 as well as a theological dimension and a spiritual connection. 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:52.039 The qibla serves as a bond to unify the Ummah, 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:56.039 for if every person were left to face whichever direction they pleased, 00:00:56.039 --> 00:01:00.039 people would become divided and their orientations would diverge. 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:02.159 Thus, in the meaning of the qibla, 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:06.159 there is interconnectedness, brotherhood, mutual support, and unity, 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:09.159 as well as a symbol of existence and strength. 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:15.609 Despite the hardship, persecution, and distress he encountered from the polytheists of Quraysh, 00:01:15.609 --> 00:01:21.609 the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to pray in Makkah facing Bayt al-Maqdis, 00:01:21.609 --> 00:01:26.609 offering two rak'ahs before sunrise and two before sunset, 00:01:26.609 --> 00:01:28.640 just as the Almighty said: 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:34.840 "So be patient over what they say and exalt [Allah] with praise of your Lord." 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:41.840 “Therefor (O Muhammad) bear with what they say, and hymn the praise of thy Lord before the rising and before the setting of the sun;” (50:39) 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:45.480 The intended meaning of 'exaltation' (tasbih) here is prayer, 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:48.480 as it is one of the names for prayer. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.540 Ibn 'Atiyyah said: 00:01:50.540 --> 00:01:55.540 "The exegetes are in agreement that 'tasbih' here refers to prayer." 00:01:55.540 --> 00:02:01.120 Facing Bayt al-Maqdis and establishing it as the qibla for the Muslims 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:05.180 is established in the Book and the authentic Sunnah. 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:07.180 The Almighty said: 00:02:07.180 --> 00:02:11.180 “Thus We have appointed you a middle nation, that ye may be witnesses against mankind, and that the messenger may be a witness against you. And We appointed the qiblah which ye formerly observed only that We might know him who followeth the messenger, from him who turneth on his heels. In truth it was a hard (test) save for those whom Allah guided. But it was not Allah's purpose that your faith should be in vain, for Allah is Full of Pity, Merciful toward mankind.” (2:143) 00:02:11.180 --> 00:02:15.240 On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:20.240 "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to pray while he was in Makkah 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:25.240 toward Bayt al-Maqdis, with the Ka'bah in front of him." 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:29.240 After he migrated to Madinah, he continued this for sixteen months, 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:32.439 then he was turned toward the Ka'bah. 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:35.439 Ibn Ishaq, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:40.439 "The qibla of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in Makkah was toward the Levant (al-Sham)." 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:45.439 His prayer was between the Yemeni Corner and the Black Stone, 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:49.689 and he would place the Ka'bah between himself and the Levant. 00:02:49.689 --> 00:02:53.689 When the five daily prayers were ordained on the night of the Isra', 00:02:53.689 --> 00:02:56.689 a year and a half before the migration, 00:02:56.689 --> 00:03:00.689 they were initially two rak'ahs each. 00:03:00.689 --> 00:03:04.689 Then, they were increased in the first year of the migration; 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:08.689 the prayer for those not traveling became four rak'ahs for Dhuhr, 00:03:08.689 --> 00:03:10.689 four for 'Asr, 00:03:10.689 --> 00:03:12.689 and four for 'Isha', 00:03:12.689 --> 00:03:14.689 while Maghrib remained three, 00:03:14.689 --> 00:03:17.689 and the Fajr prayer remained two. 00:03:17.689 --> 00:03:22.849 Despite the distance of Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, 00:03:22.849 --> 00:03:25.849 and his Companions, in both time and place, 00:03:25.849 --> 00:03:30.849 it remained their qibla for nearly fourteen years, 00:03:30.849 --> 00:03:35.849 so that it would live in their souls and consciences as a ruling and a qibla, 00:03:35.849 --> 00:03:37.849 and as a source of attachment and connection. 00:03:37.849 --> 00:03:40.949 Whenever the Ummah attains greatness, 00:03:40.949 --> 00:03:45.949 and senses the reality and status of its first qibla and its sacred sites, 00:03:45.949 --> 00:03:51.949 it will regain its glory, honor, advancement, and leadership, 00:03:51.949 --> 00:03:55.949 far removed from considerations of color, nationalism, language, or race, 00:03:55.949 --> 00:04:01.560 because the bond of religion is the strongest and deepest of all bonds. 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:05.560 The geographical and geometric relationship in terms of direction 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:10.560 indicates that the percentage of deviation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque qibla 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:12.560 from the direction of Makkah al-Mukarramah 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:15.560 is approximately three percent, 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:18.560 which is negligible. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:24.560 This means that the primary axis and the geometric method of the walls of Al-Aqsa Mosque 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:28.560 are oriented toward Makkah, the qibla of the Muslims, 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:33.560 which confirms the geographical relationship between the two sacred mosques, 00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:37.560 and it was not a matter of coincidence or chance. 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:41.040 The fact that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, led 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:45.040 all the prophets in prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the night of the Isra', 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:48.040 while their collective qibla was Bayt al-Maqdis, 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:54.040 is a strong indication of the importance of that spot and land, 00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:59.199 and it contains a sign that this Ummah is to assume the leadership of humanity, 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:02.199 starting from that mosque. 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:07.199 Therefore, it should not be neglected under any circumstances. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:12.610 The duration that Al-Aqsa Mosque remained the first qibla for the Muslims 00:05:12.610 --> 00:05:18.610 is sufficient to root its status in the souls and establish it in the hearts. 00:05:18.610 --> 00:05:22.610 This calls for cooperation and the exertion of all efforts 00:05:22.610 --> 00:05:27.610 to support it and liberate it from the clutches of the aggressor usurpers. 00:05:27.610 --> 00:05:31.639 That is why he, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said regarding it, 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:35.639 in order to preserve the permanence of this status: 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:38.639 "And what an excellent place of prayer it is." 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:41.220 What an excellent place of prayer. 00:05:42.220 --> 00:05:45.220 We are a sun that does not set. 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:48.220 If the caller calls, we respond. 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:51.220 We restore the truth intact. 00:05:51.220 --> 00:05:54.220 We support beloved Al-Aqsa. 00:05:54.220 --> 00:05:58.220 In it, the best of creation prayed. 00:05:58.220 --> 00:06:01.220 It is indeed an excellent place of prayer. 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:04.220 The place where the trustworthy revelation descended. 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:07.220 The place of mission for the messengers. 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:10.220 A qibla for the Muslims. 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:13.220 A place of victory for the conquerors. 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:16.220 In it, the best of creation prayed. 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:19.220 It is indeed an excellent place of prayer. 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:22.220 It is indeed an excellent place of prayer.