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THE__JEWS__OF__MEDINA, page : 41
Ka‟bah in Mecca.
14
The Jews had always directed their prayers towards Jerusalem. They prided themselves
that the Nazarenes and Christians, and up until now, the Muslims had done the same,
thereby acknowledging their importance through its religious significance. Jerusalem had
been the city where many of their major prophets had preached including Moses and
Jesus, and also the burial place of Prophet Abraham, whom they had honored by calling
him “The Father of all the Prophets”.
When Allah changed the direction of prayer to Ka‟bah, very few Jews were prepared to
recognize or admit to its significance. Allah had made it clear for a second time that He
had stripped away the religious authority from the Jews. The majority of Jews were very
displeased, as they perceived it to be an outright rejection of their social status by
Prophet Muhammad and this brought about an even deeper resentment. The Muslims
had not in fact rejected Jerusalem‟s religious significance at all, but the Ka‟bah, the
House which Abraham had built, the first House of Allah on earth, had been the direction
14
The Jews had always directed their prayers towards Jerusalem. They prided themselves
that the Nazarenes and Christians, and up until now, the Muslims had done the same,
thereby acknowledging their importance through its religious significance. Jerusalem had
been the city where many of their major prophets had preached including Moses and
Jesus, and also the burial place of Prophet Abraham, whom they had honored by calling
him “The Father of all the Prophets”.
When Allah changed the direction of prayer to Ka‟bah, very few Jews were prepared to
recognize or admit to its significance. Allah had made it clear for a second time that He
had stripped away the religious authority from the Jews. The majority of Jews were very
displeased, as they perceived it to be an outright rejection of their social status by
Prophet Muhammad and this brought about an even deeper resentment. The Muslims
had not in fact rejected Jerusalem‟s religious significance at all, but the Ka‟bah, the
House which Abraham had built, the first House of Allah on earth, had been the direction