And when their claim was that their ancestors were upon their religion, so that their claims would not be invalidated that Paradise is exclusive to them, while it being a superfluity with no evidence by which anything is established, attempting to avoid the possibility of abrogation. And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, invalidated their saying and criticized them for what they innovated in their religion, and reproached them for it, which necessitated that they allowed themselves what they prohibited from their Creator, who is not to be questioned about what He does. They were the most foolish of people. So, He followed it up by clearly stating their fault and expressing astonishment at them for their denial of the abrogation of the qiblah and their lightness in objecting to their Lord. He said, continuing from what preceded in a more general manner: "They will say..." to the end of it. For if they did not know the truth of that, then they should not follow them. At the very least, they should refrain from criticizing Him. How could they, while they know that He is the truth! And He said: "The foolish ones," and did not say: "They will say," to show the description that led them to this apparent statement, which has flaws for the people of every religion. The fool is one who acts without evidence, either by not paying attention to evidence and not stopping until it becomes clear to him, but rather follows his desires, or sees something other than evidence as evidence. And He emphasized the description of folly by saying: "Of the people," taken from the word 'nawasa,' which means movement, without saying: "Of the people of the Book," or "Of the Children of Israel," or the like, explicitly condemning them and generalizing to all who support them in that. "What they have turned away from" and did not say: "From," adding to the harm by contempt. "From their qiblah," Al-Harali said: The qiblah is that which is made opposite to the face, and the 'qubul' is what comes from the body in opposition to the back for what has turned away from it. "Which they were upon," meaning: the Bayt al-Maqdis. And perhaps he left the explicit mention to make that applicable to the Ka'bah as well, so that the meaning becomes: If they have turned away from the Ka'bah by the command of Allah, then they are invalid in their return to it, otherwise they are, in every case, followers of desires. And in that is an indication that when their arguments were cut off, they cast this doubt to those whom they invented among the hypocrites, and they could not confront anyone from the firmly rooted in faith with it, as they said previously: "Be Jews or Christians" [Al-Baqarah: 135] and the like, knowing that the one who argues with them from the believers has the decisive proof. And that is why their response came with His saying: "Say..." free from address, unlike what has passed in His saying: "Did you take a covenant with Allah?" [Al-Baqarah: 80] "Say, bring your proof" [Al-Baqarah: 111] and the like. And He, glorified is He, conveyed news about them in a manner that is one of the signs of Prophethood and the great matters of the message. For it is news about what will come from the enemies, and it was from them in accordance with the news. And they could not, despite their intense enmity and their striving to disparage with the slightest doubt in denying him, refrain from that. This is along with a prelude to that in what has preceded in five places: their distortion of the words of Allah, and the occurrence of abrogation, and their reasoning for the goodness of His action, and His informing about the injustice of the one who prevents the mosque, and His informing that He does not restrict it to one direction over another, and His mentioning the building of the house and what He commanded regarding its glorification and taking it as a place of prayer. Along with what is in that of preparing the souls of the people of Islam and honoring them by teaching the response before the need, so that it would be more decisive against the adversary and greater in its strength and more effective in its disruption. And their calling them "fools" refers to His saying previously about those who hypocritically acted among them and others: "Indeed, they are the fools" [Al-Baqarah: 13]. For although they were openly declaring disbelief, the name of hypocrisy applies to them from another perspective, which is that they displayed disbelief while concealing the knowledge of faith, they displayed denial while concealing what they know to be true. And also, if the hypocrites who displayed goodness are fools for what they concealed of evil, then those whom evil is apparent in both outwardly and inwardly are more foolish. And to His saying soon: "And who turns away from the religion of Ibrahim except one who has made a fool of himself" [Al-Baqarah: 130], due to their established opposition to him, even if they claimed agreement. And He said: "To Allah," meaning: the King, encompassing all things in greatness and knowledge. "The east and the west," specified for them as they are the gathering places of the horizons, as has passed, so it does not restrict to one direction over another. What He commanded is the truth.

And when it was established that all directions are equal to Him, because they are His possession, and that whoever turns to any of them by His command attains His pleasure, and that is the way to reach Him, He expressed this by beginning with the saying, magnifying the people of Islam and informing them of His care for them: "He guides to Him whom He wills"; meaning: from among His servants. And He magnified the Kaaba by saying: "to a straight path" in any direction it may be. So whenever one follows it, he reaches the intended goal without deviation. And He used the indefinite form because what is meant by it are particulars of the Shari'ah. As for the defined path mentioned in Al-Fatiha, what is meant by it is the entire Shari'ah as indicated by the 'al' of perfection.