He said to the Prophet ﷺ, "I set out on this journey of mine after Allah had guided me to Islam, and I felt I should not turn my back on this sacred House, so I prayed facing it. My companions disagreed with me about this, until something of doubt entered my heart. What is your view?"The Prophet ﷺ replied, "You were upon a qiblah, had you only persevered with it."So Bara returned to the qiblah of the Prophet ﷺ and prayed with us toward Sham.
إنه قال للنبي ﷺ: إني خرجت في سفري هذا، وقد هداني الله للإسلام، فرأيت ألا أجعل هذه البنية مني بظهر، فصليت إليها، وقد خالفني أصحابي في ذلك، حتى وقع في نفسي من ذلك شيء، فماذا ترى؟ قال: قد كنت على قبلة لو صبرت عليها. قال فرجع البراء إلى قبلة النبي ﷺ وصلى معنا إلى الشام.
Ibn Khuzayma (429) narrated it via the route of Ibn Ishaq, who said, Mabad bin Kaab bin Malik, who was among the most knowledgeable of the Ansar, related to me, telling me that his father Kaab had told him this. Ahmad (15798) also narrated it, and in his version it is from Mabad bin Kaab, from his brother Ubaydullah bin Kaab, from his father, and he related the hadith in full.The account of Kaab bin Malik concerns the departure of the Ansar from Madinah to Makkah for the Pledge of Aqabah. In the account it is mentioned that Bara bin Marur said (then he mentioned it). Its chain of transmission is hasan because of Muhammad bin Ishaq, and he has explicitly stated that he heard it directly.His statement, "the Building," refers to the Kaaba. This contains evidence that the Prophet ﷺ used to pray in Makkah facing Bayt al-Maqdis, and this is also the view of Ibn Abbas.