Azami 1928

Ibn Jareer narrated it in his Tafsir (2/450), Ibn Abu Hatim in his Tafsir (1/248), and Bayhaqi (12/2-13), all of them via the route of Abu Salih, from Muawiya bin Salih, from Ali bin Abu Talha, from Ibn Abbas, and he related it. Ali bin Abu Talha did not meet Ibn Abbas, but the intermediary between them is known, and this is why the scholars declared this chain sahih. Ibn Abu Hatim also recorded it in his Tafsir, and Bayhaqi too, through another route from Ata Khurasani, from Ibn Abbas, who said, "The first thing to be abrogated in the Quran, as far as we have mentioned, and Allah knows best, was the matter of the qibla," and he related it similarly. Ata Khurasani did not hear directly from Ibn Abbas.Likewise, what is reported from Ibn Abbas is not sahih, where he said, when the qibla was turned away from Sham toward the Kaaba, this turning taking place in Rajab, seventeen months after the Messenger of Allah arrived in Madinah, the Messenger of Allah was approached by Rifa bin Qays, Qardam bin Amr, Kaab bin Ashraf, and Nafi bin Abu Nafi (this is how Ibn Humayd stated it, while Abu Kurayb said Rafi bin Abu Rafi instead), along with Hajjaj bin Amr, an ally of Kaab bin Ashraf, and Rabi bin Rabi bin Abu Huqayq, and Kinana bin Rabi bin Abu Huqayq. They said, "Muhammad, what has turned you away from the qibla you used to face, when you claim to follow the religion and creed of Ibrahim? Go back to the qibla you used to face, and we will follow you and believe you." What they actually wanted was to lead him astray from his religion. So Allah sent down concerning them, "The foolish among the people will say, what has turned them away from the qibla they used to face" up to His statement, "except that We might make evident who follows the Messenger from who turns back on his heels" [Baqarah 2:142–143].Bayhaqi narrated this in Dalail (2/575), Ibn Abu Hatim in his Tafsir (1/247-248), and Tabari in his Tafsir (2/618-619), all of them via the route of Muhammad bin Ishaq, who said, Muhammad bin Abu Muhammad, the freed slave of Zayd bin Thabit, told me, saying, Saeed bin Jubayr, or Ikrima (Muhammad bin Abu Muhammad was uncertain which), told me, from Ibn Abbas, who said what has been related. This entire story was also mentioned by Ibn Hisham in his Sira (1/550), though he omitted its chain of transmission. In this chain is Muhammad bin Abu Muhammad Ansari, the freed slave of Zayd bin Thabit, from whom no one narrated except Ibn Ishaq. Abu Hatim said, "Unknown." Dhahabi said, "Not known." And the Hafiz said, "Unknown." As for Ibn Hibban, he mentioned him in Thiqat.On this subject there is also what is reported from Umara bin Aws, who said, We were praying toward Bayt al-Maqdis when someone came to us, while our imam was in ruku and we were in ruku, and he said, "The Messenger of Allah has had Quran revealed to him, and he has been commanded to face the Kaaba, so face it." He said, so our imam turned while still in ruku, and the people turned until they were facing the Kaaba, and so we prayed part of that prayer facing Bayt al-Maqdis and part of it facing the Kaaba.Ibn Abu Shayba narrated this (1/334-335) from Shababa, who said, Qays told us, from Ziyad bin Alaqa, from Umara bin Aws, and he related it. Qays here is Qays bin Rabi Asadi, Abu Muhammad Kufi, who is daif by the agreement of the scholars, for he was afflicted with a wicked son who would insert into his father's narrations things that did not belong to them, and the father would then relate these when he had grown old and his memory had declined, so his narrations became mixed up with narrations from others. Abu Yaala also narrated it through this same route (1506), and Haythami cited this defect in Majmu (13/2), saying, "There is disagreement over relying on him as evidence."Likewise it is reported from Tuwayla bint Aslam, one of the women who gave the pledge, who said, We were praying in our place among Banu Haritha, when Abbad bin Bishr bin Qaydi said, "The Messenger of Allah has turned to face the Sacred House, or the Kaaba." So the men moved to where the women had been, and the women moved to where the men had been, and they prayed the remaining two prostrations facing the Kaaba.Tabarani narrated this in al-Kabir (24/207), and Ibn Manda, as found in Isaba in the biography of Abbad bin Bishr, both of them via the route of Ibrahim bin Jafar bin Mahmud bin Maslama Harithi, from his father, from his grandmother, the mother of his father, Tuwayla bint Aslam, and she related it. In this chain is Ibrahim bin Jafar, and no one among the scholars is known to have vouched for him except Ibn Hibban, who mentioned him in Thiqat. As for Haythami's statement in Majmu (14/2), "his narrators are reliable," this rests on his reliance upon Ibn Hibban.