100 in 1m Footsteps of the ProplNttradition, the new orientation of prayer restored a direct ritual and spiri-
tuallink between Abraham, who built the first bouse for the worship of
the One, and Islamic monotheism. i\Iustims rejoiced in this and under-
stood it as a return to the o rigin. "Turning one's face" meant filrning one's
being, one's heart, to\vard the Source, the Origin, the One God, the God
of j\braham, of the universe, and of humankind. T he Kaha thereby
resumed its primary function: on earth, it was the House of God, the cen-
rer toward which all hearts, from all peripheries, would now rum.
J ewish tribes by no means shared in this satisfaction. F rom the begin-
ning of the Muslims' settlement in Medina, the Jews and the :~duslims had
had differences involving recognitio n of the One God and the signing of
covenants. But also, more covertly, some Jews had doubts about the new
religion and feared that its expansion constituted a threat; Muhammad
had heard of contacts established between some Jewish tribes and some
of the Quraysh's allies. Because of this distrust, Revdation of this verse
could not have been expected to comfort Jvlcdina's Jewish dignitaries,
since the monotheism professed by 1'luhammad now seemed to dearly
stand apart from the message of Judaism.
Furthetmore, the change of qibla sent just as strong a message to the
inhabitants of [v[ecca. The central place that the city was acquiring in the
message of the new teligion led its inhabitants to fear future Muslim
designs on the city and the Kaba. This the Quraysh could not accept, and
it was now clear that only the termination of Muhammad's mission could
protect them and ens ute the continuation of historical privileges they had
so arduously obtained.
A CaravanThe Prophet had just learned that a caravan led by Abu Sufyan was on its
way back from Syria with a large quantity of goods and that most of the
Quraysh clans had a share in this trading venture. Muhammad decided to
intercept the caravan. One reason was dle same as the one that had pro-
pelled him to attack the earlier cahlvan: the wish to recover the wealth
appropriated by the Quraysh when they had usurped the exiles' belong-
ings after their departure for i-fedina. The second reason was that it would
serve as a show of power to impress the inhabitants of "i\fecca, who were
increasingly plotting against Medina.